Women in the Class of 2000 had more to deal with this weekend than exams and papers.
Many sophomore women attended half-hour parties at each of the College's seven Panhellenic sororities on Saturday and Sunday during Round One of sorority rush. Round One marks the official beginning of the week-long process that culminates with "Preference Night" this Saturday.
After the Round One parties, sorority members decided who to invite to Round Two of parties, which will take place tomorrow night and Wednesday night. Women must receive a minimum of four invitations to Round Two parties and can visit a maximum of five sororities.
Panhellenic Council President Mariam Malik '98 said the decision on who to invite to Round Two "is supposed to be very objective," Malik said. "We try to be as positive as possible."
Round Two is followed by another series of deliberations. Prospective sorority members will receive a minimum of two and a maximum of three invitations to sororities for "Preference Night," this Saturday night.
On "Pref Night," women attend two one-hour parties. After the second party, they will fill out and sign a preference card indicating their first and second choice sororities.
A week from tonight, Monday Oct. 6, women have the opportunity to visit the house that accepted them and can choose to accept the bid, to hold onto it for up to a year, or to reject the bid.
Malik stressed that, by signing a preference card, a student agrees to accept a bid from either of the two houses she visits on Preference Night.
If a woman refuses a bid, she is prohibited from rushing for a year, Malik said.
This weekend's events were not the first step in the sorority rush process, though.
Panhell held pre-rush information sessions as early as last Spring and also last Tuesday Sept. 23. The leaders of the sessions explained the rush process to the '00 women and divided them into groups led by a Rho Chi -- a sister in one of the College's seven sororities who is prohibited from acting on behalf of her house for the duration of rush and is a resource for rushees.
Rushees had the option of attending "Round Zero" of rush, a chance to get acquainted with the houses, last Thursday and Friday, Malik said.
She said she is not certain how many members of the Class of 2000 will participate in sorority rush this year or how many bids each house will offer to the sophomores.
"You can't predict what's going to happen until it actually does," she said.
