Feature Story

Two simple words were typed on over 1500 pieces of paper posted all around campus last week: ‘ASK HER’. Ask who about what?

The true answer was not released until Friday when approximately 100 female students wore shirts that said ‘ASK ME’. Students who did ask were given fliers with information about recruitment for the Kappa Sigma fraternity.

This is one example of creative recruiting, resulting from the decision to end formal recruitment for fraternities last spring.

“It was very successful and it even got to the point where there was a Facebook group,” said Jackson Brooks, a sophomore in the house. “On Thursday morning there were 20 members and by Friday there were over 200.”

The fraternity held an informational meeting Friday evening in Todd to inform potential recruits about their chapter, with a barbeque on Saturday to follow.

About 20 students turned out for the meeting on Friday, which was “less than expected, but we wanted to do something different,” said Brian Floyd, a senior in the house. “People might have been scared because they were unsure about what it was.”

The shift from formal and informal recruitment to solely informal recruitment for the fraternities has forced the chapters to be more creative in ways to promote their houses and put more effort into individually seeking out members.

“[Informal recruitment] makes houses be more proactive and decide on the guys we want instead of depending on formal,” Brooks said. “In the long run, it will better the Greek community.”

According to Floyd, they want to find members that don’t fit a mold.

“We’re working towards finding high-quality guys that are committed to service and brotherhood,” he said. “Hopefully it will help turn around the Greek community in the future.”

Kevin Stangvik, former recruitment chair for Phi Gamma Delta said that one of the reasons for the switch to just informal recruitment has been the steady decline of turnout for formal recruitment.

“Last time we did formal recruitment, we had just over 100 guys who went through,” he said. “We try to keep participation up mostly by word of mouth. We want to make sure people know that all frats aren’t like the ones in ‘Animal House’. We focus on philanthropies and networking for after we graduate.”

Despite recent chapter shut downs, such as Sigma Nu at the end of last year due to hazing and the recent closing of Alpha Kappa Lamda for alleged cocaine distribution, Taylor Worth, director of recruitment for the Interfraternity Council, said recruitment is actually going really well.

“Chapters make a move to make sure they don’t go that direction,” he said. “Because we’re addressing the problems it can actually be positive because people know they’re safe. It’s not going unregulated.”

He added that it is key to focus on communication between chapters in the wake of incidents such as these, and make sure there are open, honest answers for parents and students.

Feeding the Beast response

After watching the video "Feeding the Beast", I think the Beast would be considered the general public and the audience that watches the news show or reads the newspaper. The Beast needs to be fed because the public deserves the truth about information and stories happening locally which might directly affect them and stories happening internationally. All stories, no matter how closely linked they are to the public should be told in an accurate and timely manner so information and people are not misrepresented.

A compromise that can occur is the accuracy and truth of a story. In the 24-hour news cycle, there are constant deadlines which push reporters and journalists to find interesting stories and fight for a spot on the front page or be a top headline in that night's broadcast. Because stories are constantly happening and evolving, the real, truthful information might be challenging to keep up with and unfortunatley, the reporters might not be able to keep up.