Sophomore Rush, Fraternities and Jeopardy

Elitist, sexist, racist, drunken slob. What is -- Frat brother? Unfortunately, it is a stereotype such as this one which puts the rights of students to be treated as individuals in Jeopardy. Intelligent, responsible, dedicated, student leaders. What is -- Fraternity brother? Surprised? Well, believe it or not, fraternity members, while far from perfect, still contribute positively to many areas of the school outside of the Greek System. Specifically, in the Residential Living section of the report, recommendation D.1.f. states: "Direct the Penn fraternities and sororities to delay their rush period until the first semester of the second year." It is our belief that if fraternities and sororities followed the Commission's suggestion and deferred rush to the sophomore year, the results would be extremely detrimental to the system. In fact, sophomore rush would most likely initiate the demise of the fraternity system. Since the majority of house residents are sophomores, some chapters would be unable to meet their occupancy requirements and risk losing their houses. Suppose the University finds that the College House system proposed by the Commission is truly the best course of action. Successful implementation would most likely require the elimination of all fraternity houses. Whether or not you are concerned with the perpetuation of the fraternity system as it currently exists, surely you must be concerned with the regulation of an individual's right to choose. The University portrays itself as a place where young adults are free to explore opportunities and make decisions that will shape their future. Disallowing any student organization to recruit members during the freshman year is a contradiction of this portrayal. In past college freshman handbooks, first-year students have been invited to "join ... in the exciting challenges and choices that will present themselves" and are further "invited to explore this huge world (the University), beginning in [their] first semester." How disheartening it would be for these freshmen to discover that instead, Mickey Mouse policies have made Penn "a small world after all." In all seriousness, we find it hard to believe that any recommendations could be made without the consideration of the perspective, input, and suggestions, of the organizations which will be directly affected. We would like to call attention to the fact that when the Commission met with members of the Interfraternity Council in November, the issue of rush was never broached. While united under the IFC umbrella, Penn's twenty-seven fraternities represent the diversity that the University is constantly striving to achieve. In fact, as a survey undertaken in 1991 clearly indicated, the composition of the Greek community is more diverse than the student body as a whole. We would hope that this reality would help to dispell any remaining myths about the fraternity system, and further encourage the Commission to incorporate our ideas and concerns into the final version of the report. One of the missions of a fraternity is to enhance the student life experience on acampus. However, this goal runs much deeper than simply furnishing alcohol to the student body. When a new member enters a chapter he is exposed to an extensive network of opportunities. Preliminary returns from a study being conducted by the IFC's Rush Committee and OFSA indicate that fraternity upperclassmen are responsible for introducing freshmen to two-thirds of the activities they participate in on campus and in the community. With this in mind, we can not understand the Commission's logic when they write that deferring rush to sophomore year would allow freshmen to explore more opportunities for involvement. While we realize that there are numerous aspects of the Commission's report that students will call into question, we can only hope that our classmates will support us in our efforts to give this recommendation the attention it requires and deserves. At stake is the freedom to choose, to associate and to explore the very opportunities that Penn is capable of providing. Hayden Horowitz is a College junior and president of the Interfraternity Council. Scott Litman is a College junior, Executive Vice-president of the IFC and Daily Pennsylvanian sportswriter.