Our Ambassador Mary Kate Lobough recently attended the 2011 Annual Meeting of Fraternity and Sorority Advisors (AFA).  Although SureSister staff members did not deliver an educational session this year, we are happy to provide you with this update written by Mary Kate:

Many colleagues at AFA asked me what SureSister.com is up to. Many of the SureSister.com Staff members have taken on new professional and personal endeavors so there are some changes underway with SureSister.com. One of the most exciting changes right now is the addition of a new SureSister.com Social Media Intern. This selection process is underway and we hope to make an announcement soon.  This will help us as we unveil projects like our online community.

I truly enjoyed learning with my colleagues at AFA. As always, I was challenged and inspired by the amazing talent in the field of student affairs, specifically fraternity and sorority affairs. As I attended sessions, enjoyed thought-provoking conversation and enjoyed networking opportunities, I was reminded of the relevance of SureSister.com’s belief: that prospective sorority members deserve the tools for success. I returned home from the Annual Meeting committed to providing the pre-recruitment education students desperately need.

I am continually impressed by the level of support AFA and the AFA Foundation provides professionals. I am proud that we at SureSister.com continue our relationship with AFA. As a side note, congratulations to those who won silent auction items donated by SureSister.com! Thank YOU to all donors and bidders for your support of the AFA Foundation.

Lindsey Trione – @lmtrione “just won the @SureSister swag bag at #afa2011am. Wooooo!” #AFA2011AM

At last year’s AFA Annual Meeting we presented a session entitled Giving Potential New Members the Pre-Recruitment Education They Really Need Before Panhellenic Formal Recruitment (view here) in which we:

♥ Introduced prospective sorority members as an overlooked stakeholder group.
♥ Challenged campus professionals to consider how recruitment might change given a compassionate approach toward prospective sorority members.
♥ Asked, if we offered prospective sorority members plentiful training on conversation skills, non-verbal signals, etiquette, and more…

♥ Could we improve our recruitment processes?
♥ Would we attract more prospective sorority members?
♥ Would we retain more new members?

♥ Explored the idea of providing training before students begin their first recruitment conversations take place.
♥ Offered resources and various types of training options that each campus could implement.

Your feedback for this session was positive.  We received messages from motivated professionals for months describing their innovative programming changes with regard to pre-recruitment education and recruitment counselor training – changes they implemented after attending our session.  Because of this feedback and subsequent action by professionals, we know that our work must continue.  We invite you to connect with SureSister as we advance pre-recruitment education on every campus in North America.

One final note: In our presentation we mention a discount code for book purchases – AFA2010 – which  is still valid! So take this opportunity to get your own copy of RUSH RIGHT: Reveal Your Best YOU During Recruitment.

Wishing all of you great success in your endeavors,

Mary Kate

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Mary Kate Lobough is a SureSister.com Ambassador. She is a past college Panhellenic Vice President of Public Relations and was a Greek Life graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois University. Mary Kate holds a bachelors degree in history and a masters degree in student affairs in higher education from the same institution. A member of Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority, Mary Kate has served on both advisory boards and housing corporations. She can be reached via email using her first name (at) suresister.com, or at @PETALMaryKate on Twitter.

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Technorati Tags: AFA, Association of Fraternity and Sorority Advisors, college orientation, freshman advice, gamma chi, joining a sorority, panhellenic, PETAL System, recruitment, sigma sigma sigma, sorority recruitment advice, sorority recruitment rush conversation secrets tips advice greek panhellenic college book, womens fraternity

Job Description

Design and execute the overall social media strategy for 2012 including promotions, trivia, games, contests, theme days or weeks, etc.  Existing strategy has included daily publishing of past @SureSister blog articles, celebrating each NPC organizations’ Founders Day, reposting extension announcements for campuses and selected chapters, tips on recruitment, promoting the SureSister belief, sharing different parts of the SureSister website, including promo codes for deals on book orders.

♥ Twitter:  On a daily basis (or scheduled via TweetDeck, HootSuite, etc.), respond to tweets from local and national followers in our community, RTing where appropriate.  Add Panhellenic councils, Greek life offices and individual chapters to our lists.  Follow back followers who are not spammers or marketers (but do follow Greek-related merchandisers).  Look for new tools and apps to make our Social Media a better experience for our audience.

♥ Facebook:  Repost interesting stories from inter/national headquarters of NPC groups and the National Panhellenic Conference where applicable, as well as posting pertinent information from industry friends like CampuSpeak, ResponsAbility, PhiredUp, higher ed bloggers, etc.  Hyperlink to the organizations or people in status updates. Make content rich.

Apply If

♥ You believe passionately that prospective sorority members everywhere in North America would benefit from having pre-recruitment education and should be provided the tools for success during the recruitment process by their Panhellenic leaders.

♥ You “get” the fraternal experience and want to contribute to a forward thinking organization that pushes the envelope (if you can call helping students be better people “pushing the envelope”).

♥ You are savvy with updating social media from mobile devices and using applications for timing/sequencing and posting to multiple accounts.  You know the difference between @SureSister used on Twitter and @SureSister used on Facebook.

♥ After college, you want to land a full-time paying gig running a company’s social media arm of its public relations department.

To Apply

Email your resume and cover letter to petals@suresister.com.  In this cover letter, describe why you should be considered, what skills you bring to the table, and why getting this internship is important to you (one short paragraph each is sufficient).  This position is open to men and women, Panhellenic and non-Panhellenic applicants.

This, like all others within SureSister, is a volunteer role.  Minimum 3-month commitment.  Desired 12-month commitment.  Expected weekly commitment is 3-5 hours.

We will move swiftly on this position so it is recommended that you convey your interest soon.

Before we continue this blog post, we at SureSister want to take this opportunity to share our condolences for all those who lost loved ones that day. And to thank the heroes of that day and those who continue to serve as heroes every day since.

I felt compelled to share my story with you because this was truly a defining moment in my life. September 11 was supposed to be a pivotal day in my life.  But not like this.

It was my first year at college. On September 11, 2001 the phone rang in my residence hall room at Eastern Illinois University (EIU). It was my Bid Day so I prayed it wasn’t the call telling me I had not received a bid. Instead, it was my brother telling me to turn on the television.  I will never forget the image of the burning towers.

If I had any doubts before that day about being a part of the EIU community, they were gone. I saw the campus come together everywhere – friends who had just met consoling one another, professors reaching out to their students –the campus was united. The fraternities and sororities were no different. Bid day was cancelled due to the events of the day. Instead all of us potential new members joined the members of fraternities and sororities met in the Student Union to be able to support each other.

At that time EIU enforced “silence” between potential new members and sorority women after recruitment. Sorority women and potential new members could not speak at all from the moment the last events of recruitment until Bid Day when bids were handed out. The last event was Sunday evening and Bid Day was to begin Tuesday afternoon. It was a long 2 days. Silence, normally a difficult period for those about to dive into the bonds of sisterhood, was suddenly our preference, instead of our restriction.  That evening, no words were necessary. We all supported each other without words. My heart swelled with both grief and pride, I was sure I had made the right choice to go through recruitment and join the community. I prayed that night for all those effected in the tragedy of the day and hoped the next day would bring better news.

The next day we all tried to resume our normal lives. Bid Day was held.  I opened my bid envelope and was quickly surrounded by new, amazing sisters. I am fortunate to have a silver lining in such a dark cloud.  The unity I witnessed on that day strengthened my resolve to nurture my Panhellenic community, and has forever changed my perspective on what’s most important in life: relationships.

Mary Kate Lobough is a SureSister.com Ambassador. She is a past college Panhellenic Vice President of Public Relations and was a Greek Life graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois University. Mary Kate holds a bachelors degree in history and a masters degree in student affairs in higher education from the same institution. A member of Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority, Mary Kate has served on both advisory boards and housing corporations. She can be reached via email using her first name (at) suresister.com, or at @PETALMaryKate on Twitter.

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Copyright Protected; Mary Kate Lobough, SureSister.com

Before I was a member of the community, I stood by my future inter-fraternal brothers and sisters in a candlelight vigil for Shannon. It was truly moving to see everyone come together to console and support one another, while celebrating the life of a fellow student.

One of those students felt a call to action and truly became the silver lining in the cloud that hung over our community. Shannon’s sorority sister, Erin Weed, turned this tragedy into a reason to show college women how to fight back by launching Girls Fight Back! (read Erin’s story about Shannon here: http://girlsfightback.com/about/our-story).  Erin now eats, sleeps and breathes helping others through empowering and educating young women.

I have heard wonderful things about Shannon from Erin Weed and her Alpha Phi sisters.  I am most grateful to hear Shannon was a fighter: she struggled with her attacker.  Although she lost the battle with him that night, she retained evidence of his identity at the crime scene which led his apprehension, conviction and death sentence.  He is still living.  But so is Shannon, in so many ways.

My niece begins her freshman year of college this fall armed with her copy of Erin’s Girls Fight Back! So I feel comfort knowing she will be empowered to be a strong woman; not a fearful one. As many women embark on their journeys into adulthood this year, I hope they look to incredible women like Erin Weed to find their strength, passion and home just as we did at Eastern Illinois University ten years ago.

The women of SureSister salute Erin Weed today and thank Girls Fight Back! for ten years of training, motivation, inspiration and sisterhood.  Happy 10^th birthday GFB!

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Mary Kate Lobough is a SureSister.com Ambassador. She is a past college Panhellenic Vice President of Public Relations and was a Greek Life graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois University. Mary Kate holds a bachelors degree in history and a masters degree in student affairs in higher education from the same institution. A member of Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority, Mary Kate has served on both advisory boards and housing corporations. She can be reached via email using her first name (at) suresister.com, or at @PETALMaryKate on Twitter.

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Copyright Protected; Mary Kate Lobough, SureSister.com

Technorati Tags: alpha phi, charleston, eastern illinois university, erin weed, girls fight back, illinois, inspiration, shannon mcnamara, tragedy

♥ Family Vacation

Spending time with your family at the coast? At a theme park? Or on a cruise? In any of these cases you have a great opportunity to get feedback from people who really know you. Find out how they perceive you by asking questions regarding your strengths, weaknesses, and things they admire most about you. You can use that feedback in explaining who you are during recruitment.  For example, if your family members say they admire your ambition, you can mention it to a sorority member and then explain what you hope to accomplish at college. Family members can also give you important “impression” type help.  For example, if your family members notice that you don’t maintain eye contact when you are nervous, use that information to adjust your eye contact during recruitment.

♥ Supermarket Trip

Running errands or heading to the store to pick up some groceries? This is a fabulous opportunity to make snap impressions on complete strangers. Take this chance to smile and be friendly to other shoppers, cashiers, etc.  Or take it up a notch on the difficulty factor.  Can you make a good impression without saying a word?   Can your smile or nod invite a return non-verbal greeting?  During sorority recruitment you will not have the opportunity to meet all the women of each chapter so your simple “presence” can be a bonus if it’s one worth noticing.

♥ On The Job

Do you have a summer job working at a local retail outlet, fast food business, or answering phones at a front desk? These jobs and many others allow you to improve your social skills. Practice being friendly, helpful, and welcoming. These are all qualities sorority women admire and look for in potential sisters. Working at a summer job may also give you a chance to interact with complete strangers and practice getting past shyness.

♥ Summer School

Summer school is a prime place to interact with fellow students and create relationships. Additionally summer classes are typically condensed: the duration of class is shorter while your at-home-workload is larger.  The condensed nature of your classes will force you to build relationships quickly, so take note of the introductions, conversation topics, phrases and non-verbal signals that help you make friends fast.  Duplicate those during sorority recruitment, which is notoriously fast-paced.

♥ Lounging About

So you have some free time this summer? Why waste it in front of the television or updating your Facebook status when you could be out enjoying the sunshine or the company of your best friends? Visit a local 4th of July Independence Day celebration, volunteer at a local food bank, attend a summer concert, or join a local athletic team. There are tons of activities that are also opportunities to meet new people and make awesome memories worth sharing come recruitment time.

Fall recruitment is just around the corner so enjoy your summer while practicing your people-skills and gearing up for a great collegiate experience!

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Kristi Jensen is a SureSister.com Ambassador. After serving as the treasurer for her University of Oregon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kristi served her Panhellenic community as director of continuous open recruitment and vice president of accountability. She also served her fellow students as a senator in student government. Kristi holds a bachelors degree in political science and Spanish and plans to pursue a masters degree in higher ed counseling. She can be reached at @PETALKristi on Twitter or via email at her first name at SureSister.com.

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Alumni in general are great resources for information about preparing for college. Sorority alumnae (pronounced “uh-lum-nee”), women who are no longer active collegiate sorority members, can be fabulous resources for you right now, even before you set foot on campus. This article explains what Panhellenic alumnae are, both in terms of individuals and organizations, and how they can help you.

♥ What is an Alumnae Panhellenic?

An Alumnae Panhellenic Association’s (APH) members are alumnae from many National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities or women’s fraternities. In these groups, alumnae further their leadership and social opportunities. At this time, there are over 200 APHs in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. APHs set up their own organizations and carry out programs in line with their special interest or situations.

♥ Do Alumnae Panhellenic groups offer scholarships?

Many Alumnae Panhellenics hold events that help students like you in sorority recruitment. Some hold information sessions, others provide scholarships encouraging women to attend college or rewarding women for their campus and community involvement. According to the National Panhellenic Conference’s reporting, over $435,000 was raised just last year and granted in scholarships by APHs to over 580 women.

♥ Do Alumnae Panhellenic groups provide recruitment recommendations?

If you are interested in joining a sorority, a recommendation letter gives you a jump-start before recruitment begins as it can help current chapter members get to know you. While it is not a requirement on every campus or for every chapter, it is acceptable for a woman participating in recruitment to have friends or relatives who are alumni of these chapters write recommendation letters for them.

Many women ask what to do if they are interested in recruitment on campus that requires or suggest recommendations. If you do not know any sorority alumnae then reach out to a Panhellenic Alumnae group where you are likely to find women who are happy to review your resume and write a recommendation on your behalf. They may want to get to know you a little but they will definitely be a good resource. Because each alumna is a member of only one sorority, she cannot write recommendations for you for every chapter. Chances are she has relationships with fellow Alumnae members, though, who can help you collect your needed recommendations.

If there is not an Alumnae Panhellenic near you, contact the one closest to the institution you are attending. Know that an individual sorority woman has a network that often reaches far beyond her geographic location. Her sisters may be able to put you in contact with the alumnae you are seeking. Some alumnae may not be organized as an official chapter or group.  It’s a good idea to take a few minutes to research local alumnae groups, both Panhellenic and those representing only members of single sororities, to see how they can help you.  Most importantly, never underestimate the pivotal role a sorority alumna can have in your life or her willingness to assist you.

Congratulations on your choice to attend college and participate in sorority recruitment! Now go out there and make friends – young and old – and don’t forget your friends here at SureSister are here to help.

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Mary Kate Lobough is a SureSister.com Ambassador. She is a past college Panhellenic Vice President of Public Relations and was a Greek Life graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois University. Mary Kate holds a bachelors degree in history and a masters degree in student affairs in higher education from the same institution. A member of Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority, Mary Kate has served on both advisory boards and housing corporations. She can be reached via email using her first name (at) suresister.com, or at @PETALMaryKate on Twitter.

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Technorati Tags: advisors, alumna, alumnae, association, mentors, panhellenic, recommendations, scholarships

♥ Emily Post’s Etiquette, 17th Edition

This often tongue-in-cheek book helps you understand proper behavior in a variety of ordinary and not-so-ordinary situations.  Recommended for future sorority members, current sorority members, sorority alumnae, sorority parents, college administrators, waitresses, scuba divers, accountants, baristas, historians, electricians, diplomats and…  Pretty much for everyone.

♥ The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices for Exemplary Leaders

Even if you have never held a “titled” leadership position, this book will help you think of times when you’ve been an effective leader, which is GREAT conversation for sorority recruitment.  Additionally, learning the traits of successful leaders will help you be a influential student both on campus and in your career.

♥ The Naked Roommate

Funny book! It gives practical tips for life in college, including the roommate who likes to be naked and “107 other issues you might run into in college.”  Face it, sometimes your roommate might forget she has a roommate… it will make you laugh, and it will definitely help ease the tension and transition to college.

♥ Water for Elephants

This is one of those books you can’t put down. The author paints a picture of a college-age gentleman, who drops out of school in the face of adversity, and overcomes a great deal of strife. It  reminds you that following your hopes and dreams isn’t always easy, but that dedication and hard-work will take you far in life.

♥ The Help

Based in rural Mississippi in the 1960s, this story deals with the racial inequalities that have long plagued the South. You will cry, laugh, and be inspired. The women in this book are people we can relate to, and will make you realize how far we have to go in terms of equality.

♥ Girls Fight Back! The College Girls Guide to Protecting Herself

This book is designed to be the A-Z personal safety guide for every girl attending college. It’s written with Erin Weed’s signature tone, mixing serious topics with humor and straight talk.

♥ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Great mystery! A once-respected journalist watches his professional life rapidly crumble until an unexpected offer to resurrect his name is extended. He must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance, unsolved for nearly four decades, and enlists the help of a misunderstood young superhacker with piercings, tattoos and authority issues.

♥ U Chic

U Chic gives an edge to today’s high achieving college girl. It’s not just about good grades or being at the top of the class, but having a great social experience. U Chic covers everything from birth control and eating disorders to how to maintain that all-important GPA.

♥ The Kite Runner

Great read prior to college! Perfect for those students who are going away to a school where they may not know a soul. The story tells of a wealthy Afghan’s boy befriending his father’s servants son. The two boys are inseparable, and become like brothers. Eventually, one would flee Afghanistan and move to the States, but wondered how his childhood best friend was. Many years later the two cross paths, and the beauty of their friendship is rekindled.

♥ How to Get Anything you Want

A great book for your coffee table that gives small anecdotes about achieving your goals, dreams, etc. The author came to America with less than a $100, and is now a self-made millionaire.  Also recommended by author Nido Qubein: Stairway to Success.

♥ RUSH RIGHT: Reveal Your Best YOU During Sorority Recruitment

How could we leave this out of the mix?  RUSH RIGHT is an acclaimed practical guide for the curious student.  It teaches etiquette, listening skills, personal branding, conversation skills, and more, all of which are useful during Panhellenic sorority recruitment.  Written for potential new members but great for collegiate sorority members too. (Use code SUMMER for free shipping!)

Special thanks to Amanda Anderson, Mary Kate Lobough and Sunday Tollefson for their help with this list.   Happy summering everyone!

Your campus may have one sorority or it may have twenty-something.  Fraternities?  Now you can double the number of Greek-letter groups.  Starting to feel Greek-letter overload?  Add the professional, ethnic, religious, service and academic groups with Greek-letter names and keeping them all straight can be a challenge.  But there are auxiliary groups you may join in addition to your primary Greek-letter sorority or fraternity and you’ll definitely want to know about them now.

Some Greek-letter organizations are academic honoraries that recognize students for the scholastic achievements; often they are specific to different majors. For example, Phi Alpha Delta is a national honorary for law students and Beta Beta Beta is a national biological honor society.

Several Greek-letter honoraries were specifically created to honor high achieving fraternity and sorority students.  If you are now or hope to become a Panhellenic sorority woman, you could become a member of one (or all) of these groups.  Take a look at these three:

♥ Gamma Sigma Alpha, Greek Academic Honor Society, is committed to the leadership, academic achievement, and excellence of Greek members. Members must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or above (based on a 4.0 scale) at the start of their junior year or a grade point average of 3.5 or higher in any semester during their junior or senior year. Click here for a great blog from Gamma Sigma Alpha regarding being involved in activities on campus while maintaining your academics. Find Gamma Sigma Alpha on Facebook .

♥  The Order of Omega is a national honor society for juniors and seniors in the Greek system. Members are selected from the top 3% of students at each institution on the basis of leadership skills, volunteer hours and academic achievement. The Order of Omega was founded in 1959 at the University of Miami and now boasts 500 chapters with approximately ten new chapters being chartered each year.

♥ Rho Lambda is the International Panhellenic Leadership Recognition Society. The Greek letters “Rho” and “Lambda” stand for “Panhellenic” and “Leadership,” respectively. The purpose of Rho Lambda is to honor women in the Greek community who have exhibited the highest qualities of leadership and service to Panhellenic and their sorority.

TIP: If you are new to the sorority and fraternity community, all of the Greek-letter and special terminology can be confusing.  Check out our previous blog for helpful information: It’s All Greek to Me: The Language of Sororities and Recruitment.

Why does this matter to you?  If you are eligible to be a member of these or other distinctive honoraries on your campus, don’t miss out.  Get involved and be sure keep your grades up so you can be appropriately recognized for being your fabulous self.

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Mary Kate Lobough is a SureSister.com Ambassador. She is a past college Panhellenic Vice President of Public Relations and was a Greek Life graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois University. Mary Kate holds a bachelors degree in history and a masters degree in student affairs in higher education from the same institution. A member of Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority, Mary Kate has served on both advisory boards and housing corporations. She can be reached via email using her first name (at) suresister.com, or at @PETALMaryKate on Twitter.

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Copyright Protected; Mary Kate Lobough, SureSister.com

One of your jobs during sorority recruitment is to look for women who will inspire you, lift you up, help you grow into the woman you are meant to be.  However, you often have just a few minutes to determine if the woman before you will be friend or foe.  How do you quickly determine if she could be your future enemy?  To rule out potential sisters who are likely to become toxic, look for these five signs.

☢ Negativity

Watch for people who use negative words where positive words could be just as effective.  For example, “I don’t want to go to the game because I don’t want to miss a friend who is coming to town” could easily be stated as “I want to see a friend who is coming to town so I will miss the game.”  Watching for these negative words is a good way to understand the lens through which a person sees life.  Is the cup half empty?  For negative word users, it is.

☢  Complaining

True, a speeding ticket, a bad haircut, or a broken smart phone is an inconvenience. Certainly having experienced a traumatic situation or suffered a blatant injustice is worthy of discussion.  But the way someone talks about any of these things can signal her perspective on life.  Notice the difference between describing a situation and complaining about it: a complaint is layered with unfair expectations of your agreement.  This type of communication can signal low self-esteem and other internal struggles that will not be beneficial to your friendship. Will she someday be complaining about you?

☢  Self-pity

Everyone feels sorry for themselves at times–it’s completely natural.  But when people turn around and dump their self-pity on others, it often comes with negative energy.  Do you feel that a woman is seeking your pity?  A person who expects you to throw a pity party for her during the beginning of your friendship needs you to lift her up but will rarely return the favor.  This is not a healthy, balanced, caring relationship.  Avoid this person and her negative energy.

☢  Gossiping

According to Don Miguel Ruiz, author of the wildly popular book The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book , “Gossip is poison.”  Isn’t it true?  A gossiper thrives in the misfortune of others and seeks to demonstrate how much better she is than those she must discuss.  Gossip is not fact.  It is often laced with presumptions and sprinkled with embellishments.  Sadly, a person who loves gossip will rarely spare her friends from her slicing tongue.  This person will often will try to exclude others from a social group.  She will cause more drama in your life than you need.  Look instead for people who seek to be inclusive.

☢  Criticizing

Carefully listen for critical comments. While she may be careful not to talk about other chapters, is she subtly insulting another person’s or sorority’s reputation?  Is she judging another person’s family, hairstyle, choice of major, boyfriend, or accomplishments?  A woman who will criticize others, especially at the very beginning of a relationship, often lives in fear that she herself is not good enough.  She may criticize others so she doesn’t have to look in the mirror and make choices about becoming a better person herself.  If she can’t do that for herself, she can’t do it for you.  But she can be critical of you, right to your face, and that can be hurtful.  Cut your losses now.

Keeping these “Debbie Downers” and “Negative Nancys” out of your circle of friends will help you grow, aspire and achieve your goals and dreams.  Leave the toxicity back  in high school.

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SUNDAY TOLLEFSON is an author, professional speaker, coach, and a leading authority on sorority recruitment. She is the author of RUSH RIGHT: Reveal Your Best YOU During Sorority Recruitment and the founder of SureSister.com. As a collegian, she served her Sigma Kappa Sorority chapter as vice president of recruitment and disaffiliated to become a Panhellenic recruitment counselor. As an alumna, Sunday oversaw recruitment and volunteered for the Sigma Kappa Foundation‘s Scholarship Committee, among various other roles. Sunday can be reached at petals (at) SureSister.com.

Male students interviewed regarding their use of the women’s recruitment resource cited the importance of pre-recruitment education. “I just wanted to do that extra bit of research to help me with this rush process. I’ve never done it before and don’t know anyone who has,” stated one new fraternity member, who commented on the condition of anonymity.

Another new fraternity member who preferred not to be identified offered this reasoning: “I had a friend who used RUSH RIGHT to help her get ready for sorority recruitment.  She said she really liked it and gave me her copy.”

According to SureSister.com Ambassador Mary Kate Lobough, this surge in interest from men didn’t come as a surprise. For months, SureSister.com staff members have received messages from fraternity members and alumni inquiring about the potential for help with men’s recruitment.

“We knew men could benefit from using the SureSister PETAL System™ too, but we had no idea this underground movement existed until very recently,” stated Lobough.

The founder of SureSister.com, Sunday Tollefson, sees an opportunity.  “Can the SureSister.com PETAL System™ be re-purposed to help our male counterparts? We believe it can. In fact, we’ve done so in a new book called RUSH RIGHT: The Essential Guide for Fraternity Candidates.”

Advice in the book helps students with conversations and fitting in during fraternity rush. Suggestions include:

★ “Never, ever ask a brother whether you should wear open-toed shoes to an event.”

★  “If you must mention the winning nature of your tiger blood or warlock powers, wait till after you have pledged.”

★ “Manscaping for summer recruitment is optional. Discussion of the topic however, can help guide you to brothers with similar values.”

Critical advice on personal hygiene, appropriate language use, acceptable dude-subjects and forcing bids from legacy chapters make this men’s version of RUSH RIGHT a must have. The only book on the market to guarantee a bid in Greek Life, the Panhellenic sorority women and SureSister.com staff members who co-authored the book are optimistic about its influence. Look for RUSH RIGHT: The Essential Guide for Fraternity Candidates to become available for purchase beginning April 2, 2011.

For more information on SureSister.com, visit http://www.suresister.com and Distinguished Dude on Twitter.

Technorati Tags: fraternity recruitment, fraternity rush