Excitement rose as night fell on the sidewalks of Hill Street. In the pre-autumn evening, groups of women walked from one house to another, talking quietly and following leaders whose red shirts bore "Find Your Way Home" on the back.
One group stopped in front of a large, columned house. The doors swung open to reveal a greeting of clapping, chanting and screams. Several men nearby, some on chairs, watched as women welcomed the group up the walkway and into the house. Then the door closed behind them and the street was quiet.
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| ROB GILMORE/Daily A group of sorority women join in a rush chant to welcome a potential new class of initiates. |
Welcome to fall rush, an annual introduction to the University's Greek system. In the third week of school, about 800 underclasswomen are in the midst of exploring one of the largest student groups on campus, which represents about 20 percent of the University's undergraduates. Next week, an equal number of men will do the same. After a series of mixers and parties, they will decide if they are meant to go Greek, and soon may commit to an organization touting sports, leadership, service and scholarship opportunities - and, of course, community.
Sorority rush, explained Mary Beth Seiler, Panhellenic Adviser, has more than one purpose. The obvious one is to attract new members, she said, but rush also builds bonds of sisterhood among sorority members and rushees.
"We want all of the women who participate in rush to have a good experience, whether they join or not," she said. "It's important they know we care about them individually. They're not just part of the masses."
John Mountz, advisor for the Interfraternity Council, agreed.
"Our goal is to give as much public exposure to the Greek system as possible," he said, "to let men meet and find out about fraternity life on campus.
"We're saying: This is what Greek life is. This is what you have the opportunity to check out in the next few weeks."
To many first- and second-year students, the non-binding invitation is a welcome one.
"I'm just going to see if I like it," said LSA first-year student0 Meghan Hodge. "I just think it'd be fun."
Sororities conduct rush differently than fraternities, which began Tuesday with an informational "Fraternity Forum" on the Diag and held a mass meeting last night. During the next two weeks, fraternity houses will be open at scheduled times for interested rushees to meet chapter members.
The process is informal, said Beta Theta Pi's Rush Chair Chad Mummert, an LSA senior, and surprises rushees who expect fraternity members to act like their stereotypes.
"It throws them for a loop," he said of rushees meeting brothers in suits and in houses made immaculate for the occasion. "There are all these questions going through their minds."
Rush can be tense - rushees are later discussed and voted upon by house members - but the process is beneficial even for men who decide not to join, Mummert said.
Sorority rush is more structured and, according to Seiler, highlights a basic difference between men and women.
"The men just kind of laugh at us and the women kind of laugh, as well," she said, but insisted women like an organized, more formal introduction to the Greek system. "They prefer it."
Sorority rush begins with a silence period that starts when students arrive on campus. From this time on, contact between rushees and sorority members is limited to rush events. The silence period is well-enforced, one member said, although exceptions are sometimes made for friends and relatives.
Rho Chis, sorority members who counsel rushees, are also important in sorority rush. Rho Chis do not divulge their chapter affiliations or even their last names, one said, so that rushees will feel comfortable talking openly about any sorority.
Pre-registration began during the summer. A mass meeting was held four days after the start of classes and was followed by a "Sorority Forum." While fraternity rush is free, the Panhellenic Association charges $10 per rushee.
Events began last weekend, when rushees attended a 25-minute mixer at each house and saw all 17 sororities over a two-day span. Songs and skits augmented introductions at most houses, each of which was decorated in a different theme.
Visiting the first house was "frightening," said first-year student Stephanie Zameck, who did not expect the members to be as boisterous as they were. She was especially surprised when sorority sisters began banging on walls, she said.
"It was intimidating," she admitted. "After that, it was a lot of fun - but tiring."
Tomorrow night, rushees will narrow down their choices and begin their "second set," during which they can attend 40-minute parties at as many as 13 houses. This year's second set will emphasize philanthropy, and rushees will participate in service projects.
At the "third set," which consists of 50-minute parties, prospective members, in dressier attire, receive tours of up to six houses. At "preference parties" soon after, they don fancy dress and attend three hour-long parties.
Rushees rank their preferred houses after each step along the way, and sorority members discuss the women they meet. Sept. 28 is "Bid Day," when rushees learn which sororities, if any, have invited them into their ranks. At 5 p.m. that day, an invited woman may "pledge" a house.
Not everyone receives an invitation. Some women are forgotten or misidentified in the mass of names and faces, explained one member. To be remembered by a house, she said, a woman either has to be unique enough to attract attention or know a sorority sister.
"I don't know how anyone could get into a house without knowing somebody," she said. The selection process, which differs slightly from house to house, is not publicized to encourage rushees to act like themselves, she said. But competition exists and a woman has to be remembered for some time to receive a bid.
At the University, rush for fraternities and sororities spans several weeks.
"We try to keep the time commitment to a minimum," Seiler said, but noted that visiting all 17 sorority houses is an important part of the process. "There's not an easy way to do that without it taking time," she said.
The time commitment, which forecasts the commitment made by sorority members, is too big for some.
"I've heard really good things from everyone who's gone through it, but I don't have enough time," said Katrina Ham, a first-year student. She had considered rushing, she said, but realized the first week of school that difficult classes and marching band would keep her busy.
Others, however, find time.
"I definitely want to go though rush and see if it can really help make U of M a smaller school," said Erinn Hartman, a first-year student.
And some, like first-year student Andy Dreyfuss, plan to begin rush but not necessarily complete it. Last weekend, Dreyfuss weighed the pros and cons of joining Greek ranks.
"I would for partying and free beer," he said. "I might not because it almost seems like I'm paying for friends."
That rush occurs so early in the semester bothers some members of the University community. Last Friday, The Michigan Daily published an editorial arguing that new students need more time to explore activities and options. But Seiler said scheduling difficulties necessitate an early rush.
Besides, organizers said, about one-third of rushees are sophomores who are already acclimated to University life.
The selection process, also, is questioned by some non-Greeks.The selection process, also, is questioned by some non-Greeks.
But Katie Heid, president of her sorority, said nobody has come forward with a better alternative.
It is difficult to meet prospective members during short visits, she said, but "first impressions are important - like during a job interview."
Mountz called the process a "mutual selection" between Greeks and rushees.
"The bottom line," he said: "Both want guys who they want living with them."
Unlike at some campuses, rush here is spread out "so students don't get behind," Seiler said.
The National Panhellenic Conference apparently believes the University's sororities organize this event well, and granted them the National Panhellenic Conference Rush Award, given every two years.
Yet the process can seem quick, said Kayte Bauss, a past participant. "Before I knew it, I was in this sorority. It was an inertia thing," she said.
Bauss said the experience was exhausting but interesting.
"I think it's a lot like dating," she said. "They flatter you. They try to drop hints. It's kind of like a guessing game."
She pledged but later decided that the Greek system was not for her..
"I'm the last person to say sorority life is for everybody," Seiler said. "It's not. But people should get involved in something. There are millions of opportunities here."
Students who consider Greek life later in the year can participate in the fraternity winter rush, tentatively scheduled for February, many sororities, however, and do not participate.
But some, like first-year student Lisa Berlow, are eager to begin fall rush. Joining a sorority, she said, has been a goal of hers for years.
"It's just something I imagined doing since elementary school," she said. Her brother is in a fraternity, and many of her most adored camp counselors were Greek. She began rush with an open mind, without house preferences, and determined to ignore every rumor and story she hears about the Greek system or individual houses.
"I need to see it for myself," she said, "and see where I belong."
ROB GILMORE/Daily
Two students begin on what will be a long night of nerves, smiles and sore feet.
09-18-97
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