Aakash Tandel (’14)
The 2012-2013 recruitment year was a successful one for the Delta Chapter. During Fall Rush, we had two men accept bids, but they deferred their pledging semester to the spring. Come spring, they pledged with 14 other outstanding gentlemen to form the Alpha Sigma Pledge Class. The rush schedule this year incorporated classics like the Dominion Gun Range, as well as new events like Swader’s Sports Park in Chesterfield for laser tag.
Our success this year can be attributed to the entire Chapter’s drive to recruit a large pledge class. Every Brother was successful in “man-flirting” and convincing rushees that Alpha Tau Omega was the fraternity they should join. Our new members came from a wide variety of backgrounds — some of them would have never thought of joining a fraternity before coming to ATΩ, while others planned on joining a fraternity no matter what. The Brothers were successful in selling the fraternity to all the men who we felt fit the mold of great Taus.
This spring, ATΩ Nationals sent Jordan Fischette, a Recruitment Specialist, to help our fraternity in the area of recruitment. After a long four hours, we learned valuable methods we could use to expand our Brotherhood. Jordan taught us, through a dating analogy, the steps to giving a potential recruit a bid. We also developed our “Pillars of Recruitment” with Jordan. These “Pillars” are the criteria we will use to evaluate prospective members going forward. Delta is grateful for Nationals’ involvement and guidance in improving our Chapter’s recruitment program.
This year, we were successful in mobilizing a Recruitment Team in additional to our usual Recruitment Chairs. Our Recruitment Team is currently working on a variety of ways to make ATΩ “top of mind” for potential rushees, to make sure they are thinking ATΩ long before rush begins in spring 2014. Our team would greatly appreciate names for our “names list” from any alumni who know potential Taus at The University. We thank the alumni for the recommendations we received this past spring rush — your recommendations brought us new Brothers.
The Chapter has decided to make recruitment a year-long objective, thus ensuring the lifeblood of our fraternity. We look forward to continuing to work with our alumni and Nationals to ensure future success in recruitment.