I bet it made you feel amazing as a new member to be picked up in a limo! All the chapters at my school do bid day at their house but it would be so cool to go to Disneyland or any of the other places mentioned. My bid day we just had pizza. I'm doing recruitment now so we're def getting it catered.

"Back in the Day"--(Late 80s, Early 90s) Bid Night was all the things that are not really kosher anymore.

1. Actives picked up pledges at their dorms. Can you imagine all the girls who found out that they didn't get into a house having to endure the chanting and screaming in the hallways of their dorms? This ended my Junior or Senior year at which time pledges were picked up by a University bus.

2. While the pledges were out celebrating, a team of sisters went back to their dorm and decorated their doors.

3. The evening started at the chapter house with pizza and soda and ice-breaker events. I remember standing on my chair and telling everyone something "interesting" about myself. Examples of these "interesting" things were: "My favorite ice cream is 'rocky road'" or "I can touch my tongue to my nose"--stuff like that. I remember we were all so excited that the energy in the room was out of control!

4. We were given the cutest sweatshirts with ZETA spelled out and a bunny perched on the letters. I wish I still had that sweatshirt. Tons of pictures!!!

5. After the sorority social, we were taken to a fraternity party--which was overwhelming (at least for me).

We did all these things in the early to mid 2000s at my school... What's supposed to be "frills" about #3?

They still do this at my old school...or I know that one sorority did it to a girl on my hall freshman year. It was actually pretty cool though.

This was pretty much our bid days too, except you could hear the rustling of your door being decorated before they knocked. I don't know what happened if the girl ever declined the bid - I guess just took down the decorations & went home.

My chapter had a party to which you could invite whoever instead of a mixer - that way if you had a boyfriend in another fraternity or who was an independent you could share that special night with him - or any of your other friends. The one time we had a mixer I didn't really like it at all.

Our Panhel finished making the "you didn't get a bid" calls by 3 PM and pledge pickup didn't start till 6 PM. That way if you didn't get a bid and it was too traumatic for you to watch you had some time to get out of Dodge. I still think this is better than the schools who make the girls open their bids in front of ALL the rushees, sororities & Rho Chis...that's absolutely barbaric IMO.

THANK YOU! I completely agree and it's taking forever to get some of the people on our College Panhel to come around. In my day we opened in rooms with our Rho Chi groups, but somehow it got switched to opening in a large field on campus with all the PNMs, sorority members, RC's, and parents/friends/boyfriends watching. It is, indeed, barbaric.

Agree. I prefered the way my campus did it - PNMs show up to a room on campus between, say, 3pm and 4pm, their recruitment counselor gives them their bid, then they can open it whereever and whenever they want. Some girls tore into them immediately right there, but other girls would go off to somewhere private like the bathroom to open theirs. The worst reactions I saw happened one year when I was a rho chi and we let the chapters design their own bid cards, so all the PNMs knew right away when they got their envelope which sorority it was for. Some of the girls were visibly upset when I handed some of them their envelopes, which just sucked.

At my school the girls get letter via Campus Mail saying whether or not they've been matched to a sorority, but it doesn't tell them which one. You only go to two prefs, so it's really not THAT big a mystery. Anyway, you don't find out till the next weekend when the girls decorate your door and come pick you up. Lots of anticipation!

At my school all the girls get their bids in the colliseum (sp?) and then run to the sorority houses. Once they get there they are greeted by their new sisters--who are holding balloons and signs for them! The new members are then taken to the bid day location- either somewhere downtown, a member's home, a nice restaurant, etc. The girls are treated to a nice dinner and given a nice tote bag filled with sorority goodies. Later we decorate their doors and leave them goodies to suprise them!

One week! Ugh, the suspense would kill me either as a PNM or an Active.

What if you decorate their door and all and invite them to pledge and they decide they don't want to accept your bid? Does that happen?

My school calls everyone who doesn't get a bid so they don't show up to bid day. Then everyone who did get a bid meets up in the student union. They reveal each rho chi's chapter and then hand out bid cards. Everyone opens them at the same time and there's a lot of shrieking.

Then everyone goes outside where a few representatives pick them up and get them on the bus to their house. The whole chapter is outside to greet them. Then someone specifically will pick you up (your "Bid Day Budy"--not someone I'd met during rush). You get a bid day t-shirt. Last year, actives wore hot pink and new Alphas wore teal versions of the same shirt. Alphas also got a canvas bag with letters, a decal for their car, a water bottle and some other goodies.

Then we put on music and had a dance party. And then there was dinner. We have this breaded chicken breast stuffed with feta cheese and peppers. It's always a hit, and our cook actually calls it "Bid Day Chicken."

The next day we have a cookout and the older girls take the new girls out to the frats.

I imagine this is a relatively inexpensive bid day.

Nothing. I said that our bid night night had all the things you aren't supposed to do anymore. I didn't mean to imply that everything we did on bid night fit this category. I listed all the things I could remember us doing in order.

They just take the stuff down. There's also the case of the PNM who accepts the bid (sort of) but is crying or whatever about her placement when you arrive at her dorm room. I actually find that to be somewhat effective to have people pick up crying/disappointed PNMs (there is only an hour or two lag time between bid distribution & sororities arriving in the dorm at W&L). The Rho Chis/Panhel would usually clue us in to who might be wavering/crying, and we'd assign people those individuals really liked to pick them up and try to get them to come to Bid Day and check it out.

I actually find this more effective than having crying girls actually arrive at Bid Day (which I've seen happen too). In that case it can be a real downer, especially since if you're a lower-tier group, one or two crying PNMs can seriously bum out the rest of your pledge class who might be a teenie bit disappointed too (although not to the point of questioning accepting their bid/crying, etc.).

I actually haven't heard of anyone declining a bid at the door. It's kinda complicated because since they have a week's notice of being "matched" to a sorority (even though they may not know which one), it's usually settled beforehand.