Expansion Manual

RECRUITING ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Why and How to Recruit Associate Members
Into the FarmHouse Association?

FarmHouse Fraternity throughout its history has benefited from the leadership and example of associate members. Time and time again associate members have served as members of the International Board of Directors. Many have supported FarmHouse, locally and internationally, with such zeal as to have been nominated and selected to receive the Fraternity's highest honor, the Master Builder of Men Award. There could be various reasons why an associate member did not enter FarmHouse through the channel of active chapter membership, perhaps because a FarmHouse chapter did not exist on the campus where he was an undergraduate, or perhaps he was unable to attend college. Whatever the reasons, there are many men who are living examples of the FarmHouse motto...men who believe in and support the goals and objectives of FarmHouse who would be honored, willing, even anxious to assist local colonies, chapters, and the International Fraternity, if and when they are asked to become associate members. Every colony and every chapter should be selecting annually new associate members of FarmHouse. Moreover, if there are relatively few FarmHouse Alumni on campus or in the community this is an effective manner of building membership for the Association. (Review Article II, Section 3, of the FarmHouse International By-Laws to see the procedure for electing a man to associate membership in FarmHouse).

How do we decide whom to invite to become associate members?

Choose men who are respected by students, by their peers and colleagues...men who are respected in the community and have a reputation for being of service to others. The requirements for associate membership, found in the International By-Laws, state that such a man "...demonstrates the qualities of character, scholarship, and professional excellence to which FarmHouse men aspire"; (Article II, Section 3, of the FarmHouse International By-Laws).

How do we get such men interested in becoming associate members?

Make a personal visit to each man's office or home (call first to make an appointment) to explain the goals and objectives of FarmHouse. It is a good idea for more than one person to make this visit. Give him a copy of the Pledge and Membership Handbook, the latest issue of Pearls and Rubies, and the FarmHouse Expansion and Rush Brochure. Ask him to review these to gain more insight about FarmHouse. Invite him to attend one of the colony's/chapter's house meetings and/or Association Board meetings. A list of local FarmHouse alumni (including associate members) given to him will allow him to see who else is involved.

What should we tell him about his role as an associate member and why
we desire his membership?

If he knows and respects you and members of the colony/chapter and what FarmHouse strives to do, and if he knows that you like and respect him, then he will probably see your invitation as an honor. If you don't know the man personally, you should try to have someone who does know him, and who is familiar with FarmHouse, accompany you the first time you visit him.

Be honest, but avoid flattery.

Tell him that FarmHouse needs to broaden its membership base and that you hope to do so by attracting associate members, which you believe, exemplify the goals, objectives, and motto of FarmHouse. Tell him that if you are able to do so you will be able to accomplish several purposes, namely;
a) students and other potential associate members, because of the membership and example of men like him, will desire to join FarmHouse
b) The associate member can be an example of a FarmHouse man that other members should strive to emulate
c) that you need men who can provide leadership within the FarmHouse Association as directors, officers, and in general serve as resource persons for chapter educational programs (social, spiritual and moral, intellectual, physical)
d) that you hope he will be willing to refer outstanding students to FarmHouse who he thinks can both "build, and be built."

Make certain that he knows that he has no financial obligation except the initiation fee paid to the International Fraternity upon his initiation (at the time of chartering for FarmHouse colonies). There may be an exception to this if the local Association charges dues. Make certain, too, that he understands that he will enjoy all the rights and privileges of FarmHouse membership that any FarmHouse alumnus does: the right to vote at the Association annual meeting, the right to run for Association Board of Directors and even the International Board of Directors, that he will receive copies of local chapter newsletters and the Pearls and Rubies, and that his opinion will be sought and welcomed the same as any other member's. It would probably be appropriate to let him know that he will have plenty of opportunity to assist the colony/chapter and the International Fraternity financially if he chooses to do so, but your primary purposes in desiring his membership are related to his example, his time and his talents, not his money.

Encourage each potential associate member to read the following letter written by Edward R. Buckner when he was an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee:

"A student in our College of Agriculture stopped by my office to invite me to attend a meeting of the FarmHouse Colony. Having never heard of this organization before, I was very much in the dark as to the nature of this group. I attended because of my interest in the students and their activities. After attending one or two meetings, I learned that the colony planned to become a fraternity. This cooled off my enthusiasm for the group,as I have long opposed the performance of most fraternities on the college campus. I continued to attend meetings (rather irregularly) at the insistence of students and later out of growing appreciation for what this group of boys were attempting to do. When asked to become an advisor, I accepted out of admiration for what this group stood for and not because there had been a great change in my opinion of the average fraternity.

In the two years that I have worked with the Colony my attitude toward fraternities has undergone a tremendous change. I have become convinced that here is a group of boys who do more than just recite a noble creed; they make a sincere effort to live according to their creed. I have been greatly impressed by the way in which the FarmHouse environment has inspired both scholastic and social achievement on the part of its members. Certainly such an organization has a definite place on our University campus."