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While I can't speak for the IFC policy, IFC and ISC typically do not release numbers. And in a way, I kind of understand. It's hard to read that your fraternity got 2 pledges, while everyone else got 25. Especially when you're trying to rebuild a fraternity, you have less than 10 members, and you don't have a house...it can become disheartening. (By the way, ZBT does have more than 10 members, but there was a point when they did not.)
While I understand everyone (including me) is super-curious about recruitment results, I also know that fraternity recruitment did not go as well as hoped this year. Numbers in general were down, and I know of at least one traditionally strong fraternity that did not do well. Perhaps the policy is a bit stupid, but I think it's a sign of a movement on IFC's part to be more "interfraternal."
Personally, I'm incredibly proud of ZBT. They reformed at Emory a few years ago, and they have an amazing brotherhood. I think the rest of the article is actually way more interesting:
“This was the most successful recruitment year ever, not just in terms of numbers but in the quality of the new members,” Schwartz said.
Previously, ZBT had heavily relied on “rolling rush,” a process in which sophomores, juniors and seniors are recruited throughout the school year and freshmen during the latter part of second semester, according to former ZBT President Matthew Bradford (’04B).
“Rolling rush” often resulted in new upperclassman members only — a factor that prevented ZBT from establishing a strong underclassmen base, Bradford said.
Bradford commented that with a large underclassman base, the fraternity now had much more potential to grow and improve.
College sophomore and ZBT treasurer Joel Frankel said he was not surprised by the number of students that accepted bids to ZBT this year.
“This year’s numbers were a product of an organized rush,” Frankel said.
According to Bradford, ZBT kept in contact with freshmen who expressed interest in the fraternity throughout the first semester, inviting them to socialize with older brothers. With an established core of potential members, ZBT could spendmore time during official recruitment with the freshmen that were less familiar with the fraternity.
Frankel believes that the new members were initially attracted to ZBT’s small size and the strong bonds formed between members.
“We’re a tight-knit brotherhood,” Frankel said. “You can always call up a brother and hang out.”
New ZBT member College freshman Sean Smiley said he felt ZBT’s small community embodied what Greek life was supposed to be.
“I decided to join ZBT because fraternities, to me, are about brotherhood, and I felt I got the closest with my brothers in a smaller fraternity,” Smiley said.
New members of ZBT do not pledge — a factor Bradford believes dramatically affects the fraternity’s atmosphere. Forty-eight hours after accepting their bids, new ZBT members become official ZBT brothers.
The immediate initiation allows new ZBT members to pursue management aspects of the fraternity from the beginning, according to Bradford, who said that without pledging, new members of the fraternity are on “equal footing” with other members of the fraternity.
By taking these positions in the fraternity, the new members hope to gain more recognition for the fraternity on the campus.
“The reason why we joined ZBT is because we saw a lot of potential in it,” Vohra said. “We saw that a lot of people didn’t know what ZBT was, so we thought it would be cool to be able to join a frat and make it the best frat on campus.”
This year’s success has prompted much debate about the future of the fraternity — specifically about the possibility of becoming an on-campus fraternity.
“We’re kind of in a loose debate on whether or not we should go on campus or not,” Bradford said.
Schwartz said the fraternity hopes to become more active in philanthropic activities, schedule more events and make the fraternity better known on the Emory campus.
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