Spring 2020 recruitment (aka “rush”) will be held at Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house, 330 N. Grant St., across the street from Purdue’s Grissom Hall (which is located just north of the Purdue Memorial Union and just south of Knoy Hall of Technology). The spring recruitment schedule has not yet been selected and the events have not been set.
The Spring 2020 recruitment chairman is Henry Groya, 708/638-2967, hgroya@aol.com.
Below, you will find the schedule we followed in the Fall 2019 to give you an idea of what to expect.
Fall 2019 Recruitment Events:
• Meet the Greeks/Cooperatives. 3-6 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 18, Memorial Mall. This is a campus-wide event featuring all fraternities, sororities and cooperatives. Pi Kappa Phi will be among the 42 Interfraternity Council chapters at the event. Also, sororities as well as men’s and women’s cooperatives will be at the event. Find the Pi Kappa Phi table to learn more about the chapter, or come our first recruitment event afterwards,
• Sunday, Aug. 18. Grill out. Come get free food at a grill out on the front lawn of the chapter house, 330 N. Grant St.
• Monday, Aug. 19. Meet the Brothers. This is an opportunity to meet the brothers in an informal setting at the chapter house.
• Wednesday, Aug. 21. Room Talks. After registering outside, come into the house and be escorted to various theme-oriented rooms to learn more about what makes Pi Kappa Phi an award-winning Greek organization.
• Saturday, Aug. 24, 7 on 7 Football at the T-Rec (Turf Recreation Exercise Center), near the Cordova Recreational Sports Center. This event is 10 a.m. to noon (the only event that is other than 5-7 p.m. and the only one away from the chapter house itself). It’s OK if you are not a football player, too.
• Tuesday, Aug. 27, Steaks ‘n Stogies. This Pi Kapp favorite will be held on the front lawn. Eating and smoking are optional, but available. Get another chance to meet the chapter members informally.
• Thursday, Aug. 29, The Ability Experience. This event is something that sets Pi Kappa Phi apart from every other fraternity. Learn about our philanthropic effort to help people with disabilities from chapter programming to biking across the nation. You can learn more about what brothers do locally elsewhere on this website or nationally on its site (www.abilityexperience.org). You will be amazed.
• Tuesday, Sept. 3, House Tours. Again, be escorted through theme-oriented rooms in the chapter house. This is the last regular recruitment event of the fall semester.
• Thursday, Sept. 5, Bid Dinner (by invitation only). Meet your fellow fall new member class during a formal dinner at the house.
• Sunday, Sept. 8, New Member Retreat (bid accepts only). Time and location to be announced for this off-campus afternoon into evening event.
* All new member recruitment events are 5-7 p.m., unless otherwise noted above.
If you are interested in new member recruitment and have further questions, contact our Recruitment Chairman TBA or fill out a form here.
• TBA
Pi Kappa Phi prides itself in developing leaders, serving others and personal growth. As such, it has been honored as Purdue’s top fraternity – RB Stewart Award winner – 9 of the last 12 years including 2 in a row.
Terminology:
Rush, aka new member recruitment. This is an opportunity to meet brothers at various chapters. There is no commitment made by you just to visit chapters during rush. It’s an opportunity to learn about the members and the chapters. If you find fraternities you are interesting in potentially joining, you are encouraged to attend as many rush events as possible. The earlier the better.
Bid. This is an invitation to join the chapter. You are welcome to visit as many chapters as you wish and get as many bids as you want. However, once you accept a bid you are committed (it’s not a contract, it’s a commitment).
Legacy. This is when you have a relative who is a member of a specific chapter. Preference is generally given to those who have relatives among the chapter’s membership or alumni rolls. There is no guarantee that a legacy will receive a bid at Pi Kappa Phi.
Induction. This is a formal event at the start of the new member education (aka pledgeship) starts where each member of the class commits to seeking to become an initiated member into the chapter.
New Member Orientation/Pledging. After accepting a bid, there will be a formal ceremony welcoming you into the new member education plan. New Member education programs can be 2 to 30 weeks long, depending on the chapter. The most common timeframe is completion in the same semester as you start.
Initiation. This is a formal ceremony inducting you into a chapter. It occurs upon your successful completion of the new member education process. If you so choose, you typically can relinquish your bid (quit) to a chapter up to initiation time. It’s during the initiation ceremony that you typically learn the secret meaning of the chapter. At Pi Kappa Phi, initiation occurs after the start of the semester following induction. Our initiation order is determined by the prior semester GPA (reinforcing the chapter’s commitment to academic achievement).