By Erika Kuehl | Staff Writer
While sorority recruitment is publicized on TikTok with “OOTDs” and $500 heels, fraternity recruitment is somewhat of a mystery to the general public.
Anthem, Ariz., sophomore Trent Scott is the director of recruitment for Delta Tau Delta fraternity at Baylor. He said he started planning spring rush events when he was elected to the position back in October. Recently, Delta Tau Delta held a Fountain Mall tailgate, an event at the driving range and a three-on-three basketball competition.
“We have a guy that we’ve been rushing now who absolutely crushed balls, and it gave people a chance to talk to him,” Scott said. “We did a men’s group to show that, yeah, we’re a fraternity, but faith is still really important to a lot of us.”
Like sororities, Scott said fraternities meet potential new members throughout the year but also during formal recruitment week.
“Formal recruiting obviously started on Tuesday of last week, but we do have guys that we met just from the first semester rush events throughout campus,” Scott said. “I know some guys we met just through the [McLane Student Life Center] that seemed cool, came up and started a conversation because one of us was wearing letters.”
Scott said Delta Tau Delta looks for men who can hold a conversation and have a consistent interest in the fraternity.
“In every event, striving to meet new people and keep getting their name out there,” Scott said. “Guys who are smart — we have a pretty high GPA, so guys who have career goals or aspirations. It sounds kind of dumb, but cool guys, if that makes sense. Guys who have good stories, who are interesting to talk to, who put in effort and have goals.”
Scott said he chose Delta Tau Delta because of the brotherhood.
“I saw guys that I knew were sophomores hanging out with seniors, and it was like there’s no difference in their grades,” Scott said. “It seemed like they’re the same grade, almost grown up with each other.”
San Diego sophomore Cade Dethloff is a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. He said he served on the rush committee last semester and has spent the last month forming connections with potential new members.
“My favorite part is just seeing the way the kids grow,” Dethloff said. “You can already see how they’re being affected through rush and everything and spending time around people. It’s cool to see them go from bright-eyed freshmen to making it a little bit more of a home for themselves.”
Dethloff said he chose Sigma Chi because of how the fraternity focused on forming a community over anything else.
“I want to look around and be proud of every single person and be like, ‘I want to introduce this person to my parents,'” Dethloff said. “I want these guys around me to influence my kids. I know my kids are going to grow up with guys in my [pledge class] being called ‘uncle.’ So I think I made the right choice there. Everyone’s able to have an intentional, deep conversation, but they are also a lot of fun to hang out with.”
