Hundreds of students rushed through the doors of Goldstein Auditorium last night to study a greek culture not taught within classroom walls.

The Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council of Syracuse University held a rush/recruitment expo, the first of many rush events planned in the following weeks to engage students interested in becoming a part of greek life.

The event, which is held annually, is an informational introduction to the 30 recognized fraternities and sororities on campus. The expo allowed potential pledges to register for rush events and to find out more about all the greek chapters.

‘The purpose of this event is to allow people interested in rushing to get a brief overview of the houses and to get introduced with the fraternities,’ said Kevin Reilly, co-rush chair of the IFC, and an undeclared sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences.

The expo allowed unsure students to find out more about which fraternity or sorority they wish to join. Many students come to the expo without knowing what chapter of the Greek System will be best for them.

Although Erica Novick, an undeclared freshman, knew that she definitely wanted to join a sorority, she attended the expo to help find out which sorority will suit her best.

‘I heard from many of my friends that joining [a sorority] is exciting and a lot of fun,’ Novick said. ‘I am going to wait until rush starts and see which sorority [is best].’

Jeff Skuse, a brother of Phi Kappa Theta and a junior speech communications major, hopes the expo allowed students to get to know more about IFC.

‘This is the initial meeting between fraternity brothers and potential students considering to rush,’ Skuse said. ‘This is a good opportunity [for students] to meet some fraternity guys, get them interested and get the juices flowing for the future pledge period.’

Robert Siegel, a freshman business management major, came to the expo because he was interested in joining a fraternity.

‘I want to meet new people like myself,’ Siegel said.

Greek members will pass out about 500 rush/recruitment forms this week to interested students. The last weekend of January will kick off Rho-Chi tours, in which potential members are invited to see greek houses led by two representatives from the greek chapters.

Following the tour, many social events are planned for students who are rushing. Finally, the fraternity and sorority members will make their bids and decide on their individual pledge classes.

The heads of the IFC and the rush expo hope to have many more people come to this year’s events, since last year’s rush number was very low.

‘We’re expecting a bigger turnout than last year,’ said Charlie Walker, the president of the IFC and a junior religious studies major.

Published on January 21, 2004 at 12:00 pm