Campus fraternities and sororities were banned from recruiting inside residence buildings Sept. 13, according to director of student affairs Ryan Flannagan.
The groups, which belong to the Carleton University Greek Council, were banned during their recruitment week, commonly referred to as “rush week.”
“They were banned from rushing . . . in the residence areas. That includes all around the area and inside the residences,” Flannagan said.
“I did receive complaints from students and staff who said that they were banging on everyone’s doors over the course of the afternoon,” Flannagan said. “That’s something that’s against university policy. We don’t allow anyone into residence to knock on people’s doors to sell things — this includes salesmen, political organizations and the Greek community.”
First-year journalism student Harrison Boyd said he was annoyed by the knocking.
“I’m surprised it was allowed to go on. I didn’t quite know what to do when five seniors showed up at my door unannounced and uninvited,” he said.
Although they can’t campaign actively in residence, Flannagan said they can still wear their fraternity or sorority shirts when visiting friends or getting food. However, they’re not allowed in the area in large numbers. Greeks can still recruit and congregate elsewhere on campus.
The ban hasn’t impacted the recruitment process very much, according to fourth-year public affairs and policy management student Kathryn Peer, also the vice-president for membership recruitment of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. Interest in the sorority is still high, she said.
Still, not all members of the Greek community recruit in the same way. Arif Merani, public relations representative for Kappa Sigma and fourth-year business law student, said the ban is a big problem.
“Not being able to go into residence is definitely a huge hit for us, because the majority of the recruitment comes from first years,” Merani said.
“I would say at least 90 per cent of incoming members every year are first-year students or living on residence.”
Although he said it has been harder to recruit without having a presence on residence, Merani said the Greek community in general has “been on the upswing.”
“It’s just tough. We get a lot of people just going around residence. Just being on campus really helps with the rush. We really have to go out of our way to find new people, but I mean we’re doing well,” he said. “Our organization is the same, whether we’re on [residence] or not, and people will recognize it.”
