University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

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A Rho Chi counsels a rushee before a party begins. There were Rho Chis from each house to help with Rush, but were not allowed to let the rushees know their Greek affiliation. [P! ioto by Adrai White] T he joy of waiting. Rushees sit outside the Alpha Delta Pi house before Preference Night parties begin. The girls were supposed to arrive at the house in plenty of time before the parties began to stay on schedule. [Photo by Adrai White] C hi Omegas greet rushees at the door with white carnations on Preference Night. On Pref Night, the rushees were able to visit their favorite two sororities before choosing between them. [Photo by Adrai White] Rush 13

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12 LL DRESSED UP Men and women jump into Greek life with Rush. Two weeks before classes began, crow ds of well-dressed men and women wandered around campus, going in and out of the Greek houses. While onlookers may have realized that this was all part of Fall Formal Rush, what they didn’t know was that the an¬ ticipation of this week began as early as June or July. Panhellenic and the In¬ terfraternity Council, which organized and gov¬ erned Greek affairs, up¬ dated a Greek-Life Video, held information ses¬ sions and distributed in¬ formation packets to in¬ terested students. Sorority Rush was held August 20-26. This left women with a limited amount of time to deter¬ mine the personality of each house. “I’m from California and knew nothing about the Greek system so Rush week was stressful for me,” freshman Meghan McNulty said. “I felt like I needed more time to make my decision.” D jring Preference Night, each house stressed to the rush- ees how important their house was to them and what their sorority truly meant to them. At each of the parties, the rushees sat in the living rooms of the sorority houses, and the members stood on their knees in front of them to talk to them. [Photo by Adrai White] Blair Luper Others knew in advance what their de¬ cision would be. “My sister was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha when she attended school here,” Carol Poole said. “I had seen first-hand how diverse everyone was and wanted to be a part of it, too.” Fraternity Rush consisted of informal parties held throughout the state during July, and Formal Rush, which was held August 17-21. These summer parties gave rushees and mem¬ bers a chance to really get to know each other in a casual setting. “Guys have a definite advantage when going through Rush because the parties let you see what the members and houses are really like. I don’t think you can deter¬ mine that in just one week,” freshman Justin Delille said. For those undecided men, the official week helped considerably. “It became clear to me that I wanted to pledge Reasons for joining Greek organiza¬ tions included finding a social outlet, meeting people, helping others and be¬ coming involved in college life. “I wanted to find a house with girls who had the same values as me, who were concerned about grades and their phi¬ lanthropy,” freshman Haley Reed said. “I needed a place that felt like home and where I could be myself.” Lambda Chi Alpha. I knew 1 had a com¬ mon interest there, and I could contrib¬ ute and receive the most from that house,” freshman Jacob Ponder said. When all the parties ended, 344 women and 184 men had found a new home away from home. “Even if for some reason all my sororitiy memories fade, Rush is some¬ thing I will never forget,” McNulty said. Rush

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14 Campus Activities sponsored activities to welcome students. ELCOME WEEKS Returning students hoped to run into old friends, and doing better than the year before echoed in many students’ thoughts. However, there was help to be found: Welcome Weeks’95 was there to provide students with the opportunity to prepare for all aspects of college life. As the end of summer approached, thoughts of beaches and parties were replaced with those of homework and exams. Most fresh¬ men awaited the begin¬ ning of school anxiously. “I was afraid my grades wouldn’t be good enough, and I wouldn’t make any friends,” fresh¬ man Robin Casteel said. Welcome Weeks con¬ sisted of a series of events ranging from reli¬ gious activities to enter¬ tainment activities that the Campus Activities Center coordinated. Ac¬ cording to Assistant Di¬ rector of Campus Activi¬ ties Michelle Etchart, the purpose of Welcome Weeks was to provide a welcoming atmosphere . for all students. “This year we tried to refocus Welcome Weeks and bring in a more academic idea,” Etchart said. The Academic Convocation was one ex¬ ample of an academic idea. The differ¬ ent colleges met at separate locations and proceeded to the Old Main Lawn to form one large group. “I felt the Convocation was effective I t’s permit time! Students race to get in line at Parking Transit before the crowds appear. Parking permits sold like crazy during Welcome Weeks because everyone feared getting tick¬ ets. Unless students parked at the meters or rode the bus, they had to buy permits to park on campus. [Photo by Susan Rinehart] Stacy Symonds because it allowed you to meet your teachers and begin a relationship with them, sophomore Curtis Wright said. Welcome Weeks officially began on August 24 with the opening of the Resi¬ dence Halls and ended on September 2 with the football opener against SMU. Over 5,000 students participated. One of the most highly attended events was the Merchants’ Fair, set up in the Arkansas Union mall. Students received free coupons and food and also registered to win prizes. Some student or¬ ganizations used the Mer¬ chants’ Fair as an oppor¬ tunity to recruit mem¬ bers. “We passed out mem¬ bership applications,” University Programs Per¬ forming Arts Chairper¬ son Tara Austin said. Another event included in Welcome Weeks was “Into the Streets.” This ac¬ tivity gave students an opportunity to help the community by painting a house for a client of Fam¬ ily Support Services in Bentonville. Through all these activities, “Welcome Weeks tried to provide for the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of each student,” Etchart said. While the smoldering sun provided physical warmth for the students in the beginning weeks of college, the Welcome Weeks activities provided a warmer wel¬ coming. Welcome Weeks