Sororities give out almost 400 bids to women

By 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon, the heavy doors of Bodek Lounge were about the only thing holding back the nearly 400 women anxiously awaiting their entrance into the Greek system. In the final event of the Panhellenic Council's week-long rush, invitations were extended to these women from one of the eight sororities they began to rush one week ago. And although rushes were able to pick up their invitations over a two-hour span, Bodek Lounge was nearly deserted after a half-hour. According to College senior Jenny Gonell, Panhel vice-president for rush, the main event for many of the rushes was an hour-long party after which they had to submit their top two choices for sororities. The rushes were assigned to their new sororities by a committee made up of two alumnae from each sorority, Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Tricia Phaup and a separate alumna from a sorority. At a Saturday night session, the committee matched the rush's choices with each house's list of women it wanted, in preferential order. According to rush officials, some women "committed a suicide" by only putting one sorority on their bid card -- hurting their chances for a selection but potentially improving their chance of making it into their top choice. Wharton freshman Nicole Shumanis said she "suicided" to make certain she would make it into only one sorority. "I knew from the beginning that I liked one sorority more," she said. "I did not want to join a sorority for the sake of joining a sorority." Women who were not picked for any house were called by their Rho Chi, or rush counselor, in order to save them any embarassment, said Gonell. Throughout rush, counselors and each sorority gave rushes financial and pledging information about each house, she said. Gonell added that the Panhel system is taking in 391 pledges, and each house was able to take up to 55 women. However she said Panhel regulations prevent her from saying how many bids each house actually extended. As students celebrated in little groups around Houston Hall, there was varied reaction to the process they had gone through and what awaits them as members of a sorority. "The rush process worked really well," said College freshman and new Kappa Alpha Theta pledge Jen Gold. "People ended up where they were meant to be." While waiting for her invitation, Wharton freshman Sangeeta Nayak expressed some apprehension. "I am still undecided," Nayak said. "Rush should be longer." Although this is a common complaint, Gonell said that pledging, rather than rush, is the time when a house and its new members learn about each other. "Houses are trying to get a diverse sisterhood, and a good way to do this is to take someone that they do not know a lot about," said Gonell. And according to rushes, getting to know a new group of people is also one of the top reasons women joined the sorority system. College junior Liza Herzog, a transfer student from the University of Michigan, said the Greek system is a "good way to meet people if you are coming from another school."

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