Bigs, littles, brothers, sisters, bids, rituals and initiations – words frequently spoken in the subculture of Greek life. While they may have no meaning to some, these words mean everything to those who hold true to the traditional lifestyle honored by its members.

As the semester comes to a close, WSU’s current executive fraternity leaders are taking a bold step into untraditional territory with a new recruitment app title GreekRush.

GreekRush is a social media platform that allows university students and Greek recruitment leaders to interact with each other inside and outside of formal recruitment periods. It is accessible only through smart phones and restricted to the campus an individual is registered with.

“GreekRush is a tool that gives someone that wants to join the Greek system a lot more power,” said Nate Harris, the Interfraternity Council’s Director of Recruitment. “It pushes away from any bias or hearsay that has been a part of the process before.”

Traditionally, students learn about a fraternity or a sorority by attending formally arranged events or word-of-mouth, he said. Chapter recruitment chairs have used texting and Facebook in the past to make this easier.

But the traditional means of communication used has always been difficult to manage as it is common to not share enough information or have groups misrepresented. IFC President Zak Cherif said this will positively change as a result of the organization and accessibility provided by the implementation of the app.

“I am extremely confident that GreekRush will provide the most value-based formal recruitment this campus has ever seen,” he said.

The app will do this by presenting a summary of the official facts available on any chapter and allow students to ask questions directly to recruitment leaders at all times.

“Every single fraternity has their own profile,” Harris said. “On the app you can explore every fraternity on campus, read about their vision, and learn about why someone should join.”

These profiles show off the crest of each chapter, provide an image of the house and its location, inform students of how many current members exist, and provide contact information.

In the app, students can explore the profiles of active members and check out the profiles of other recruits.

If not exploring, there is a tab for starting an individual or group chat with other users. There is a tab for house-related formal events that reads as news feed. And there is a tab for formal and informal recruitment invitations.

“This is the first time we have a common ground and all fraternities are represented in one place,” Harris said. “There were no guidelines to how information was shared before. Now it is very structured.”

GreekRush is free for both IOS and Android phones. Registration takes less than five minutes and requires only a university-registered email or Facebook login information.

“We recruit 364 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Harris said. “This is the best way to do it.”

Any current, future or prospective student interested in the Greek community is encouraged by executive leaders to begin using the app now and explore the culture. Summer session doesn’t stop recruitment.

 Reporting by Lance Lijewski