Twenty-five UF fraternities will open their houses next week to welcome swarms of male students searching for brotherhood.
UF's Interfraternity Council, which oversees UF's 26 men's social fraternity chapters, will kick off spring recruitment with an informational forum at 6 p.m Sunday in the Reitz Union's Rion Ballroom, said Christopher Gleeson, the council's membership vice president.
Gleeson, a UF business junior, said the council would explain the rush events and answer questions to make students more comfortable with recruitment.
"It's a very intimidating process if you don't know what's going on," he said.
After the presentation, members from each fraternity will be available to answer students' more specific questions on the Reitz Union Colonnade, he said.
Rush events will begin at 8 p.m. Sunday.
All the fraternities will open their houses, and any fraternity without a house will congregate on Lake Alice Field.
"What we really do encourage is (to) go see every chapter house the first few days of the week and then narrow it down," Gleeson said.
Monday through Friday, potential new members can attend lunch, dinner and an evening event at any of the houses.
Gleeson said the chapters without houses don't have plans for lunch or dinner, except for Sigma Pi Fraternity, which will host lunch at I Love New York Pizza restaurant on University Avenue.
Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity is the only fraternity not participating in recruitment, he said. UF banned the fraternity from recruitment following charges of hazing violations.
Pi Lambda Phi and Phi Delta Theta Fraternities had their recruiting privileges reinstated for this semester after spending time on conduct probation.
Despite several cases of fraternity misbehavior this year, Gleeson said he doesn't expect any problems in spring.
"Those are isolated incidents," said Craig Thompson, president of the Interfraternity Council. "We don't expect those to occur."
Thompson said he encourages students to attend Sunday's forum because it's a good opportunity to learn about everything the council has to offer.
"The biggest thing for me is in a school of 50,000, being able to join a frat makes it much smaller and more personal at the University of Florida," Thompson said. "It's a lifelong bond."
