Recruitment
Recruitment is a time of membership recruitment through mutual selection. That means that not only do the Greek organizations select new members, but the rushees (someone interested in Greek life) select the chapter with which they wish to be affiliated. For the rushees, recruitment is an opportunity to join one of the strongest forces on campus, or just make friends. In most cases, the rushee has the advantage with more than one chapter extending a bid to a student. Recruitment for fraternities and sororities is "dry," or alcohol free, at Case. Fraternity recruitment begins at the start of the fall and spring term and lasts for three weeks. Sorority recruitment occurs in the first week of the Spring semester. Recruitment for women is formal or structured; therefore everyone who wishes to participate must register in advance. Sorority recruitment is designed to have every rushee see every chapter. Students who choose to rush are under no obligation to join. At the end of the recruitment period, the fraternities and sororities extend bids, or invitations to join their organizations. If the student accepts the bid, then and only then, have they joined the organization.
Once a man or woman decides to accept a bid from a fraternity or sorority, the student (in most cases) becomes a pledge. The pledge learns through meetings, social events, and projects about the organization and its members. During pledge education, each new member is matched with a big brother or sister. Hazing, which is defined as "...any action taken or situation created, intentionally, whether on or off fraternity premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment or ridicule," is illegal in the state of Ohio and is prohibited by the University and by the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Congress. Pledge programs usually last one semester, with initiation (the ceremony in which pledges become members) occurring only after the pledge has achieved the required GPA.
For more information on recruitment, please visit the recruitment section of our website.