Rush at South Carolina

[violetpretty]

The son of a friend of my mother will be a freshman at South Carolina this fall and is interested in joining a fraternity. I gather that South Carolina fraternities have summer rush parties and have a good idea of who they want well in advance. What is the best way for him to get his foot in the door/to have as many options as possible? In other words, is it appropriate to contact chapters to inquire about summer rush parties? Should he look for fraternity alumni to write him recs like sororities do? I know joining a fraternity is going to be important enough to him to make the 8 hour drive down a couple times this summer for rush parties, but I am just wondering how to advise him to have the best chances at the most chapters.