Formal recruitment is over, and, with it, Phi Tau is tallying the count of our newest members. In total, Phi Taus across the country have added 1,134 men to their ranks, making for an impressive recruitment year.
Alpha Lambda’s record breaking associate class.
Alpha Lambda at Auburn, home chapter of National Recruitment Advisor Barry Mask, Auburn ’79, set a Phi Tau record this fall with their massive 65-man associate class. Barry hosted a recruitment seminar at this past July’s Conclave, where he shared best practice tips on meeting potential new members (PNMs), hosting exciting events, and his cardinal rule - don’t rely on formal recruitment to meet people. He also recently shared his best tips for spring recruitment, which you can read here. Other facilitators include Sam Medley, Transylvania ‘94, Mike Gabhart, Georgetown ‘95, and Travis Robinson, Eastern Kentucky ‘98.
For a class this large, recruitment has to start early. Alpha Lambda Recruitment Chairman, Zach Woodruff, Auburn ’18, shared what made them successful over the summer. “We started making a list of guys in April by getting all the brothers to reach out to their high schools to see who was coming to Auburn. By May 10th, we had a list of 40 names. Our summer goal is to have 30 guys ready to accept a bid by July 31st. This year we were at 33 on July 31st.” Over the summer, Auburn focuses on small events to make new friends. They host bonfires, attend Atlanta Braves games, go rafting, and deep-sea fishing. This strategy started in 2015-2016 with past Rush Chairman Taylor Johnson, Auburn ’14, who set a previous record of 46 men.
This success continued into the fall, but Zach didn’t reveal to anyone how well they were doing. “Until you can accept bids you really don’t know where you are anyway,” he said. They lined up events the week before classes started, including help with move-in, to keep the men they got over summer engaged and meet new faces on campus. By the time IFC recruitment week rolled around, they already had 59 accepted bids. “We use formal recruitment to close bids – not to meet guys,” Zach explained. Now, mid-November, their planning and hard work has paid off with a large associate class and 90% retention rate.
But the work hasn’t stopped, Zach and the other chapter members have already gotten a head start on spring recruitment. “We have had a tradition the past few years of starting spring recruitment in November. Think about it – November is to spring what June is to fall. So, we have all of our associates start giving us names now. We use our remaining events in November as recruitment events for spring. We like to bid guys before exams and let them go back over the holidays in December and hopefully come back in January and accept their bid. It works well.”
Alpha Kappa chapter with their new associates.
Across the country at Washington State, Alpha Kappa had a similarly successful year. This group has been steadily growing for several years . Now they boast over 100 brothers, and according to Tommy Kane, Washington State AM, have had “terrific success” recruiting large, solid classes during fall. But Tommy admits that, despite their accomplishments in formal recruitment, they struggle with spring and summer. This year to combat the problem, they made a strategic decision to place an emphasis on branding and marketing during informal recruitment.
This began with the creation of their recruitment Instagram, @phi_kappa_tau_rec. They were able to communicate their chapter’s culture and identity through the branding of this page and give PNMs a feel for the Alpha Kappa Chapter, even if they had never been there or met any of the members in person. This was also an opportunity to promote the chapter house. Content creation came easily by promoting their new turf backyard and recently installed deck, as well as dropping snippets of the semester’s recruitment video. Alpha Kappa wanted to show the chapter house was one of the upper-end houses on campus and demonstrate that, as a group, they could take care of their home and keep the property clean.
They also took advantage of Instagram’s paid advertising tool, a cost-effective method that lets Instagram work in your favor by marketing your posts towards a target audience. This was especially helpful when they advertised their summer recruitment graphics and schedule of events. Alpha Kappa took their branding past the digital level by making t-shirts and jerseys that matched the digital aesthetic. Tommy shared these were the nicest jerseys on campus and they got PNMs excited and made the group recognizable on campus. Tommy hopes the chapter will continue to focus on branding and marketing for future recruitment classes. Alpha Kappa was the only group on campus that focused so much on digital marketing and it really set them apart. All in all, this hard work earned Washington State 26 new members.
A recruitment event at Cal State-Long Beach’s Beta Psi chapter.
Beta Psi at Cal State-Long Beach, a 2018 Founders Four chapter and winner of the Angelo Award for Most Improved Chapter, reported 55 accepted bids from their fall recruitment efforts. Vice President Dom Pham, Cal State-Long Beach ’18, shared that the group took a lot of Barry Mask’s Conclave advice to heart, especially his cornerstone rule. Rather than waiting on the campus recruitment period, Beta Psi got out and volunteered at move-ins, as well as other events where Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) members were encouraged to promote Greek life to the new and transfer students on campus. This was a success and Beta Psi met many new students who they became friends with while they helped them acclimate them to campus, find classes, and navigate the area – all before formal recruitment started.
During formal recruitment they hosted events like bowling, dodgeball, and game night, but their most successful event by far was Taco Night which brought 68 PNMs to the house, the group’s pride and joy. Unlike the other events where everybody’s attention was drawn to the activity itself, while they were grilling tacos Beta Psi could socialize with the new members and get to know them on a personal level with minimal distractions.
One of Beta Psi’s biggest advantages is the group’s diversity. “We have people from all sorts of backgrounds, whether they’re athletes, skaters, musicians, dancers, etc. You name it, we have it,” said Dom. This has been a huge asset in making PNMs feel at home and introducing them to other members who have similar interests. It’s also useful for a tool Beta Psi recently implemented called “bumping” – something they learned from local sororities. If a brother is talking to a PNM but they aren’t in sync, they will introduce the PNM to another brother who shares some common interests so they can get to know one another. Dom reports that this has been very useful in making brothers feel at home as well as projecting the diversity of the group. If their numbers are any indication, it’s very effective.
Psi at University of Colorado in front of their chapter house.
Last year at the University of Colorado’s Psi chapter, they had 48 men on bid day, a good number for a large state school. A week later later they had 40. 28 took part in the association process, but at the end of recruitment only 16 initiated. “Those are terrible numbers!” Board of Governors Chairman Sam Medley quips over the phone.
Psi has always taken the idea of “character-driven recruitment” to heart in a way few other chapters do; by creating a list of ideal characteristics for new members, they are intentional in recruiting men who will only meet the highest standards of what being a Man of Character means. Each year this list is discussed and refined by adding or removing a characteristic, but the spirit remains the same. They are looking for a group of engaging and intelligent men who want to make a positive impact on their campus.
A few of these characteristics are non-negotiable: good academics, sound finances, and, to see if they are good team players, if they have been part of a group or team before (Sam shares that more often than not this is a sports team, but they also have members who have been involved in academic or business groups). The more flexible characteristics they look for are things like brining something unique to the chapter, socially capable, a good understanding of brotherhood, and the ability to maintain a good image on campus. In past years when Psi has struggled either financially or with maintaining membership, they have looked for as few as 2-3 of the characteristics they list. Now that they are a solid and competitive group, they expect as many as 7-8. If a man is not strong enough in one of these areas, they hope he is exceptional in one of the others.
Because of this, Psi has always done an exceptional job in recruiting men of distinction. However, to combat the retention problem, this year they added a bit of homework. Framed as a “membership pitch” to alumni, Psi assigns new members a 1-page paper asking the new associates why they want to join the chapter, what they will bring to the group, and what fraternity means to them. “If they’re not willing to take 45 minutes to write a page they’re not going to be the type of member who shows up to community service or the study table,” Sam explains. This logic held true – following the assignment a handful of men eliminated themselves by not completing the paper. The association period at Colorado is still not over, but now just past the halfway mark they still have 32 of the 36 men they extended bids.
All 4 of these chapters have taken advantage of their available recruitment resources and shown how chapters can succeed with a little bit of creative planning and hard work. Congratulation to the above groups as well as the rest of chapters on a great recruitment season. We look forward to seeing more results in the spring.
Barry Mask is hosting an all-inclusive recruitment webinar this Sunday, November 17th, at 7pm ET. All are welcome to join. Follow the zoom link here.
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