Students interested in joining one of Mercer’s Greek organizations will have more time to prepare to run up the hill this year.
Mercer University will be holding delayed recruitment this year.
According to the Delayed Recruitment Guidelines and Policies, the purpose of delayed recruitment is to “create a safe, positive environment for incoming first-year students to acclimate to campus prior to affiliating with a Greek letter organization.”
The delayed start times of recruitment for each Greek organization varies depending on which council the organization falls under.
According to the guidelines and policies document, the chapters under the Panhellenic Council will have their week of recruitment activities Sept. 10-15.
The Interfraternity Council recruitment will be Sept. 17-23. Both the National Panhellenic Council and the Multicultural Greek Council will hold activities Sept. 10 and will have no prior interest meetings.
Along with the new times of delayed recruitment, there are special policies set in place.
The policies apply to all first-year students and all members of a social Greek organization at Mercer University, according to the document.
One of the policies is limited contact between first-year students and Greek Life members under the Panhellenic and Interfraternity Councils.
“Greek students may NOT interact with first-year students under the following circumstances: off campus (The Lofts, other organization events, off campus houses, public venues and any other off campus location not specified), in the chapter houses, at chapter events [or] in first-year residence halls and current Greek member residence hall rooms,” according to the document.
Within the document, there are specific rules for the Panhellenic and Interfraternity Councils. The Panhellenic Council Limited Guidelines not only apply to first year students, but any potential new member of a chapter.
“[A] Potential New Member [is] any Mercer University student of the same sex as your chapter not already a member of a Greek chapter,” according to the definitions section of the document.
The guidelines go on to discuss appropriate and inappropriate conversation topics to have during the limited contact time.
The end of the Panhellenic-specific guidelines reminds the women from the chapters that the policies deal with first-year students and potential new members.
“All unaffiliated women on campus are considered potential new members. These guidelines are made with all unaffiliated women in mind,” according to the document. “Fill out a prior contact form for upperclassmen you are already friends with.”
Suzanna Arul, a member of Phi Mu, said that the limited contact policy isn’t new to recruitment.
“It was only for the first week, [and] it [had] a minimal impact. Now that we’re in school longer, there’s a bigger potential for ‘dirty rushing,’ which is like swaying a person’s decision based on what sorority you’re in,” she said.
Arul said that the extended limited contact is hard because of her living situation. Two of her three roommates are also involved in Greek Life.
“One is an ADPi, one is Chi O and the fourth is non-greek. She doesn’t plan on rushing but technically she’s a potential new member, so in public we really can’t be getting lunch with her or doing anything with her,” she said. “It sucks.’’
Other general policies include how chapters can host events before each council’s recruitment time.
“Each chapter may have one formal function ON CAMPUS prior to formal recruitment,” according to the document. “MGC and NPHC chapters may also hold one approved, on campus event prior to Sept.10.”
The document also provides sanctions that will be put in place if a chapter violates any of the policies. The policies are split into three different levels.
The first level of violations apply to the limited contact that the chapters of the Panhellenic and Interfraternity Councils must adhere to.
If there are any violations, the respective councils will determine the sanctions for the specific chapter.
The document states that first year students involved with more than one “Level 1” violation will not be allowed to accept a bid for one calendar year.
The second level of violations includes contact with students off campus and any of the recruitment policies.
“[Level two examples include] going to a social event with another student organization off campus that first-years will be at, [and] going to lunch off campus with a first-year student. This includes Mercer Village,” according to the document.
Violations from the second level are handled by Campus Life. Sanctions include a fine for the chapter and delayed activity in recruitment until the fine is paid.
First-year students involved will have the same sanction as a level one violation.
Level three violations include those of level one and two but with the presence of alcohol.
Any level three violation will be handled by Judicial Education.
The sanctions include an increased fine and the chance that a chapter may not be able to participate in their respective recruitment week. Chapters may also face charges from Judicial.
According to the document,“Any violation involving alcohol regardless of the type of infraction will be investigated under the student organization judicial policy. Serious infractions may result in suspension of the chapter from campus.”
The full Delayed Recruitment Guidelines and Policies document can be found under the Greek Life section of Mercer’s Campus Life website.
As the chapters prepare to host their respective recruitment weeks, Alexa Levine, director of recruitment counselors for the Panhellenic Council said that she thinks delayed recruitment is a good thing.
“I think delayed recruitment is a hard idea to wrap your head around but after you do, you'll see the chapters grade increase as well as the number of quality women coming out for recruitment,” she said. “I think after we work out the kinks this first year the next years will be even better.”
*Editor's note: this article was updated 8/29/2017 to include input from Suzanna Arul.
Greek Life set for delayed recruitment with special guidelines
Greek Village sits awaiting the students who will participate in delayed recruitment.
