Vi, I've been searching and am not finding anything. Do you know if it was in the recruitment section? A broad search just brings back too many results... I'll keep looking though!

So preference... I was so excited. Potentially, Amanda, Julie and I could all end up in the same chapter if we all decided on Columbus. But Amanda was pretty dead set on Toledo. Julie was up in the air.

Preference was formal, and I borrowed a skirt from Ann to wear. It was a Saturday evening. Columbus came first.

Those Columbus girls, dressed in matching black dresses, were absolutely stunning. I was paired with Erin again, and she made my choice seem so very easy. I felt so very welcome and comfortable. The ceremony was beautiful... and it made me cry. I am NOT a crier, not in public anyway. The ceremony made me homesick though, and I had not been homesick at all since leaving home for school. It really impacted me. When I left, I felt very confident about being a Columbus. A lot of girls squeezed my hands or gave me a hug, and genuinely said they wished to see me in their bid day shirts the next day.

Then came Cleveland. What a beautiful ceremony! Again, all the sisters were wearing black dresses. Again, I cried. I was paired with Monica, and she told me "You know you belong here, right? You've always been a Cleveland." It was then I began to feel so conflicted. She asked me which other preference ceremony I attended, and I said Columbus. She... didn't look happy. She didn't say anything bad, there was no bad-mouthing, but she just said "Oh, ok." I didn't know how to take that, and I didn't know what I was going to do. She must have known it was a difficult decision for me.

So I left, and went to the student union to sign my bid card. My RC was busy with other girls, so I talked to another. I sat there for 2 hours, wrote down names, scribbled them out. I wrote down pros and cons lists, and really, there weren't very many cons for either group. I tried to imagine myelf in both letters. Which meant more? Which group did I feel I could get the most out of, and which group would benefit from me being a sister the most? Finally, my RC was finished with other girls, and came and sat with me for another hour. It was about 1am at this point. She told me... "You know where your heart belongs. One group has your heart, the other group has your head. In cases like this, either group is a good choice, but which will hurt more if you choose the other? Your head, or your heart?"

Oh crap. More tears. I didn't want to disappoint any of the girls who had befriended me, and who beleived I would be their sister the next day. But I had to make the decision for myself. So I wrote down a name one final time, gave it to my RC, and left. I knew if I didnt get the first choice, I would happily take the second. I found Julie, and we agreed not to tell each other. I went back to my dorm, and talked to Amanda. She went Toledo, all the way. I was so happy for her. I wished my decision had been that easy. So would make an awesome Toledo sister!


Sunday morning. Amanda, Ann, Melissa and I went and got breakfast, and when we came back... our RC was there with our bid cards waiting for us. Amanda opened hers and let out a loud WHOOP! She was a Toledo girl! Yay! Melissa opened hers, and she got a bid from Columbus! Ann and Nicole opened theirs, and they both got their first choice - Cleveland! Amazing! Nicole was crying so hard she had to go to her room and call her mom and grandma, who were also Clevelands. I opened mine... and didn't want to look at it. It said....


"The Zeta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta cordially invites (my name here) to become a member at Ohio Northern University."

I got my first choice!!!

So was Theta the Columbus, or Cleveland?

I'm not confident about this - but I think Columbus is Theta. Of course, I change my mind because there's the hint about Cleveland being close to a fraternity & my mind instantly thought "FIJI"...

Won't be surprised if I'm wrong about Columbus, though. Fun to read a Theta story!

awesome Violet, thank you!

ok, ok...you need to tell us...SERIOUSLY!

I'm hooked!

Ok so here is the key:

Dayton = Alpha Xi Delta
Toledo = Delta Zeta
Cleveland = Zeta Tau Alpha
Columbus = Kappa Alpha Theta



What is so great about the greek system at ONU, is even thought we're all rivals, we all still get at along. I was the only Theta in my area of study (environmental science), so my study-buddies became 2 Alpha Xi's, 2 DZ's, and 3 Zeta's. We had a lot of classes together.

Anyway, so bid day came. Melissa, Julie and I all went Theta. Amanda was a DZ, and Nicole and Ann went Zeta. Naturally, our Rc was a Theta. I had NO idea! Our hall ended up with 7 new Theta's, more than any other hall on campus. Theta had the shortest pledge period out of all 4, so we were initiated at 4 weeks, Zeta and Alpha Xi went at 6 weeks, and DZ went at 8 weeks.

I had an amazing pledge period, and Erin ended up becoming my big. Well... apparently, me being a Theta and Amanda being a DZ was a problem for Amandas sisters. we continued to eat our meals together, along with the rest of the girls in our hall. Amanda was the only DZ in our Hall, and her Big had a big beef with Theta, for some reason. I never got the whole story. But Amanda was forbidden to talk to me. We were friends one day, and she ignored me the next. I never even got a reason why from her. She just stopped talking to me. I was really hurt. I thought stuff like that wasn't supposed to happen. Amanda ended up transferring to a school closer to her hometown in the middle of our sophomore year.


Happy ending though. She added me as a friend on Facebook a few months ago! I wrote her and told her how I wished things had been different in college, but that I was happy to see her. She wrote back that everyone does dumb things in college, and she was glad to find me too. So while we're not close like we were for those few months in college, ten years later, I now have closure. :)

Oh - here's another kick to the nuts. Bid day, I ran to the Theta's. I noticed lots of older girls going over to other chapters and congratulating their new members. So I thought Monica and her one other friend might do the same for me. NOPE. I made eye contact with both of them, gave a smile and and apologetic shrug, and the both turned around and gave me the cold shoulder. I was shocked. I later asked Ann about it, and I guess it was because Monica was SO sure I would be a Zeta, she was very hurt that I wasn't. But for the remained of our college years, Monica and I could pass each other on campus, and she wouldnt look me in the eye. It was sad.