2024 Formal Recruitment makes history with most bids in five years 

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Interfraternity Council (IFC) reported the 2024 Formal Recruitment had the highest number of bids to potential new members. This year’s more than 150 bids were the highest the council has seen in five years. Formal Recruitment took place from Sept. 8 to 14.

In a press release about the achievement, Seth Benton, the vice president of Recruitment for the IFC, expressed his excitement over the historic feat for the fraternities. 

“We are thrilled with the outcome of this year’s recruitment, and it’s inspiring to see so many young men eager to become a part of our Greek life community.” The range of new members for each fraternity usually ranges from three to 30, but this year the range changed to 14 to 22 new members for each fraternity. The new range combines the new members from both formal and informal recruitment. The highest number of members a single fraternity recruited this year was 27. 

Benton attributed the success of this year’s recruitment process to the collaborative effort between the IFC, the university and greater Lafayette community. 

“Working with the community as well as the university. We had a lot of support from the administrators, the fraternities and sororities life office […] helped us a lot. For us it was more of the outreach side of it. We really asked. We had sponsors. We had some photographers from the school as well as the university collaborate with us on social media.” 

“It was more of the branding and getting the word out, I would say, is what really helped this year be more successful,” Benton added. The success of this year’s recruitment process did not come as a surprise to Benton, who explained their six month process of promotion for joining fraternities. 

“For me it was expected. We worked extremely hard so knew that the work that we put in over these past six months made us confident that we were going to get the result that we wanted. Despite the hurricane and all the setbacks we had that week, we knew that we’d put in enough work and we were going to get the result we wanted,” Benton said. One of the most important lessons Benton learned during his time in Greek life is how collaboration and communication are imperative for success. This year’s achievement further affirms what he has learned. 

“You can’t do anything alone. You have to work together. Even if every side doesn’t agree on one thing you still have to work together. Always be at the table willing to resolve conflicts. Don’t just do things on your own. Communication is key,” Benton said. He added, “That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned. As men, I think we like to do things by ourselves and think that we can just shoulder everything. We can’t. You have to have people around you to get it done.” 

Teaching young men how to be better people is the core goal of IFC fraternities at UL Lafayette according to Benton. 

“A lot of our organizations, the basic goals of them are to create better men. You come to these organizations maybe not really knowing who you are and you develop skills so when you leave college you’re able to be better in the professional world, be better husbands, fathers. It’s to equip you with the skills that you’re going to need later in life.” 

Benton expressed his thanks and his hope that the university continues to aid the IFC in bringing fraternities to the students of UL Lafayette. 

“We are extremely grateful for the university’s support throughout this year. They’ve been extremely helpful. They want to get involved and help us bring a face to a name, so I really hope in the years to come that the fraternities and the university keep coming to the table and working together. I only see positive things coming from that.” 

The IFC is the representative body for their fraternities. The IFC fraternities at UL Lafayette include Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Alpha Order, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Kappa Theta, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Theta Xi. They meet weekly to discuss topics. issues and legislation pertaining to their fraternities. More information about the IFC and their fraternities can be found on http://www.ifcrecruitmentguide. info or their Instagram, @ul_ifc. 

First-time freshmen are required to go through Formal Recruitment, a process which normally takes place at the beginning of fall semester and allows potential new members to get to know the fraternities. Upperclassmen can go through an informal recruitment if they wish to join a fraternity, which allows them to join at any point throughout the recruitment process. Informal recruitment does not require any attendance to recruitment events.