Dartmouth's three coeducational fraternities -- Alpha Theta coed fraternity, Phi Tau coed fraternity and The Tabard coed fraternity -- have all accepted new members this term as campus-wide rush activities wrap up this week. As of Wednesday, Alpha Theta had extended 19 bids, Phi Tau had extended six and The Tabard had extended nine. Each organization's official membership will depend, however, on how many students accept bids and whether more students choose to rush later in the term.
Although the three coed fraternities have their own new-member recruitment programs, their fall rush activities coincided with single-sex Greek rush.
Alpha Theta hosted two open houses during the past week in accordance with its traditional rush procedure. Potential new members interested in joining the fraternity were required to sign a rush book to be considered for membership.
Rush chair Cody Ruegger '10 said the organization is "usually lenient on letting people in" but occasionally turns down people if members find them "particularly disagreeable."
Alpha Theta will hold its sink night on Oct. 25, a week later than it has most years because of scheduling conflicts with Homecoming. Ruegger said he believes most of the students signing membership cards this Friday will be sophomores, but expected "one or two juniors or seniors."
As mandated by the Coeducational Council, Phi Tau also hosted two rush activities this year, rush chair Andrew Pinkham '09 said. The fraternity encouraged interested students to attend open houses to meet Phi Tau members and sign the rush book, Pinkham added.
Phi Tau held its first round of deliberations last Thursday, the same day as its first open house, and held its second round this week. Phi Tau was unable to provide the results of this week's deliberations before press time.
Unlike Alpha Theta, Phi Tau uses a "rolling rush" system, which allows students to rush anytime during the term, Pinkham said.
Prospective members must, however, sink their bids at certain times to pledge the organization.
To maintain its "alternative" character, Phi Tau holds unique bid-sink events, Pinkham said, which involve new members challenging the house to a game.
"We've had everything from scavenger hunts to people challenging each other to chess games and mathematical puzzles," he said.
The Tabard has no official schedule for admitting new members. Students can choose to join the fraternity at any time over the course of the year, rush chair Michelle Cohen '08 said. New members join at bid-sink events that take place during the organization's weekly meetings.
Nearly all who request membership receive bids, unless someone in the house "feels uncomfortable," Cohen said.
"We are very inclusive," she said. "While I've been here, we haven't ever not let someone join."
Ruegger, Pinkham and Cohen all cited their organizations' unique characters as reasons students choose to join coeducational fraternities, rather than single-sex organizations.
Ruegger said that the presence of men and women in Alpha Theta serves to make the organization "more like a family."
Cohen said the coeducational environment makes spending time at The Tabard "the same thing as hanging out with a big group of friends.
"I'm at a coed school," Pinkham added, regarding his decision to join Phi Tau. "Why join a male-only house?"
Another distinction of coed houses is thier smaller size Pinkham said, adding that, because Phi Tau has fewer members than most fraternities, "we tend to be a very connected brotherhood."
"I really like being able to know all the people in my house," he said. "I look forward to getting to know 10 new people rather than trying to just learn the names of 20 or 30 new people."
Though coed fraternities provide gender-neutral social spaces on campus, the social scene at Dartmouth can still seem male-dominated, Pinkham and Cohen said.
"More places need to offer gender-neutral spaces," Pinkham said. "Three single houses cannot provide [gender-neutral spaces] to the whole campus."
Cohen also said that being in a "space where no one is looking at you like a male or female" makes coed fraternities more "open" and "inviting" than single-sex houses for some students.
"I think that, with the presence of coed houses, Greek life is moving towards that," she said. "Obviously, it hasn't quite been achieved yet."
