By Heather Fabritze
Elm Staff Writer
Washington College’s fraternities, Kappa Sigma Omicron-Phi and Phi Delta Theta MD Gamma, hosted their informal and formal recruitment for the 2022 spring semester.
Informal recruitment for both organizations lasted from Monday, Feb. 21 until Friday, Feb. 25. Informal week is open to any student with an interest in joining Greek Life.
Various events are planned throughout the week, all designed to get to know potential new brothers.
Phi Delta Theta’s events included playing pool in the Hodson Goose Nest, battling it out in Super Smash Bros. eating ice cream in the Hodson Egg, and urban golf and poker at Cecil House. Kappa Sigma hosted events such as a field day at Dorchester Patio, Jackbox in the Hodson Goose Nest, movie night at Dorchester House, game night in the Hodson Egg, and the Night of 2000 Nuggets in the Hodson Goose Nest.
According to Rush Chair of Kappa Sigma sophomore David Estes, informal recruitment is where most of the work lies. Brothers have to plan events, schedule locations, and advertise, all while maintaining COVID-19 safe protocols.
“My favorite part of the process was seeing the fruits of our planning and work come alive,” Estes said. “Having the events we organized and worked to put together happen, and seeing people come out to our events really was a sight for me. Especially since there was a lot of planning for informal week, having that pay off was very satisfying.”
Informal recruitment requires wide advertising by each fraternity to ensure that the events are reaching potentially interested students.
Recruitment Chairman for Phi Delta Theta junior Omari Watkins feels that recruitment allows learning opportunities for all those involved.
“Recruitment teaches you skills you can carry on through life such as persuasion, marketing, and public speaking,” Watkins said.
The second stage of rush, formal recruitment, follows the week after informal recruitment. Formal recruitment is only one night out of the week on a date set by the WC Interfraternity Council, an organization made up of members from both fraternities.
This year, Phi Delta Theta’s date was March 2. Kappa Sigma’s was March 3.
This round of rush, unlike the first, is by invitation only and is formal attire. If a potential member is invited back for this event, it shows that the fraternity has an interest in them becoming a brother. It is only after this night that the organizations begin offering bids to join.
Like Watkins IFC President junior Jastin Garcia-Mendoza feels that going through the recruitment process offers more benefits than just the chance to join a fraternity.
“Students should do recruitment in future years to learn about not just brotherhood, but also how to lead and run an organization,” Garcia-Mendoza said. “You get more than what people see in movies. You actually see brothers doing various things around campus like [joining] clubs, SGA, IM sports, go[ing] out to events, and volunteer[ing].”
Garcia-Mendoza and Watkins emphasize that a large part of the experience is the fun of being able to meet new people around campus.
And for those who are still uncertain about going through recruitment in future years, Estes reminded students that it is not a formal commitment.
“The biggest reason I think students should choose recruitment is because it’s a non-committal process,” Estes said. “Even all the way to becoming a full member, you can drop out of the process [at] any time and stop. Since it’s not a contract or anything binding, just going out and meeting more people — and free events — is always a fun time.”