Executives of the Panhellenic Association have decided to postpone Sorority Rush in the wake of Tuesday”s terrorist attacks.
Panhellenic Association President Stephanie Deal said Rush will continue next Thursday.
“Everything has been cancelled for this week,” she said. “We did it out of respect for the victims. It just really didn”t seem appropriate at this point.”
Jason Sparks, Interfraternity Council vice president for media relations, said IFC has not changed their schedule because it starts later than Sorority Rush.
“Calendar-wise it would be hard to get new meeting spaces,” he said.
But Sparks said the IFC has given fraternities the option of starting Rush late.
“There are definitely some chapters that have a lot of bases in New York,” he said. “But for the most part, most want to keep their same schedule.”
Delta Delta Delta sorority philanthropy chair Theresa Giachino said the decision to postpone Rush seems appropriate.
“A lot of our spirits weren”t that high, and we couldn”t see ourselves cheering,” she said. “We”re not going to pretend that it didn”t happen.”
Giachino said sororities will have to consolidate many of their activities.
“It just will require a little harder work for us, but it”s worth it,” she said.
Deal said all sorority family members in New York have been accounted for, but some students have not heard from friends.
“We were fortunate. A lot of people had ties, but not immediate ties,” Giachino said. “A lot of people went to high school in New York.”
Deal said that although Rush will start late, activities will end on Sept. 23 as planned.
“We”ll have the same number of parties,” she said. “We”re squeezing the third round into one night. It”s going to be more condensed.”
The response from Rushees about the changes has been positive, Deal said.
“Everyone is on the same wavelength,” she said. “It just doesn”t seem right at his time.”
Giachino said she hopes students will have enough recovery for the tragedy recover in order to persist through the stress of Rush.
“Rush is a difficult process it”s a long, hard process. We”re just concerned that sprits not being quite into it,” she said. “We just hope it doesn”t force girls to drop out of Rush.”
Sparks said the turnout at Wednesday evening”s IFC mass meeting was an incredibly positive sign.
“We had a total of 370 last night, probably up from last year due to recruitment,” he said.
Office of Greek Life Administrative Coordinator Chris Kulka said the IFC will be sponsoring a series of open houses beginning Sunday. Rush will begin the following Sunday as planned.