The beginning of Spring semester brings many things (although, ironically, not spring): new classes, K-ville, summer planning, the announcement of a disappointing LDOC lineup, etc. Perhaps the most important event come January is the onset of fraternity and sorority rush.
Before I go any further, some disclosure: I did not rush freshman year. Nor did I ever consider it. With that said, I am not anti-Greek or anti-fraternity. I view joining a fraternity the same way I view trying to learn badminton or reading the Harry Potter series-I can conceptualize its advantages even though I know they would never appeal to me.
In other words, I would generally be content to live and let live with regard to Greek life at Duke, if not for the overwhelming influence fraternities and sororities have on every undergraduate here, whether we rush or not.
Holding rush during the second semester of freshman year is perhaps the best example of this. Every upperclassman can remember some details about first semester that don't always seem to make sense later on. We often remember hanging out with people we haven't talked to in years in places we've long since stopped going to. The first semester of college is very much a trial-and-error process. You often have to spend two weeks getting to know someone before you realize that you don't like him at all.
By second semester, however, things have generally settled down. You generally know whom your friends are and where to find them. Before social dynamics are solidly entrenched, however, rush uproots them.
It's not that fraternities and sororities are evil organizations that prevent pledges from communicating with anyone outside their ranks and it's not that independents are too stuck up or aloof to associate with Greeks. It's just a matter of location. Relationships begun in the first semester are often stifled because someone is on West rushing, attending date functions or doing pledge tasks.
Freshman year at any university is an important time-Duke is right to isolate freshmen as they ease into college life and adapt to the new social and academic climate. Placing fraternity rush-and to a lesser extent, sorority rush-right in the middle of the freshman experience, however, completely undermines the effort.
The best way to preserve the unique quality of the East Campus experience is to move rush to the beginning of sophomore year. The move would be unpopular initially-appearing to some like just another attempt by the administration to squash any real social scene at Duke-but it would be beneficial in the long run.
For one, it would preserve the integrity of the social dynamics created in the first semester. Groups of friends would not have to splinter based on who wants to rush or who wants to pledge which frat or sorority. Instead, these decisions would be moved to a time when social groups are already readjusting.
Second, the change would lead to a more vibrant freshman social scene. With rush in the middle of freshman year, most of the freshman social experience is dictated by events on West. The first semester is spent touring West to get a sense of each section, and the second is spent complying with a rush schedule or pledge tasks. If freshmen were excluded from the rush process, however, they would be forced to initiate and explore non-Greek alternatives to create an East Campus social scene (the elephant in the room of this discussion, of course, is that East Campus is technically a "dry campus," but that's a problem for another column).
The advantages would not be limited to freshmen either. Greek organizations themselves would benefit from such a move. Moving rush to sophomore year would enable them to get more experience with recruits. By getting to know potential members during all of freshman year, and with the added possibility of extending rush along with the move, Greeks would not have to hand out bids based on only a few weeks of exposure. In addition, there will be more self-selection and the people rushing won't be doing so out of fear of social isolation.
The most important change, however, would be the preservation of Duke's freshman experience. Allowing the incoming class to have a full year to build the foundation of an academic and social experience is why we use separate campuses. It might be the best thing the Duke administration does, so let's get it right.
John Schneider is a Trinity senior. His column runs every other Monday.
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