For most students on campus, January marks the beginning of the spring semester. But for greek men, the month represents three important weeks when each fraternity puts its best foot forward in hopes of attracting the next group of underclassmen that will wear its letters.
In other words, rush has officially begun.
And this year, as in past years, off-campus fraternities continue to stay on the Duke social-scene map. The rush process for off-campus fraternities traditionally has coincided with the Interfraternity Council rush schedule but does not implement any activity restrictions or a minimum GPA requirement.
Eta Prime, the off-campus fraternity formerly known as Kappa Sigma, created an advertisement about the start of rush on Facebook and received about twice as many rushees as last year, said Adetokunbo Coker, a senior and one of the group's four rush chairs.
"We don't really concern ourselves with what other fraternities are doing," Coker said. "We're not out to sabotage anybody, but we're not idiots either."
Some members of off-campus organizations view their lack of affiliation with IFC as an advantage during the rush process.
Phi Theta Sigma, which disaffiliated from Theta Chi last semester and became an off-campus organization, also received nearly twice as many students interested in joining this year than last year, said rush chair Sam Broder-Fingert, a junior.
"Last year, we were following the IFC schedule and we were forced to have our date functions at certain times and they weren't very convenient or conducive," Broder-Fingert said. "This year, we have a lot more freedom."
Alpha Delta Phi, the off-campus fraternity formerly known as Sigma Alpha Epsilon and a third off-campus group, did not see a significant change in the number of interested students despite their recent decision to become nationally affiliated, said sophomore Michael Shaughnessy, a rush chair.
"Because we've kept a strong organization, we've always had a strong demand from freshmen," he said.
Phi Theta Sigma is the most recent addition to the off-campus social culture.
"I think it's becoming more and more clear that off-campus fraternities are a viable option and they've been pretty successful," Broder-Fingert said. "I foresee [them] making a bigger and bigger impact on greek life."
Senior Ivan Mothershead, the president of IFC, said he disagrees with Broder-Fingert's assertion.
"There's less of a threat now from off-campus social groups," he said. "In light of recent events with the campus culture, I think more fraternities are more vocal in describing the purpose of the fraternity as well as the structure of their organizations and their ties with their national associations."
With the off-campus fraternity scene growing, IFC has also changed some regulations for rush in order to better accommodate the demands of their chapters. The council made the second week of rush more flexible for its 15 chapters to host events and left the third week's schedule completely open for all chapters.
And despite raising the minimum GPA from 2.25 to 2.5 for IFC rush participants, there have been proportionally more students participating this year than last year, Mothershead said.
Annually, about 400 men participate in the IFC recruitment process, said Todd Adams, assistant dean of students for fraternity and sorority life. At least 240 choose to pledge an IFC fraternity each year, while others choose to remain independent or join other organizations and selective living groups.
IFC chapters follow a three-round rush process that culminates on Bid Day, which will be Jan. 29 this year, Mothershead said.
Many first-round parties took place over the weekend and some on-campus fraternities have already begun to go to great lengths to set themselves apart.
Sigma Nu, an IFC fraternity, hosted a party Saturday night at Metro 8, a restaurant on Ninth Street, where rapper Afroman performed in front of hundreds of Duke students and dozens of potential new members of the fraternity.
"I don't think anybody's ever pulled a big name for Duke rush before, so we're raising the bar," said sophomore Hal Brigham, a Sigma Nu brotherhood chair. "Every one of the brothers was really excited about it, and everyone there had a great time, too."
Freshman David Bitner, who is rushing Sigma Nu, attended the party at Metro 8.
"It was really cool to have Afroman come to a small venue," he said. "I thought it was really legit. I was pretty impressed, but this was just a part of the first round."
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