At 11:50 a.m., I’m out of history and it’s about time. The sun wrenches sweat from my brow as I haul my books across Ankeny. My stomach aches with unremitting fury, post-history class munchies no doubt, a common symptom of people in my circumstance. As I advance onto the flushed red brick of Jewett, a curious sight greets my sleep-sick eyes.
Frat guys, and they’re out in droves. A guy with John Goodman on his shirt approaches me.
“Want to come get free lunch at the Beta house?”
Hell yeah I do.
I walk into a kitchen, flanked by a mix of hungry first-years and frat guys with one thing on their minds. Today that one thing is quiche. I walk to the front of the line and am handed a hefty portion. The chef apologizes emphatically; apparently the quiche did not “set” correctly. I’m over it.
I step outside into a circle of people wholly consumed in their eating. I join them enthusiastically. This has to be the best thing I have ever tasted, if not for the cheese lavished over the fluffy eggs, then for the price: free.
There was a time when I was somewhat apprehensive about fraternities and the greek social scene in general. I envision each bite of quiche to be one of those apprehensions. I devour them each in kind. Delicious.
Fraternity rush. For generations these words have signaled to first-years promises of free food and brotherhood and, here at Whitman College, they deliver.
As a first-year student, knowing nothing but commonly held stereotypes of fraternities, I was admittedly skeptical about greek life here at Whitman. Images of greek life to a high school student are images of Jon Belushi binge-drinking in a toga, something that, while awesome in its own right, can be a little off-putting.
Experiencing fraternity rush first-hand, however, succeeded in dispelling these myths from my tiny first-year mind.
What rush offers a first-year student is insight into a unique and diverse community to which anyone can belong. Greek life at Whitman is an entirely unique system and, from a limited perspective, is one that separates itself from the negative stereotypes with which it is unfairly tagged.
Activities like “Beta buddies,” where the Betas go out and mingle with the local elementary schools, helps break down the Whitman bubble. In-house tutoring helps maintain scholastic achievement in the houses.
Whether you’re cliff jumping with the TKEs or Skeet Shooting with the Betas, rush offers opportunities to enjoy yourself with a new group of people and knock off a clay pigeon or two in the process, assuming you’re more adept than I am with a shotgun.
Being ripped from your home and moved off somewhere entirely unfamiliar can be a little daunting. What rush does is eliminate these tensions and help make Whitman feel like home to first-years who might not yet be comfortable in their new surroundings.
Rush introduces the social benefits of the greek system to first-years in a way that’s accessible, easy and informative. There are few things easier to do than receive free lunch, and if, in doing so, you learn more about a potentially dynamic and inclusive social scene, you are doing something right.
Does rushing with a fraternity mean you have to join? Absolutely not. Rumors of “man-listing” or fraternities pressuring first-years to join can be debunked after attending a single rush event.
These misconceptions are made by people who have not made an honest effort at understanding rush or the greek system in general and are every bit the product of rumor and gossip.
Rushing a fraternity is an experience steeped in tradition and possibility and one that, here at Whitman College, has no substitute.
