The year 2020 has brought about many changes, to say the least. In these (yes, I’m saying it) unprecedented times, safety and protection as a means to slow the spread of the coronavirus have moved to the forefront of everyone’s mind. Many of the things we took for granted have changed dramatically. This looks different from state to state, but the general attitude is one of taking precautions while trying to get on with “normal” day to day life.
College campuses are no exception. There will be no mass gatherings of students, many classes will be virtual, and college life will be very different this year in the wake of coronavirus precautions. One specific example is the sorority and fraternity rush process. For those unfamiliar, “recruitment” or “rush” is when a Greek life organization begins accepting applications from potential new members as they bid and pledge for the sorority or fraternity they wish to join. For decades, the rush process included a first round where potential new members (we’ll call them PNMs) would gather together for a big introduction to each of the campus’ chapters, often going table to table, room to room or house to house to introduce themselves in hopes of being moved forward to the next round.
Imagine going table to table, shaking hands, hugging, and talking at close distance during a pandemic. This is a recipe for mass coronavirus spread, putting students and their families at risk for contracting an illness that has questionable outcomes. Since school has commenced, many college towns are seeing an increase in coronavirus cases already. BestLife summarized 10 college towns that have already seen a significant increase in cases within the first few weeks. Simply put, sororities and fraternities must switch to a virtual first round recruitment to maintain the health and safety of students and chapter members.
Me in 3 has stepped up to the plate and adapted our revolutionary software to fit the needs of first round recruitment for sororities and fraternities. President of Me in 3, Brett Williams said, “After visiting with several Panhellenic and IFC organizations, we decided to make some minor modifications to our transformative video screening solution that makes it extremely applicable to Greek recruitment. The Me in 3 platform is a secure, organized, and scalable way for fraternity and sorority chapters to virtually meet incoming potential new members without exposing students to the possible health hazards of large gatherings.”
With Me in 3, PNMs can create a profile which includes an application, summary of their background and up to a three-minute video of them telling about themselves. Each Chapter can then have team members quickly review the information, watch the video, make notes and vote on whether that potential new member would be a good fit for their chapter. Using this virtual first round recruitment format ensures that person-to-person contact is limited, keeping students and staff safe and reducing the risk of spread across campus.
It’s clear that college life will be extremely different in 2020. It’s crucial that campuses, fraternities, and sororities take as many precautionary measures as possible to reduce the spread of coronavirus on campus. Me in 3 helps in that it is secure, organized, and easy for everyone to use, but still gives everyone a chance to get to know each other. Several campus Greek life organizations have already implemented Me in 3 in their recruitment process to great success. Clemson University Interfraternal Council, Nova Southeastern Panhellenic and Collegiate Fraternal Council, St. John’s University, to name a few. At the University of Texas at Austin, their panhellenic council utilized Me in 3 for first round recruitment and had a 95% participation rate and will be using this format for years to come. If your campus is committed to safety, making the shift to virtual rush is a logical step in protecting all parties involved in the process.
For more information on Me in 3 for rush, click here: https://www.mein3.com/recruitment/
To see a PNM profile in action, click here: https://bit.ly/CBRush
To schedule a demonstration and learn how Me in 3 can help YOUR campus, click here: https://calendly.com/mein3sara/mein3infosession