Fraternities recruit prospective members

More than a thousand male IU students began a new chapter of their lives this weekend -- literally. \nThe Interfraternity Council's Men's Recruitment Kickoff commenced Friday evening when representatives from IU's 25 fraternity chapters encircled Dunn Meadow and played host to a record number of potential greek pledges.\nIFC Vice President of Recruitment and senior Justin Sloan said attendance was up by almost 300 people from last year. Sloan attributed this to amplified advertising efforts. \n"It went better than I anticipated," he said.\nAt Friday's festivities, budding fraternity members had the chance to acquaint themselves with the individual fraternity houses and find one that suited them.\nFreshman Todd Hatten, carrying one of the blue knapsacks that all men were given, said he was glad he attended.\n"Everyone was willing to talk," he said. "I was really impressed with a few houses."\nLike Hatten, freshman Dylan Cook, Sigma Chi pamphlet in hand, had a positive experience at kickoff.\n"I wanted a chance to meet all the guys in one place," he said. "It went well."\nZeta Beta Tau President and junior Jeff Spector appeared at the ZBT table Friday evening to assist in attracting new members. Like Sloan, he recognized the event's magnitude.\n"From my experience, this is a whole lot bigger than it has been in the past," he said. \nThe recruitment efforts continued throughout the weekend. Pledges were divided into groups and taken on tours Saturday and Sunday of all 25 houses, where men were presented with information on each chapter as well as given time to ask questions.\n"They got to see everything from the cafeteria to the bedrooms," Sloan said of the tours.\nSo far, Sloan said he hasn't heard any complaints from chapter presidents about the weekend's happenings. Potential pledges had the chance to voice their experiences in a survey they received Sunday afternoon. Sloan expects no negative feedback.\n"It went smoothly," he said.\nFraternities are permitted to offer bids during the next three weeks to the men who participated in recruitment. Sloan said chapters will be holding many social functions and aggressively drafting the pledges they liked.\n"They're doing as much as possible to get the right people," he said.\nWristbands were distributed to rush attendees Sunday to serve as "VIP access to rush events over the next three weeks," Sloan said.\nThe wristbands will prove that a rushee actively participated in formal recruitment and is genuinely interested in joining a chapter.\nMen who are interested in pledging a fraternity but were unable to take part in the weekend's events are invited to a make-up meeting at 7 p.m. today in the Maple Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.