Fraternities left the comfort of their houses earlier this semester to recruit together on the Mall, and their efforts paid off with a 15 percent increase in pledges.
This semester, fraternities saw 10 to 15 percent more men interested in rush than in previous spring semesters. Usually, there are about 80 men who rush in the spring. This year, 120 men rushed.
Chris Bullins, Greek Life coordinator, said the increase was a result of a new rush process implemented this semester.
As part of the new procedures, there was a three-day event on the Mall at the beginning of this semester where each fraternity had a spot on the Mall or near the Student Union Memorial Center, and could recruit prospective rushers.
This was the first year the fraternities made an effort to recruit together on the Mall.
"It's an improvement because it used to be like complete and total strangers were being delivered, almost like pizza, to a fraternity," said Phi Delta Theta President Kent Davis.
Prior to this year, men who wanted to pledge for fraternities had to run from house to house to get stamps from all the fraternities, said Ben Jorgensen, Interfraternity Council vice president.
But IFC decided to change the rules to make the rush process fairer.
"Before, people with houses had an advantage over those without. Now you can get what you are willing to give by meeting people that walk by," said Ian Sambor, president of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.
Alex Cane, an Alpha Epsilon Pi pledge and visual communication freshman, said he likes the more personal way he learns about fraternities.
"It's all about the word of mouth," he said. "They can choose who they want and the fraternities find guys that can get along with the members."
The event on the Mall also gave the multi-cultural fraternities on campus Omega Delta Phi, Beta Sigma Epsilon and Sigma Lambda Beta a chance to represent their chapters.
"Usually in the past, we had to compete with fraternities with houses. And because we don't have a house, our numbers are usually lower. Now everyone is equal and it's like no one has houses," said Jose Ramirez, Omega Delta Phi president.
In previous spring semesters, ODPhi had about one to two new members in the spring. This semester, it has about 10 men interested in joining, Ramirez said.
Rush also used to be the only time anyone could try to join a fraternity, and after that, he had to wait until the next semester. Now, men can decide to rush at anytime, and if they are considered for a particular house, they are extended a bid that allows them to formally join the frat the next semester.
"Rush is simply a time to highlight the Greek experience, but it is not the sole week. This way men can join on a whim," Bullins said.
Each fraternity can decide whether it wants to allow members into its houses in the middle of a semester. Smaller chapters that want to grow will probably choose to accept those who join late. Larger chapters that are more financially stable may choose not to allow it, Bullins said.
The process is still a little rough and will require a trial period to figure out how all the new strategies will work, Bullins said.
"It is a new system, so we are still getting used to it. But with time, we will see a lot of improvements," Davis said.
The new rush process also eliminated the $40 rush fee and individual GPA requirements.
Instead, the chapter pays the rush fees, and the pledge class must have an average GPA of a 2.5.
If a pledge class does not meet that GPA requirement, it will be required to attend an academic program to discuss ways to improve the scholastics of the chapter. If there is a second offense the following semester, the chapter is put on social probation.
If for the third semester in a row the fraternity's pledge class does not meet the 2.5 GPA requirement, the national chapter gets contacted, and the fraternity can be fined.
"We haven't really had to deal with a third-semester violation, and we are in the process of putting it all in writing," Jorgensen said.