Recruitment

The Recruitment Period is held in the spring semester of every academic year. During the 2.5-week-long process, sororities and fraternities host events that give the Hope College community a glimpse into what their organizations represent. It’s a chance for current members and potential new members to interact with one another in a fair and respectable way.

Members of Greek Life should get to know students prior to the beginning of Formal Recruitment. This is not considered dirty rush and should be a cornerstone of an effective Recruitment program. Fraternities and sororities can and should sponsor activities for the entire campus in an attempt to educate others on the concept of Greek Life and to introduce fraternity and sorority members. Fraternities and sororities may also give students a taste of what Greek membership is like by inviting them to specific activities, so long as they are not in violation of Recruitment Rules.

Formal Recruitment begins with the mandatory General Recruitment Meeting, typically held during the first week of the spring semester.

Official Recruitment Rules

1. All Recruitment programs and events should support the mission of Hope College and Greek Life, as well as abide by all policies set forth in regard to Risk Management and the constitutions of the Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council.
2. A general recruitment for all of Greek Life is to be encouraged by all actives at all times. No member of any Greek organization may demean, bad mouth or put down another Greek organization.
3. All closed or invite-only events, whether during the Formal Recruitment period or not, must be approved by Student Life or the respective council.
4. The Formal Recruitment Period will be set by the respective councils and Student Life. It will be held in the spring semester. Formal Recruitment begins with the mandatory General Recruitment Meeting.
5. Recruitment programs must be turned in to the director of Student Life by the specified date for approval. This should include full disclosure of each event and what is to happen during those events.
6. Any Recruitment event that is not expressly approved, with full disclosure, by the director of Student Life is considered not approved and is a violation of Recruitment rules.
7. During the Formal Recruitment Period, an event occurs when two or more rushees are gathered with two or more members of an organization (actives or alumni) with whom they did not have a relationship prior to Recruitment. If this occurs outside of a scheduled and approved time, it is considered an unscheduled and unapproved Recruitment event and is a violation of Formal Recruitment regulations. This includes extending an event past the designated event time.
8. Round Robin
   1. Round Robin is the first event of Formal Recruitment for sororities, and will involve groups of rushees traveling to a designated on-campus site for each sorority. Each group will stay with each sorority for a designated time.
   2. Each female rushee is required to attend Round Robin. If she is unable to attend, she must contact the director of Student Life. Failure to do so may result in the individual being ineligible to receive a bid.
   3. Panhellenic Council will provide name tags for Round Robin. A Panhellenic representative is to initial the name tags and see that they are turned into the Panhellenic Recruitment Chair after the last session of the Round Robin or when the rushee has visited each sorority. A rushee is required to turn in a name tag before she will be allowed to accept a bid.
9. General Recruitment Meetings will be held for the men and the women prior to the start of events. The General Recruitment Meeting is mandatory and each person must attend to accept a bid. Failure to attend means the individual may not be eligible to receive a bid.
10. Publicity for Recruitment events may be put up no earlier than the Sunday before the respective General Recruitment Meeting.
11. Destroying, removing, covering or erasing the publicity of other Greek organizations is prohibited.
12. Each organization is responsible for the actions of each of its members including all alumni, off-campus actives and inactives during the Formal Recruitment Period.
13. All Greek Life related activities or events during the Formal Recruitment Period must abide by all local, state and national ordinances. This includes, but is not limited to, eliminating open parties during the Formal Recruitment Period.
14. No alcohol or illegal substances are allowed at any Recruitment event(s) no matter where the event is located.
15. Any organization using a reserved space on campus that wants to have food at an event must order through Creative Dining. You may purchase food from outside if you are using a residence hall room or cottage.
16. A list of everyone who attends a Recruitment event must be turned in to the Student Life Office within one business day of the conclusion of the event. Failure to do so may result in immediate loss of a Recruitment event at the discretion of the director of Student Life and the Interfraternity Council advisor.
17. No co-ed recruitment events may occur throughout the Formal Recruitment Period, except for Recruitment informals and formals.
18. There is to be no inappropriate persuasion of any form from active to rushee or vice versa, including the promise of a bid, express or implied. Members of Greek Life may not pressure anyone to join a specific organization by means of threats, coercion or exceptional inducements.
19. The Silent Period begins when the bids are extended. During this time, no sorority or fraternity members, alumni, parents of Greeks or inactive members of Greek organizations may talk to the rushees regarding any aspect of Greek Life. Panhellenic or IFC representatives are the only sorority or fraternity members that can respond to specific questions about the organization. These representatives are not to persuade individuals, but only to answer questions. Continuation of normal interaction between members and nonmembers will be allowed, but active-initiated social interaction will not be allowed. The Silent Period ends on the final day that bids are due.
20. In order to receive a bid, an individual must be a currently enrolled full-time Hope student with at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. He or she also must be in the process of completing 24 Hope credit hours.
21. No bids will be held to a later date and no honorary memberships may be given.
22. Any violation of the above policies will result in judicial consequences.

Greek Lingo