IFC frats welcome 550 new brothers

Rushing is traditionally an exciting time for freshmen men -- complete with free food and entertainment every night for two weeks. But the Greek scene will change now for the hundreds of men who officially joined fraternities last night. Those men will go through the pledge process for the next 12 weeks, eventually becoming full-fledged Greek members. An estimated 550 men, up from last year's 530, made their official entrance into Penn's Greek system last night when they signed their fraternity bids at Meyerson Hall. "Rush was a blast -- lots of free stuff," said College freshman Spencer Driscoll, a Sigma Chi pledge. "But [pledging] will be long and I don't know what to expect." Incoming InterFraternity Council President Andrew Mandelbaum, an Alpha Chi Rho brother, took the opportunity to remind the pledges of the responsibility they were about to take on. "From now on, your actions are not only reflective of yourself, they are a reflection of your fraternity and of Penn's Greek system," the College junior said. Bid signing marked the end of the IFC's two-week rush period, which started on January 16. "Rush turned out fantastic," outgoing IFC Vice President for Rush and Phi Kappa Sigma brother Matt Chait said. "Our numbers went up, which is the best indicator," the College senior added. Outgoing IFC president and Tau Epsilon Phi brother Mark Metzl agreed with Chait's assessment. "Despite the national trends, Greek numbers at our University are up, and I think that's a wonderful testament to the strength of our system," the College senior said. And several new pledges expressed their satisfaction with the rush process. "Rush has been absolutely incredible -- the free food, the great socializing, a lot of really great guys," College freshman and Phi Kap pledge Phillip Geheb said. "I'm happy to be a part of it." Bid signing also signifies the beginning of the pledge period. While many freshmen enjoyed rush, some of the men expressed their apprehension about pledging. "Pledges in general have only three things to be scared of -- the goat, the big husky dog and the elephant walk," said College freshman and Kappa Sigma pledge Mike Logsdon, referring to rumored fraternity pledge stunts. Last night also marked the unofficial transference of power from the old IFC board to the new officers. "The new board is great," said outgoing IFC Secretary and St. Elmo's member Peggy Hanefors. "They have a lot of work ahead of them, but they're a strong group."