Number of Rush Bids Level with Last Year

Average of Eight Pledges So Far Hides Wide Variation from Zero to 15 Across Frats

By Jeffrey Chang

As of yesterday afternoon, roughly half, or 208, of the 420 bids given to freshmen Friday evening were accepted, said Interfraternity Council President Daniel H. Daneshvar ’05.

The bids were distributed among 355 freshmen, or 57 percent of freshmen males; some received bids from multiple fraternities.

“It was a huge success... there was a lot of publicity and energy,” said David Rogers, assistant dean and director of Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups.

Rush 2004 kicked off with last Sunday’s Greek Griller at Killian Court. Between 600 and 700 freshmen attended the event, lured by the free food, Rogers said.

So far, rush results are consistent with those of 2003, when 422 bids were given out and a total of 296 freshmen pledged by the end of Rush.

In the fall of 2002, 286 freshmen pledged, and the year before that, 319. 2001 was the last year of the old system where Rush was held during freshmen orientation and pledges could move into their fraternities immediately. Beginning in 2002, all freshmen were required to live on campus.

Number of bids vary greatly

The distribution of bids among the 26 participating fraternities was by no means uniform. Some fraternities gave out as few as four bids, while others gave over thirty, Daneshvar said.

As of Monday afternoon, the number of students who pledged to a particular fraternity ranged from zero to fifteen, and so far the average number of pledges per fraternity is eight.

“They spent lots of money and made it really easy and fun to get to know the frats,” said Kurt K. Tummel ’08, who currently lives in Baker House. “I wouldn’t have made such a well-informed decision if it weren’t for the extensive rush programs.” Tummel pledged to Phi Beta Epsilon.

Rush goes smoothly

Prior to Rush, there were some minor violations of IFC rules. Some students mentioned their fraternities to freshmen, wore shirts with their letters, or took freshmen out before Rush had officially began. Most of these violations resulted in small fines, said IFC Judicial Committee Chair William R. Fowler ’05.

Fowler said that there were no major infractions such as alcohol use and interference with classes during Rush.

However, some fraternities committed smaller violations which primarily involved taking freshmen off campus for a longer period of time than permitted by the IFC.

Depending on the circumstances, these violations resulted in either small fines or further restrictions on taking freshmen off campus, Fowler said.

Delta Kappa Epsilon and Theta Delta Chi fraternities did not participate in Rush at the normal time because they are under sanctions. DKE began rush yesterday, and TDC will be allowed to begin next week.