Column: A Rho Chi’s perspective on rushing

Imagine being in a room full of people you have not met before and trying to learn as much about their fraternity as possible in one hour.

This is what I experienced while leading the young men that are rushing on Jan. 17 through Jan. 23.

Muskingum University students are going through a rush process to potentially become Greek.

“Meeting all of the fraternities,” said freshman Dillian Moeglin when asked what he liked best about the rush process.

I was a Rho Chi during the rush process. A Rho Chi is a member of a Greek organization that volunteers to become neutral during rush week.

As a Rho Chi it was my responsibility to make sure the men rushing were getting a fair look at all the fraternities to distinguish what was fact or rumor so they could decide the best fraternity for them.

Another responsibility the Rho Chi had was to be able to answer any questions the rushes had about the process or Greek life.

Also as a Rho Chi I had to make sure that each fraternity was following the recruitment rules set by Student Life.

We Rho Chi had to remain neutral throughout the rush process.

We had to disassociate ourselves from our fraternity brothers so that we could help guide and advise our rush groups and to help them keep an open mind with all fraternities.

This sounds like an important role in the rush process; however my fellow Rho Chi senior Ryan Stretton said, “our importance is minimal, because we just lead them around to each house, encouraging them to go Greek. It is the house’s responsibility to sell their fraternity.”

We had to lead our group of rushees through three parties on Sunday and three parties on Monday, one from each fraternity.

Then on Wednesday the fraternities Phi Psi, Stag, and Ulster were open for the rushes to visit.

On Thursday the fraternities Mace, Sinfonia, and Phi Tau were open for the rushes.

The stipulation, however, is that they were only allowed at each party for no more than an hour each. On Friday each fraternity had an invitation-only dinner to try to focus on the rushes that seemed most interested with their fraternity.

Introductions at each party were commonplace. Getting to know each person that is rushing was a goal of the fraternities to create a pleasant atmosphere and to potentially gain them as a member.

Just going through the rush process benefits students.

“I think that going through the recruitment process can be very beneficial to first year students,” said assistant dean for campus programs Bob Bergmann. “It gives them a great opportunity to meet new people and network with their peers.”

Each fraternity talked about brotherhood and how it affected their lives.

Each fraternity is also proud that their group is either unique like in the cases of Mace, Stag, and Ulster or national like in the cases of Phi Psi, Phi Tau, and Sinfonia.

There was a variety of fraternities for the rushes to choose from.
Ultimately, however; it is each fraternity’s goal to make sure that each rush participant finds the place that is best for them.

After giving their two cents, each fraternity gave the rushees something to do.

These activities included letting them play video games like Call of Duty, board games like Scattergories, to just telling each other what they like to do for fun.

Students that decided to join Greek life could also potentially benefit Muskingum University.

“The Greek Community provides community service and philanthropic support to the University Community.The Greeks also support and provide leadership to many organizations and programs across campus,” said Bergmann.

Last Saturday Jan. 23 was bid day. The day when rush participants and the Greek community alike finds out who joins what Greek organizations.
There was 39 men that went through the rush process.

Mace received two new members, Phi Psi received one new member, Phi Tau received seven new members, Sinfonia received five new members, Stag received six new members, and Ulster received two new members through the rush process.

Congratulations to all of the new members of the Greek Community.