‘Rush’ not all about joining

By Rachel Small

Groups of nervous-looking women dressed to impress will be a more common sight within the next few days as sorority recruitment draws to a close.

More than 1,300 women have registered for this year’s Panhellenic Recruitment, the formal process of joining a sorority and commonly known as rush. However, not all of them will make it to Bid Day on Sunday.

Prospective members have the option of dropping out of the recruitment process, and this year many are taking advantage of it. While recruitment is viewed as an exciting chance to meet new people, it is also a time-consuming process.

“I do know a lot of people dropping out of it,” said Stephanie Sorensen, freshman in LAS. “I think freshman year is stressful already with classes and so many adjustments.”

Sorensen, who is taking part in the recruitment process, said that when she registered she was uncertain whether or not she would actually join a sorority.

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“(I registered) just to see what it was, to experience it and then decide from there,” she said.

Andrea Tripp, freshman in ACES and also a prospective sorority member, said she decided to participate in formal recruitment because a University alumna recommended it.

“This lady at my church suggested it, because she was in a sorority when she was in college here,” Tripp said. “She really influenced my decision. I didn’t even know what rush was until she told me about it.”

Women with family members who have previously been members of a sorority are considered ‘legacies’ within that sorority and many are pushed by those family members to see if they can recieve a bid, or offer of membership, from the house they belonged to.

Tripp said that she would not have continued the recruitment process if she had not found any chapters she liked.

“It’s a pretty big commitment,” she said. “I wouldn’t commit myself to something I wasn’t 100 percent sure about.”

Sorensen said she enjoyed the recruitment process, and added that she found it exciting to rush in such a large greek system.

“It’s worth trying,” Sorensen said. “Even if you don’t join, it’s definitely an experience.”