Rush Rules

Panhellenic Council Rush Rules

1. The formal Rush period for Rush will be set by the Panhellinic Council and Student Life. It will be held in the Spring semester.

2. The General Rush Meeting will be held prior to the start of events.  All women who want to accept a bid must attend the General Rush Meeting.

3. Round Robin is the first event of Formal Rush, and will involve six groups of rushees traveling to a designated sight for each sorority.  The group will stay with each sorority for twenty minutes. PanHellenic Council will provide nametags for Round Robin.

4. Each rushee is required to attend Round Robin.  If she is unable to do so she must contact Ellen Awad, Director of Student Life.

5. A PanHellenic representative is to initial the name tags and see that they are turned into the PanHellenic Rush Chair after the last session of the Round Robin or when the rushee has visited each sorority.  A rushee is required to turn in a nametag before she will be allowed to accept a bid.

6. A general rush is to be encouraged by all actives at all times.

7. When two or more rushees are gathered with two or more actives (with whom they did not have a relationship with prior to Rush) it is considered an unscheduled rush event and is a violation of Formal Rush Regulations.

8. There is to be no promising of bids or written/verbal persuasion from active to rushee or vice versa.

9. No alcohol or illegal substances are allowed at any rush event(s) no matter where the event is located.

10. Rush events are to be true events and not events designed to get rushees together to go to an off campus house and drink alcohol or party.

11. NO open/invite parties are to be hosted by sororities during the Formal Rush period.

12. No member of any Greek organization may demean, bad mouth or put down any Greek organization.

13. Once the silent period is established, no sorority or fraternity members, alumni, parents of Greeks, or inactive members of Greek organizations may talk to the rushees regarding any aspect of Greek Life. During the silent period, PanHellenic representatives are the only Sorority members that can respond to specific questions about the sorority, not to persuade, but only to answer questions. Continuation of normal interaction between members and nonmembers will be allowed, but active-initiated social interaction will not be allowed. The Silent Period ends on the day that bids are turned in.

14. If you have a rush event with food and are using a room on campus, you must order food through Creative Dining. You may purchase food from outside if you are using a residence hall room or cottage.

15. In order to receive a bid the rushees must be a currently enrolled full-time Hope student with a 2.0 GPA. They also must be in the process of completing 24 Hope credit hours.

16. No bids will be held to a later date and no honorary memberships may be given.

17. All rushees must attend the mandatory rush meetings. Failure to do so means the individual may not receive a bid. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE.

18. A list of potential bid recipients must be turned in to the Student Development Office by the approved date/time, for grade/credit hour checks.

19. Publicity for rush events may be put up no earlier than the Sunday before the General Rush Meeting.

20. Destroying, removing, covering, or erasing the publicity of other Greek organizations is prohibited.

21. Rush program proposals must be turned in by Friday, November 7, 2008.

22. Sorority members getting to know independents prior to the beginning of Formal Rush is not considered dirty rush and should be a cornerstone of an effective sorority recruitment program.

23. Sororities may not pressure anyone to join a specific sorority by means of threats, coercion, or exceptional inducements.

24. Each sorority is responsible for the actions of its alumni and off-campus actives during the Formal Rush Period.

25. Sorority activities or events during the Formal Rush Period must abide by all local, state, and national ordinances. This includes, but is not limited to, eliminating open parties where alcohol is present during the Formal Rush Period.

26. Any violation of the above policies will result in judicial consequences.

IFC Rush Rules
Interfraternity Council Rush Rules
1. No alcohol is allowed at any rush event(s) no matter where the event is located.

2. Rush events are to be true events and not events designed to get rushees together to go to an off campus house and drink alcohol or party.

3. No member of any Greek organization may demean, bad mouth or put down another Greek organization.

4. Once the silent period is established, no sorority or fraternity members, alumni, parents of Greeks, or inactive members of Greek organizations may talk to the rushees regarding any aspect of Greek life. During the silent period, each fraternity will designate two individuals (normally the president and rush chair) who can respond to specific questions about the fraternity, not to persuade, but only to answer questions. Continuation of normal interaction between members and non-members will be allowed, but no fraternity matter can be discussed. The Silent Period ends on the day that bids are turned into the fraternity.

5. No co-ed rush events may occur throughout the formal rush period, except for Rush informals and formals.

6. If you have a rush event with food and are using a room on campus, you must order food through Creative Dining (Hope's Food Service).

7. In order to receive a bid the rushee must be a currently enrolled full-time Hope student. No bids will be held to a later date and no honorary membership may be given.

8. All rushees must attend the mandatory rush meetings. Failure to do so means the individual may not receive a bid. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE.

9. All lists for potential bid recipients must be turned into student development by the approved date/time, for grade/credit hour checks. Lists will be returned with the approved names to each organization to allow them to decide who should receive bids.

10. Publicity for rush events may be put up no earlier than the Monday before rush begins.

11. Destroying, removing, covering, or erasing the publicity of other organizations is prohibited.

12. Rush programs must be turned in by early November for approval. This should include a budget and a summary of activities and goals (i.e., how many people are you trying to take etc.) as a part of your proposal.

13. Formal rush events can only occur during the approved rush dates. No events that would be considered formal rush events can occur before or after those dates.

14. A formal rush event is defined as an event where all rushees sign in at the beginning of the event and the event has some type of predefined structure. The event calls for participation by both rushees and actives and adheres to all rush rules. Any formal rush event during the formal rush period must be scheduled and approved by the Director of Student Life and the rush committee of IFC.

15. Fraternity members getting to know independents prior to the beginning of formal rush is not considered dirty rush and should be a cornerstone of an effective fraternity rush program.

16. Fraternities can and should sponsor activities for the entire campus in an attempt to educate them on the fraternity concept and introduce fraternity members.

17. Fraternities can and should give independents a taste of what Greek membership is like by inviting them to specific activities. All invite parties and/or activities must be approved by the IFC.

18. Fraternities may not pressure an independent to join a specific fraternity by means of threats, coercion, or exceptional inducements.

19. Alumni conduct at any formal rush event falls under the responsibility of the fraternity. Thus the fraternity is responsible for any breach of the rush rules even if the individual at fault is an alumnus. Activities that demean the name of the fraternity and/or Hope College in general are strictly prohibited.

20. Any changes from current rush policies must be approved by IFC/Panhellenic councils and the Director of Student Life. The Campus Life Board must also approve certain activities, when appropriate.

21. Fraternity activities or events during the formal rush period must abide by all local, state, and national ordinances. This includes, but is not limited to, eliminating open parties where alcohol is present during the formal rush period.

22. Any violations of the above policies will result in judicial consequences.