Donald Keough, News Editor–
As the fall semester wraps up, Greek life organizations have officially begun their spring recruitment registration.
The rush season started with tabling on Nov. 6, where Greek fraternities and sororities greeted intrigued students and told them about their organization. The goal of the event was for students to understand more about each organization and see if any aligned with their own interests.
Andrew Hanson ‘26, the president of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a Latino-based but not exclusive Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) organization, was one member helping to gauge interest at the event. He said that he was excited to add new members to the organization.
“There’s a bright bunch of really impressive men out there that I think we really can extract a lot of value from, and I think we could provide a lot of value to them as well,” Hanson said.
Over the past couple of years, Hanson said that they have been doing well in terms of recruitment. They’ve hovered around 10-12 members, which helps them maintain interest without spreading too thin. They hope to recruit a few new members to reach this goal, some of whom they hope they have already made connections with.
“Ideally, by the time you come up to our table, we already know you and you just put down your formal interest,” Hanson said. “We’re friends first, and a frat second.”
Unlike other organizations, their recruitment process doesn’t require that new members are of a certain class year.
“We like to cast a wide net,” Hanson said. “If freshman year you didn’t rush, but you’d like to sophomore or junior year that’s totally fine by us. We’ve even had seniors rush in fall and spring and then immediately graduate, because it’s more than just your time here at Denison. You’re a lifelong brother.”
As a MGC organization, Hanson said that it can make the recruitment process a little more difficult. Some factors that limit their recruitment process is how well-known they are on campus, since they don’t have an official house like many Interfraternity Council (IFC) organizations do. He also noted ethical issues they’ve faced in the past.
“A legacy of racism that persists prevents organizations like ours from coming to the forefront of Greek life,” Hanson said. “However, I think we do a pretty good job through great programming, great events, being active members on campus and by showing up and showing out.”
Jacob Brechbill ‘28, the alumni relations chair for Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, was another Greek life member who supported his organization’s tabling at the event. He also said that the recruitment process has started off strong.
“We got a lot of interest, which is really nice,” Brechbill said. “The chapter is the biggest it’s been in a couple of decades, so it’s really nice to see that interest.”
The organization recently surpassed 40 members. Brechbill said that much of their outreach comes from their members’ involvement in different areas across campus.
“We have a very wide net of organizations on campus that we’re involved with to be out there and represent Beta,” Brechbill said.
Brechbill joined Beta Theta Pi last year after rushing during the spring. He said that it has been challenging stepping into a role after recently joining, but he said that many members of Beta Theta Pi have helped him do well in his position. He said that by helping at the event he hoped he was giving back the support they gave him.
“These guys were phenomenal when I was rushing and pledging, so being able to return the favor for future classes is something I want to be a part of,” Brechbill said.
Another Greek organization who are a chapter of Delta Phi Lambda but go by BLISS, which stands for balancing love, inspiration, serenity and sisterhood, tabled at the event. BLISS is an Asian-focused sorority, which was established last year.
“For us right now the goal is to make sure that we’re a little more known on campus,” Anna Pak ‘27, the president of BLISS, said. “I think this is a really great opportunity to do that.”
At this point, Pak said figuring out how to recruit effectively as a young organization has been “a lot of trial and error.” But she also said that they’ve had a good semester so far.
“I think for us it’s more about finding the people who are interested,” Pak said. “But I’ve been hearing, ‘Oh, we are really interested,’ [or] ‘It’s really cool that you guys have been doing that.’ It’s really about finding people, but overall interest has been good.”
Many IFC and Panhellenic Council (NPC) organizations will officially begin spring rush at the beginning of next semester which will last for roughly a week. MGC and National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) organizations will also begin spring rush next semester, but many rush processes will last the whole semester.
For those interested in joining a Greek Life organization, Hanson said that participating in what the organization has to offer is the best way to get involved.
“The best thing you can do to join any multicultural or any Greek organization, but especially the multicultural ones, is to show up,” Hanson said. “Show up to an event, show up to informationals. Your physical presence is the best kind of interest you can declare.”