Students interested in pledging an ACU social club began rushing Monday, when they encountered a change in the rushing process. This year there is no minimum number of rushes a potential pledge is required to attend.

Gamma Sigma Phi president Bryan Elrod, senior marketing major from Missouri City, said most students already know which clubs they are interested in pledging, so the rule requiring them to attend a set number of rushes was pointless. However, Elrod said students should attend several rushes anyway to ensure they make a good decision.

“The biggest thing with rushing is even if you go into it with an idea about which club you want, rushing gives you a chance to see what thoughts you have about the club,” Elrod said. “The most important part is getting a feel if that’s the group of guys who can be your really good friends in the long run. ”

Elrod said attending several rushes also allows students to get to know potential club members better.

Another change to the 2010 rushing process applies only to women’s clubs. The first rush for women’s clubs is open to anyone, but the final three rushes will be invitation only, starting this year.

Alpha Kai Omega president Michelle Nix, senior family studies major from Austin, said the changes were made to give potential pledges more time to choose which club they want to join.

“The women’s club presidents all sat down together in the spring and talked about how the old system wasn’t working,” Nix said. “We all came to the conclusion to have a process that would allow the clubs and the people rushing to have more of a say in which club they choose.”

Nix said the old system gave potential pledges just hours to decide which club they would pledge on bid night. She said the new system gives the pledges an idea of the chances they have to earn a bid to their preferred club.

Ko Jo Kai president Kylah Riddle, senior business finance major from Dimmitt, said the changes to rushing should help not only pledges, but also smaller clubs.

“This is really going to help the smaller clubs. The problem is when the rushes end a lot of girls don’t get their first bid, and they have two hours to decide what to do and they don’t pledge at all,” Riddle said. “This helps if you eliminate some early and don’t waste time – they have time to check out other clubs.”

Riddle said the intended goal is to have more girls pledge.

Each of the six men’s clubs and five women’s clubs will conduct four rushes, with the last events scheduled for Sept. 9.