Rush is a notoriously time-consuming process for almost everyone involved. This year’s fraternity rush ran from May 28 to April 9, while sorority rush ran from April 8 to April 11. During this time, students flocked to a wide range of rush events. The Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) coordinated schedules in order to make the agenda easy for rushers attend as many events as they wanted.
Fraternity Rush
Fraternity events occurred almost every day from 8:00-11:00 PM. Most fraternities offered an invite-only event that took place on Saturday, April 9.
Rushees were anxious to learn whether they received an invitation to the invite-only event. Those who received invitations were expected to attend. While invitations are a definite sign of interest, the invite is not a guarantee of being accepted into the fraternity.
“We try to meet as many guys as possible. And I think the invite only event is a great way to understand somebody on a deeper level than just how somebody is at rush,” said Cameron Mullen ’11 of Sigma Phi Epsilon.
“It turns into a very natural process when you end up talking to people who have similar interests as you.” said current senior, IFC President, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) member, Nik Milanovic ’11.
This year’s rush was extremely competitive. And unofficial estimate was that Sigma Nu had more than 160 initial rushees on the first night. By the time of their invite-only beach trip, Sigma Nu had narrowed their potential candidates down to 46 people with the intention of accepting only 24.
As for the process of choosing the incoming pledge class, Milanovic stated, “Normally we like to keep those matters more under wraps.” But he noted, “For SAE, we will normally invite 20-40 people. It hovers around 30 most of the time. The bid classes really differ in size depending on how many people are living in the house currently. I think it’s the same for most fraternities.”
Sorority Rush
Sorority rush has a more formal organization than fraternity rush. Inter-Sorority Council (ISC) Vice Presidents of Recruitment Anne Rutherford and Katherine Matsumoto stated, “[We] have been planning this for six months. It is organized to a minute by minute basis.”
For four consecutive night, women donned dresses and made their ways to Tresidder and Old Union for events. Unlike the men, the women rush all sororities simultaneously. “You can get more than one bid in the IFC recruitment process which is not the case with the ISC,” said Rutherford and Matsumoto.
Each night, rushees were given a schedule stating which sororities they were to attend and at what time.
At the end of each night, potential New Members (PNM) ranked their top sororities and sororities ranked their top candidates. The process became increasingly selective as the days passed. The ISC assures that “it’s a mutual selection process. It works out.”
Many girls worried about whether or not they would be selected by the sorority of their choice. The ISC believes that PNMs should enter the process with an open mind and disregard the stereotypes they may have heard.
Rutherford and Matsumoto also urged candidates to evaluate each sororities according to personal fit. “Do not go through recruitment with your group of friends. What’s right for your best friend isn’t [necessarily] right for you,” they advised.
The sorority rush process is specially designed in order to facilitate as many bids as possible; however, it is not guaranteed that all girls will receive a bid. Even though many girls wish sorority rush were as relaxed as fraternity rush, the Rutherford and Masumoto contended, “Our process does work.”
Stressed Student Body
****Many students involved in rush were stressed and anxious during the entire process. And at the end, some rushees were inevitably left empty-handed with no bids.
Female rushees received (or did not receive) their bid offers on April 12. They nervously traveled to Old Union between 2PM and 5PM to open a small envelope containing their bid. Some were ecstatic with the outcome, but others were seen crying.
Sunny Huang ’14, who received a bid from Tri-Delta said, “At first I was really hesitant and reluctant to rush.”But she added that the process “ended up being a really great experience just to meet a lot of people. At the end of the day, even if I decided not to join, I got to meet a lot of people who I wouldn’t have met otherwise.”
Correction: This article originally misnamed Cameron Mullen as the president of Sig Ep. That has been corrected.