It's certainly not Animal House, but Penn's Greek system nonetheless plays a major role in many students' Saturday night plans.
Penn's fraternities and sororities -- which claim about 30 percent of the student body -- introduce themselves to new students on campus with huge parties, elaborate rush practices and the upcoming fall Greek weekend.
Incoming freshman curious about Greek life can learn about the system during rush, a process by which rushees, generally freshmen, meet fraternity or sorority members to determine whether they are a good match for a house.
Freshman rush officially begins in January, but Scott Reikofski, director of Penn's Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, advised that interested freshmen start thinking about the rush process in mid-fall before rush formally begins.
"I would encourage freshmen to look around and not be afraid to ask lots of questions," Reikofski said.
He urged interested students to take advantage of open houses, publications and other opportunities fraternities and sororities provide for newcomers who want to learn more about individual houses.
Greek events in the fall, typically social hot spots for freshmen, can attract new students and can draw large crowds with an abundance of free food, music and, of course, alcohol.
These fall functions may be the most effective way to recruit new students, motivating them to rush and later pledge.
During the two-week spring rush process, InterFraternity Council fraternities and Panhellenic Council sororities hold open houses for potential members. Women must visit each open house, while men are free to choose which houses to attend.
After the first round of sorority open houses, women narrow their choices to a maximum of six sororities, and chapters also indicate their preferences for members.
Fraternity rush is more informal. Each house holds six events -- three open and three closed. The second week consists primarily of invite-only functions.
After many rounds of open houses, parties and interviews, rush finally comes to a conclusion on bid night, where each woman receives no more than a single bid, while men may receive several bids over the weekend.
Greek letter groups affiliated with the Bicultural InterGreek Council -- which oversees minority fraternities and sororities -- go through a process slightly different than rush called "intake," which continues through the spring.
There is a rush process in the fall, but only upperclassmen and transfer students receive and accept bids at this time, while freshmen are not allowed to participate.
For now, freshmen considering membership in a Greek society should, in addition to attending parties, check out the OFSA's Web site -- http://pobox.upenn.edu/~ofsa -- and keep their eyes open for orientation meetings and recruitment registration days, to be announced later this semester.
