Becoming a Beta

Your decision to go to college is one of the most significant choices you have made so far in your life. The next four years of your life will be broadening, demanding, and rewarding. You will meet a variety of people and will have many new experiences. You will be more free than ever before to make your own decisions and to test your own limits.

On that note, we would like to tell you about an aspect of college life that could supply you with the best college experience possible: Fraternity Recruitment

Fraternity membership provides the opportunity for leadership and organizational development, academic assistance, both planned and informal social activities, intramural competition, social service events, and small group living. Most importantly, all of these experiences result in lifelong friendships which make your college day some of the most exciting and memorable of your life.

At Beta, we look for men who believe and live by the same set of fraternal values we hold. These values, the Fraternity's mission, serve as the foundation for recruitment, pledging and a lifelong membership in Beta.

What You Should Know About Rush

The Alpha Chi Chapter of Beta Theta Pi encourages everyone to participate in rush. We would like to provide you with a list of tips to help you through the process.

Enjoy Rush: The decision to join a fraternity is a lifetime commitment. Millions of men have gone through rush and have benefited from the advantages of fraternity life. Although this sounds like a stressful time, it isn't. Make sure you have fun with recruitment. You will meet a lot of great guys from many different fraternities who want to do the same thing as you do - meet new people.

Set Your Own Goals: Decide for yourself what you want out of a fraternity. Why are you rushing? Do you want a chance to be a leader? Do you want to establish a network of connections to be used once you graduate? Maybe you just want to meet new friends, or perhaps you want to join a fraternity just to enhance your college years? The best way to find a fraternity to suit your needs is to find out what you what from the fraternity.

Explore Your Options: Once you have set your goals, you need to explore your options. Make sure to visit as many houses as you can. By looking at all the different chapters, you can get a better idea of what you want. Think of it as buying a car... First you would test drive at least four or five different cars before you started to...

Narrow Down Your Options: After carefully comparing your favorite choices, you would finally make an educated decision as to which one you really want. The same goes for rushing a chapter. Once you have visited as many houses as you can, eliminate the ones you don't want, and go back and carefully inspect the ones you do want.

Spend Time Getting To Know the Brothers: Once you have decided which chapter you want, spend as much time with them as you can. Try to meet a majority (if not all) of the Brothers in a house, and go to as many of their events that you can. This gives the Brothers of the chapter ample time to get you know you, and shows them that you are serious about wanting to be part of their Brotherhood.

The "Animal House" Persona Does Not Apply to the Greeks Of Today: Fraternity members have fought long and hard to shake the image that "Animal House" created in the sixties and seventies. It just isn't true. For example, every fraternity at Johns Hopkins University has agreed to the guidelines of recruitment as set by the Inter Fraternity Council. No drugs. No alcohol. No exceptions. At first, this might seem strange, but that's because fraternities have changed dramatically since the sixties and seventies. We have much more to offer today than is portrayed in the movies.

Learn From Recruitment: If you decide not to join a fraternity, then at least get as much out of recruitment as possible. Ask questions about professors you have, or classes you might want to take. Have Fun! Last but not least, meet new friends that you wouldn't normally get a chance to meet.

Pledging

Upon accepting a bid, prospective brothers begin an 8-10 week process known as pledging. Our pledging program is designed to orient new members to Fraternity history, traditions and practices while preparing each future brother for a lifetime of fraternal brotherhood. The primary objective of our pledge program is to produce informed, enthused and principled new members ready to step into leadership roles. Our fraternity does not take believe in artificial probation, second-class citizenship, or hazing. Just like every chapter of Beta, our pledge program is annually certified as 100% positive and hazing-free.

Initiation

Initiation is a special ceremony at the end of the pledging process in which pledges become Brothers and the full privileges of membership are extended to the new members. While the ceremony has taken different forms throughout the years, more than 180,000 members have been initiated since 1839, including over 1,000 at Johns Hopkins alone. For all members in Beta Theta Pi, it is the beginning of a lifetime of friendship, learning and personal growth.