dirty rush meaning: definition, quotations

dirty rush

noun

A rush process which takes place apart from the formal rush events sanctioned by the university.

University slang

Dirty rush gives fraternities the opportunity to look for freshmen they feel fit in well with their chapter, and it allows freshmen to get to know some of the fraternities before formal rushing begins at the start of second semester.2014 September 9, Zahra Husain, “Fraternities search for new members in "Dirty Rush" process”, in The Daily Pennsylvanian, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2023:
On October 24 Tsialas got dinner with his parents who were visiting campus for First-Year Family Weekend then attended a 'dirty rush' party hosted by the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. Such parties are a way for fraternities to recruit first year students outside of official fraternity rules.2019 November 17, Marlene Lenthang, “Parents demand answers in death of Cornell University freshman, 18, who went missing after attending a 'dirty rush' frat party and his body was found at the bottom of a gorge two days later”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Nov 2019:

1 more example

Cornell forbids fraternities from recruiting freshmen until their second semester, but the rule is broken often enough that it has a name: "dirty rush." The party that night was called Christmas in October, and it was not the first time Phi Kappa Psi had held the event.[2021 March 13, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, “A Drunken Hazing, a Fatal Fall and a Cornell Fraternity's Silence”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Mar 2023:

verb

Ambitransitive To recruit through, or participate in, a dirty rush.

University slang

People have to recognize the superficiality of Rush Week. Some people dirty rush and already have a good idea of who they want to recruit. Athletes, especially, have an advantage going into rush, as many of their upperclassmen teammates are sisters of certain sororities.2015 February 12, Carissa Zukowski, “Rush: looking in from the outside”, in The Johns Hopkins News-Letter, archived from the original on 23 Aug 2023:
Sororities can receive large fines from their national chapters for dirty rushing and can be disbanded.2021 September 7, Nidhi Shekar, Sasha Patil, “'Whoever's in charge of this is really sexist'”, in Purdue Exponent, archived from the original on 23 Sep 2021:

2 more examples

By September, Jake felt that he'd mastered the art of partying sans booze—and he loved it. So much so that he started "dirty rushing" frats to fully integrate into the Penn Greek life scene.2022 September 1, Meg Gladieux, Walden Green, “Working Hard, Partying Sober”, in 34th Street Magazine, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2023:
Next, she said that rushing wasn't always by the books and records a follow-up video about a friend of hers that was "dirty rushed."2023 May 8, Jenna Kelley, “A Woman Shared 'Bama Rush Secrets Before The Doc Airs & Sorority Recruitment Is So Intense”, in Narcity, archived from the original on 16 May 2023: