darn computers!! my good feelings just came to a screeching halt!

please come tell us more.

The first year we used SORUSH we had a huge computer error, releasing girls from recruitment who weren't supposed to be released. It was a mess!!!!

Please continue! I'm enjoying every word of your story.:)

UIUC + Computers = :(

*gasp* not in the dorms! haha I giggled when I read that.

No more computer errors! I'm sure gald they had most of the problems figured out by the time I went through recruitment!

So you were refreshed on liquids when you had to go to the Union? :D

Urbana-Champaign
 

How far apart are Urbana and Champaign? How many minutes are there between parties? Did you walk or were there buses taking PNMs back and forth? Did Panhellenic make the party schedules to minimize the back and forth for the PNMs or was it without regard to location? I am imagining this must be very tiring!

Urbana and Champaign are right next to each other. The quad separates the 2 so everything east of the quad is in Urbana and west is in Champaign. So, my dorm was in Champaign but the AOII house was in Urbana, but it only was a 5-10 minute walk.

So max 10 minutes between the farthest chapter houses? More or less? That's not too bad.

I wouldn't say that. If you lived in the 6-pac, which was the farthest dorm complex on the west side of the campus in Champaign, and you were a Kappa, AGD, or KD, which were on the east edge of the Urbana side, you would be looking at a 20 minute walk, more or less, more when there was snow on the ground. Same with girls who lived in the Lincoln Avenue Residence Halls (LAR) in Urbana (on the same street as KKG, AGD, KD) and pledged Phi Sig or SK which were way our west in Champaign. If you lived in Florida Avenue Halls ("FAR" - how appropriate) you had to walk 15 minutes to get to the closest house. We just got used to it though. Another note - when I went to Oklahoma State everybody had cars and drove. At U of I very few had cars. There was no where to park on campus so everybody really did walk.

Just re-read your question - so, if you went from a party in west Champaign (like PSS or SK) to one in east Urbana (KKG, KD, AGD), it would be at least a 20 minute walk.

When you went to Oklahoma State people who lived on campus drove to class? When I was there most everyone had cars, but the only people who drove to class were those who lived away from campus. My friends and I always walked to class.

Waiting to hear more...you can't just leave us hanging like this!;)

People in dorms walked but apartment dwellers drove, and everybody (except for me!) had a car - even if you lived in the dorms. No one drove at Illinois - no one. If you had a car, which most didn't, you had to park it off campus and just use it to drive home.

We got ten minutes between parties. The schedules are fully randomized, so they don't pay attention to which chapters are close to one another. The chapters know this, and it's *officially* not a big deal to be late because the Rho Chi walks you in, but if you are an active thinking you are getting a break, and then suddenly you have to rush, you could be pretty salty. Or, if the chapter always wants their best rushers rushing, coming in late means you get a girl from the so-so batch, who is more nervous that you are.

My first year as an active, we rushed in pairs the first round, so the PNM's watched a skit, and then moved to the corners of the room to be introduced to actives. So there were four lines of rush pairs, with 6 or 7 pairs in each line (~50 PNM's per party). The seniors were supposed to rotate in and out of the lines as the day wore on, so we could have breaks. Well, little did I know, they never rotated into the first spots. The rush chair officially told us it was because they would ruin the flow of getting to just the right place at the right time, which made sense, but in retrospect, I think she just wanted her eight best rushers meeting as many people as possible.

When all was said and done, I had met more than half the pledge class before bid night! The worse rushers, on the other hand, got relieved by the seniors quite often.

Back to the story...

I go down to the basement of the Union to meet my Rho Chi, and she hands me a new list:

Scarlet Gs
Petite Passions
Ripplers
Ice Pearls
Marvels

Not only did I lose three houses I thought I was going back to, but they didn't even have a new scantron for me. I literally had to erase the bubbles next to the houses I wanted and fill in others. I don't remember if I cried or not, but I suspect I did because my Rho Chi made me stay and talk to her.

She told me to forget about the other chapters, and look at this list. If these were the only five sororities on campus, is there one I would want to join? Honestly, I knew there was, and two of them were chapters I had planned to visit anyway. I knew deep down that I would stick it out and see what happened, but rejection stings no matter how you slice it.

I knew I couldn't go back to the dorm and face the perfect PNM trio, so I walked over to my brother's place. On the way, I ran into an older fraternity friend, and I know I burst into tears in front of him. He calmed me down, and reassured me there were still three great chapters on my list, and I should not worry about status and all that.

So I think I went over to my brother's place, cried a bit, and then got over it and moved on.