The Cavalier daily. :: Friday, May 2, 1969 :: University of Virginia Library

Last year's candidates for Rush Board of
the Inter-Fraternity Council all promised to
shorten the rush schedule and cut down on
expenses if elected. After fall rush a survey
was undertaken, and it was found that
nearly everyone involved, both the rush
chairmen and the rushees, wanted these
same changes. The result was finally realized
Monday night when the IFC passed a
shortened rush schedule after two weeks of
sporadic debate.

In order to cut down the expense of
rush, Ken Oder, Chairman of the Rush
Board, announced that next year's Openings
would not be included; the result is that
rush will be only six weeks long, two weeks
shorter than last year's. In the debates and
voting, the desire to keep Openings out of
rush was the only point to gain a strong
consensus.

Heavy Cost

But the change cost heavily: to end the
week before Openings caused a collision
with UNC weekend, the first time in two
years that the Tar Heels will be playing in
Charlottesville. Since the IFC sponsors the
"Old Blue Keg" to stimulate the Va.-UNC
rivalry, it was impossible to cancel the
parties that weekend in favor of hour cards.
IFC representatives felt that they could not
rightly expect their UNC fraternity brothers
to stay away from the houses during final
hours: nor did they want to have last hours
Friday night, leaving a full day and a half
between last hours and Bid Sunday.

A compromise proposal was then passed
to allow the fraternities to keep the UNC
parties while not leaving a great amount of
time between last hours and bid day. The
last hour session will be held Friday night
from 6 to 10 on the night of October 31.
The next morning fraternities will distribute
bids in the dorms from 8:30 to 10; the bids
will be returned from 11 to noon. After
that, the houses will go to the football game
with their new pledge classes.

The idea has several interesting features.
On the bad side, especially for the fraternity
men, is the short space of time between 10
p.m. Friday night and 8:30 the next
morning to hold ball sessions and get a
decent night's sleep.

Other Side

On the other side, the Saturday bid day
has advantages. Most houses throw some
sort of celebration for their new pledges,
whether it be a bus roll to a girl's school or a
banquet. Having the pledges return their
bids on November 1 means they can
celebrate their new status with their
fraternity at the party that night, and with
no additional expense to the house. The
revelry will also take place on a Saturday
night rather than on a Sunday night, thus
causing no interference with schoolwork.

The plan was, however, a compromise
above every thing else. It allowed the houses
to have their UNC parties, without leaving a
huge "dirty rush" gap between last hours
and Bid Sunday, for rushees would not have
been allowed to attend those parties. The
only other alternatives would have been to
extend rush beyond Openings, which
appealed to no one save a minuscule
minority, or end it before UNC week, a
process that could not be reconciled with
the complicated rigmarole of distributing
hour cards.

The rest of the schedule contains the
usual functions, with a few constructive
changes. Gone are the Sunday smokers; in
fact, there is not a single rush function on a
Sunday. Also removed was the second week
of lunches, which first-year men thought
were a waste of time last year; in its place is
a week of dinners.

New Additions

New additions are smokers on each of
the first two Thursday nights of the rush
period. No alcohol will be served during
these smokers, which will last from 7 to 10
p.m. Another new event is the Rush Board
counsel, which will be held on Wednesday
of the third week: members of the Rush
Board will be available to meet with
first-year men seeking advice on their
rushing.

The rush period begins early, with initial
dorm visits on September 23. First smokers
are Thursday night, and the weekend is
devoted to parties as Duke will be here for
Homecomings.

The second week consists of Thursday
and Friday night smokers (the Rush Board
followed the recommendations of first-year
men who desired more smokers) from 7 to
10 p.m. and 8 to midnight, respectively.
Saturday's football game is with William and
Mary away, so no rush will be allowed then.

The third week is reserved for lunches
and dinners; the fourth week is quiz week,
and the only functions are smokers Friday
October 17 from 8 to midnight and parties
Saturday night, as N.C. State will be here
that weekend. The fifth week consists only
of dinners.

Formal Switch

Formal rush week with its "normal
civilities" begins Sunday, October 26. Hour
cards are mailed and returned early that
week, and last hours are scheduled Thursday
night from 7 to 9 and Friday night from 6
to 10. Bids will then be delivered the
following morning, November 1.

The Rush Board did an excellent job in
following the ideas recommended by the
rush evaluations taken after last year's rush,
cutting down expenses and shortening the
entire schedule by two weeks. Unfortunately,
the football schedule is such that rush
starts very early, only two weeks after
classes begin. The football schedule also
caused the dilemma over Bid Day, resulting
in "Bid Morning." In comparison with
recent rush schedules, next year's won't
produce the most sleep, but at least it's the
shortest.