In the fall of his sophomore year, Jesse Victor '09 pledged the Greek organization he had felt the strongest connection to as a freshman, Alpha Delta fraternity. He soon realized, however, that AD was not the right fit for him and dropped out of the pledge process.
"I spent all of freshman year thinking I would pledge AD, but then realized it was a bad decision," he said. "I wasn't pledging AD for the right reasons. As an underclassman, you only see a very limited perspective of the fraternity scene."
The following fall, Victor went through men's rush for the second time, and pledged Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity as a junior -- a decision he felt was better considered.
"My transition into the house was different because by my junior year, I was more set in my ways and more resistant to the frat indoctrination idea," he said.
Victor is among a minority of Dartmouth students who join Greek organizations as upperclassman. The majority of students go through Greek rush during their sophomore year.
Dexter Mackie '08, who pledged Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity as a senior, said he had felt uneasy about rushing during his sophomore year and so decided to wait.
"I wasn't comfortable with myself yet, I wasn't balanced, and I was just not ready to make that decision," Mackie said. "I have no regrets [about] rushing my senior year. It was such a humbling experience."
Georgina Emerson '09, who joined Sigma Delta sorority as a junior, entered women's rush her sophomore year, but dropped out before receiving a bid.
"[Rush] was really overwhelming, and I just was not ready," she said. "It was such a different experience as a junior, but I thought it would add so much to my Dartmouth experience."
Emerson said her friends' positive experiences with Dartmouth Greek life convinced her to go through rush again.
"I saw friends in sororities having such a good experience, and I thought that I wanted that too," she said.
Emerson felt there was "inevitably a sense of separation" between herself and her predominantly younger pledge class, but said she was grateful for the opportunity to get to know last year's sophomores.
Victor said that he revisited the idea of joining a fraternity after watching his friends strengthen their ties to Greek organizations over sophomore summer, which he said was a bonding experience that upperclassmen pledges miss.
"I definitely felt a little removed missing out on sophomore summer while everyone was with their fraternities," Victor said. "But seeing friends go through the process was powerful. I saw people who I was close to fitting into the fraternity scene."
Mackie, on the other hand, said he did not feel that he missed out on sophomore summer.
"I rushed Tri-Kap my senior fall and stayed on campus this past summer, so I essentially had my sophomore summer all over again," Mackie said. "It was the best experience."
Despite the two-year age difference, Mackie said other members of his pledge class were welcoming.
"Going through the process with the '10s made me get really close to them," he said. "Learning about brotherhood together, you'll naturally become closer. If anything, it kept me younger."
