A week ago, a friend of mine got a phone call from a crying high school friend. She (the high school friend) had just finished the often-stressful “rush” process at her college, and didn’t get a bid from any of her chosen sororities. After leaving home at least two weeks earlier than she had to, researching everything there was to know about Greek life, and spending the beginning of her time on her new campus competing to join a group of girls she didn’t even know yet, she was rejected — and devastated.
After hearing about this, I couldn’t help but feel grateful that the University delays the rush process until second semester. Being on Grounds is already an overwhelming experience: between taking college classes for the first time, trying out new clubs, meeting new people and even just figuring out where Monroe Hall is, first years have no shortage of activities. An early and competitive rush process in the fall would add unnecessary stress, and would likely prevent first years from experimenting with the other social scenes we have.
I know a handful of people who came to the University knowing which sororities and fraternities are “best,” but most people I’ve met, even if they’re definitely rushing next semester, have limited knowledge about Greek life. I suspect that over the course of this semester we’ll learn more about specific sororities and fraternities, but in the meantime we have time to get to know one another first, before extensively planning out our social lives.
It is not just that rushing right now would be stressful. It is also that we don’t know enough to know what exactly we’re committing to. If all we know about Greek life is from hearsay (and for some people, arbitrary listings of which groups are better than others), how can we possibly know if we’re making the right decision by rushing a specific fraternity or sorority? Moreover, with deferred rush, a lot of students come to important realizations about Greek life, the main one being that it’s not a vital part of the collegiate experience. If you choose to join it, it can be great, but there are so many other activities, organizations, and ways to be social that don’t involve it at all. My friend’s high school friend was completely insecure as a result of the rush process, and understandably so. This experience was her first brush with college — her first exposure to student life at her university — and I’m sure it’s made the beginning of her time there much less enjoyable. If the process had been deferred just one semester, she would have had the opportunity to explore her school more, and, if after doing so, she still decided to rush, the potential for rejection would have been much less devastating, since she would likely have found other fulfilling activities with which to occupy herself.
The fact of the matter is that when you graduate high school, you don’t automatically leave it behind; you still cling to its social structure and hierarchy, because that’s what you’re familiar with. If you rush the first semester of your first year, all you do is replicate your high school experience in college, by scoping out sororities and frats (in high school, forming cliques) and organizing them into some kind of hierarchy. With deferred rush, first years have a chance to really leave high school antics behind. I’m glad that the University has a history of Greek life, and that it maintains it today, but there’s no question in my mind that our school is right to defer our introduction to it.
Dani Bernstein is a Viewpoint Writer for The Cavalier Daily. Her columns run Tuesdays.
Read More
SULLIVAN: Ramp up physical accessibility on Grounds
By Scarlett Sullivan | YesterdayThe University must take responsibility for the inaccessibility of Grounds and work to promote accessibility for all students despite misguided laws.
EDITORIAL: Scapegoating students will not stop hazing
By Editorial Board | 4 days agoInstead of retroactively responding to extreme hazing allegations, we, and especially the University, must begin asking more probing questions about the role of fraternal organizations on Grounds.
EDITORIAL: Celebrating and reflecting on The Cavalier Daily’s independence
By Editorial Board | April 18, 2024Our independence grants us the ability to ask the hard questions and to say what University representatives cannot.
