With the onset of spring quarter across the Stanford campus, a new experience is presented to the ever-willing freshman class: rush. In a weeklong process for the women, and a two-week process for the men, freshmen<\p>--<\p>and interested sophomores and juniors<\p>--<\p>can choose to meet and greet with the variety of Greek organizations on campus.

The timing of Stanford’s rush is an exception from the national fraternity and sorority scene. Many other schools hold their primary rush events in the fall, and some schools hold rush events as often as every term. With the spring-only approach, Stanford runs into its own set of issues, but the system has its benefits as well.

The biggest problem with holding rush in the spring is the negative impact it has on campus social life for those who regularly attend Greek-sponsored parties. While Greek organizations do not throw all major open parties on campus, they do throw many of them. This, coupled with the fact that many of the freshmen party-goers are busy vying for spots in their Greek organizations of choice, leads to a fairly dormant Greek party scene across campus for the first few weeks of the quarter. Furthermore, due to the minimal calendar overlap between fraternity and sorority rush, the social draught is extended longer than many would like. Other houses on the Row do continue to throw parties during this time, but the fact that 11 houses are out of social commission does have an effect on the campus social scene.

Many larger state schools hold rush events in the weeks prior to the start of fall classes. While this avoids the problem of diminished social events on campus, it also forces freshmen to commit their entire collegiate careers to a particular organization prior to stepping foot in a single lecture hall.

While this may appear to be an efficient and effective way to disperse freshmen among the Greek institutions on campus without interfering with class or school oriented events, this process places freshmen into four-year long obligations that may or may not be what they had in mind for their college experience.

The advantage of Stanford’s spring rush is that it gives freshmen two full quarters to adapt to the college experience. It also gives the young and starry-eyed first-years six full months to get a feel for what each Greek organization is about and whether or not “going Greek” is right for them.

This time to adjust to college and get to know each individual fraternity or sorority<\p>--<\p>and the people it contains<\p>--<\p>is an absolutely priceless element of Stanford’s spring rush and is what makes the Stanford Greek community so vibrant, diverse and successful. By giving freshmen two quarters worth of time, Stanford makes sure that they are ready to make what is truly an important and college-life-altering decision.

While it is not without its negatives, the Editorial Board wishes to commend the Stanford Greek community, and the involved Stanford administrators, for maintaining the spring rush tradition. This form of scheduling and organization creates the best opportunity for freshmen to make the most informed choices possible with regards to joining the campus Greek community.