Spring rush becoming a necessity for frats

The many women participating in the hectic sorority rush are not the only students looking at the Greek system this semester. Eight fraternities have chosen to have a spring rush to attract more members. Representatives for the fraternities gave several reasons for adding a second rush season this year, but all said they hope to supplement their fall rush with new pledges. According to Wharton sophomore Bruce Forman, Interfraternity Council vice-president for rush and Greek Week, the eight fraternities having the extra rush period are Sigma Nu, Phi Kappa Sigma, Acacia, Delta Upsilon, Kappa Alpha Society, Phi Kappa Psi, Pi Lamda Phi, and Sigma Phi Epsilon. Rush can begin anytime after January 18, and it must end by March 8, Forman said. A ninth fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, whose bid to re-form on campus was approved just last week by the IFC, cannot begin its rush until after March 8. The IFC and DTD alumni agreed to impose the restriction so DTD "will not compete with other fraternities on campus," said Forman. According to Eric Newman, Assistant Director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, spring rush is a "chapter decision made by groups that feel that they did not get enough people in the fall." Forman said some other schools require fraternities to have a spring rush so students have a chance to give houses a "new look" in their second semester. Newman said during this process the houses still have to comply with rush rules. But they will not need rush monitors because spring rush is a less structured process. Forman said that it would be impossible to monitor every instance a single rush entered a house since spring rush is "very informal" with very few large planned events. Forman added that there have been no problems with this system in the past. Although each of the houses is seeking to increase membership, their ends and means differ. Phi Kap President Mike McGeehan said his house is conducting spring rush because "we are in the process of trying to diversify our fraternity." McGeehan, a College junior, said Phi Kap is trying to break their stereotype of being "strictly football." Wharton junior Amit Patel, president of KA, said his fraternity is holding a spring rush because it needs to "keep increasing membership since we are fairly new." Patel said there has been a lot of change in the Greek system since the fall, including "the new BYOB policy which has made fraternities stronger" and which will attract new men to the system. Acacia is encouraged to hold a spring rush by its national organization, said College junior Brian Baxt, president-elect of Acacia. However, Baxt said that its rush is only open "to people we already know" such as brothers' friends, and students who rushed in the fall. This type of informal rush is also being carried out by DU, according to President Bob Hall. A large senior class graduating out of the fraternity forced the fraternity to have a spring rush to "bolster our underclasses," said Hall. This same problem faces Sigma Nu, said Wendell Van Sickle, president of the house, who hopes to attract 15 more pledges in order "to repopulate the house."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.