Although not all bids have yet been sunk, this winter's fraternity rush figures may dwarf those from a year ago if preliminary numbers are any indication.
Last year was a relatively anemic one for the Greek system, with 279 men rushing fraternities as compared to 520 rushees during Fall term two years ago. Although some fraternities gave out fewer bids than last year, this year's crop of sophomores was much larger and most rush chairs were pleased with the process.
"Rush went smoothly," Theta Delta Chi Rush Chairman Doug Carr '03 said. "There were no bumps in the road."
A few fraternities enjoyed especially high turnout. Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Psi Upsilon and Theta Delt all reported in excess of 70 rushees. Gamma Delta Chi, which anticipates offering many more bids in the spring, received more than twice as many rushees as in last year's winter rush.
Phi Delta Alpha, which opened for rush this term after a College-mandated three-year period of derecognition, offered 25 bids to 70 rushees. Nineteen of the 25 had sunk their bids as of yesterday evening.
As in the past, most bids were sunk soon after they were offered.
"Numbers are looking good," said Kappa Kappa Kappa Rush Chairman James Joun '03, "and the majority of the bids that we extended have already been sunk." Tri-Kap gave out between 18 and 20 bids.
Greek leaders almost universally commented on the unusual merit of would-be pledges. Indeed, although Sigma Phi Epsilon gave out 34 bids, 11 fewer than last year, Sig Ep officers maintained that they were very satisfied with rush.
"There are differences between quality and quantity," said Sig Ep President Pat Granfield '03. "Definitely our numbers were a little bit down but in terms of the quality of guys, I think we've got a fantastic class."
This year is only the second in which rush has primarily occurred during Winter term. Some members of the Greek community have expressed opposition to the relatively new policy, which was established by an injunction of the Board of Trustees in 2000.
"The danger of having winter rush," Granfield said, "is that we don't have sufficient time to integrate new members into the house before they have to assume leadership positions over sophomore summer."
Other fraternity leaders cited the financial difficulties that some fraternities encounter in the Fall term because of the lack of dues-paying brothers. Fiscal setbacks can be particularly threatening for smaller houses, which have sometimes been unable to fill their physical plants in the fall. Even moderate"sized houses have had trouble making ends meet.
According to Social Chair Chris Sommers '02, the end of fall rush has cost Gamma Delt over $30,000 in the past two years from the lack of one term's membership and social dues.
Nevertheless, some Greek officers saw potential upsides to a winter rush system.
"Rushees do get to know the houses better," Carr said.
Other leaders noted that the system implemented last year gives sophomores two opportunities to rush -- most fraternities conduct another, smaller rush in the Spring term.
"Since rush moved from fall to winter, it's put some emphasis on the spring, where it might be possible to pick up three to five people," said Joun. "The sense of immediacy isn't quite as prevalent as in the past."
