Last December, freshman Joe Witmer saw a sign advertising an informational meeting for SU’s 18 social fraternities of the Interfraternity Council.

‘I wasn’t sure if I was going to rush, but I went anyway,’ said Witmer, an advertising major.

He later decided to rush, without realizing that the sign was a part of an IFC-wide, revamped effort to get men interested in spring rush.

After a disappointing spring 2003 rush, IFC members expect about 300 men to begin rush Sunday morning. The number is about 100 men more than those who rushed last spring.

IFC members aren’t hesitant to admit that last spring’s rush numbers were disappointingly low.

‘It just kind of happened,’ said Matt Goodman, a senior newspaper major and last year’s IFC rush chairman. ‘We thought everything was going fine until it was too late.’

He says that a lack of publicity contributed to the low numbers. He and Charlie Walker, another former rush chairman and a junior religious studies major, were unsure how to effectively market greek life, Goodman said.

This year, though, Goodman has helped the current rush chairmen, Kevin Reilly, an undeclared sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences, and Anthony Mariello, a junior psychology major, with the position, and has witnessed both take more initiative with the job. In addition, IFC board members created an assistant rush chairman position to ease the workload.

In December, the Office of Greek Life and Experiential Learning held a workshop for its recognized fraternities and sororities about how to effectively recruit new members.

‘There are three segments of our campus population for potential members of the greek campus overall,’ said OGLEL Dean Joe Oravecz. ‘You have the no-joiners. You have the absolutely, ‘I’m going greek’ group. But then you have this group of guys who aren’t sure.’

Reilly and Mariello are targeting the group of guys who aren’t sure about joining, like Witmer.

The process’ format was adjusted from last spring. Rush hours are shorter Sunday so guys won’t choose the Super Bowl over rushing, a problem IFC members faced last year.

SU officials also believe that several events in the spring of 2002 gave social fraternities a reputation that wasn’t appealing to new members. One was a fight between Zeta Psi and Alpha Chi Rho fraternities, which ended with one student’s hospitalization. Later, a brawl on Marshall Street involved several fraternity members. Also, a fraternity member dressed in blackface for a party.

‘They’ve done extremely well this whole year, and, knock on wood, we haven’t had serious issues,’ Oravecz said. He feels that the improvement is a direct result of OGLEL’s creation in July 2002.

A goal of IFC’s informational meetings was to remove any negative social stigma, Reilly said.

‘What we’re trying to do is let people understand what greek life is about,’ said Mariello. ‘If it’s not for them, there are other clubs out there that also get involved in the community. It’s not for everyone.’

IFC members hope that the additional efforts will help rushees better understand the true meaning of greek life.

‘It’s not all about partying and whatever else goes on – there’s more than that,’ Reilly said. ‘You develop this bond you probably wouldn’t have and you really meet a diverse crowd. You realize that you can relate to a lot more people than you think.’

Published on January 29, 2004 at 12:00 pm