This fall, the Inter-Fraternity Council says it will crack down on rush violations by enforcing restrictions on what many University students know as "dirty rush."
IFC Judiciary Committee Chairman Zach Terwilliger describes "dirty rush" as an attempt by a fraternity to entice a first-year student to join a particular house. This problem has arisen since the University switched from fall to spring rush, Terwilliger said.
"Rush is supposed to be a fair process, and dirty rush just detracts from it," Terwilliger said.
Although few formal regulations exist that define exactly what constitutes a violation of rush rules, fraternities are aware that they are not to invite first-year men to certain kinds of events, such as date functions.
"It's basically understood that fraternity men and first-year men are not to engage in activities that would attempt to elicit a pledge of allegiance to a particular fraternity before formal rush starts," Terwilliger said.
In the near future, the IFC and the President's Council will try to define what specifically constitutes a "dirty rush" violation. Punishment then will occur on a case by case basis from the IFC-JC, Terwilliger said.
"We know it is a big problem, but we would like to bring about awareness and take a step in the right direction at least," IFC President Phil Trout said.
Informal rush -- fall rush sanctioned by the IFC for upperclassmen and transfer students -- begins Sept. 5. The formal two-week rush process begins in January for interested first-year men, Trout said.
"We expect that the first years will participate in the spring semester and not in other activities in the fall semester," said Aaron Laushway, assistant dean of students of fraternity and sorority life.
The IFC has solicited the help of Resident Staff in their efforts to crack down on illegal activities.
First-year resident advisors will be asked to write an incident report citing the date and the nature of an event that occurred, and the name of the fraternity involved. The student's name and the RA's name will not be included in the report.
"We would like Resident Staff to give us as much information as possible," said Terry Dade, program coordinator for the office of fraternity and sorority life.
If fraternities are found guilty of "dirty rush" violations, they can lose formal rush privileges, such as one night of invites.
The IFC encourages anyone to report violations, not just Resident Staff members.
University administrators will not play a major role in the enforcement of rush policies. They defer to the representative councils on this issue.
"In support of student self-governance, we expect the IFC and the other three councils to have and to maintain their own rules and regulations," Laushway said.
First-year men will be made aware of IFC policies through its dorm advisor program that began last year. For this program, Greek men come to first-year dorms two or three times during the fall semester to explain formal rush and answer any questions.
"The safety of first years is our number one priority," Trout said. "That would be the main reason we would like to stop dirty rush."
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