Ever done something that at the time seemed like a great idea but in retrospect, it's like "What the hell was I thinking?" Here's a good example. Last week Theta Delt's electric fence had to be repaired. After getting it fixed, we wanted to make sure it worked, so I put the collar on one of our of dogs and let him run free. Our dog, Chief, immediately took off and ran through the electric fence, appearing totally unfazed by anything. Now instead of tightening Chief's collar, which I had put on very loosely because I was worried about him getting too shocked, I chose to just test the collar myself. Needless to say, the fence worked just fine and was surprisingly powerful.
Hindsight's 20-20, and I really have no idea why I thought that would be a good idea. I feel like an idiot even writing about it. At the very least I should have had an "optional" pledge event and had one of them do it.
In light of what I've learned this past week, I'm confident in a few years people will have that "What the hell were we thinking" stance on sorority rush. I don't even think it's a debate. No one likes it, a bunch of people great screwed, and it's hugely based off rankings. Basically, I realized, our sorority rush system is like the Bowl Championship Series. If the powers that be are logical, both will be gone in a few years. Here's why.1) The rankings systems
You shouldn't be able to go undefeated in anything and not have a shot at the championship. The fact that Boise State has lost one game since the 2006 season and hasn't had a shot at the national title is absurd. Plus the coach has said the team will take on any team willing to play them. Rankings based on polls and computers shouldn't prevent a team from a championship, losses should.
In terms of sorority rush as I understand it, the sororities go through every girl who rushes and rank each one. I'm stunned the school still allows this. I'm stunned that a school that launches formal investigations if a fraternity dog runs away or if you shake a pom-pom in the vicinity of someone else (both true) has not cracked down on the rankings system. 2) No one likes it
Have you ever heard someone defend the BCS system?
Have you ever met a girl, either a potential member or a current member, who likes rush week? Deliberations for the fraternity I'm in take about 30 minutes, and by the end of those everyone is squirming like five year olds. There's no reason rush needs to be a week.3) Computers are used
I don't really understand how either of these systems use computers, I just know they do. Computers are way smarter than us, but they have no place in judging sports teams or Greek rush. It's like in "Up in the Air" when they start using the internet to lay people off. There are some things computers just aren't good for.4) Both waste time
The BCS system leads to a ton of games that don't matter. Once a team losses one or two games, it is pretty much assured that it has no chance of winning the national championship. It'd be way more exciting if all the good teams were jockeying for playoff spots the whole season.
The sorority rush system also leads to lots of interactions that really do not matter. There are plenty of girls who know the one or two houses they want to go to, and they have no interest in other houses. It's just unnecessary to make everyone go to every house.5) Both can easily be fixed
A playoff system would solve every complaint people have about the BCS. There's no downside. It'd be way more exciting, teams like Boise State wouldn't get screwed, and the winner would be undisputed. It works amazingly well with college basketball, I don't know why the NCAA hasn't done this yet.
For sororities all you have to do just mimic the way the fraternities do it. Obviously it's a little different but since we rush as sophomores, it's not like people are clueless about what a house is like.
