Going greek will be a very different experience this year for the men of Penn State.

As part of a new movement towards a more organized rushing process, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) has for the first time instituted online rush registration and house tours, which will offer potential pledges a more well rounded view of what the fraternity system has to offer, IFC vice president of membership Grant Miller said.

The house tours began on Sunday and ended last night with each of the forty-six IFC fraternities allowing visitors over the course of the four days. Each tour began with the IFC tour guides explaining the founding and history of the fraternity. Then, the fraternity brothers gave a tour of the house and answered questions.

"It's a great way to differentiate the fraternities," Miller said.

IFC changed the house tours to improve the rushing process, he said.

"It's been working, but not as well as it should be," he said. "This will help us see what's broken, and how to fix it."

In the past, potential pledges have had difficulty seeing differences among the fraternities, he said.

"The problem we had before was that people weren't sure if they had joined the right fraternity because they didn't know enough about them," he said.

House tour guides Shaun Clair and Mike Peters said the new formalized rushing process was preferable to the informal rush they went through in the past.

"[The tours] gave a lot of individuals who wouldn't normally consider greek life an opportunity to come into our houses and see what we do," Peters said. Tour participants also said they saw this as a positive step for the rushing process.

"I think it will help me understand greek life in general," Adam Yeager (freshman- communication) said last night.

The fact that the tours were sober events interested some.

"Other than going to parties, it's hard to meet people at the houses," Britton Hartzok (freshman- premedicine) said.

IFC members said the tours were going well.

"We gave a lot of information, and they asked a lot of questions. If that is any indication, then these are going great," Peters said.