Sorority rush at U AL is hazing, I think
 

If my chapter made a pledge drink 15 glasses of ice water in a row, we'd be indicted for hazing. Apparently this is allowed/required at Tuscaloosa:

U. AL (Tuscaloosa) Rush 2002 nears completion
by Amanda Dawkins
Senior Staff Reporter
September 09, 2002

The Panhellenic Association's fall Rush will come to a close Tuesday afternoon when sororities offer bids to potential new members in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
After a week of Rush activities, the rushees will be able to develop sisterly bonds with the sorority of their choice through pledging.

The first round of Rush consisted of ice water teas on Sept. 1. During the teas, potential new members visited 15 houses for 15 minutes each.

The second round of recruitment began Sept. 2. Philanthropy Day, implemented in 1998, was a day where potential new members made hands-on creative projects with sorority members to donate to different charities. Each sorority commits itself to a philanthropy or charity by raising money and working one-on-one with the organization. On Philanthropy Day, potential new members visited 10 houses for 30 minutes each.

The rushees participated in skit parties on Sunday. Skit parties consisted of songs and skits revolving around a theme of the sorority's choosing. Potential new members went to six houses for 45 minutes each.

Tonight is Serious Night, marking the final night of Rush, and the night's parties are by invitation only. An invitation to a preference event means a sorority is very interested in a potential new member. Each sorority presents a ceremony on what it means to be a sister and what the group offers to new members.

At the conclusion of Serious Night, the rushees walk to the Ferguson Center to fill out their formal membership recruitment acceptance cards.

Bids will be distributed Tuesday.

No black students signed up for Panhellenic Rush this year. The newly instituted upperclassman quota has not yet been determined, Panhellenic President Kathryn Rutledge said.

"All quota is determined after skit party. We have 73 out of 76 upperclassmen left. More upperclassmen went through Rush this year than last year," Rutledge said. "As far as upperclassmen quota, some houses didn't understand beforehand how it was going to work out. When they got more involved with voting, they understood it more."

Holly Morris, president of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, said recruitment is going well for the sorority and the greek system as a whole.

"Rush went a lot smoother this year than last year," said Kay Tidwell, president of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. "The new upperclassman quota has made things a lot easier. It's working very well. All the sororities have really been coming together and are really helping each other out."

Tidwell said Panhellenic is planning a cookout this week, after Rush is complete, to raise money for Delta Sigma Theta sorority, whose house was damaged in an early-morning arson last month.

Uh, you know, no one ever has to accept refreshments.

Hoosier...please tell me you were kidding...sarcasm doesn't always come across in writing...

I think the term "ice water teas" is just some hoity-toity term...much like some fraternity rush programs call events "smokers". You don't actually smoke at them, so I doubt you actually drink ice water at the teas.

Actually, they are called Ice-waters because that is the only beverage allowed to be served. Trust me, on a hot day in August, just about every PNM entering a house will GLADLY accept a cold glass of water!

Thank Fuzzie,
I was confused as to how offering PNMs iced tea to drink was hazing. :confused:

Tuscaloosa: does it still stink?
 

College: a fountain of knowledge, where everyone goes to drinnk ... ice water?

Uhm...you can't haze rushees, since they aren't in an organization yet......

I don't think the law would discriminate as to whether or not they were members of your organization yet.

But no I don't think that serving refreshments could be hazing either:D

lol
 

Yeh, I think I'd just about die after 15 glasses of H2O in 15 minutes. I have a bladder the size of a pea!

Lots of work at those bigger schools, rush is.
:-)
-M

At my school the first night of rush is called "Icebreakers". You get the opportunity to try to meet the rushees and get to know them. The only beverage that is served is ice water, and the rushees don't have to drink it if they don't want to.

Because we are not allowed to give the potential new members anything, we can't have refreshments. Seriously. It's considered "giving".... as in they take something home with them.

Blaire

Actually, I believe that you can haze PNMs. It would fall under the category of a rush infraction and you'd get in big trouble.

But nobody's forcing anybody to drink anything.

Blaire, they consider it a gift if a PNM takes water out in her stomach? Woah. I hope your rush isn't in August/September; they'd have tons of dehydrated PNMs.

Hoosier, where do you get this stuff?

I think you misunderstood. There are 15 parties and each party lasts for 15 minutes. During each party, the PNMs are offered ice water to drink. It's very hot, so most of the PNMs are happy to drink the water! Most houses spice it up a little bit by adding strawberries, lemons, limes or cucumber slices to their water. I've even seen houses serve their water in custom-printed 10-oz labeled bottled water bottles (like Evian or something). So, it's only 1 glass of water per party, unless you ask for a refill, which happens occasionally! If you don't want the water at one house, all you have to do is say "no thanks," and it isn't a big deal. We've all been there and sometimes you just don't want any water! :) So, anyway, it's 15 glasses of water, yes. But it's over the course of an entire day. And there are frequent bathroom trips!

UA sororities aren't allowed to serve food during rush, but they can serve different types of non-alcoholic beverages for the rest of the rush period.

Hope this clears it up a bit. PM me with questions...I'd be happy to answer.

During our recruitment, PNMs have breaks between every chapter visit where they enjoy water and lite snacks, like fruit. However, sororities are not allowed to offer them anything because we all have to be "equal". Fall 2001 recruitment we had a rule that we were allowed 4 tables in our chapter rooms with different items on them for values night. We could only have up to 4 items. This past year, we measured the rooms to be used for Philanthropy night and added partitions and stuff to make them "equal". We then drew out of a hat what sorority got which room. Delta Zeta had the biggest...by half a foot!!!! And we used to have a rule that our bid day banners had to be the same width and height, so everyone would be equal. Silly, silly silly stuff. I guess its Greeklifes way of making sure that no one says, "but XYZ had 15 items on their table and we only had 13! thats unfair!"

Blaire

At Florida State, ice water is the only thing sororities are allowed to give you for the first five days of rush and since it is about 95 and high humidity, rarely do people refuse the water. And on days 3-6 of rush you don't have breaks for food or to use the bathroom.
And we all joke that recruitment is the new hell week!