With fairness in mind, the president and vice president of the Panhellenic Council will soon submit a proposal to Panhell that recommends the current rush process be changed to a kind of randomized lottery system.
Panhell President and Kappa Kappa Gamma sister Jess Russo '97 said she and Panhell Vice President Marcie Handler '97, a member of Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, are working on a rush proposal that combines the traditional selection process with a lottery system.
While the proposal is still being written, Russo and Handler both said they think it is not only a good idea, but it is also very realistic and hope it would be implemented next fall.
Russo said fairness is a main goal of the new proposal. She said they want to "avoid the rejection and bad feelings" associated with the present rush process.
The plan does not suggest completely random selection. It allows "rushees to have some control and houses to have some control, and takes some control and makes it random," Russo said.
Handler and Russo do want a rush process that was completely randomized because "especially at a place like Dartmouth, people always want some element of control," Russo said.
The ranking of rushees by houses will still occur under this new plan, but Russo said they hope to "draw out the rush process and make the ranking less superficial."
Handler said if the change is implemented it "will be extremely beneficial to the sorority system. There are no apparent disadvantages. In fact, there are so many advantages to the system that it's hard to see any ways that it won't improve on the current system."
Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deb Reinders said rush rules and policies are determined by "Panhell in concert with sorority presidents." Selection for sororities is decided and monitored by the women.
The new rush proposal is a "bold and courageous move" but women on campus "have to take risks" to improve the system, she said.
If a randomized element is added to the sorority rush system, Dartmouth would be the first college in the country to do so. Reinders said the mutual selection process is done across the nation.
"What is exciting and different about this is that the women have a cutting-edge new idea that they are trying to adapt to the Panhell system and to Dartmouth," Reinders added.
Reinders said the only College policy that affects rush is that students cannot join a Greek organization until the fall of their sophomore year.
She said the current rush system has been in effect since sororities have been at Dartmouth.
"Every year we have the same discussion about how to make it better, more gentle and open, but this year these particular leaders will make substantial changes," Reinders said.
She said the question to consider is if "our selection process is one that enhances women at the College."
Between 200 and 225 sophomore women usually affiliate each year, Reinders said.
"The number usually hovers around 50 percent of women choosing to join a sorority," she said.
Reinders said 60 to 70 percent of women show an interest in looking at the sorority system, but not all of the women choose to complete the rush process.
Former Panhell President Dani Brune '96, a Delta Delta Delta sister, and former Theta President Susie Ettinger '96 have an alternative plan for the sorority rush process which is entirely randomized.
Ettinger said the rush process as it is now is selective and "causes unnecessary pain on the part of the rushees."
"It is not worth it, because all of the houses have a lot to offer, and so do the women on this campus," she added.
Ettinger said after rush, both rushees and sorority members have had too limited exposure to each other to make educated decisions.
"It is silly to make choices on this basis," she said.
Brune said she thinks it would be a good idea to randomly place people in sororities because "images and stereotypes of people are just wrong, and it would help people to branch out."
Brune and Ettinger said under their plan, each sorority would get the same number of pledges each year.
Some members of the sorority system think these kinds of changes would improve the rush process.
Kappa President Cai Boldt '97 said, "In this sorority system, you can't lose by randomizing the rush process."
She said all the houses are "so similar in so many ways, and they do so much together."
"You are really joining the system," Boldt said.
But some members of the sorority system do not think these plans for randomization are realistic.
Kappa Rush Chair Andrea Krumholtz '97 said she thinks adding an element of randomization to rush may deter women from going through the rush process.
"I don't think you can go wrong with any house," she said. "Ideally, it shouldn't matter what house you are in, but in reality it does."
She said she thinks the new proposal, if implemented, will "in essence, weaken all houses" because there will be a significant decrease in the number of rushees.
But Krumholtz also said the rush process "isn't the greatest process in the world any way it happens. Randomization may not be the best way to do it, but it hasn't been tried yet, so who knows."
Reinders said a drawback to the randomized system would be that women with higher random numbers have more luck and a better chance to get into their first-choice sorority.
