Coed, fraternity and sorority organizations are once again gearing up to recruit new additions to their houses as the Spring rush process makes its Dartmouth debut.
Fraternity leaders anticipate 100 male rushees this Spring term, but Interfraternity Council President Sunil Bhagavath '03 admitted, "I don't know exactly what to expect and I'm sure some of the houses don't know exactly either."
Panhellenic Council President Ann Chang '03, projected a much larger second-round recruitment class than in 2001. Nevertheless -- and in contrast to last term -- all those rushing sororities will be guaranteed bids.
"We're anticipating spring recruitment this year to be somewhat bigger than winter rush from last year just because of the D-Plan situation," Chang said. Panhell expects about 60 girls to go through spring recruitment, although only 15 are formally registered so far.
Panhell is holding an informal panel for all females interested in joining the Greek system on April 1 in the Hyphen. During the recruitment period April 4-11, each house will hold three parties on alternating nights. All sorority rushees are guaranteed a bid.
The fraternity recruitment process will remain standard, involving a three-day rush period -- April 8, 9 and 10 -- during which rushees visit houses of their choice and indicate preference to the members.
"Spring rush is definitely going to be informal. The big one is still going to be the winter," Bhagavath said, adding, "I think that's where most of our efforts are going to go."
Although Dartmouth fraternities do not guarantee bids, by the end of the third night of recruitment, fraternities will notify prospective members who receive invitations.
Christine Sebourn '03, Panhell judiciary chair filling in as recruitment co-chair, said, "This year there will be more continuity to make winter and spring recruitment feel the same."
Sebourn commented that in the past, "The people that rushed their sophomore winters were stragglers from the fall. This time we have a lot of girls who were off this winter so this is really their first chance to rush, and that's why I hope that the houses will try to create the same environment and the same formality they had during winter rush."
The Coed Council is still in its planning stages regarding this year's spring rush, with council members elected just last night organizing the upcoming coed recruitment process.
