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Miami Greeks attend conference to assist in recruitment efforts

Brianna Mulligan

Miami University's Greek community is making efforts to improve recruitment by attending an on-campus conference Sept. 6-7.

The conference, hosted by Panhellenic Association (Panhel) and Intrafraternity Council (IFC), was a three-part event geared at helping fraternities and sororities revamp their recruitment efforts.

The event was sponsored by Phired Up, a national organization of motivational speakers and experts on Greek recruitment.

"I really hope that every sorority and fraternity took something away from the presentation and apply it to their recruitment," said Ali Cook, vice president of recruitment for Panhel. "We want people who have a negative view of recruitment to really have a positive view this year."

The event worked with sorority and fraternity representatives to focus methods of attracting potential new members to their respective organizations. Through advice on informal fall rush to official second semester recruitment, Phired Up, Panhel and IFC helped Greek chapters develop possible new improvements.

The program was divided into three sections, with two programs taking place Saturday and one Sunday. Representatives from all Miami's Greek chapters attended the first session, which spotlighted a motivational speech by Josh Orendi, CEO and co-founder of Phired Up.

Orendi's speech addressed various aspects of recruitment and gave useful advice to each chapter, ranging from how to get contact information to how to recruit the most people possible.

The main focus of Orendi's speech was the development of personal relationships with potential new members.

"People don't join fraternities," Orendi said. "People join people. You do not join because a chapter recruited you, but because one person developed a great relationship with you."

According to Orendi, if a fraternity or sorority member impresses a person with positive relationships and friendship, they will associate that organization with fun people and values.

Orendi also discussed the importance of rituals in Greek life and suggested members share their rituals with potential new members.

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"Why don't we start attracting top students by sharing our defining difference and not being ashamed by it," Orendi said. "Give your ritual away."

Orendi advised Greek brothers and sisters to share rituals-and the values associated with them-with potential new members to help them understand what Greek life stands for. By sharing these values, Orendi thought recruiting brothers and sisters would be able to battle negative stereotypes of Greek life and reach students who are biased against rushing.

Overall, Orendi's speech received a positive reaction from the listeners.

"I think it went really well and met all my expectations," Cook said. "I hope other people are enjoying it as much as I am."

The first event was hosted in the Marcum Conference Center early Saturday afternoon. Each chapter was required to send a certain number of representatives.

The second session divided the attendants into men and women to focus on differing perspectives on recruitment between fraternities and sororities. Sunday was comprised of individual consultations between chapters and Phired Up representatives, according to Cook.

Cook and IFC Vice President of Recruitment Matt Pekins planned the event, and said they hoped the timing of the conference would be more beneficial to the attendants.

"Our recruitment event used to be in the spring," said Pekins. "I really thought this was a waste because at that time school was ending and everything people learned they would forget over the summer. This weekend seemed a lot better. It is right before rush really starts. All of our big events are about to start, such as Greek Week; so as soon as they're done with the program, they can apply what they have learned."

Cook and Pekins said the conference will help sororities and fraternities perfect their recruitment methods.

"Matt and I believe that every chapter can have a great recruitment," Cook said. "It is our job to provide them with the tools."

Pekins agreed.

"Every chapter has something to offer and every potential new member can find a house to fit into," Perkins said. "We just have to find the tools to match those up."

Sororities were required to have five members attend all three sessions, while fraternities were only required to have a maximum of five people at the first two sessions with the third being optional, according to Cook.

"Not any sorority has a perfect recruitment," Cook said about the decision to require sororities to attend all events. "Some have really good recruitment and some come very close to perfect, but everyone can improve."

April Robles, director of the Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and Leadership, said she thought the conference went well.

"I think it is great to think outside the box about recruitment," Robles said. "This program is helping us be more successful in reaching potential new members."