Sorority Rush at W&M is a process akin to that of finals: a week and a half of non-stop activities. It differs entirely from fraternity rush with the main distinction that formal rush is only an 11 day period in the fall, as opposed to a drawn out period the entire semester.
First and foremost, women register for Rush beginning in the spring, going through the summer, and lasting till the Rush period.
Next, certain rules apply to prevent sorority sisters from biasing any potential rushee. No sorority sister can talk to any freshman woman, rushee or not, or any other upperclass rushee after orientation until Rush is over. Resident Assistants [RA}and Orientation Aides [OA] are not allowed to reveal their affiliation or talk in public with any sorority members either. Technically, this could lead into problems, such as if a sorority sister has a biological sister coming in as a freshman, but there are ways to get around that.
Depending on where one lives, each rushee is placed in a Rush group of about 20-30 women each. Some dorms, such as all-female Barrett, have several Rush groups to divide up the contingent of women rushing. Then again, there are other dorms where there are very few sorority rushees (and we're not just talking about the all-male dorms either).
Every group has at least one Rho Chi (Rush Counselor). A Rho Chi is a member of a sorority who guides and advises the rushees through the process. As imparitality is necessary, each Rho Chi's sorority affiliation is kept a secret until Bid Day (more on this later). Rushees, guided by their Rho Chis, visit half of the sororities on the first Thursday night and the other half of the sororities on the second night. This is where the hectic process begins. Most sororities usually have one or two sisters talk to a group of rushees for a few minutes before rotating to meet other women.
Beginning with the first night, sororities cut down their number of rushees. As "painful" as they may be, these initial cuts enable sororities to limit their attention to a certain group of women. After weekend activities, rushees, themselves, must narrow their list of sororities. By paring their list, rushees can concentrate on a selected number of houses that they like the best (provided these houses have not cut them yet).
The second week of Rush commences with informal parties, where rushees can attend any house they want for as long as they want. Following the infromal parties, each house holds a Skit Night. Members perform a selected skit (such as Alice in Wonderland or Seasame Street) that usually extols the virtues of that particular house. Near the end of the week is Pref (Preference) Night. This night is perhaps the most important as it is when rushees decide to pref the order, from the houses they have left, of the three they most wish to join. Sororities also meet to rank the rushees in their preference order.
The way rushees get placed in houses is through a complex process rivaling lottery and class registration. First, the VP of Rush-Computers determines the quota. The quota is the number of rushees left after either Skit Night or Pref Night divided by 10 (the number of sororities). Next, the computer will make as many one-to-one matches as possible. A one-to-one match is when a rushee has preffed a sorority first and the sorority also has that rushee on its first list. Then, the computer continues to make matches until each sorority fills their quota.
Inevitably, there are some rushees each year who, let's just say, don't get in anywhere. They are "panhelled." Hope is not lost on them, as any sorority that does not make quota or has a rushee that refuses a bid can offer them a bid.
Bid Day is the culmination of the process. Sorority women are lined up at one end of the field at the Sunken Gardens while their soon-to-be sisters are on the other side of the field. RAs, OAs, and Rho Chis join their sisters and reveal their affiliation. Finally, sorority sisters run to the middle of the Sunken Gardens to meet the new bids in a symbolic gesture. The rushees have reached the end of their journey and are now pledges who will soon become full-fledged sorority sisters.