Fraternity rush has begun, with more than 820 students filling the North Ballroom at the UA on Monday to attend a mandatory informational meeting.

With sorority recruitment ending just over a week ago, their male counterparts in Greek Life have a week ahead of them filled with BBQs, bowling, basketball games and hookah smoking sessions to get to know their future fraternity brothers.

“”I’ve been talking to a bunch of alumni and they said it’s a good thing to do,”” said Brain Ward, a pre-business freshman. “”You get to kinda meet people, and if you’re not comfortable doing it now, you can get into it later.””

This year marks only the second semester there has been a mandatory registration process before being allowed to become a member, said Johanne Jensen, the director for Fraternity and Sorority Programs.

“”We started (having formal registration) last spring,”” Jensen said. “”Before they would narrow their choices down through the week and we had no database to keep track. Now we know who maybe didn’t get invited and also those chapters who need people so we can pass those along and it helps the chapter as well.””

But for students that are still undecided about whether they want to join a fraternity, there’s still time, and most say there are several things they may keep in mind when considering each chapter. One is hazing.

“”I’m not gonna lie, I’m not a big fan myself,”” said Cam Miller, a pre-business freshman, “”I’ve heard some are worse than others, but for me at least, that’s a pretty big factor – I probably won’t go for the ones that do that.””

Alex Cornell, a pre-business freshman, said regardless of whether or not certain fraternities do partake in hazing, he won’t be joining them. “”I’ve never been really affected by peer pressure so if someone wants me to do something I don’t want to do, I just won’t do it,”” Cornell said. “”Period.””

But although rumors still linger on college campuses about hazing, many fraternities are taking the initiative this semester to break them.

“”It’s been a huge stain on the reputation of fraternities for just – forever,”” said Alex Hecker, a senior majoring in anthropology and a founding member of Sigma Chi. “”We just got back from this big leadership conference in Missouri and we were just talking a lot to other colonies that are getting re-chartered like us, and always across the board its been about hazing. We’re trying to emphasis that there is no hazing.””

Hazing is illegal in the state of Arizona and is something that is not just forbidden for fraternities and sororities, but for other clubs on campus as well, as part of the UA code of conduct.

“”There’s a breeding ground whenever there is somewhere where you have to gain admission to whatever it might be,”” Jensen said. “”I think that there’s often more light shed by the media on fraternities, but really it can happen anywhere.””