UPDATE: SEE VIDEO FROM NIGHT 1 OF UCF FRATERNITY RUSH
UCF Fraternity rush week began Monday with a kickoff in the UCF Student Union — but it’s nowhere near too late to join a fraternity.
WHERE AND WHEN TO SHOW UP
Wednesday and Thursday night at 8 p.m. is when the UCF fraternities will set up tents on UCF Memory Mall, the area between the Union and the UCF Arena, for recruitment. The brothers of the fraternities will be inside the tents waiting to meet with guys thinking of pledging. Just walk up to the fraternity’s tent you want to check out, introduce yourself to a brother, and he’ll introduce you to members of his fraternity. It’s free to check out rush, but if you pledge you’ll have to pay dues to that fraternity to cover events, etc.
HOW TO GET A ‘BID’ TO PLEDGE
Be yourself and take initiative. Talk to brothers at that fraternity and tell them about yourself and get to know them. Check out the fraternity’s websites (see links below) before you pledge to get a feel for what they’re about and how you might fit in.
If you believe you found the fraternity that you’d like to join — let that fraternity know by telling a brother or rush chairman! If you haven’t gotten a bid, or official invitation to join that fraternity by that point, telling them you’d like to choose that fraternity will let the fraternity know you’re serious, and hopefully speed along the decision on whether you’ll get a bid to that fraternity.
If you get a bid to a fraternity, but aren’t yet sure that’s the one for you, or if you still wanted to check out another fraternity you’ve heard about before deciding, politely tell the rush chair you’d like to think about it some more before accepting it or signing that bid and committing yourself to joining. Once you decide a fraternity is for you, just let the brothers know you’d like to accept the invitation to join to that fraternity and become a pledge.
WHERE ARE ALL THE GIRLS?
In the past, members of UCF sororities came to the rush tents to support their favorite fraternities. It’s not clear how many UCF sorority members will be there this year, because, for the first time in UCF history, the Panhellenic governing council of sororities has tried to ban women from visiting the tents, citing an unprecedented interpretation of a national policy never interpreted that way at UCF before. IFC has refused to join Panhellenic in voting to enforce the ban, so if women come out to rush anyway, it’s not clear if anything can be done to punish them. When KnightNews.com covered a similar controversy during sorority rush, and guys who showed up on the public sidewalk after they were told they were not allowed, they apparently faced no punishment at all and neither did the sororities. Also, women who aren’t in sororities should have no problem showing up.
In years past, members of a sorority paired with a fraternity for homecoming would make an extra effort to stop by that fraternity’s tent, to help with recruitment. Fraternities and sororities paired together for homecoming spend a lot of time with each other that semester. If you want to see who was paired with who, check out our UCF Homecoming Serenade coverage here.
LINKS TO FRATERNITY WEBSITES:
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Alpha Epsilon Pi Nickname: A E Pi National Website: www.aepi.org Local Website: www.aepiucf.com Colors: Gold & Blue Symbol: Lion Philanthropy: “Ethiopian Jewish Community Center in Isreal” |
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Alpha Tau Omega Nickname: A T O National Website: www.ato.org Local Website: www.ucf-ato.org Colors: Old Gold & Azure Blue Symbol: Viking Philanthropy: Rock The Wreath |
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Beta Theta Pi Nickname: Beta National Website: National website Local Website: Local website Colors: Delicate shades of Pink and Blue Symbol: Dragon |
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Delta Tau Delta Nickname: Delts National Website: www.delts.org Local Website: www.zodelts.org Colors: Purple, White & Gold Philanthropy: Adopt-A-School Program |
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Delta Upsilon Nickname: D U National Website: www.deltau.org Local Website: www.duucf.org/undergrad/ Colors: Old Gold & Sapphire Blue Symbol: Duck Philanthropy: Boys & Girls Club of America |
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Kappa Sigma Nickname: Kappa Sig National Website: www.kappasigma.org Local Website: www.kappasigmaucf.com Colors: Emerald, White, & Scarlet Red Symbol: Star & Crescent Philanthropy: Easter Seals Camp Challenge |
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Lambda Chi Alpha Nickname: Lambda Chi National Website: www.lambdachi.org Local Website: Colors: Purple, Green, & Gold Symbol: Cross & Cresent Philanthropy: North American Food Drive |
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Lambda Theta Phi Nickname: Lambda National Website: www.lambda1975.org Local Website: www.aalambdas.com Colors: Brown & White Symbol: El Conquistador Philanthropy: United Cerebral Palsy |
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Phi Delta Theta Nickname: Phi Delt National Website: www.phideltatheta.org Local Website: www.phideltucf.org Colors: Azure Blue & Argent White Symbol: Owl Philanthropy: Lou Gehrigs Foundation |
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Phi Gamma Delta Nickname: FIJI National Website: www.phigam.org Local Website: www.fijiucf.com Colors: Royal Purple Symbol: Snowy White Owl Philanthropy: American Red Cross |
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Sigma Chi Nickname: Sig National Website: www.sigmachi.org Local Website: internetmosaics.com/sigmachi Colors: Blue & Old Gold Symbol: Norman Cross Philanthropy: Childrens Miracle Network |
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Sigma Nu Nickname: Sig Nu National Website: www.sigmanu.org Local Website: www.ucfsigmanu.com Colors: Black, Gold, & White Symbol: Serpent Philanthropy: Volley for the Cure |
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Sigma Pi Nickname: Sig Pi / Spies National Website: www.sigmapi.org Local Website: www.joinsigmapi.com Colors: Lavender, Gold and White Symbol: Owl Philanthropy: Sam Spady Foundation & the ACE Project |
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Tau Kappa Epsilon Nickname: Teke National Website: www.tke.org Local Website: www.tkeucf.com Colors: Red & Grey Symbol: Apollo Philanthropy: Ronald Reagan Alzheimers Research |
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Theta Chi Nickname: Theta Chi National Website: www.thetachi.org Local Website: www.thetachiucf.org Colors: Military Red & White Symbol: Rattle Snake |
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Zeta Beta Tau Nickname: ZBT Local Website: www.zbtcentralflorida.com Colors: Medium Blue & White with Gold Trim Philanthropy: Childrens Miracle Network |
