Sorority wanna-bes begin rushing tonight

More than 640 University women will take their first steps to sisterhood when the Panhellenic Council's rush begins tonight. PanHel Council Vice President for Rush Nancy Hacker said this will be first stage of the two-week rush process, called open house. Fifteen more rushees than last year will set out tonight and tomorrow night for short visits to each of PanHel's nine sorority houses, PanHel President Allison Marinoff said last night. The rush process began before winter break, when freshmen and sophomore women attended one of four information sessions to register for rush, Hacker said. The women were then divided into "rush-counselor" groups, she added. Counselors, or rho chis, are PanHel sisters who act as aides to the women throughout the process. Many freshmen women walking through the Quadrangle yesterday said they were planning to participate in rush. "I think it will be a great chance to meet people and find out about the whole system," Wharton freshman Jennifer Koop said. "It will be a whole lot of fun." Koop said she is looking for sisterhood and the social aspects of sororities. Other freshmen expressed similar views. "I want to find out what Greek life is about," Nursing freshman Jamie Green said. Although the freshmen had heard about different aspects of the sororities, most were approaching the process without prejudice. "I'm going into it with an open mind," Nursing freshman Seana Giobbi said. "I'm looking for the type of friendships I had in high school." Marinoff said the rush process will be centered around a "back to the basics" theme, she said. PanHel, she said, wants to have "the rushee meet the sisters and get back to the things we consider more important, such as scholarship, philanthropy and support." To avoid promoting stereotypes, PanHel asked sorority sisters not to wear their letters or any identifying material during rush, Marinoff said. "You can wear letters within your houses [or] when you are not in a rush party," she said. "[But] if you're walking to class, you shouldn't be wearing your letters." Marinoff said she wanted the sororities to enter the rush process on an "even playing field." The process will end one week from Sunday, when some of the participating women will receive bids.