This week, members of the sophomore class will adorn themselves in semi-formalwear and do that dance we call Formal Rush.
It is important to realize, however, that sophomore fall Rush is a relatively new process. Rush had always taken place in during freshmen's Spring term, until the administration handed down a very controversial decision that, effective with the Class of '93, rush would not take place until sophomore year.
This has been an ineffective and ridiculous policy, fueled by specious arguments and faulty reasoning. Abolishing freshman spring rush created more problems than it was worth and has not accomplished anything positive.
In June of 1988, the Board of Trustees issued a statement arguing that "the inclusion of significant numbers of freshmen and sophomores [in Greek houses] . . . limits the development of social alternatives in the clusters and elsewhere on campus." This statement, curiously, made no concrete recommendations and the statement itself was only a half-page long.
So, the administration, headed up by then Dean of the College Edward Shanahan, issued their statement calling for rush to be delayed an entire year, to the sophomore Spring term. Needless to say, there was widespread student outrage at this decision and eventually rush was moved up to the sophomore Winter term. But the damage had already been done.
In response to the debate over the issue, the Student Assembly conducted an extensive poll in which over 80 percent of the student body (including over 55 percent of non-affiliated students) voted against the delayed rush. Subsequently, the Assembly voted unanimously against recommending the delayed rush.
Seemingly blind to student opinion, the administration put the policy into effect and neither the '93s nor '94s could participate in rush until the Winter term of their sophomore year. Independent fraternities (such as Alpha Delta and Sigma Phi Epsilon) took '94s during the Fall term, but affiliated houses could not.
Then in November of 1991, current Dean of the College Lee Pelton moved rush again, this time to the sophomore Fall term, effective for the Class of 1995. This was obviously in response, at least in part, to several fraternities severing ties with the College. Pelton argued that the objective of "allowing first-year students to adjust academically and to have more time to consider the many extracurricular options that Dartmouth has to offer" would not be affected by moving rush from winter up to fall.
Now let's take a breather and try to absorb all of this. The goals of delaying rush were to allow the freshmen to get together as a class, away from the CFS system, and yes, to limit the "social dominance" that the Greek system has here in Hanover.
This being the case, the policy has been an utter failure. We would be fooling ourselves to say that the Greek system is no longer the dominant social outlet on campus. Furthermore, delaying rush certainly did not keep freshmen out of Greek houses. The mere fact that the Greek system is still socially dominant makes the goal of separating the freshmen from the system rather futile. Because, quite simply, people are going to go where the action is! And the action on Friday and Saturday nights, for all intents and purposes, is on Webster Avenue.
What's more, freshman year is basically an informal rush period anyway. Most first-year men who intend to rush spend a great deal of time investigating the fraternities during their first year. Some choose the house they want to join as early as the Winter term, and in many if not most cases, freshmen go home for the summer with no more than two houses on their "short list."
One could argue that most houses do conduct "dirty rush" simply because they do have a very good idea who will join come Fall term and in many cases, those students have been spending a lot at the house during the freshman spring. In effect, sophomore fall Rush becomes a formality for many.
We should look at the facts and bring rush back to the freshman spring. If we did so, three positive effects would be felt almost immediately.
First, our notorious housing situation could be somewhat alleviated. Currently, sophomores cannot live in Greek houses, even as borders, until the Winter term. Many houses have trouble filling up their houses in the fall because they have lost the senior class and not yet replaced it with sophomores. If the sophomores were already members, they could fill up the houses and make spaces in the dorms.
Second, the problem of trying to police "dirty rush" would end. Most if not all dirty rush happens in the spring, and even so, almost no one gets caught because of the difficulty in proving that the freshman is a member of the organization.
Third, the cohesion that the administration wanted would indeed happen. Currently, with the D-plan, many students are off campus during the fall of their sophomore year and therefore must wait until winter to rush. By then, the majority of their classmates have already joined houses. If rush was during the freshman Spring term, the entire class would be on campus and could rush as a whole. Rush would no longer be a consideration when making one's D-plan.Even so, two terms of exclusion from Greek membership is more than enough time to adjust to college life and bond as a class. The Fall term policy of not allowing freshmen into registered Greek parties could still stand. Thus, the freshman Fall and Winter terms would remain the same as they are now. Moving rush back to the freshman spring would only be beneficial.
However, the chances of the administration moving rush back to the freshman Spring term are extremely remote. Whether or not they admit it, the folks in Parkhurst Administration building would love to see the Greek system disappear and they know that abolishing delayed rush would only help the system.
This policy was implemented by the same Dean who was behind the no-keg policy, and there should be no question that Shanahan wanted to impose financial burden on the Greek houses.
The "goals" that were present in the 1988 statement were very likely little more than smoke in mirrors.
The best advice for the Greek organizaztions is to watch out. The delayed rush policy came first and the no-keg policy followed. What might come next is anyone's guess, but it's sure to be an unpleasant surprise.
