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Dear Upperclassmen, You Should be Recruiting Too

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Dear Upperclassmen, You Should be Recruiting Too

By Chris Buck, Associate Director of Expansion

I would like to start with a disclaimer: this piece is not meant to attack upperclassmen or to say that there aren’t upper-class members who are helping to recruit. I recognize that for most upperclassmen, there is a more rigorous course load, internship requirements that need to be met, and the looming shadow that is the graduation hourglass, closer and closer to running out. However, over the last two years of focusing on recruitment assistance for our chapters and colonies, we have noticed a trend, the disengagement of upper-class members when it comes to recruitment. So this article is merely to say, we need you more than ever to be a part of the process. Here are three reasons why, as an upperclassman, you should be helping recruit.

You are connected – Recruitment is all about relationships. As an upperclassman, you are one of the most connected members in your chapter. You know the leaders of campus organizations, have friends in your major, and know key faculty and staff. So why aren’t you using this knowledge and these connections to find great potential members? It is important for our upperclassmen to be  reaching out to their networks to find future leaders who they believe could take the chapter or colony to the heights that surpasses them. Men are out there who will look at the chapter’s operations with fresh eyes and say, “We can do better,” or ask “Why not this way?” These are men that the chapter should be targeting to join who won’t know about Lambda Chi unless you tell them. So please, share your network and find the future leaders for your chapter.

You know Lambda Chi Alpha – As a senior, you have a seasoned perspective that the younger members of the chapter don’t. You have seen success, failure, and the best that Lambda Chi Alpha has to offer. You also know the amazing things that happen within our brotherhood; I am sure that you have been impacted by Lambda Chi Alpha in some profound way, or you wouldn’t have stayed this long. So take this Lambda Chi Alpha know-how and your life-changing experience and share it with a potential member! You have a compelling story and experience that a potential member is looking to hear. All you need to do is show up, engage with recruits, and share your story. Who knows, you may even find a new friend, future little brother, or a mentee who feels your impact for years to come.

It’s your legacy – Recruitment has the ability to be the avenue for leaving a legacy. It may be the conversation you have with a potential member or the guy you bring to a recruitment event that changes the course of your chapter. You may not know it, but the guy you just convinced to join may be the future High Alpha, who may go on to win the Duke Flaad Award (Outstanding Undergraduate Brother Award) and in his acceptance speech, he might just thank you for sharing the gift of Lambda Chi Alpha with him.  Because without you, he would not have joined. You may already have a stellar legacy, but recruitment is helping another create theirs. You don’t want to be known as the upperclassman who sat at the back of the chapter room not contributing, or the guy who didn’t show up to anything anymore. You want to be the leader who stayed involved all four years, who actively recruited high-caliber men, and who used his experience in the chapter to educate younger members and help guide its future. John Rohn once stated, “All good men and women must take responsibility to create legacies that will take the next generation to a level we could only imagine.”

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When you get this spring’s recruitment calendar and think, “I have better things to do,” think again. Consider what your legacy will be and how you can help your chapter go to a place you only imagined.