'I Would Do Anything for My Brothers,' Says Student Who Rushed Frat Three Times Before Getting In

It’s times like these when we remember that there is still good in the world. Amidst all the war, destruction, and failed relationships, it’s hard to find a glimpse of hope to get you through the week - or the day even! But when a person shows such incredible perseverance as Grant Friedman (EW ‘20), it reminds us that anything can happen if you try, try, try again.

After being brutally rejected twice from his dream frat, Grant finally made it on his third time rushing. We spoke to Grant about his struggle to be accepted into the Beta Omega Iota Zeta fraternity (BOIZ).

“I’ve been dreaming about joining a fraternity since I was like 19 years old,” Grant told us. “Once I found out that a bunch of the cool people at Penn were doing it, I knew that it was my destiny.”

Grant participated in dirty rush events with BOIZ, but was not invited to their closed rush events during his first rush attempt. “I was crushed,” Grant said. “I almost felt like the brothers of BOIZ didn’t want me in their frat. For a while, it really hurt.”

But after a process of grieving that lasted for 31 days, Grant was “ready to get hurt again.” Unfortunately, he had to wait until Fall rush of his sophomore year. But instead of waiting idly, he started preparing a new and improved presentation of himself—as someone who the brothers of BOIZ could see themselves being bros with. Grant described a combination of exercise, mock conversations, and memorization of fake stories about crazy nights out. By the time his sophomore year started, Grant was ready to become a brother of BOIZ.

But alas, the brothers of BOIZ were not ready for Grant. Despite his flawless execution of the cool bro hug, his believable descriptions of crazy drunken nights and all the super cool, rad drugs he does now, Grant only made it to the second event of BOIZ’s closed rush.

“It was devastating. I couldn’t believe that they forgot to ask me to their closed rush event again! I mean, what are the odds that I’d slip through the cracks twice?!” (Very low, we imagine.)

This time, Grant’s grieving process lasted for 62 days. But finally, Grant was “ready to get hurt again, again.”

His third time rushing, Grant finally made it into his dream frat. “I’d just like to thank everyone who has followed me through this journey and supported my dreams. It’s been a long road, but we did it! We really did it!” Grant told us. We’re real proud of you buddy.