skipping class to go to rush event?
 

Rush week just started this week at my school, and I am rushing. I have a class tuesdays and thursdays from 7-8:50 PM, which unfortunately occurs right during many rush events. It will be the first class of the semester tomorrow, and it is small (20 people), and it is required for my major, so I feel somewhat bad about skipping it, but I know that I will miss out on many rush events during this time period if I end up going to the class. What should I do?

Umm...you're in school for your education, not to rush.

Ditto. School comes first. I realize I'm in a sorority, not a fraternity, but we always tell people to go to class.

At many schools, you MUST attend class in order to receive a bid - if you skip classes, you are disqualified from rush.

^^^Exactly! Better check with your Greek Life office. Sometimes they arrange something with the different houses.

You have four years to go to class and one week to rush. Not to mention the first day of class is usually an overview of the course, right?
I don't know how serious the fraternities you're rushing are but it would be much better for you to just miss than to try and make a call to the greek life office because you have class.

^^^I agree. This one week will determine the rest of your undergraduate career. Missing a couple classes (especially the first ones) will not affect you in the long term (or even the short term, probably), especially since many people are probably still adding\dropping classes so final rosters will not be in for a couple more weeks.

Given the bolded part, it sounds like you should talk to the Greek Life office and explain the situation. True, joining a fraternity will change the rest of your undergraduate experience, but do you want to get in the habit of putting it ahead of your academics?

If a fraternity won't give you a bid because you chose to go to class instead of a rush event, ask yourself how much you really want to be in that fraternity anyway.

I don't think it's a matter of that. Rush is only a week long and there's only so many hours each day to rush. If he has a good idea of where he wants to go then it won't be a problem, but if he has no idea...well a given fraternity can't extend a bid to someone if they haven't gotten to know him well enough. I don't see what the big deal is. Rush is a HUGE deal as it will affect you for the rest of your undergrad career. Can you say that for your econ class you went to today? And I mean that individual class, not the course as a whole.

If rush is the epitome of your college experience, I think you have some other issues. :rolleyes: No matter how you slice it, college is for you education, not to join ABC or XYZ organization.

And the OP stated that this class is a required class for his major. At my university, the upper-level classes are taught by a small pool of professors. If you skip, they remember in that class and in subsequent classes. And what happens when he's actually pledging? Are you going to encourage him to skip classes to attend pledge events, since "those 2-3 months are going to determine the rest of his time in college?"

A lot of the time the instructor can and will drop you from the course if you miss the first class meeting. I would definitely advise against skipping class. Any fraternity that values its members' educations will understand that school is more important than a rush event. Any fraternity that believes otherwise is not worth joining.

Will you get invited to meet-and-greets with employers if you fail out of college? No.

Duh, I didn't realize in my first post that this is fraternity rush. Aren't the parties kind of come & go when you want? How long do they last? Is there only one chance during the week to go see each fraternity?

I mean, fraternities don't have quotas or totals...it's not like if someone gets a bid from the fraternity you like on Tuesday that they won't be able to give you one on Wednesday. They don't have a "max" that they can take.

It seemed like the fraternities at my school were always having rush parties throughout the year and were always extending bids to those they like. It wasn't "time sensitive" like sorority rush was.

It really depends on the school and the culture. Not all professors are supportive of Greek Life and would not be ok with excusing a student from class to go to rush.

I've found that the first night of class rarely last the whole period--so you might be able to go to class and then still make the fraternity events. There is also the argument that you could attend the first part of class, introduce yourself, sign in, and then leave--but you would certainly be noticed doing so.

Most faculty would not consider fraternity rush a "university sponsored event" and I am pretty sure they would still expect class to be the first priority anyway. I mean, a basketball game is a "university sponsored event" but I can't imagine a professor agreeing that attending as a spectator would be a good reason to miss class. In short, as others have said, you are at the university to get an education--not just to rush.

Actually it depends on the campus. While the IFC may not have quotas or totals, a chapter might - for what ever reason - have a self imposed quota or total. The more common example is a chapter that bases membership on the number of beds available in their physical house. This is similar to Indiana's and Nebraska's NPC recruitment and each chapter setting its own quota and total. And similar to NPCs and COB/COR recruitment, the number of bids could be filled prior to a rushee even having the chance to visit the chapter.

To be clear, I do not advocate missing class unless one is excused by their professor. If that is not possible, the rushee should make dang sure that any chapters he is interested in understands both his interest and that he is unable to attend during his required class time.

In many ways, it is still like that. However, most HQ's (and many universities) now require more structure and regulation in the pledge period. As such, not all chapters have the luxury to take pledges year round. And in some situations, those men that receive a bid "outside" of the normal bidding period might be held over until the following pledge training. A down side is that since they have not been initiated, the rushee might de-pledge and attempt to pledge another fraternity the following semester. Or depending on the campus rules, the chapter could resend the bid.

just skip class. rush only happens once, and youll be in school or 4 years.

How about using some good old fashioned etiquette? Let the group know that you were happy to be invited to their event, but that you have class. Let them know that would be interested in being invited to future events.

Talk to the professor AND the office of Greek life.

You never know--if you approach it correctly and make it to all the other classes or a make-up session, you might be able to miss class. If it's a big class that's offered at more than one time, your prof might even let you catch a different time of the same class to make it up.

On the other hand, talking to the office of Greek life could excuse you from the rush event, too. They know you're here to go to class first. Let them know you're still interested in that fraternity and go from there. If your school allows it, maybe catch a few members of that group and let them know yourself that you're still interested in rushing them, but can't make it to the event because of class.

Thing is, you have to TALK to people at your university first. They'd be able to help you out--not GC.

Good luck!

Don't skip. Meet the bros during the other 22 hours of the day. If it's a swinging good time, it might be possible to meet before class or right after and still meet lots of brothers.

We're very liberal in my chapter about excuses for not making meetings and if somebody says they have to study/attend class, we realize that's why they're in school.

Tom

It really depends on your situation.
What class is it? How important is it?
Do you miss a lot of classes?

Because if this class is something like history where your taught straight out of the textbook, then maybe you should skip, as opposed to a bio lab that is worth marks.
Also, if you never miss class, then its alright if you miss one for a rush event. But if you play a sport and you miss class often, then you should probably go.

I still think you could miss one class for a rush event. It will be worth it.
But if you do go to class, just go hang out at the house some other time.
During Rush, you are always welcome at the house just to hang out with the guys and get to know them better.

I don't think this issue matters to him anymore.