Good Times, Hooters, and bowling. In addition to hanging out at the house, rush week events sent future fraternity brothers out and about from Feb. 5-14, in an effort to build community and attract new blood to the campus Greek system.
This year's rush began a week later than usual and only lasted a week, as opposed to the normal two. By 4 p.m. last Friday, rushees accepted or rejected bids given last Thursday. Pledging began for all fraternities and will last until Spring Fling, with the exception of Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT), a non-pledging fraternity.
Rush week for fraternities definitely differs from sorority events. For example, you probably won't find sisters dissembling a disowned car, hurling bricks, and impressing dents as the Zeta Psi brothers and rushees did. The general intention remains the same, however: prospective Greeks rush to become comfortable with the system, as older members create events that will attract and intrigue the rushees. "It's about how both sides get along," said junior Jonathan Sunkin, president of Zeta Psi.
In order to pledge fraternities, prospective brothers have to attend two or more of a house's rush events. The system does not restrict the number of fraternities that prospective Greeks can rush, but most students tend to rush no more than two or three houses.
Sunkin feels that the number of rushees this year's was down from last year for both fraternities and sororities. Since Tufts has become more competitive, Sunkin theorized, incoming students are more academically oriented, thus limiting the amount of interest in the Greek system. "More students are anti-fraternities," he said, but added that fraternities are "not anti-people."
The rules also effect who can join Greek life and who cannot. Houses must submit a list of prospective brothers to Student Services, which monitors the eligibility of the rushees. In the past, students on academic or disciplinary probation were ineligible for a bid, and had to wait until they were off of probation to pledge. According to Sunkin, such restrictions resulted in underground pledging.
Prompted by the changes in the alcohol policy made earlier this year, the Inter-Greek Council (IGC) decided to amend the rules. According to junior Rob Greene, president of the Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC), the IGC voted to allow students on the first level of disciplinary probation to pledge. By this point, however, sorority rush had ended and fraternity rush was almost over, prompting Dean of Students Bruce Reitman to rule the new regulations unfair. However, next year's rush will allow for students on disciplinary probation to pledge, though continuing to prohibit pledging for those on academic probation.
With rush over, most pledges are entering a period of part-torture, part-bonding. ZBT brothers, on the other hand, participate in rush week, but pledges are inducted within 72 hours and enrolled in a 'new brothers program.' "Brothers don't have to do the demeaning things that pledging requires," said sophomore Adam Biacchi, vice president of ZBT. "The program is about teaching brotherhood, trust, and loyalty." The 'new brothers program' ends at the end of the semester and new brothers are integrated into the system.
Sunkin also emphasized the trust aspect of brotherhood at Zeta Psi. He compared brothers to soldiers in a war, who must trust and rely on one another. Pledging, he said, is an opportunity to form close bonds, integrate as a group, and establish roots at school.
Pledges often bond quickly and build closer friendships with each other than with other brothers, since they are usually the same year and they can sympathize with one another through pledge events, according to many pledges. Brothers and pledges alike agree that fraternities provide a secure base, a kind of home, and friends to rely on.
One anonymous freshman said that he decided to pledge Delta Tau Delta (DTD) because of the general character of the other pledges and brothers he met. "Every brother has a story and I want to contribute my story too," he said.
Sunkin was first attracted to Zeta Psi during the "demolition dinner," though he soon found more reasons to join the Greek system: being able to room with friends, paying a reduced housing fee, and living in a large single. Zeta Psi's location also contributed to his decision.
