New rush plan pleases Greeks

Fraternity and sorority leaders across campus said yesterday they are pleased the Commission on Strengthening the Community decided to revise its preliminary report and recommend that all rush activity be moved to the second semester of freshman year. Originally, the Commission recommended a first semester sophomore rush for the whole Greek system. "As far as the report goes, I've been telling people today that we're happier," Interfraternity Council President Hayden Horowitz said last night. "Yes, we're glad that it's not sophomore rush, [but] we had hoped that the Commission would allow us to implement our own proposals." The College junior said the IFC had already been considering many of the Commission's recommendations, such as shortening the rush period to three weeks and moving pledging to second semester. "I've spoken with my board, and we've milled over some of the issues," he added. "I'll be getting in touch with the provost to talk about the implementation process. We are going to work with the University." Panhellenic Council President Suzanne Rosenberg said she is happy with the change because it allows the sororities to continue with their spring rush. "It doesn't affect me now," the College junior said. "The recommendation has allowed us to keep our rush where it is." Rosenberg added that she thinks the Commission did not have enough information when they released their original report. "I feel that had a lot of research and effort been done before the preliminary report had been done, they would have put forth a much more informed recommendation," she said. "I believe that the recommendations they originally put forward weren't very informed." Greek Alumni Council Chairperson Andrea Dobin said the recommendation was "entirely what we expected." "They had learned a lot in the wake of the preliminary report," she said. Dobin added that GAC was concerned about "dirty rushing," or some sort of pre-rush that could occur with any delayed rush. But some other Greek leaders said they do not feel the recommendations are official until the provost implements them, adding that there can be more discussion and possible change. "I think one should keep in mind that this is a recommendation and not a mandate," IFC Vice President for Rush Ed Skyler said. "A final decision has not yet been made, and the IFC is prepared to extend our argument to the Provost's Office and to deal with the consequences." The College junior said he hopes the University will respect the authority of the IFC to deal with rush problems internally. "We are hoping that possibly they will allow us to use this as a one year trial period, and not direct us for next year, academic year 1994-1995," he said. "Although this recommendation is better than the sophomore rush plan, we feel our autonomy [was] infringed upon and that is disappointing. "I'd say that the Commission report forced us to examine a number of the problems that are inherent in the rush process," Skyler added. "However, as an autonomous body, we would have liked to have taken action on ourselves."