Frats pull out all the stops to lure freshmen

Last week, Wharton freshman Matthew Pietrantoni received a phone call that changed his otherwise ordinary evening into an all expense-paid night of sporting spectacle. "I was just chilling one night and I got a call that was like 'you want to come to a Sixers game?'" he explained. The call was from a fraternity, an offer from the brothers to pay for Pietrantoni's ticket -- along with the tickets of four other rushees -- in an attempt to persuade the guys to join their frat. And this fraternity was not the only one attempting to entice freshmen with extravagant rush events during the past two weeks. Fraternities pulled out all the stops, packing food, entertainment and good company into this year's rush period. According to Mark Valenti, InterFraternity Council vice president for rush and new member education, fraternities host unique and expensive events to attract more prospective members to the fraternities. "The motivation for having a more extravagant event would be to entice more people to be interested in joining the given chapter," he said. He added that "the chapter is looking at people they want to attract and are looking at things that would attract them to the house. They go from there." A free Sixers game sounds pretty good, but the fraternities still try to top that. For example, one fraternity offered rushees a free trip to the Poconos. According to another freshman male, the same frat that sponsored the Sixers game took things one step further by organizing a mountain snow tubing trip to draw attention to the fraternity. "I was pretty surprised," the freshman admitted. "That's one of the main reasons I went, just because I wouldn't get to do this otherwise." The event was a full day affair for the two busloads of guys, lasting from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and including -- of course -- free dinner. The freshman said brothers mentioned how the mountain adventure had been a favorite from last year and the brothers thus decided to resurrect the event, hoping it would have a similar effect on this year's rushees. However, for at least one freshman, the event was not enough of an enticement -- he decided to discontinue rushing the frat. "It was a lot of fun, but it didn't really change my mind either way," he said. Wharton freshman David Lerman said that his favorite rush event was a free dinner for over 50 guys at Marikesh, a restaurant on South Street. "I would have to say one cool experience was going to to Marikesh with the brothers," he said. Although Lerman said that the free food was not the force behind his decision to rush and receive a bid from that fraternity, it definitely added to the enjoyment of the rush process. "It was certainly a nice place -- they had to use some funds," he said. But, he added, "[the fraternity] kind of kept that behind the curtain. They didn't deal with that in front of everyone. We were just told to enjoy ourselves." And Lerman said that he refused to assume the frat would cover all expenses. "I always keep my wallet on me just in case," he said. "I never presume anything." While food and sports are staples of the rush process, there are also events that utilize the female gender to attract the freshman gentleman. According to a college freshman who attended one such event, a house featured an inflatable tub filled with chocolate pudding -- and two topless dancers. "It got really sexy," the freshman said, referring to the wrestling that took place between the two female participants. And the crowd of roughly 100 guys definitely went wild. They were "packed in the basement, watching and screaming," the freshman reported. And then there are the more standard events that always ensure a good crowd. Case in point: sumo wrestling. Not much gets better than free wings and pizza and watching guys in inflatable sumo suits duke it out, according to Engineering freshman Jeff Katrencik. "Just watching people get flattened -- it was fun," said Katrencik, who attended one such event. "There were two guys running at each other in big blow-up outfits." However fun, Katrencik was no fool to the true motives of the frat brothers. "It was just a gimmick to get people to stay and talk with the brothers," he said.