THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Formal and informal recruitment
There are two distinct recruitment processes for most fraternities: formal recruitment or "rush," and informal recruitment. Informal recruitment is as simple as making friends on campus with a member who thinks would be valuable additions to his chapter, introducing them to other members and eventually to a few of the chapter's events, and asking them if they would like to be members. If a Delta Chi has asked you if you would be interested in joining, take that as a compliment that he thinks highly of you and wishes for you to have the quality fraternity experience he has enjoyed to that point.
Informal recruitment is year-round and may even involve contacting men who are still in high school and plan to attend the members' college or university. It's never too early for you to start looking into joining a fraternity, even if college is a year or two away.
Formal recruitment, or "Rush," is typically organized by the university or by the Interfraternity Council (IFC). Events and activities that enable men like yourself who are interested in joining campus fraternities to learn more about the chapters on that campus and meet their members are coordinated on campus and in the Greek community.
Formal recruitment is typically a one or two-week period at the beginning of each academic term. Generally, you will be given the opportunity to visit with the members of the chapter on campus. Many of the chapters will have special events planned to showcase their chapters and to get to know you as a person. Formal recruitment allows you to get to know the members and ask questions about Greek life all in one concise time period.
The Bid - an invitation to join
If the recruitment process (whether formal or informal) is under way, you may have had the opportunity to meet some of the members, maybe you've been to a chapter meeting or maybe a ouple of recruitment events, and so far things are going well. The members have been warm and welcoming to you, and the more brothers you meet, the more you are starting to feel like this is the place for you. It seemed a bit awkward for you at first, for all of these men to be so excited about Delta Chi, but slowly you start to see how much they really love their fraternity and are eager to share their experiences with men like yourself.
If you're in a formal recruitment process, the time is limited to get to know everyone in a chapter, especially in a large fraternity system. But a good chapter is able to show you what it's about in a short time, and you'll know pretty quickly if Delta Chi is right for you. If recruitment is informal, getting to know Delta Chi may happen over a few days or a few months, and the level of knowing the members may be much broader.
As the recruitment period goes along and you get to know more about the members, their reputation on campus, their academic success, their community service and philanthropic efforts, their social events, and their intramural program, you may decide that Delta Chi is a perfect fit for you. If the members of the chapter feel the same way and you meet the academic and personal standards for membership in Delta Chi, you will be offered an invitation to join. This invitation, often referred to as a "bid", means that the members have decided that they feel Delta Chi is a good fit for you and you would be a great addition to their brotherhood.
Men who choose to accept their "bids", will become associate members of Delta Chi. The Associate Member Ceremony, which is the first step towards full membership in Delta Chi, is an open ceremony and begins the associate member program, which is designed to teach you everything you need to know about being an outstanding Delta Chi brother and how to effectively run a chapter.
To say it succinctly, you will be a leader, a scholar, an athlete, and a gentleman through Delta Chi.
Associate Membership
Associate Member pin
The associate member program of Delta Chi is designed to fuse the introduction of Delta Chi's history, values, and traditions with the process of bonding with the active membership and your fellow associate members (or AMs for short). This process, referred to by others as pledging, is the beginning of the journey towards full membership and initiation into Delta Chi.
Upon the completion of the associate member ceremony, where you will receive your associate member pin and your Cornerstone, you can fully expect to jump right into the Fraternity's activities: chapter meetings, social events, intramural sports, educational programs, social service projects and more. Delta Chi wants active members, and to be active means to be involved in as many activities as you can. The associate member program will teach you about the history and values of Delta Chi and the individual chapter. It will also teach you personal success skills, such as time management, personal financial management, study skills, personal etiquette, and how to work well within a team. In accordance with this idea of personal development, your associate member program will not include any activities that will emotionally or physically harm you or make you question your membership in Delta Chi. Delta Chi is strongly opposed to any hazing activities, and such practices have been banned for decades. Your experience in Delta Chi is to be a positive one, and hazing is antithetical to our basic expectations for membership.
Remember, your academic success is paramount to any other activity in which you are involved, and Delta Chi is there to support your effort to graduate, not distract you from it. College life is fun, so it takes personal discipline to ensure he can be successful in your social and academic endeavors. The balance between work and play that you will learn through involvement in Delta Chi is a life skill you will carry through to your professional and family life as an alumnus.
The Ritual - initiation to full membership
Once the Associate Member Program is completed and the active membership feels that you are prepared to become a full member, you will go through the Ritual of Delta Chi. It is a closed (private) occasion and is the most cherished ceremony in all of Delta Chi.
The Delta Chi Ritual is typically preceded by a week of brotherhood events and bonding activities. The MTV-induced image of "hell week" is a horribly inaccurate stereotype of what should be the culmination of hard work and friendship. In 1929, Delta Chi was the first fraternity to officially abolish the practice of "hell week" and instead has replaced those antiquated practices with events to get you more prepared and enthusiastic about taking that final step into full membership.
Your initiation ties you to the 100,000 initiates who have taken this same journey on hundreds of college campuses since our founding in 1890. Although each chapter has its own unique personality, every single Delta Chi is bound together through the proper completion of the Delta Chi Ritual. This experience usually ranks amongst graduation and marriage in the important events in the lives of our brothers and is taken very seriously by both the active members performing the Ritual and the associate members going through it. Typically, alumni will even return to their chapters to witness the Ritual and welcome their new brothers into the Fraternity. It is truly a memorable and honorable experience.
Formal and informal recruitment
There are two distinct recruitment processes for most fraternities: formal recruitment or "rush," and informal recruitment. Informal recruitment is as simple as making friends on campus with a member who thinks would be valuable additions to his chapter, introducing them to other members and eventually to a few of the chapter's events, and asking them if they would like to be members. If a Delta Chi has asked you if you would be interested in joining, take that as a compliment that he thinks highly of you and wishes for you to have the quality fraternity experience he has enjoyed to that point.
Informal recruitment is year-round and may even involve contacting men who are still in high school and plan to attend the members' college or university. It's never too early for you to start looking into joining a fraternity, even if college is a year or two away.
Formal recruitment, or "Rush," is typically organized by the university or by the Interfraternity Council (IFC). Events and activities that enable men like yourself who are interested in joining campus fraternities to learn more about the chapters on that campus and meet their members are coordinated on campus and in the Greek community.
Formal recruitment is typically a one or two-week period at the beginning of each academic term. Generally, you will be given the opportunity to visit with the members of the chapter on campus. Many of the chapters will have special events planned to showcase their chapters and to get to know you as a person. Formal recruitment allows you to get to know the members and ask questions about Greek life all in one concise time period.
The Bid - an invitation to join
If the recruitment process (whether formal or informal) is under way, you may have had the opportunity to meet some of the members, maybe you've been to a chapter meeting or maybe a ouple of recruitment events, and so far things are going well. The members have been warm and welcoming to you, and the more brothers you meet, the more you are starting to feel like this is the place for you. It seemed a bit awkward for you at first, for all of these men to be so excited about Delta Chi, but slowly you start to see how much they really love their fraternity and are eager to share their experiences with men like yourself.
If you're in a formal recruitment process, the time is limited to get to know everyone in a chapter, especially in a large fraternity system. But a good chapter is able to show you what it's about in a short time, and you'll know pretty quickly if Delta Chi is right for you. If recruitment is informal, getting to know Delta Chi may happen over a few days or a few months, and the level of knowing the members may be much broader.
As the recruitment period goes along and you get to know more about the members, their reputation on campus, their academic success, their community service and philanthropic efforts, their social events, and their intramural program, you may decide that Delta Chi is a perfect fit for you. If the members of the chapter feel the same way and you meet the academic and personal standards for membership in Delta Chi, you will be offered an invitation to join. This invitation, often referred to as a "bid", means that the members have decided that they feel Delta Chi is a good fit for you and you would be a great addition to their brotherhood.
Men who choose to accept their "bids", will become associate members of Delta Chi. The Associate Member Ceremony, which is the first step towards full membership in Delta Chi, is an open ceremony and begins the associate member program, which is designed to teach you everything you need to know about being an outstanding Delta Chi brother and how to effectively run a chapter.
To say it succinctly, you will be a leader, a scholar, an athlete, and a gentleman through Delta Chi.
Associate Membership
Associate Member pin
The associate member program of Delta Chi is designed to fuse the introduction of Delta Chi's history, values, and traditions with the process of bonding with the active membership and your fellow associate members (or AMs for short). This process, referred to by others as pledging, is the beginning of the journey towards full membership and initiation into Delta Chi.
Upon the completion of the associate member ceremony, where you will receive your associate member pin and your Cornerstone, you can fully expect to jump right into the Fraternity's activities: chapter meetings, social events, intramural sports, educational programs, social service projects and more. Delta Chi wants active members, and to be active means to be involved in as many activities as you can. The associate member program will teach you about the history and values of Delta Chi and the individual chapter. It will also teach you personal success skills, such as time management, personal financial management, study skills, personal etiquette, and how to work well within a team. In accordance with this idea of personal development, your associate member program will not include any activities that will emotionally or physically harm you or make you question your membership in Delta Chi. Delta Chi is strongly opposed to any hazing activities, and such practices have been banned for decades. Your experience in Delta Chi is to be a positive one, and hazing is antithetical to our basic expectations for membership.
Remember, your academic success is paramount to any other activity in which you are involved, and Delta Chi is there to support your effort to graduate, not distract you from it. College life is fun, so it takes personal discipline to ensure he can be successful in your social and academic endeavors. The balance between work and play that you will learn through involvement in Delta Chi is a life skill you will carry through to your professional and family life as an alumnus.
The Ritual - initiation to full membership
Once the Associate Member Program is completed and the active membership feels that you are prepared to become a full member, you will go through the Ritual of Delta Chi. It is a closed (private) occasion and is the most cherished ceremony in all of Delta Chi.
The Delta Chi Ritual is typically preceded by a week of brotherhood events and bonding activities. The MTV-induced image of "hell week" is a horribly inaccurate stereotype of what should be the culmination of hard work and friendship. In 1929, Delta Chi was the first fraternity to officially abolish the practice of "hell week" and instead has replaced those antiquated practices with events to get you more prepared and enthusiastic about taking that final step into full membership.
Your initiation ties you to the 100,000 initiates who have taken this same journey on hundreds of college campuses since our founding in 1890. Although each chapter has its own unique personality, every single Delta Chi is bound together through the proper completion of the Delta Chi Ritual. This experience usually ranks amongst graduation and marriage in the important events in the lives of our brothers and is taken very seriously by both the active members performing the Ritual and the associate members going through it. Typically, alumni will even return to their chapters to witness the Ritual and welcome their new brothers into the Fraternity. It is truly a memorable and honorable experience.