Please forgive my slightly abrasive article title; I'm a bit annoyed by something I recently found on the Internet. Go figure. I was on my way to interview a potential new member for Delta Sigma Phi and was looking for some good interview questions to ask him when I stumbled upon a website that unleashed my inner raging frat beast -- something that usually only happens when I'm playing ping-pong. To give you an idea as to why this page made me so angry, let me share with you a few lines from the second paragraph that pretty much sum up the entire article:
"Before answering these questions, it is important to find out what type of fraternity or sorority you are applying for. Sometimes a good answer for one group will be a terrible answer to another. Most of the time, fraternities are about having a good time with friends."
I was so disturbed because I realized I was looking at a source of many of the problems with Greek recruitment— namely, the mindset that a fraternity bid is like a job offer, something you can only get by competing with your peers and stretching the truth to make yourself look as good as possible in the eyes of your interviewer. I think that many people don't completely grasp the implications of "joining for life." If you have to create some false persona to get a fraternity to like you, then that fraternity is not the right fit for you. And when you join an organization for life, you better be quite sure it is the right fit for you.
In reality, a bid from a fraternity is much more like getting a pet dog than landing a new job. When you go to the pet store, you aren't necessarily looking for the most elite breed. You stroll down the aisles looking at puppy after puppy until you find him—your future best friend, and you can tell from the moment you first see him. He may not be the most expensive or the best breed, but he's yours. And a week later, someone else might come in to the same pet store and see their own canine other half in the eyes of a dog you had passed by. Rushing fraternities shouldn't be about finding the "best," but rather, finding the group of people you want to be with for the rest of your life —which is why it's so important to be yourself when going through rush.
One last thing to think about: I don't interview potential new members to find out how much they love to party. I can have a good time with someone whether they are a brother, a member of another fraternity, or even—dare I say it —a GDI. Rather than talk about how fun you can be at a party, talk about yourself. What are your values? What are your goals, fears, and regrets? I don't want to know your highest streak in beer pong. I want to know if you would have the courage to step in and stop your brother from cheating on his girlfriend when he's drunk at a party. I want to know if you can give a brother the support he needs when his father goes into surgery. I want to know that I can come to you for help if something goes wrong in my own life. Your fraternity is your family, so choose wisely, and going Greek might just be one of the best decisions you ever make.
