mit rush tracking system comes under fire

Since 2005, the greek system at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has obligated its member fraternities to use an online system to track freshmen. Every time an eligible freshman (that is, a male) enters an event during rush week, his registration is simultaneously and surreptitiously entered into the “Clearinghouse system,” which maintains a running record of every individual’s attendance throughout the week. This system, in turn, is only accessible to participating greek organizations. Apparently when the system was first introduced, entries were made in plain view of attendees, but wiser (or perhaps sneakier) minds have since moved the nitty-gritty to back rooms. This columnist writes on behalf of an aggrieved IGC group, the “Number Six Club,” which claims the system is tantamount to “Big Brother.” (Understandably, some freshmen agree.) Various manifestly flimsy excuses for the practice have been proffered in the past, ranging from “its to promote safety at parties“ to “we need to monitor event lengths.” The IFC has finally admitted this semester the purpose is in fact to track potential pledges to best direct rush efforts. Is this wrong? Probably. That’s what the article argues, anyway. (On a side note, your correspondent has no idea what the “Number Six Club” is. A fraternity? A society? A dining club? It seems to be under the IGC umbrella, whatever it is.)