IFC hands out at least 493 pledge bids

Two weeks of uncertainty, tough choices and lavish parties came to an end last night, as the InterFraternity Council concluded its rush period by offering 493 bids to interested students. Greek officials said four of the IFC's 32 chapters have yet to give in their bid cards, which they expect will add an additional 60-80 bids, bringing the total to between 550 and 570. And although it is uncertain how many of those receiving bids last night decided to pledge, incoming IFC President Josh Belinfante said he was optimistic this year's numbers would exceed the 533 students who pledged last year. The IFC Executive Board, representatives of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and all of the prospective pledges attended the bid ceremony, which took place in Meyerson Hall. Because the IFC -- unlike the Panhellenic Council -- did not hold any official registration prior to the rush period, the IFC was unaware until last night as to whether the numbers would increase from last year. On Monday, OFSA Director Scott Reikofski said that he was "kind of concerned about [IFC] numbers." Last night, however, Belinfante, an Alpha Chi Rho brother, said this year's rush period was "extremely successful." "[The Greek system] keeps getting stronger and bigger because of what we do," he said. "We've been on the rise for at least the past three years -- since I've been here." The ceremony began with short speeches by Reikofski, Belinfante and outgoing IFC President and College and Engineering senior Matt Baker. After the speeches, IFC officials announced the names of the students who received bids and gave them their respective bid card to sign. Belinfante called the event an introduction to the Greek system as a whole. As is typical of the IFC process, many rushes received more than one bid, according to Incoming IFC Vice President of Rush and Daily Pennsylvanian columnist Jeff Snyder, a Wharton junior. But the Phi Kappa Sigma president explained that since most of these students had found out about their bids by Monday, they had already spent time thinking about their decision prior to last night. Those students who did receive bids will begin pledging their houses this week -- the process of performing tasks ranging from the obscene to the mundane as part of being initiated into the fraternities -- and will attend mandatory workshops next month on drug and alcohol abuse, among other topics. Reikofski added that he expects at least four or five fraternities -- including Psi Upsilon and Phi Delta Theta -- to conduct rolling recruitment, giving out more bids throughout the semester in order to increase their membership. Most of the fraternity presidents at last night's event, however, said their chapters remained strong and would not need to extend their recruitment process. "I'm really happy with the way it turned out, said Zeta Beta Tau President David Greenspan, a College senior. "Our enrollment has been significantly higher than the campus average for a while." And many of the rushes said they found the process very worthwhile. "I got a really good feeling about [the rush process]," said College freshman Mike Viney. "It was a great time." Viney added that he was "pretty psyched" about getting a bid from Phi Gamma Delta. But although the rushes at the meeting were happy to have received their bids, other students were not as fortunate and failed to receive any bids. "It's common for some people to be disappointed," Reikofski said. "Sometimes they just need to get to know somebody a bit better."