By Melanie J. Knox, Opinion Editor

Spring rushes began April 14 and end Friday.

One exception is Gamma Sigma Phi, which will have one rush next week due to scheduling problems, said Amanda Spell, coordinator of student organizations and activities.

“Rushing has gone really well so far,” said Cody Blair, junior youth and family ministry major from Abilene and GSP president. “The freshman class has shown a lot of interest in pledging clubs in general.”

Other officers agreed.

“We’ve had a good number of girls,” said Garen Glasscock, junior fashion merchandising major and Ko Jo Kai president. “The excitement level is high, and we feel really good about it.”

Kara Turskey, senior journalism major from Odessa and Alpha Kai Omega president, said attendance at their rushes has been good as well.

This year, clubs were allowed two formal rushes and two informal rushes, one more than last year.

“It hasn’t been as hard on us as it’s been on the girls,” Turskey said. “They had to choose because you can’t go to all four rushes for all the clubs.”

“Our numbers were really good for the first rushes,” said Haley Stirman, junior art major from Sugar Land and Sigma Theta Chi vice president. “But by the fourth rush, numbers were way down. Four rushes in the spring was stressful on the clubs to put on and the girls to try to attend.”

Glasscock agreed.

“The amount of rushes have just been a little much,” she said. “It seemed it wore all the girls out.”

Spell said this was because of an error in recording by clubs last year, and so the clubs accidentally ended up with an extra formal rush.

“I think that especially the girls’ clubs did all the rushes they had the opportunities to do,” Spell said. “But we will be making a note for next year so it doesn’t happen again.”

Blair said that spring rushing is important because it is so laidback and gives everyone a chance to see the different clubs.

“You really can get a good feel for things,” Blair said. “You can get your feet wet in a sense.”

Officers said that the spring rushing doesn’t really affect who gets bids in the fall.

“It’s nice to know who comes out in the spring but you meet so many girls it’s hard to remember them all,” Glasscock said.

Spell agreed.

“It’s less stressful than in the fall and more relaxed,” she said. “In the fall, rushing happens so quickly. This is more like a trial and error time or an information gathering time.”