Each year, two weeks before classes start, nearly one-third of the returning female student population is buried in sorority chapter rooms. They are forced to endure endless singing of silly songs, skit practices, name-memorization and a whole lot of hairspray. Most of us don't enjoy Recruitment. It's long, exhausting and sucks up our final days of summer. But after two weeks, it's over. And we don't have to face the madness until the next fall. Faculty Senate wants to postpone Recruitment until the Spring semester. Some faculty worry pledging doesn't allow a student time to adjust and grow academically and socially. Students are too busy with pledging and don't take classes seriously enough, causing them to form bad habits which continue throughout their college career. Not all freshmen Greeks, however, have problems with their grades. Comparisons in recent years have shown the Greek GPA is higher than non-Greek students. In addition, the retention rate among Greeks is 10 to 12 percent higher than their non-Greek peers, meaning students who are members of fraternities of sororities are more likely to return their sophomore year. If professors are worried about academic performance of freshmen Greek members, perhaps each organization's scholarship officer should work more closely with the Faculty Senate to discuss ways to implement programs that promote academic success. A semester may give students more study time and a better idea if Greek life is right for them, but there is no guarantee. What is certain is thatdelaying Recruitment causes more problems.
Last fall, sorority Recruitment was delayed for two weeks. During that time, young women endured much scrutiny under the sharp, watchful eyes of sorority members intent on getting good pledge classes for their chapter. Many sorority members pointed at, stared at and whispered about the young women, not only in The Main, but also during class. That's a distraction for everyone - a distraction that would last all semester. There would be more Recruitment events throughout the semester. Sororities would also have to hold more skit practices, Recruitment meetings and mixers - all to create and maintain an image of their chapter. Freshman may be getting the time to study, but what about the current members?
During sorority Recruitment, there are strict rules for potential new members and current members. Alcohol is not permitted in any formal recruitment event. In the week prior to, and the week of Recruitment, sorority members are not allowed to attend any function or establishment where alcohol is present. But if fraternities and sororities have an entire semester to "attract" freshmen to their organization, it will be much more difficult to keep alcohol out of picture. Any party or social gathering could be a Recruitment event.
Panhellenic and Interfraternity Council would have to change many of the "dirty rushing" rules for Recruitment. Granted, change shouldn't be avoided simply because it's a lot of work, but some of these changes would be especially hard to make. For example, during the summer prior to recruitment, sorority members are not allowed to take soon-to-be freshmen out to dinner or out to bars. They are also not allowed to pay for anything that may be considered a gift or a favor. How could rules be enforced that would prevent an entire semester of "dirty rushing"? Students who want to be Greek will do so. One semester is not going to deter them. If faculty are worried that Fall Recruitment robs a freshman of his or her individuality before the school year starts, delaying Recruitment isn't going to stop that - only postpone it. Greek life only consumes those who let themselves be consumed by it. For many, fraternity and sorority membership is a springboard to involvement in other organizations. But unfortunately, there are others who succumb to the exclusivity and elitism that has always lingered in the Greek system. Postponing recruitment is not a quick-fix to those problems.
Aimée Courtice is a senior news-editorial journalism major from San Diego, Calif. She can be reached at (aecourtice@delta.is.tcu.edu).
TCU prides itself on the freshman experience it provides. And rightfully so. From New Student Orientation and Frog Camp to Howdy Week and Recruitment, freshmen have opportunity after opportunity to become acquainted with TCU and to meet new friends. The one striking difference between all those other activities and Recruitment is that only during Recruitment are freshmen scrutinized and judged by their peers. First-semester freshmen just aren't ready for that. Ask anyone in student development at TCU, and they'll rattle off the numbers: Only 68.5 percent of freshmen men and 56 percent of freshmen women rated themselves as above average in social self-confidence last year. Less than 65 percent of men and 49 percent of women ranked themselves above average in popularity. Freshmen are scared. They are scared they will not fit in. They are scared they will not make any friends. And then they are told that Recruitment is a great way to meet people and find their niche at TCU, which is true. A majority of people who go through Recruitment are able to find their place in a Greek organization. But what about the ones who don't? Most people go through Recruitment with their heart set on becoming a member of a fraternity or sorority. They aren't just doing it to meet people. They put all their faith and hope and dreams on the line. When they are cut from Recruitment or don't receive a bid that they want, it can be devastating. Individuality and the university experience go hand in hand. But when students are thrown into situations in which they must conform from the first day they arrive on campus, their quest for individuality is turned upside down. We should all become TCU students before we define ourselves as Pi Kapps or Tri-Delts or whatever we may become. It is true that TCU's retention rate is higher among fraternities and sororities than non-Greek students. But what about the retention rate of those who want so badly to join a Greek organization but are cut or drop out of Recruitment instead? At the "Speak Your Mind" forum on Sept. 28, during which deferred Recruitment was discussed, an Orientation Student Assistant talked about a phone call he received from a student. She was crushed, he said, because Recruitment did not turn out the way she had hoped. She was planning to transfer to another school until he talked her out of it. Deferring Recruitment would solve all these problems. By the time the Spring semester rolls around, freshmen are better acquainted with TCU and the opportunities they have here. Those who decide to go through Recruitment will not be so disappointed when they do not get what they want. Instead of transferring schools, they can go back to the organizations in which they are already involved and which never turned them away. Some members of the Greek community have argued that deferring Recruitment would simply turn a two-week process into a semester-long one. But a semester is too long to keep up the Recruitment charade. Dressing to impress would get old after a few weeks anyway, and fraternities and sororities could judge potential members based on what they have done at TCU rather than in high school. An entire semester will give both current and potential fraternity and sorority members time to evaluate each other on a different level than what Fall Recruitment allows. The 20 minute current members speak to potential members is not enough to accurately determine if he or she is someone who shares the same values and ideals that the organization represents. Freshmen may not even be certain of what values and ideals they do have. We should give them a chance to develop those feelings before we tell them what their feelings should be.
Jason Crane is a senior news-editorial journalism major from Shreveport, La. He can be reached at (jlcrane@delta.is.tcu.edu).
The forum held Sept. 28 by the Faculty Senate and the Academic Affairs Committee of the House of Student Representatives produced a wide range of opinions concerning the issue of whether or not to defer Recruitment for fraternities and sororities until the beginning of the spring semester. Well-reasoned opinions were expressed on both sides of the issue underscoring its complexity. Forum participants who thought Recruitment should be moved to the Spring semester argued that the delay would provide freshmen with extra time to become acclimated to the academic demands of college while allowing them to develop a collective TCU Horned Frog spirit and provide more time for both the freshmen and the fraternities/sororities to make informed decisions about pledging and pledges, respectively. Those arguing against deferred Recruitment stated that fraternities/sororities would incur a financial loss by not having recruited freshmen living in the houses during the fall semester and a delay would only produce an extended Recruitment which would last the entire three months of the fall semester instead of limiting Recruitment to the current seven to 10 day period. Obviously, both arguments gathered impassioned supporters, all of whom were in agreement with the old saying that there are two types of people in the world: those who agree with me and idiots. From a faculty perspective, Recruitment distracts participants from focusing on academics whenever it occurs. During the first few weeks of the fall semester, those participating in Recruitment often fail to attend their courses with obvious adverse academic consequences. It would appear that having Recruitment before classes begin in the fall semester is a better solution. Yet, faculty observe that the distractions of Recruitment are not over when recruiting ends. Students who have been accepted in the Recruitment process now must assimilate into Greek life by learning house rules and adjusting to a new extended family. Often this assimilation can be characterized by the phrase VENI, VIDI, VICE: I came, I saw, I partied. Other students are frustrated by having to make a very important decision in the current short and stressful recruitment period. Students who were not accepted by the Greek system are further distracted by coping with feelings of inadequacy and rejection. This "failure" to complete Recruitment successfully leads some students to leave college altogether. Along with the student life staff, faculty teaching freshman courses must deal with all of these issues with their students. The adjustments to the changing academic expectations from high school to college is a difficult one for many students. Why compound this adjustment by requiring freshman to participate in Recruitment before taking their first college courses at TCU? The freshman year to sophomore year retention rate at TCU is around 80 percent. This means that about 20 percent of the freshman class leaves TCU during or by the end of the freshman year. The retention rate at Southern Methodist University and Rice are 84 percent and 95 percent, respectively. Why are SMU and Rice retaining a higher percentage of freshman? To what extent is early Recruitment associated with our relatively low retention rate? How would the creation of a freshman college, available to both Greeks and non-Greeks, affect the retention rate? It seems to me that we are attempting to answer these questions without first gathering adequate information. Accordingly, I have charged the Student Relations Committee of the Faculty Senate with conducting a study to obtain more solid internal data on the timing of Recruitment. In addition to gathering information at TCU, the study will include reports from other universities, particularly from universities which have recently changed the timing of Recruitment. While opinions generate interest in an issue, facts lead to well-informed decisions. Roger Pfaffenberger is the chairman of the Faculty Senate. |
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