Superficial talks, snap judgements plague sorority rush

That peculiar ritual of early January is about to begin again. Herds of overdressed underclass women will begin roaming the campus, hair sprayed, smiles pasted and names tagged for sorority rush. For some rushees, this process represents an exciting opportunity. For others, it's a mere curiosity. Regardless of whether one enters the rush process with a clear set of goals or without a clue, rushees usually do so without appreciating its true nature.

Every year, all too many rushees treat the outcome of sorority rush as if it means something about who they are or what they're worth. As someone who has been independent, then greek then independent once more, I'm in a unique position to tell the rushees that such beliefs are unfounded. Whether a woman emerges from the rush process with the bid of her choice or if she leaves empty handed, it says little about the rushee herself. Why? Because, despite the greatest of intentions, sorority rush is a random affair.

Think about it. Each sorority fills a commons room with about 100 women. They pair off sisters and rushees. They tell the pairs to "get to know each other." Four minutes later, they switch conversation partners and tell them again: "get to know each other" (in four minutes-five tops). They repeat this process for about a half hour. Then they show the rushees the door. Before the next group of rushees arrives, the sisters note their impressions and (in some cases) evaluate each woman they have just met. They repeat this process anywhere from three to ten times a day over the course of two weeks. Is this the way to form a "sisterhood?" Actually, it's only part of it. There's more-but it's even worse.

In between some rounds of these highly meaningful sizing-up sessions, sororities hold "membership selection." At their best, these meetings give sisters the opportunity to pool all the very deep insights into the personality, character, intellect, and yes, I dare say the very soul of each rushee (as it appeared to them in their respective four minute conversations). Then they pass the deciding judgements. At their worst, the meetings introduce the politics of personal loyalties and individual ego trips into the game of assessing some kind of nebulous desirability of the women seeking entry. Oh, so that's the way to form a "sisterhood"? Apparently so; it happens every year.

I know, I know: Sororities have to choose their members somehow. But the current system forces greek women to judge literally hundreds of their peers based on little more than a calculated series of rapid-fire conversations held in hot, noisy, crowded commons rooms. I'm not saying they want to do this; many sisters can't stand the whole idea. Nonetheless, in the interest of the system's survival, they do it. Worst of all, in order to make their eventual pledges feel special and to begin creating a "sisterly bond," sororities try to pass the whole process off as a valuable and legitimate indicator of which women best represent the virtues upheld by that sorority.

But my gripe here is not with sororities as a whole. Once past the rush process, sororities can provide some women with legitimate opportunities to develop lasting friendships, cultivate new interests, and have a lot of fun. My complaint is with an inherently flawed and fundamentally defective rush system. The panellenic council's periodic logistical adjustments can't touch its basic flaws.

No, I am not calling for reform. I am merely pushing for awareness. Before we all leave for break, I wanted to take the blinders off this year's rushees just a little. Also, I am not telling people not to rush. If greek life sounds appealing then just treat rush like a necessary evil or a hurdle. Go ahead and rush; you may find it's worth it.

But if things don't work out, there are a few things to remember: First, it's really not the end of the world. It's not even the end of your social life. Believe it or not, a full 60 percent of Duke women are independent and we somehow manage to show our faces every day. We even have fun sometimes (imagine that!). Also, (this is the cheesy part): your friends will still be your friends regardless of the letters any of you wear on your chest, not because of those letters. Finally, don't take any of this rush stuff to heart. Because in reality, the culmination of all this demented interaction says more about one's ability to tolerate six hours of inane conversation about nametags and hometowns than it does about one's character, personality, or worth.