{"id":4254,"date":"2015-08-27T10:32:35","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T10:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archives.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/?p=4254"},"modified":"2023-11-28T19:59:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T19:59:36","slug":"rush-to-recruit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/2015\/08\/27\/rush-to-recruit\/","title":{"rendered":"Past to Present: Rush to Recruitment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sorority<\/a>
Sorority Rush Handbook (1983). Found in Record Series 41\/2\/63.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cover<\/a>
Cover of the Illinois Magazine (1922). Found in Record Series 41\/20\/58.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Written by Leanna Barcelona<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the kick off of Panhellenic Formal Recruitment<\/a>\u00a0on Friday\u00a0evening, it is worthwhile to see how the event has evolved over the years at the University of Illinois. A notable difference is the term used to describe the process, the transition from \u201crush\u201d to \u201crecruitment.” Walking around campus, you are likely to hear both terms used interchangeably, but officially the term is now recruitment. In addition, the term \u201crushee\u201d has been abandoned and the phrase \u201cpotential new member\u201d has taken its place to describe a woman wishing to join a sorority. This is in part due to negative connotations associated with the term\u00a0“rush.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Rush<\/a>
Rush Rules (c. 1912). Found in Record Series 41\/20\/104.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the name may have changed and the process has become more in depth with the growth of the Greek community over the past century, there are still several similarities. In fact, many of the rules in place during the 1910s are comparable to those today. A copy of the 1912 \u201cRush Rules,” found in Rosalie Gehant\u2019s (Alpha Delta Pi) collection<\/a>,\u00a0shows rule number four, stating that \u201cNo men shall be included in any rushing date,” which in some form still exists as a policy today.[1]<\/a> The overall theme of limited communication between rushees and organizations outside of recruitment events\u00a0is similar\u00a0to how communications run today.<\/p>\n

\"Rushee<\/a>
Rushee Guest Card (1939). Found in Record Series 41\/20\/104.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another resemblance\u00a0is the use of guest cards. In the collection<\/a> of Molly Jean Wilson Senniger (Kappa Alpha Theta), there is a booklet of unused guest cards. The instructions inside say, \u201cWrite your name on each coupon as soon as you receive this. The proper coupon should be presented as you enter the sorority. This will signify that you are an invited guest.\u201d[2]<\/a> Today, rather than the Panhellenic Council providing guest cards, women going through the formal recruitment process write their names on note cards and hand them to an active member at each sorority they visit.<\/p>\n

Also in Molly\u2019s collection is a letter describing her rush experience. On September 11, 1939, she wrote:<\/p>\n

Saturday night Mary Alice, Martha & I went to the Chi O (Other gals from the house go too, of course, but I mention this \u2018cause we go together) dance. It was marvelous–I\u2019ve never had a better time. They had programs (of course I lost mine) and the actives did the leading. Sunday morning at the Pi Phi breakfast we danced, too. The food was fried chicken, if you can imagine it for breakfast.[3]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Molly<\/a>
Molly Jean Wilson Senniger’s Preference Card (1939). Found in Record Series 41\/20\/122.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Women<\/a>
Women of Alpha Gamma Delta moving in (1963). Found in Record Series 39\/2\/20.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An image of her \u201cPreference Card\u201d can be seen on the left. The term preference is used to rank the order of organization in which a woman would like to join. This term is still used today, although the handwritten card has been replaced by computer software programming.<\/p>\n

An underlying difference I observed through my research for this blog post is a sense of courting in earlier rushing that is not as present in today\u2019s recruitment. Times and technology may be responsible for this, but the formalities of hand written invitations and dance programs are something we do not see much today. Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and Panhellenic Council Advisor, Andrew Hohn, said that the use of the computer software, CampusDirector, “Allows staff to more efficiently manage formal recruitment on a large scale with a lot of ease.” The program, which assists in matching women to chapters and vice versa, “Also saves our staff and chapters participating in recruitment a lot of valuable time by the automation of many features that used to be done by hand.” While hand written invitations were a nice touch in past years, the growth in the Greek community requires the use of technology in order to mange the process.<\/p>\n

One interesting aspect of recruitment changes are those that came during and after World War II. With a significant decrease in the number of men on campus during the war and their return after, it posed some necessary changes. In a 1956 letter from Fred H. Turner<\/a>, Dean of Students at that time, to the Executive Committee and University Council regarding the Panhellenic Rushing Program, found in the Panhellenic Files<\/a>, Turner discusses the reasons for moving rush from September to June:<\/p>\n

Prior to 1946, Sorority Rushing was held in September just before Freshman Week, and girls were rushed, pledged, and moved into sorority houses immediately. Those not pledged sought other housing space\u2026 During the war period enrollment dropped to approximately 6,000 students – 4,500 women and 1,500 civilian men. Women occupied many rooming houses previously occupied by men, also some fraternity houses still unactivated. With the return of the men, the houses were re-occupied by men. In the fall of 1945, 800 girls went through rushing, sororities had space to pledge about 500 and 300 were faced with no living quarters available.[4]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Image<\/a>
Image from 1983 Sorority Rush Handbook. Found in Record Series 41\/2\/63.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We no longer have a “Freshman Week” on campus and women who join a sorority do not move into sorority houses immediately after joining. It also does not take place in the summer before students arrive on campus, like this letter suggests it did previously.\u00a0Instead, Formal Recruitment is held in the Fall semester, beginning in August or September, depending on the football schedule. It takes place over two weekends for a total of 6 days. At other universities, the recruitment process can take place the week before the fall semester begins and women can move into sorority houses immediately after.<\/p>\n

The number of women involved in Greek Life has also changed; in the previous letter, we see that around 800 women registered for recruitment in 1945. In 1994, this increased to over 1,100.[5]<\/a> As of 9:00 a.m. Thursday,\u00a0according to Vice President of Recruitment Jessica Walke, almost 1,300 women are registered to go through recruitment, and that number will increase before registration closes tonight. Considering that there are over 3,000 freshman women this semester,\u00a0this is quite a significant number of women.<\/p>\n

I have gone through the recruitment process as a freshman looking to find a home, as an active member seeking new chapter members, as a Panhellenic Council Executive Board member monitoring the process, and now through\u00a0the eyes of an alumna on campus. Each lens has been different from the others and provided me with new perspective on the fraternity and sorority community on this campus. Greek life has a strong history here on campus and would not have grown if it did not have a positive effect on the community and its members at the University of Illinois. I encourage students to give the process a chance and see what it has to offer you.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you are interested in\u00a0learning more about the fraternities and sororities at the University of Illinois or are an alumna\/nus with your own memories and materials to share, please contact\u00a0us<\/a> at the Student Life and Culture Archives and we would be happy to hear from you!\u00a0You can also read about the Greek Housing History at the University of Illinois here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you would like to know more about the current recruitment process, the staff at Fraternity and Sorority Affairs<\/a> will gladly assist you.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[1] Rosalie F. Gehant Scrapbook, 1912-16, 1918, Record Series 41\/20\/104, University of Illinois Archives.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[2] Molly Jean Wilson Senniger Papers, 1939-1942, 1978, 1991, Record Series 41\/20\/122, University of Illinois Archives.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[3] Molly Jean Wilson Senniger Papers, 1939-1942, 1978, 1991, Record Series 41\/20\/122, University of Illinois Archives.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[4] Panhellenic Files, 1927-1970, Record Series 41\/2\/63, Box 5, University of Illinois Archives.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[5] Greek Affairs, Subject File, 1906, 1956, 1964-1968, 1980-, Record Series 41\/2\/48, University of Illinois Archives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Leanna Barcelona With the kick off of Panhellenic Formal Recruitment\u00a0on Friday\u00a0evening, it is worthwhile to see how the event has evolved over the years at the University of Illinois. A notable difference is the term used to describe the process, the transition from \u201crush\u201d to \u201crecruitment.” Walking around campus, you are likely to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":626,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[116,117,118,208,224,253,256,273],"class_list":["post-4254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-found-in-the-archives","category-university-trivia","tag-formal-recruitment","tag-fraternities-and-sororities","tag-fred-h-turner","tag-molly-senniger","tag-panhellenic-council","tag-rosalie-gehant","tag-rush","tag-sorority-rush"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/626"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4254"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11392,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4254\/revisions\/11392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}