The rush rules are the rules set forth and governed by the Singing Group Council during the rush process. To make rush run as smoothly and fairly as possible, all SGC affiliated groups are obliged to follow these rules. Groups are also obliged to distribute these rules and a rush calendar with audition materials, as well as post them on their websites.

As a rushee, it is important for you to familiarize yourself with these rules so that you are more fully aware of how the rush process works and what behavior is allowable. Should a group violate a rush rule, please contact the SGC.

1. Auditions
   1. No groups may schedule callbacks after 6:00 on nights when there is a singing dessert.
   2. No alcohol in or around audition space.
2. Singing Desserts
   1. All rushees must be extended an invitation.
   2. Singing Desserts are not open to members of other singing groups unless invited.
3. Rush Meals
   1. All rushees must be invited to at least one rush meal.
   2. All rush meals must be held in a Yale dining hall or Residential College common room (includes 12 residential colleges, Commons, Kline, the Kosher Kitchen, and SOM. Not Durfee's! Not Fellows lounges!)
   3. No more than three group members (seated or otherwise) will attend each rush meal per rushee, and you may not substitute seated members at any point during the meal. Passers-by may acknowledge the group members and the rushee but cannot participate in the meal.
   4. Group members that pass by a rush meal in progress and begin a prolonged conversation with the rushee and group members but simply do not sit down will be considered to be taking part in an illegal rush meal.
   5. There will no longer be large, combined rush meals consisting of 2 rushees and 6 group members (3 rushees and 9 group members, etc.) unless it is the group’s tap night dinner. Rush meals can still be scheduled simultaneously and even in the same dining hall, but the meals must remain at separate tables.
   6. Sitting down at a table with a rushee at any eating establishment or bar constitutes an illegal rush meal.
   7. Respect the privacy of all rush meals.
   8. Groups may not have more than four rush meals with any rushee.
   9. Groups are encouraged to invite rushees to an additional meal open to members of their group and any rushees of the group’s choosing on tap night.
4. Alcohol: The singing groups have agreed to comply with the Yale College Policy on Alcoholic Beverages (Undergraduate Regulations, Chapter XII).
   1. All rush events and meetings between singing group members and rushees will be free of alcohol and drugs. This includes but is not limited to post-dessert parties, rush meals, and chance encounters.
5. Visits
   1. Except for freshman counselors, no singing group members (including group alumni) may visit rushees' rooms except to deliver invitations to that group’s singing dessert. At no time may a singing group member enter the room, however. At no point, however, should these freshmen counselor group members use their access to the rushees to sway their rush decisions.
   2. There shall be no scheduled meetings on or off campus between rushees and singing group members (including group alumni) except rush meals.
6. Parties
   1. Each group may host one party after and on the same night as the singing dessert. Groups may petition the council if they wish to host a different event with their rushees in place of the singing dessert party.
   2. Parties are open to all members of the Yale Community. However, in keeping with the Spirit of Rush, members of other singing groups should only attend if they are invited and their presence is approved by the group or groups hosting.
   3. For the duration of Rush, groups shall not invite, either explicitly or surreptitiously, rushees to any party or other events outside of the singing dessert party.
   4. Walking rushees home from post-dessert parties is prohibited.
   5. Joint parties may occur, but invitees other than rushees need to have both groups’ approval.
7. Gifts
   1. Gifts are absolutely forbidden. This includes dinner, drinks, term papers, invitations to supplementary parties, etc.
   2. A copy of the group's album, while a gift, is only given with the express intent of exposing the rushee to the group's repertoire, and is therefore allowable.
   3. CD’s will not be given out at either Bulldog Days Bazaar or its equivalent or the Freshmen Bazaar or its equivalent. They can only be distributed after a rushee has signed up to audition at Dwight Hall Jam.
8. Tap Night
   1. No singing group member may tell a rushee explicitly or implicitly that s/he is going to be tapped by that group at any point during rush.
   2. Tap begins at 10:00 p.m. and ends at 12:30 a.m.
   3. No singing group member may have contact with a rushee after 8:00 p.m. on tap night, unless he or she is notifying the rushee that he or she will not be tapped. A singing group member may not be in any tappee's room before 10:00 p.m.
   4. After a group has finished tapping the rushee, all members of the group (including group alumni) must exit the entryway regardless of the rushee's response. No member may be left behind in the rushee's room or entryway.
   5. All groups must call their definite non-tappees (those who are not on any of a group’s tap lists) before 9:00 p.m.; all rushees must have been contacted by 12:30 am.
   6. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors may be tapped at anytime after auditioning. All other rules apply until they are tapped. After they are tapped, they may not act as a liason between the group and rushees.
   7. Groups must not encourage rushees to act as liason between the group and other rushees (i.e. “all of the good people are going to be in my future group”).
   8. Rush is a finite process. No group may actively pursue a Tapee (a rushee who has agreed to go with a group) after 12:30 AM. All post-tap issues involving rushees shall be governed by the Singing Group Council.
9. Post-Tap
   1. Undecided tappees must commit by midnight on Sunday following tap.
10. Indirect Violations: Spirit of Rush
    1. Certain egregious actions which fall outside of the specific parameters outlined in the aforementioned rules may still warrant disciplinary action by the Singing Group Council.
    2. Spirit of Rush infractions include, but are not limited to: showing up at another group’s singing dessert party without an invitation or dressed in one’s own group’s paraphernalia, loitering around another group’s table at sign-up jam, waiting around on old campus or outside a singing dessert to “walk freshmen where they need to go,” and generally pressuring a rushee to drop another group’s rush or not attend their dessert/party or to give your own group an indication of his or her preference.
11. Additional Ammendments (2001, 2005, 2006)
    1. No group may encourage explicitly or implicitly that any rushee derush a group for any reason.
    2. No group may explicitly or implicitly inform a rushee that s/he will not be tapped on the basis of his or her rushing other singing groups.
    3. Rush rules take effect when freshmen get to campus.
    4. Group members other than rush managers, music directors and business managers may not contact rushees in any way. This includes but is not limited to AIM, phone calls, thefacebook.com, and text messages.
    5. No email list may be compiled at the “Bulldog Days Bazaar” or its equivalent.
    6. Email lists may be compiled at the “Freshperson Bazaar” or its equivalent but only for use in verifying that freshmen (or upperclassmen) who signed up during the bazaar do not want to audition.
    7. Rush begins when freshmen arrive on campus.
    8. You may not actively advertise or solicit for your group, including but not limited to posters, email, etc., before the beginning of the Freshmen Bazaar. 
    9. However, it is not in violation to wear your group t-shirt in the days before the Freshmen Activities Bazaar and Woolsey Jam, as long as you do not further solicit your group. (If approached, simply say your group is one of the many a cappella groups on campus and direct them to the activities bazaar and Woolsey Jam to see all of the groups.)
    10. There will be no impromptu concerts. Written approval from the SGC co-chairs is required for any on-campus singing engagements beyond those normally associated with rush. 
    11. Singing at all freshperson functions, including the Fresh Person Conference, FOOT, Harvest, and Freshman Dinners and Picnics will be regulated by the Council. In 2008, groups may sing at a maximum of 1 freshman picnic and 1 freshman dinner.  
12. Penalties
    1. An infraction of Rush Rules will, upon first offense, incur a warning, and upon any subsequent offense will be penalized at the discretion of the Co-Chairs.
    2. Freshmen and singing group members are encouraged to report any infractions to the SGC co-chairs in the form of a detailed e-mail that can be corroborated by at least one person not affiliated with a cappella. SGC co-chairs will then rule on the alleged infraction and impose an appropriate penalty.
    3. Potential penalties (ultimately, the co-chairs and/or Dean Gentry will decide the penalty that suits the situation):
       • 1st offense: Warning
       • 2nd offense: elimination of tap night dinner in current rush
       • 3rd offense: wait 1 minute to start tapping in current rush
       • 4th offense: wait 5 minutes to start tapping in current rush
       • 5th offense: wait 10 minutes to start tapping in current rush
       • 6th offense: wait 20 minutes to start tapping in current rush
       • 7th offense: wait 30 minutes to start tapping in current rush
       • 8th offense: last or least desired pick in number draw for Woolsey/Dwight/singing dessert in next year’s rush.
       • 9th offense: elimination of tap night dinner in next year’s rush
       • 10th offense: elimination of participation in next year’s singing group council rush
    4. Any offenses that transpire after a penalty would normally go into effect will be imposed on the group the following year, or the co-chairs will impose an alternate penalty.

*** WOOLSEY JAM - 10:00PM ***
Sunday, August 31, 2008

*** DWIGHT HALL SIGN UP JAM - 10:30PM ***
Friday, September 5, 2008

Auditions
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008

Out of the Blue singing dessert
Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Duke's Men and Something Extra singing dessert
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Red Hot & Blue singing dessert
Thursday, September 11, 2008

Baker's Dozen and Proof of the Pudding singing dessert
Friday, September 12, 2008

Society of Orpheus and Bacchus singing dessert
Saturday, September 13, 2008

Mixed Company singing dessert
Sunday, September 14, 2008

Living Water singing dessert
Monday, September 15, 2008

The New Blue and
Spizzwinks(?) singing dessert
Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Shades singing dessert
Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Alley Cats singing dessert
Thursday, September 18, 2008

Callback Auditions
(Friday, September 19, 2008)
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008

*** TAP NIGHT ***
To be announced.
Monday, September 22, 2007 – Friday, September 26, 2007