In Response to Rush, One Looks, One Leaps

Michael Shapiro and Brian Zahn knew what they wanted.

Both men decided during the summer to join a fraternity at Cal State Northridge this fall. Shapiro was a freshman who had heard of fraternity life in high school. Zahn had already spent one semester at the university and knew that social activities come few and far between on a commuter campus.

So Shapiro and Zahn were among the 139 students who attended Greek orientation night two weeks ago at the Student Union, where they listened to prepared speeches from 14 of the school’s fraternities.

Shapiro was impressed by the Pi Kappa Phis, and they were impressed with him. Tall, blond and 18 years old, the Granada Hills student was typical fraternity material.

But Shapiro didn’t go to the first night of rush parties. The Pi Kapps made a special call to invite him--he’d given them his home number during orientation--and no one answered.

When he showed up at a Pi Kapp sports picnic the next day, things happened quickly.

“I was playing basketball and this guy came up to me and said, ‘Hey, let’s talk,”’ Shapiro recalled. “He said to me, ‘You’re a real cool guy and all the guys like you.”’

A moment later, Shapiro was a Pi Kapp.

“I instinctively said yes. But then, a little later, I thought, ‘Did I make the right decision?’ I did. These guys are what I want.”

Zahn knew just as quickly the fraternity he wanted to be part of. At 25, he was enjoying rush and its nightly parties.

“It’s like coming out of high school again,” the Simi Valley man said. “I’m actually feeling like I’m 19 years old again.”

Several of Zahn’s friends were members of the Pi Kappa Alpha house, and he decided to rush that fraternity exclusively.

It was a risky decision. The Pikes, one of CSUN’s largest houses, could afford to pick and choose during rush. They were known for being an athlete’s house, and Zahn didn’t quite fit that mold.

There was no first-night bid for him. He went to Pike parties over the ensuing weekend. He went Tuesday and Wednesday nights of last week. He tried to meet as many of the brothers as possible, especially the house officers.

“I really want to be a Pike. It’s really in my system,” he said. “If I don’t get a bid from them, then the rest of the semester, I’ll be on my own. I’ll be disappointed.”

Thursday night, Zahn was becoming increasingly discouraged. So he visited a couple of other houses, and he liked them.

By Friday, the last day of rush, the Pikes called to ask why he hadn’t come back. Meanwhile, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity was interested in Zahn. So were the Zeta Beta Taus.

“It came down to Friday, and I was saying to myself, ‘What do I do?’ ” Zahn said. “My instinct was to go out and get a bid and become a member.”

Instead, he went out with some friends.

“I would have been jumping into it,” Zahn said. “I’ve been invited by several houses to their parties during the semester. I’ve been invited on a ski trip with one house.

“I know this is completely opposite from what I was saying all week, but by waiting I’ll make a better choice.”

The fraternities hold an abbreviated version of rush in spring, and Zahn figures he’ll take a bid then.

“I want to belong to a fraternity,” he said.