damn this is great! keep going!

More! More!! More!!!

Wow! At least we know you will end up in a great house!!!

Did they eventually sell them to uiuc?

She's teasing us. . .

No, it's just that it takes a long time to remember all the details!:D

Let's see...we went to the cafeteria to get our invitations which were late because, of course, the computer broke down. The next day would have 9 parties so everyone hoped for at least 9 invitations. I opened my envelope-good, got that one back, got that one, and that--I had 10, I was happy! The 4 that cut me were good but they were ultra-feminine, deep South types so I wasn't too upset although when I got back to the dorm, it turned out that all the upperclassmen there had been cut by the same 4 and some of them were really upset.(run-on, I know, but you get it) It began to occur to us that even if you had good grades and activities, some sororities weren't at all pro-upperclassmen.

So I went to 9-party day (all 9 in one day) and had a great time. Several had begun to stand out! We went to the cafeteria again the next day for our (late, you know why) invitations. Let's see...good, good, oh crud that one must have cut me, good, !!! what are you doing in here-I cut you yesterday, and so on. I had been cut by 3 (2 of those hurt). That night I would find out that those 3 had also cut the rest of the upperclassmen.:confused:

We had to cut down to 5 and I had 6. I was already somewhat tired of putting on the Southern charm and smiling and chatting. Even though I was the same age as most of the other rushees (18), I was a junior and was ready to be a sorority member. Enough of this rush business. I had an idea...

I've always been a very focused person so I thought, "I love 2 of these, can't stand one, and am lukewarm about the rest. Why don't I just drop all of them except the 2 so I can focus on them, be at my best, and be rested when I get to them?" And that's what I did.:eek: Chose my 2 classic Texan houses and bid the rest goodbye.

PNMS, DO NOT DO THIS! THIS WAS MANY YEARS AGO AND COULD END UP LOSING YOU A BID FROM A GREAT HOUSE!

tell us more!

Since my recruitment was in the early days of rush counselors, I received no advice not to cut all those groups. I don't even recall seeing our counselor much after the first 2 days!

Five-party day passed just fine. I was rested and ready for both parties! I got back my 3 invitations the next day--yes, XYZ had once again invited me back. I chose the same 2 again because I didn't intend to go back to XYZ on 3-party day either. See, I was taking huge risks. I didn't know that back in the day, the big cuts came near the end. There were no release regulations back then; some sororities would keep girls they had no intention of pledging until theme or pref parties just to make their groups look popular. If a girl was released from several groups near the end of recruitment, she had no way to pick up groups she'd released earlier. There was no 'regret with interest' option either. You released them and they were gone. Except for XYZ.

The theme parties were wonderful! One group had an Asian theme, the other had Alice in Wonderland. I hoped to be asked back to both for prefs.

YaY!

You were 18 and a junior in college? Wow, kudos to you carnation!!

And I was asked back! (Yes, to XYZ as well.)

I don't remember one pref party, it's been too long. I remember walking into the other one, though, and being surrounded by the smell of carnations. The members were dressed in white with arrows on silver-blue ribbons around their necks. We sat at tables and conversed quietly while the cake was being served...every rushee pulled a wine-red ribbon from the cake and her name was on a tiny card attached to it! (I still don't know how they did it.)

Then they began the ceremony. Each of us rose one by one to take a wine carnation from the garden that surrounded the chapter president. We were seated in a horseshoe with a member standing behind each of us. At one point, each member placed her arrow necklace around her rushee's neck.

I felt like I was home--if the members only thought so too. I had seen too many people hurt on Bid Day (remember Debbie and Cathy?) to feel like it was a sure thing.

And we went to the Social Center and ranked our preferences. For the upperclassmen who were living in our dorm, it would be a long night. Most had had bad rush experiences before--all had friends who had had them--and we couldn't sleep. The rush counselor told us that she would call at a certain time if someone wasn't getting a bid.

The phone rang.

WHAT?!?!?:eek:

NOOOOOOOOOO!

hehe, I know we sat up all night calling each other in the dorm just to freak people out! Mean, mean, mean!

Well, we know she preferenced where she ends up. Also, she didn't say who called her.

I bet it was her mom.....:p

It was the rush counselor. She had said she would be calling the floor phone if any one of us upperclassmen didn't get a bid.:eek::eek::eek:

All of these cliff hangers just are not fair! :rolleyes:

That's kind of embarrassing. I mean, not that word wouldn't get out, but imagine someone answering the floor phone and yelling "Hey Patty PNM, the rush counselor is on the phone for you..." and then Patty yelling "Debbie Downer, it's your turn...".:eek:

Did you not have individual room phones?

The individual room phones were turned off during rush in the PNMs' dorms. Back then, with no cell phones or computers, silence meant silence unless maybe you sneaked out somewhere to use a phone in, I don't know, a fraternity house (then you would have been in double trouble if caught).

Carnation, you are such a TEASE!
"The phone rang."
Was it a dark and stormy night?!?:D

I love these little reminders of how much authority institutions used to have. Assuming we could rule out computers and cell phones some way, imagine the complaints the university would get from momma and daddy today if they did something similar.

No, I'm sure it was a hot and sunny Alabama morning!

We all clustered around the phone. The RC trilled, "Just wanted you guys to know that you all got bids!" Split feelings here: we were glad to know that but she had also told us the phone would ring only if someone had been dropped. Our hearts were still pounding.

A few hours later, we were on our way to the Social Center. Some of you have described the beautiful bids you received; well, all the rushees got the same type of bid. It was (wait for it): A COMPUTER CARD!

And God had smiled on me. My card invited me to become a member of

PI BETA PHI!!

I knew the ending was happy for carnation, but it's a nice surprise to hear that the other upperclassmen got bids, too. Did they accept them?

I know! Some of the old women's dorms at my college still have these special hooks on them. If you had a male guest (which was permitted only during certain daylight hours), the door had to remain open by 12 inches, and the hook held the door open by exactly that distance.
________

Aww- you went and ruined the great, grainy, black&white scene I had going in my mind! ;) I love stories with happy endings, even if I know they're coming. Great story!

YaY for Carnation & Pi Beta Phi!!! :D :D :D

There were about 10 other upperclassmen rushing from my dorm. One dropped out when her group of choice dropped her but the rest got the groups we wanted; I recall that one went Tri Delt and one went KD. Now I do want to say that some didn't get the sororities they wanted in the beginning, it was more like they got what they wanted once all the groups that didn't want upperclassmen had made their cuts.

Let's see, other random memories: the Orange Bowl Queen pledged, after being fought over tooth and nail by all the groups. However, she spent a lot of time partying and flunked out; she was never initiated. The 2 girls in my recruitment group who never smiled once during rush and always looked mad, even in parties, also managed to pledge great groups--?? Maybe they were socially prominent?

One girl in my rush group was the sister of a girl who'd rushed three times to try to pledge a certain sorority and was finally successful the third time. Little sister pledged the same sorority but depledged weeks later.:eek:

You tell a great story, Carnation! Thanks for posting!

Wow. Was this a group that did informal or are we talking about a junior who kept repeating formal preffing but never ranking high enough to get her group? Or dropping out when they cut her and rushing the next year?

At least she wasn't among the people I've heard about who simply withdrew from classes and went elsewhere if they didn't get a group they liked.

No, this was a very elite group that Big Sis had somehow focused on from year 1 even though Auburn has many outstanding chapters. I don't know at what point she was cut from them in the first 2 years but it was during formal rush.

This reminds me of a PNM of mine when I was a Rho Gamma. She wanted me to call her regardless of whether she got a bid or not (I double checked with PHA to make sure this was ok) because she only attended one chapter for preference. She did get a bid from the group and she was ecstatic and very relieved. She screamed so loudly that I had to move the phone away from my ears!

Also, when you dropped all but two chapters, this reminded me of when of when another PNM in my group told me that she wanted to suicide her legacy chapter after skit round. The rules on our campus forced her to rank all of her chapters after skit round. She did suicide after preference and join her legacy chapter though.

Great story, carnation! It was interesting to see how things were done back then!

Seriously. IU, like several other schools, had "women's hours" up until the late 60s. In my guidebook, I read that Read Center, which used to be a women's dorm (it's coed now), still has doorbells at the entrances to the wings - the doors were locked at curfew, and if a woman came back after curfew, she had to ring the doorbell to get in! :eek:

When I was a freshman at the U of Alabama, I went to visit my boyfriend at a small college, Florence State, and stayed in the dorm room of some of his female friends (platonic!!) who went home for the weekend. We went out for a bite to eat and were headed to a movie when he asked, "You did check out, didn't you?" Well no, I never heard of having to check out of the dorm! We had to race back to the dorm and I had to pull a card and check out...and then check back in at curfew. Talk about dark ages!
Very few rooms in our sorority houses had individual phones...if the girls were rich enough, they could have one put in (expensive! Probably $25 a month...equivalent of about $150 2007 dollars). Most everybody took calls in the "Anchor Room," a 2nd floor room at the top of the stairs that had 2 phones and three couches. That was command central! Lonely? You could go hang out in the Anchor Room and talk to the pledge on phone duty. Need advice on an outfit? Go to the Anchor Room where there were bound to be a few sisters hanging out, ready and willing to voice their opinions in front of the full length mirror in the hallway just outside. There was usually a card game going on...and of course a few sisters taking a cigarette break...one year during exams, somebody left a stack of tacky romance comics there, which we devoured...those WERE the days, LOL!:rolleyes:

oh anchoralumna, you really brought back memories.

no one had phones in their rooms during my time-it just never dawned on us. there was a phone on the 3rd floor landing, one on the 2nd and of course, the phone/mail room, where phone duty was carried out. we had 2 or 3 lines-i can't remember.

pledges had to serve as door monitor/phone answerer from 5 to 7 on a rotation basis(because they did not live in the house) and "actives" manned the phone room and answered the door from 7 to 11. executive officers did not hold phone duty. somehow, we all managed to make and receive phone calls with minimal problems, and it was always exciting when the intercom buzzed and the voice from downstairs said, "fsuzeta, you have a call on line
1."

That brings back good memories to me too..

We had a main phone by the front door and it was so exciting when you came in and found that you had a message from someone special!

I remember dancing a jig in the front hall when I saw that a certain someone (who is now my husband) had called after our "blind date.":p

No cell phones, no instant messages, no webpages, definitely a simpler life!

When I was in college, small private school, mid-80s, our campus had a very strict curfew for the women. Freshman women had to be in the dorms by 10 PM weeknights and Midnight on weekends. Upper-class women had curfews of Midnight weeknights and 2 AM on weekends. RAs did bed check at 10:01 PM and 12:01 AM.

You could get 2-hour extensions to your curfew, which had to be filled out prior to check out. Freshman got 6 per semester and Upper-class women got 10 per semester. There were four carbons and one of those was mailed to your parents.

We could only have male guests in our rooms once a month on a certain day. It was usually 6 PM – 10 PM on a Friday or Saturday night. You could only have two guests per visit and the doors had to be completely open.

If you were not waiting for your date in the lobby, the front desk would announce that you had a visitor on your floor’s PA system. Nosey girls would call down to the front desk and see who was picking you up. If you looked up at the windows when you were leaving, you could see all the faces peeking out. I was one of the few girls who had a private phone line. Those who didn’t had to use the hall phones.