Men's rush offers students glimpse of greek life

Rush -- the fraternity recruitment process -- will begin this weekend starting with a kickoff event from 5-7 p.m. Friday in Dunn Meadow.\nSenior Kevin Gfell, vice president of rush for Interfraternity Council, encourages men who are interested or curious about greek life to attend the kickoff event. Men will have the opportunity to meet and greet members from each of the 26 social fraternities on campus. \n"Rush at IU is very informal, and our goal is to help rushees get their foot in the door," Gfell said.\nAfter attending the kickoff, men still interested in rushing are encouraged to attend house tours. Men will gather at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Woodlawn Field, and tours will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 12-4 p.m. Sunday.\nGfell said house tours will differ from chapter to chapter, but that rushees should plan to spend about 15 minutes at each chapter. House tours generally include meeting members and hearing about the unique qualities of the fraternity such as philanthropy and intramural sports.\nAs an incentive for men to attend all chapter tours, Gfell said IFC will be raffling off five $100 scholarships to those who attend every house.\nBeginning Monday, chapters will begin calling men who they are interested in recruiting. Rushees may also take initiative to contact houses they are interested in. Gfell said some houses might already have a full pledge class for the fall semester, while others will look to extend bids to 30 or more men. Bids are typically extended by the end of September.\n"We like to invite guys over so they can see how we interact," said junior Brett Satkamp, rush chairman for Delta Upsilon. "When guys come over, they see the bonds and brotherhood in our house."\nSatkamp said Delta Upsilon does not try to meet any quota when extending bids to potential members.\n"We'll take as many or as few guys as we want," he said. "We look for quality."\nSophomore Adam Diamond, a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, agrees that compatibility is the most important factor to consider when deciding which house to join.\n"I looked at a few different houses during rush, but in the end I chose AEPi because I just felt like I'd fit in really well with the guys," Diamond said.\nGfell said although greek life is not for everyone, everyone should definitely take the time to explore it as an option.\nJunior Brad Patterson, vice president of campus relations for IFC, said he agrees that greek life is a great way to get involved on campus.\n"Greek life can serve as a great gateway to large organizational opportunities, such as an exciting social life, community service, collective study efforts," Patterson said. "Most importantly it's a way to meet people and make a lot of great friends"