As a self-proclaimed “survivor” of Panhellenic recruitment this fall, I feel as if I should have some semblance of an opinion regarding my experience. Following fall and winter recruitment each year, this paper’s opinion section often fills with “obligatory” post-rush columns. While these pieces more often than not rail against the Greek system’s aura of exclusivity and slam the superficiality of the recruitment process, I would like to offer an alternative view. Despite its well-publicized faults, sorority recruitment can breed camaraderie, not animosity.
Rush is an inherently bizarre process — I realized this early in the week. As I put my head on the pillow following the first night of round one, I could not fathom why I spent my evening sharing a synopsis of my life story with older female students who took wearing flair to an entirely new level. As someone who had never considered rushing before arriving at Dartmouth, my knowledge of recruitment and the Greek system was limited to what my sister told me. Perhaps this wasn’t the most reliable source — my sister is in 10th grade and has Netflix-ed ABC Family’s “Greek” in its entirety.
But despite my initial ignorance, two weeks after bid night, I feel that I have reflected enough to properly weigh in. Though rush is a time-consuming, messy and imperfect process, it undeniably has positive attributes as well. Something that fades all too soon in the Dartmouth experience is the camaraderie and closeness of freshman floors. Unfortunately, the collective extraversion of freshmen during their first Hanover fall can dissipate sooner rather than later. The closest I have come to re-experiencing this feeling of freshman friendliness has been Panhell recruitment. Although many will claim that walking from house to house wearing high heels in sub-50 degree weather is not conducive to forging friendships, my experiences led me to believe otherwise. Throughout rush, I got to know several women across various sectors of campus that, had I not participated in recruitment, I would never have encountered.
The positive interactions I had throughout rush went beyond those with the other ’17s rushing. Through rush, I engaged with older female students outside of class or extracurriculars. No, I can’t say that I remember the names of each and every person I spoke to in each house, nor can I say that I particularly enjoyed each and every conversation I had. That doesn’t mean you can write off the entire process. While I agree that some recruitment-facilitated conversations devolve into vapid humble-bragging about “what you do on campus,” many others are genuinely worthwhile. Regardless of its well-known flaws, rush is an opportunity to connect with both your fellow class and upperclass women.
As someone who was obsessed with Harry Potter for the greater part of my younger years, I am compelled to draw the following comparison. The rush process is much like the Sorting Hat — everyone ends up where they need to go, regardless of preconceptions, hang-ups and hearsay surrounding each house (at the beginning of rush, there are definitely cries analogous to “not Slytherin”). And for this, the recruitment process deserves more credit. While I do not contend that rush is perfect or even necessarily a smooth ride, I do believe that we should duly acknowledge the things it does right. Recruitment is an opportunity to move past our personal Dartmouth bubbles and expand the community of people who will form our time here.
