Although fewer students participate in Spring Rush in comparison to the fall, those involved with Greek Life say the smaller number of potential new members allows for a more intimate and relaxed recruitment experience.

Courtney Leibering, president of Delta Delta Delta sorority, said the biggest difference from fall to spring recruitment is the number of girls rushing. Although fall recruitment is more formal in its structure, both spring and fall rushes are “”effective in their ability for a house to receive the perfect pledge class,”” Leibering said. “”They just differ in their technique because of the difference in demand.””

She explained that women rush in the spring as opposed to the fall for many reasons, since potential new members could be transfer students or girls whose parents wanted them to get settled in college before entering into Greek Life.

Laura Moedano, a member of Delta Delta Delta and a physiology and anthropology freshman, also believes that Spring Rush is an opportunity to recruit potential members on more individual bases.

“”It allows each potential new member to get to know the girls in our sorority better through the fun and slightly less formal activities that are held,”” she said. “”This smaller ratio of potential new members to actives is great in order to ensure that Tri Delta is the right fit (for) the women that we meet.””

Cosmic bowling, lunch at the house and a cocktail night are some of the activities their sorority does during spring recruitment, according to Moedano.

Not all sororities and fraternities can participate in spring recruitment, however. Panhellenic chapters are not allowed to recruit outside of the formal fall recruitment if they have more than 200 members, according to Jenny Nirh, the senior coordinator for Fraternity and Sorority Programs. The Panhellenic chapters that participated this year are Alpha Phi Gamma, Phi Beta Chi, Alpha Epsilon Phi and Delta Delta Delta.

Members of Alpha Epsilon Phi declined to comment on their Rush process.

Although the United Sorority and Fraternity Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council men’s and women’s groups did not participate in Spring Rush, they will be creating interest groups or having their pledge classes give out information about their chapters during the semester, according to Nirh.  

Only the fraternities affiliated the Interfraternity Council have a set Rush week and may recruit throughout the semester if they choose.

Sam Silbereich, the recruitment chair for Sigma Alpha Mu and a political science junior, was a spring rushee himself.

Silbereich believes the biggest difference between Fall and Spring Rush is that most men during spring have heard of the fraternities on campus. The men tend to join the ones they have friends in or heard good things about in the spring, whereas during the fall, most haven’t heard of many fraternities and thus rely on informational meetings for recruitment.

In terms of quality, he feels that “”every semester there are quality guys hoping to get an awesome college experience through brotherhood and charity.””

Some activities the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity hosted in order to bond with potential members were sports on the mall, volleyball and laser tag.

For Ethan Widdes, a member of Zeta Beta Tau and a business junior, the difference between Fall and Spring Rush is the different types of men who rush during the spring. The main type, according to Widdes, is those who needed the fall semester to adjust to college.

“”It can often times be hard for freshmen to adjust to the lifestyle of college, and they would rather take the first semester to help adjust before looking into Greek Life,”” Widdes said.

He said one of the nice aspects of Spring Rush is there are less men rushing, so his fraternity gets to spend more time interacting and talking with potential recruits. They do this through volleyball, bowling, a wing night at Hooters and an invite-only preference dinner at the end of Rush week.

“”A fraternity can always find the quality guys they are looking for during any rush period,”” he said. “”You just have to recruit the right guys that fit your organization.””