Hey, Beige Block - which sorority will have the hottest pledge class this year? Which frats should you avoid at all costs?
No, it's not Gossip Girl, but gossip Web sites can offer freshmen going through the rush process a wealth of information.
Although Greek leaders say students should make their own decisions about the organizations, sites like JuicyCampus and threads on College Confidential offer takes on everything from what to wear to what type of people fill each house.
"Gossip is highly underrated," said Sean Bandawat, the president of RateMySorority.com and RateMyFraternity.com, Web sites that allow students to evaluate Greek groups. "If we didn't have gossip, users and cheaters would prosper," he added.
Bandawat, a junior at the University of Southern California and a member of two fraternities - a social fraternity and a business fraternity - said he created the site "as a way to benefit college students looking to join a sorority or fraternity."
Many students have e-mailed him to say the site was helpful, Bandawat said.
While none of the Penn chapters are rated on RateMySorority or RateMyFraternity, Greek life dominates the discussions on Penn's JuicyCampus and College Confidential pages.
JuicyCampus features a running commentary of the sorority rush experience, with posters asking fellow rushees "who had the best skit?" and comparing the wait for bids to be announced to "purgatory."
In addition to frequent posts rating Penn's different chapters, both sites feature users' observations about the organizations.
On College Confidential, members of Delta Delta Delta are called "the college equivalent of the high school cheerleader" and Kappa Alpha Theta members are described as "notorious cokeheads, though this is really more legend than reality."
Matt Ivester, the founder of JuicyCampus, said when he created the site he "didn't realize the extent" the its content would be focused on Greek life, but is "retroactively not surprised."
Like Bandawat, Ivester said he thinks gossip sites provide a service.
"More information and opinions can be really good," he said, adding that the site can give prospective Greeks "a sense of how others view frats."
JuicyCampus postings are anonymous, and Ivester described this as a "double-edged sword."
People are more willing to discuss controversial topics and share unpopular opinions, he said, but cautioned that "everyone has to realize that what they are reading is unsubstantiated gossip."
Because of the anonymous nature of these sites, posters have accused their online peers of using these sites as a forum to promote their own organizations.
When a poster put down a fraternity, he got this reply: "people (like you) who consistently bash other frats clearly are very scared about their own rush this year."
Bandawat sees self promotion as a good thing. "The site gives frats a way to brand themselves to the world."
"It is up to users to filter what they read," he said.
Interfraternity Council president and Wharton senior David Ashkenazi said he doesn't read any online gossip Web sites but said that there is "probably a lot of positive and negative stuff on Facebook and elsewhere online."
However, he added that relying on these sites does "the fraternity system at Penn a disservice by not getting to know the frats individually."
Similarly Panhellenic Council president and College senior Drew Tye wrote in an e-mail that she has never visited JuicyCampus "because I feel it unjustifiably labels people."
These sites "should play absolutely no role" in recruitment because "interactions between sorority women and potential new members" is a significant part in the decision-making process, she said.
Official rush events are intended to allow rushees to get to know current sorority members free from external influences.
To this end, Panhel's bylaws state, "from the first day of classes after Winter Break through Bid Day recruits may not be entertained by a sorority member."
Freshmen women are also not allowed to attend sorority events in the fall, and they are told not to talk to each other about their preferences.
Tye said she hoped "people will rely upon their own experiences as opposed to questionable remarks" on gossip Web sites.
For students rushing this year, gossip sites aren't a key source of information.
Wharton freshman Evan Schoenbach, who is rushing, said he has never read online gossip sites.
"I try to avoid gossip as much as I can to give each place a blank slate," he said.
Jake Silverman, a College freshman who is also rushing, said he looked for gossip online but couldn't find anything.
"I googled 'University of Pennsylvania frat reputations,'" he said.
Silverman said he wanted to see what others were saying "because it would probably be more informative than just my own personal experience."
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