The week-long fall sorority rush process drew to a close on Monday night with a higher number of participants than usual, making it more competitive than in previous years. Monday’s Preference night marked the end of a week known to be exhausting and stressful, though many found it rewarding in the end.</p>
<p>This year 304 women entered fall rush, which is about 20 more than last year. Of them, 40 girls dropped out during rush and 251 women went to Preference night. Every woman who went to Preference night received a bid, which was unusual as 30 more women attended compared to last year. Only 26 women received bids to the house they ranked second on Preference night, with the remainder landing their top choice.</p>
<p>Alpha Phi sorority offered 24 bids; Alpha Xi Delta sorority, 41; Delta Delta Delta sorority, 40; Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority, 41; Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, 42; Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, 23; and Sigma Delta sorority, 40, according to Kate Robb ‘08, president of the Panhellenic Council.</p>
<p>There was over 81 percent retention of recruits from the beginning of recruitment until bids were extended yesterday afternoon, up from 77 percent last fall.</p>
<p>The fact that more girls rushed this year was a positive factor for the sororities, and the sorority rush chairs were overall very satisfied with the results.</p>
<p>“Having more girls is definitely great for the houses because we absolutely loved all the girls who have been coming back for Pref night,” Sigma Delt rush chair Lizz Sigler ‘08 said. “We actually had to start telling girls to stop raving so much about people during delibs because we were taking too long.”</p>
<p>AZD rush chair Jennifer Croteau ‘08, was also satisfied with turnout.</p>
<p>“We had more women return for each round than in previous years, which was really exciting for our house,” she said. “Unfortunately, this also forced us to make some difficult decisions, but we’re looking forward to a great fall term with our new members.”</p>
<p>The larger number of participants made rush a more competitive and stressful process this year. Many sophomore girls, like Kassie Archambault ‘10, a new member of AZD, thought it was difficult to effectively interact with the members in the time given.</p>
<p>“I only had 45 minutes to get a sense of why this house was better than the other six houses, and in that same 45 minutes I had to show others that I would make a great addition to their house,” she said. “Round two was great because you could have more intimate conversations with people without having to shout.”</p>
<p>Sigler said she felt the more competitive atmosphere detracted from what should be a positive experience.</p>
<p>“The nature of rush in general this year seems soured by a lot of disappointment and rejection,” she said. “This year in particular a lot of the sisters are upset that not all the girls they loved can be asked back.”</p>
<p>From the other side, Archambault described the negative effects the rush process can have on Dartmouth women.</p>
<p>“For some people rush was a really crushing experience, because if girls weren’t called back to the houses they wanted, or any houses at all, it made them question who they are as women and why a certain house wouldn’t want them.”</p>
<p>Women’s rush began last Tuesday and spanned five separate days, with events lasting several hours each evening. This process was especially time-consuming in comparison to men’s rush, which took place over only two consecutive nights.</p>
<p>“We feel the biggest problem with female rush is that before being in a house, girls have virtually no access to upperclassmen girls and sororities,” Sigler said. “We’d love to make it more like frat rush.”</p>
<p>Sigler added that there seemed to be an unusually high number of girls that sisters loved and simply not large enough quotas.</p>
<p>“I hope that girls who are upset about not being asked back to some places don’t take it personally. The system is definitely flawed and I’d love to change it, but we do the best we can and sometimes things just happen,” she said, encouraging women who dropped out to rush again in the winter.</p>
<p>“I know that being in a sorority has definitely shaped my experience at Dartmouth,” Sigler said.</p>
<p>The 251 women who successfully completed rush received their bids on Tuesday evening.</p>
<p>“The time commitment was pretty stressful but I’m happy with how things turned out and most of my friends are too,” Kristin Eberhart ‘10 said, a new member of Tri-Delt. “I’m relieved it’s over and looking forward to making a new solid group of friends.”</p>
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