By Amanda Lee Anderson
Greek Row was buzzing last week with activities for all of the participants in Fraternity recruitment. Activities abounded every day of the week for students who were rushing, including rock-climbing walls, Jimmy Buffett night, and, oh, yes. . . an enormous amount of free food.
Sunday night, August 26, was the rush kickoff night. It was designed for students to get to know information about the Interfraternity Council organizations, while meeting the members of the chapters and learning about their backgrounds and histories. “We had one hundred and ten students who came to the kickoff, and more came throughout the week,” said Josh Lovely, the Interfraternity Council president.
“There has been more turnout this year than last year. It’s a good opportunity to talk to people and get free food,” said Matt Chanda, a graduate student and the President of Triangle.
Monday night was entitled Rho Alpha night. The participants were broken into small groups, led by representatives from the Interfraternity Council. These representatives walked with them from house to house along Greek Row, answering questions and providing insight. David Melanson thought 0(rush week) was a “good experience for all freshmen because it allows them to see a lot of diverse perspectives on Greek life.”
Tuesday and Wednesday nights were designated as free rush nights. These were the evenings during which participants could visit any fraternity house they wanted. These were, for the most part, the evenings during which activities occurredÑfor example, Delta Upsilon had sumo suits that students could wear and fight; Sigma Phi Epsilon had a rock-climbing wall and a huge inflatable Godzilla that differentiated them from any other fraternity. At the Beta Theta Pi house, Smash the Trash was held, a yearly rush tradition in which fraternity members and visitors could take a sledgehammer to old refrigerators, computers, and toilets. Other fraternities held more conservative events, such as Sigma Chi’s Senior Night and Kappa Sigma’s Alumni Night.
Thursday was Bid Night. Rush participants were offered bids from the fraternities inviting them to join. If a student signs a bid card, he is considered a pledge and will spend what is called by most Fraternites a “pledge semester” learning more about the origins, traditions, and policies of his particular fraternity. Some would choose to wait a semester to pledge, in order to become academically stable in their new college environments. Others would take several bids, forcing the tough decision of which fraternity to pledge. Still others would know from the beginning of rush week which fraternity was for them, and would know that the bid from that particular fraternity was the only one to consider.
Rush turned out to be a positive experience for not only those rushing, but for the current fraternity members as well.
“It was really nice meeting the new guys and seeing the new faces,” said sophomore Kappa Sigma member Brandon Redden. Todd Howard, a junior Kappa Sigma, agreed. “Rush is a good experience which everyone should enjoy. Even if you don’t want to go Greek, you should come check it out, if nothing else but for the free food.”
Freshman recruit Chad Linton said, “I met a lot of cool people and learned a lot about Greek life in general.”
