Freshmen get set for spring IFC, Panhel rush

After hearing the stories and attending the parties, members of the freshman class are finally ready to learn about Greek life for themselves. Yesterday marked the official beginning of the InterFraternity Council's rush period. For the next two weeks, interested freshmen will attend events sponsored by the University's 23 fraternities before picking the houses they'd like to pledge. Tomorrow night, the Panhellenic Association will begin its own rush. Registrations were held November 3 and 24. Since then, rushees have met in groups with Rho Chis, or rush counselors. IFC President and College senior Josh Gottheimer said that IFC registration numbers won't be compiled until the middle of the week because the IFC registration period is longer than Panhel's. But Gottheimer expects a marked increase in the number of freshmen who will participate in rush. "We are undoubtedly going to have a very successful rush period," the Alpha Epsilon Pi brother said. According to Panhel Executive Vice President-elect and College junior Bethany Rubin, 502 women have registered for rush, down from the 560 who rushed last year. But College senior and Panhel President Jessica Schreck said she is confident that the University's sorority system will remain strong despite the decrease and national trends showing lower membership. She added that although fewer women registered for rush this year, more of those women may pledge or receive bids. The Greeks say their optimism is due mostly to the success of their fall showcasing campaign. To introduce the Greek system to freshmen, fraternity and sorority members participated in house barbeques, "Meet the Greeks" days and "Lunch with the Greeks" in Stouffer Commons. The Greeks' 21st Century Report, released last month, should also have a positive impact on the number of freshmen who decide to rush, Gottheimer said. "Greeks today aren't the Greeks of the past," he explained. "We give you more for your money to be part of the system." Members of the next millenium's Greek system will not only have the opportunity for brotherhood and mentorship available today, but they will also be entitled to enhanced research and community service opportunities, Gottheimer said. He added that all of the Greek residences will be soon be wired for ResNet so that they are technologically equivalent to the other wired residences. But Schreck said she does not think the 21st Century project will have a significant impact on women's decision to rush. Rather, College freshman Stefanie Allister said, many girls rush because they want to take advantage of the opportunity to meet new people. Although many freshmen are concerned that rush may become too time-consuming, they realize that so many other people have gone through rush and enjoyed it, Allister added. Engineering freshman Dan Hoopes said he is still debating whether to register for rush. Right now he's just enjoying meeting different fraternities' brothers, who are making efforts to talk to all interested freshmen. In fact, he jokingly referred to rush as an opportunity for "lots of free food."