HawkTalk
Christian Grotewold On campus

Rush Week: A Break From Tradition

Rush week is finally over and with it all of the anxiety every single Greek Life member and potential recruit had. This semester, rush was done very differently than it had been done previous semesters. For those who are not familiar with the Greek Life terms, let me explain what it all entails: Rush is a period where Greek houses recruit interested members for a chance to join the fraternity or sorority.

New members of the sorority Alpha Sigma Alpha
New members of the sorority Alpha Sigma Alpha.

Let's begin with the sororities, as this process has been the same for a while now. It all begins a week before actual Rush Week, when the girls who are interested in joining a sorority have to register online. Once recruitment begins, all of the registered girls have to attend an information meeting stating the rules. They have to attend every single sorority without exception, to find their perfect fit. Girls are not allowed to go to any bars, see any boys or drink any type of booze over this period (The Three B's). By the end of the week, sororities send out bids (formal bids are invitations to the selected girls to join a sorority) and in the end it is up to the girls to pick which organization they want to join.

Fraternities had a different process before this semester. Each fraternity would have a selected day over the Rush Week for their potential new members to come and hang out with the brothers. This semester the whole process changed drastically. The day before rush week, every single student interested in Greek Life had to attend a meeting regarding the rules of Rush Week and were told they all had to attend every single fraternity rush night. It seemed like a good idea at first, since we would have a shot to meet new people, but the snow storm Nemo pushed back some events. To end the week, the bids were given out and the new members joined us in a room to hang out with us.

Brothers of Theta Chi during rush.
Brothers of Theta Chi during rush.

There were some mixed feelings about changing the tradition. Some of the freshmen who went through recruitment said it was tiring to attend every single rush during a whole week, and didn't like giving up an entire week just to rush. Other freshmen were glad that this new system was implemented because they found a right fit. Brothers of the fraternities had mixed reviews about the new process, since some of the people who were interested in joining were not able to get bids since they missed some rushes.

In the end, we all got a decent amount of new members and we know for certain that they are happy to be joining the organizations they chose.