After two months of deliberations, the Inter-Fraternity Council has for the first time issued men's Fall term rush guidelines to add structure to and identify problems with the current men's rush system - creating minimum numerical requirements for bids offered from each fraternity.
Admitting that the Trustees Five Principles "have had some influence" on the guidelines, IFC President Hondo Roysircar Sen '00 said the guidelines have been introduced to see if the men's rush system needs any change.
"Personally I don't think the system is exclusive but I want to look into it," Sen said, adding that the IFC has tried to respond to the Trustees' concerns.
The IFC's rush policy strongly encourages all males to rush at least four houses.
The new guidelines establish a minimum percentage for the numbers of bids given out by each fraternity. If the rush class exceeds 40 percent of a fraternity's spring brotherhood, that fraternity must give out bids equaling at least one-third of the spring brotherhood. If the rush class is less than 40 percent of a fraternity's brotherhood, the house must give out at least 40 percent of its rush class bids.
Calling the percentage clause the most salient point of the guidelines, Sen said, "an exclusive system wouldn't do that."
"There have been no guidelines in the past and the system was very very informal," Sen said.
Thad Glowacki '00, President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, said everyone should get at least one bid from one of the four houses.
The policy requires all males interested in rushing an IFC fraternity to register at the IFC website during Spring term and also to register at an information booth at Collis in the fall.
Calling the Fall term rush policy a "huge first step, " Sen said the IFC will be able to track the number of students in different classes rushing and receiving bids.
Even though the present system does not guarantee a bid to every male student who rushes, Sen said the compilation of data through this policy will allow the IFC to make changes if the bidding system is exclusive and needs reform.
Glowacki said IFC members extensively discussed guaranteeing a bid to all rushees but felt the IFC needs to gauge and analyze the figures first. However, he said guaranteeing everyone a bid is a distinct possibility for the future.
The policy also formalizes some of the procedures that have been followed in the past. Rushees are required to wear formal attire and alcohol is not allowed during formal rush hours.
Sen said the introduction of the policy was "completely unforeseen territory" and therefore the IFC has also included an emergency clause stating that its Executive Council is responsible for addressing any "unforeseen circumstances or special instances" that might occur.
Sen said drafting the rush guidelines was a collaborative effort by representatives of all IFC fraternity houses, and said he hoped the policy would make the rushing policy more concrete.
