OFSA to charge fee for spring fraternity rush

Each year, the return from Winter Break not only signals the start of a new semester, but also the beginning of a two-week period in which freshmen males breeze from fraternity to fraternity in search of free food and brotherhood -- rush.

This year, the process will begin Jan. 13 and continue through the last week of the month.

While still featuring many of its traditional aspects, this year's rush will be slightly different from that seen this past spring -- rushing men will now have to formally register, as well as pay a $5 fee to participate.

Despite the fact that these factors were not present in last year's process, both registration and rush-related fees have been present in years past.

Formal registration, according to InterFraternity Council President Conor Daly, was actually unsuccessfully piloted two years ago.

"The system before was inefficient and ineffective," the College senior said.

This year, Daly hopes registration will be more organized and present more solid data on the numbers of men who participate in the process.

According to Scott Reikofski, director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, the new system will also "facilitate better communication throughout the whole program." In addition to this, Reikofski said that more dependable records will allow rush officials to notify interested chapters of any students who either denied or did not receive bid offers at the end of the rushing period.

Although officials explain that this year's registration procedure will not be online, they say an online sign-up system should come into effect for rush within the next couple of years.

While the registration process was not a success in the past, Daly noted that the fee has actually traditionally been a mandatory part of rush, but was merely in a state of dormancy last year.

With the implementation of the fee, rush officials say they hope to generate more revenue to pay for aspects of rush, without having to dip into the organization's general budget.

"The main thing it's going to go to is toward the advertising for rush," Reikofski said, also noting that while he expects that fee will not be a source of financial burden for students, it might help them to consider the process slightly more seriously before signing up.

In addition to such alterations, OFSA has begun implementing an integrated training program for those students who will later serve as educators of new members within each Greek chapter.

According to Reikofski, the program incorporates information presented by Penn student groups like Students Together Against Acquaintance Rape and the Drug and Alcohol Resource Team, as well as subjects such as hazing, University resources for student groups on campus and how to foster teamwork and trust-building within an organization.

By mandating a unified training procedure for future educators, Reikofski hopes that new participants within the Greek system will in turn also gain "a common experience on things which the system sees as important."

In addition to providing students with a more standardized level of education regarding the Greek system, officials say they hope that this move will also result in risk reduction in Greek chapters across campus.

Through the training, Daly believes initiation into the Greek system will become more "institutionalized," in addition to being "more meaningful" for those students who choose to pledge. "We're very optimistic about it."

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