Illustration by Gracen Hoyle
Every part of the Greek life rush process focuses on fostering connections. Unfortunately, the world we live in today demands some level of isolation…
Whether it’s celebrating Friendsgiving with a feast of chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes, painting with Bob Ross or whatever the fraternities do, every part of the Greek life rush process focuses on fostering connections. Unfortunately, the world we live in today demands some level of isolation, which poses an obvious challenge to Greek life’s ability to have a normal rush process this upcoming semester.
Trinity’s rush process is unique because it spans the entire fall semester. Many other universities have week-long rush processes that pressure clubs and potential new members to try to develop a relationship with someone with little time to do so. Trinity’s Greek life attempts to alleviate some of that stress by providing time for potential new members to get to know more members with greater depth. Unfortunately, the coronavirus guidelines have made Greek life’s job harder, but isn’t that the theme of this semester? The real question is what clubs are doing to make the most of the situation.
First of all, if you are interested in participating in Greek life and missed the involvement fair, don’t worry.
“I plan on having multiple online information sessions this semester,” said Wills Brown, the assistant director for fraternity and sorority life.
These sessions will tell potential new members all they need to know about Greek life, but if you can’t make any of the information sessions, there are still ways you can learn about Greek life.
“I encourage anybody interested in Greek life to contact me or the fraternity and sorority co-chairs, Jack Garrett and Olivia Littlefield,” Brown said.
However, if you are able to attend an information session, you will hear all the clubs introduce themselves; this year, it will be especially important to pay attention because after the information session, you will have the opportunity to fill out a Google form for the clubs you’re interested in.
This form will be the main way you can let the different clubs know how to contact you about events. It will still be possible to hear about a club’s events by following them on social media or even talking to individual members, but the simplest way to ensure you know about events is attending the meeting and filling out the form.
Obviously, with the current situation, the clubs you’ll be interested in won’t be able to have events like they have had in the past; this will make things harder for potential new members.
However, the clubs are aware of the inherent struggles.
“My greatest worry is the loss of one-on-one time with potential new members, but we are all going to be creative and make the most of this new rush process,” said Alison Choate, president of Chi Beta Epsilon.
The clubs will be able to have some in-person events, but Brown and the Greek Council will go over the CDC guidelines with all the clubs.
“If any club breaks the guidelines, anyone aware of the situation is encouraged to report that club to Greek Council or student affairs, who will determine the repercussions,” said Olivia Littlefield, the sorority co-chair.
While any in-person events will be safe, the majority of events will still be online; the Greek Council has come up with some ideas for online events.
“Some examples of these events are trivia nights, alumni recruitment events, movie nights, study groups and online gaming tournaments,” Brown said.
However, this list is not exhaustive.
“Greek Council is encouraging the individual clubs to get creative,” Littlefield said.
Most potential new members will decide that there are multiple clubs they want to learn more about, which is highly encouraged, so don’t worry about being able to make it to the different clubs’ events.
“The presidents of the different fraternities and sororities will get together and make sure they don’t plan events for the same time,” Choate said.
Littlefield, alongside the Greek Council, will also work to ensure cooperation among Greek life.
“We will be doing things like weekly video competitions between clubs, Instagram live Q and As and a weekly newsletter,” Littlefield said.
As for formal recruitment, it will be done in the spring semester, but what exactly it will look like is unclear.
“Having an in-person, all-online or hybrid rush are all still possibilities now. It all depends on the situation next spring and what the university says,” Brown said.
There are some things we do know, though. We know that you should listen to the advice of Littlefield: “when rushing this semester, have fun, and don’t let this process become a source of stress.”
We also know that you should remember to check your Wi-Fi connection, follow all the clubs on Instagram and get excited about wearing your pajama bottoms because rush this semester will largely continue much like the rest of Trinity: raising the stock of Zoom.
