Behold the excited yet wary freshmen, the curious exchange students and all those in between — spring rush is upon us! As those UNC fraternities who choose to conduct spring recruitment begin their process of selecting candidate members, they would be wise to exclude the tradition of introducing rushees to female strippers.
It’s no secret that some — though by no means all — fraternities have some sort of “stripper night” during rush, despite it being a clear violation of multiple Interfraternity Council policies. Since the University is either unable or unwilling to crack down, here is our case for why strippers during rush are a bad idea:
First, the sex industry exploits women and using it as bait is misogynistic, heteronormative and offensive to women. If there is one thing fraternities don’t want to turn away, it’s the young women who attend their parties.
Second, arranging for unwitting male students to participate in a stripper night is predatory. Rush is, in itself, a series of new and eye-opening activities for rushees. Many rushees find themselves doing things they never considered possible, such as getting really drunk and watching strippers, regardless of their personal beliefs. Fraternities shouldn’t prey on the relative innocence of freshmen.
Third, a fraternity, through rush, should strive to leave rushees with a sense of the defining qualities of their organization. No fraternity worth its salt wants “strippers” to be the defining activity of their rush process in the minds of candidate members.
The marginal benefits a fraternity might achieve with a “stripper night” do not outweigh the debauchery of such an event.
