Because I'm OCD and am procrastinating doing more important stuff, I just searched all the Miss America 1st runner ups from the early 70's to mid 90's and found nothing that could fit. Perhaps the mom wasn't first runner up, but just *a* runner up? Heh! This is fun, although it's likely all fabricated.

I don’t think it’s completely made up. I think it’s based on someone, an actual set of twins who joined sororities at 2 different universities, but the OP isn’t one of the twins. She’s one of the other characters- probably not Callie, but maybe “Lyndsay”? The writer was friends with a girl who had a twin at another school, and always thought it would have been more fun to tell her friend’s story than her own. As I recall (and I’m not going to re-read the whole thing), Lyndsay was having a successful recruitment, but without all the twists and turns, and definitely no “thing” to make her recruitment story as exciting and dramatic as her BFF. So she pretended she was the one who had a twin sister and some major mysterious issue that she “couldn’t speak of, and yet couldn't stop talking about” (to paraphrase a very apt phrase from a Modern Family episode).

Then of course she added in additional details that may or may not be factual (the mother being a Miss America runner-up, overly detailed outfit descriptions, *pink. sequined.tights*) to make it sound like it was really her writing it, but ironically, ended up just making the story seem less and less plausible. Maybe these details are true, maybe they are false (completely products of the writer’s imagination), or maybe they are based on real information but changed slightly so that the story would not be too recognizable in the event someone who knows the real twin sisters were to find it (or the twins themselves). Maybe she tweaked the number of chapters at her school and/or the sister’s school. Maybe the architectural descriptions of the chapter houses were mixed up a little as to sound familiar, but not instantly placeable.

Interesting that the poster uses the term "core four" to describe the top tier at her school. That is a term used heavily at Duke. Duke doesn't fit any of the criteria for her school. OU has "top 5" but I haven't ever heard "core four." Other problems: Tulsa never recruits before OU or OSU. Maybe they did a long time ago? Also, OU and OSU don't use tents, and she references tents repeatedly. Also, Telluride does not work as Alpha Phi. She states that Telluride was a traditionally southern sorority. No one would refer to Alpha Phi that way. And debunking my own contribution of Cascia Hall, the poster says her high school was large, and Cascia Hall caps each class at 100.

And why would a rush group ever line up by height?

However, the weather, the descriptions of country girls, and Callie being from Kansas all work for Oklahoma.

So, thinking Kansas: 1980 Miss America 2nd runner up was Michelle Elaine Whitson. Went to KU and was a Gamma Phi Beta.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=6399,6499734

Some people use "core 4" at Arkansas.

Also at the University of Texas. The Core Four at UT are supposedly Delta Gamma, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Phi. So maybe UT and SMU for the private school?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Core%204

Those aren't the Core 4 there and they use 6 groups in that manner.

No. There is the Big 6 and the Really Big 3 within the Big 6. Even silly northern girl knows that.

That sounds like something lame someone made up to compete with the Big 6, actually. (Names redacted so no one says I'm being mean to anyone in these groups.)

Right, a trendy way to say "middle tier."

When I first started reading it, I would have sworn she was discussing an SEC school along with a small private school. Just from my own experience, I was pairing Florida with Rollins College or else Alabama with Birmingham-Southern. But Florida and Alabama both have more than 11 houses (and have for a long time). Both of my daughters ended up as Tridelts at Alabama, and as we prepared their resumes I'm pretty sure we had to put 16 sets in "the box" that the Etowah County Panhellenic used when preparing recs. I remember there were tents at Florida when I was there. And I seem to recall tents at Alabama that are taken down before Squeal Day (Bid Day). And I know that they use tents here at Ole Miss.

The one thing that struck me as way off the meter was high heels on the first day. It seems like even back in my day, we were extolled over and over to wear sandals and sundresses for the first round.

Could it be Tulane for the small private university and LSU for the large state university?
Tulane (currently) has 8 sororities, but don't know founding dates. Was there a time when there were 6 sororities?
LSU now has 12, but Alpha Phi just recolonized in 2013.

Tulane University
(Sophie Newcomb College)
New Orleans, LA

Pi Beta Phi Louisiana Alpha 1891
Chi Omega Rho 1900
Kappa Kappa Gamma Beta Omicron 1904
Alpha Delta Pi Epsilon 1906-1977/2013
Phi Mu Delta 1906-1992/2009
Kappa Alpha Theta Alpha Phi 1914
Alpha Epsilon Phi Epsilon 1916
Sigma Delta Tau Alpha Iota 1955

Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA

Kappa Delta Epsilon 1909
Delta Zeta Sigma 1917
Chi Omega Phi Gamma 1924
Delta Delta Delta Delta Omega 1934
Phi Mu Alpha Eta 1934
Kappa Kappa Gamma Delta Iota 1935
Pi Beta Phi Louisiana Beta 1936
Delta Gamma Gamma Zeta 1948
Zeta Tau Alpha Delta Kappa 1959
Kappa Alpha Theta Delta Kappa 1963
Alpha Phi Delta Tau 1965-1980/2014

I don't recall the details so I don't know if these founding dates sort of match, but here you go. My guess is if not fully fictional it draws from a very rough approximation of real events. Core Four = Big 6/Tents = gathering areas/heels = dressed up more than seems logical. But I love the speculation!

[QUOTE=MaggieXi;2284890] I don't recall when Pink Sequin Panty Hose were popular, but it certainly was not after 1996.QUOTE]

I've been Googling "pink sequin panty hose" to see where one would buy them. I'm guessing a stripper store? I don't think it's legal to sell things like that in Mississippi.

I lost. LOL.

Core 4 is definitely a Duke term. (Mom is a Duke grad.). I cannot for the life of me conceive of pink panty hose or high heels in North Carolina in any decade. And, no, it's not me -- I just selected my user name based on the crazy story. Question for ChiOLuSleuth: Does the presence of ZTA in the 90's at OU still work? Phi Mu would be there too but both AOPi and APhi would be missing.

Yes, Zeta could work. From the GoT retro recruitment thread, there was a mention of the newest sorority having a new house, which HindSight identified as ZTA. Plus Phi Mu would be the traditional southern sorority (their HQ is south of Atlanta), instead of what I thought might be Alpha Phi.

Duke is in no way a "southern" recruitment. It is an expensive, prestigious, private school that just happens to be located in the south. Too many sororities there to fit the story.

Uf is a competitive recruitment, but except for the Lilly, I wouldn't consider it particularly southern-also too many sororities. Private college Rollins is known for its rich students, but that is all that it has in common with the story.

Frankly, I don't know any campuses where the described first round outfit would be acceptable, especially the pink sequined panty hose, but I think ChioLu did a great job.

Oh, I forget the name of the store, but there used to be a chain hosiery store in malls in Tulsa that sold all kinds of interesting hosiery and tights -- many different patterns & colors. Not a big, national chain -- it seemed more like a Southern or SouthWest thing.

Would Emory (private) and UGA (public) work? Emory has had several sororities come & go -- currently there are 6 chapters. Was there a time that Georgia just had 11 chapters? Also, a similar chain of hosiery stores used to be in Atlanta (I remember the store in Lenox Mall in the early 1990's).

I remember being somewhere with my DH, and seeing a teenager wearing pink hose with something akin to pink sequins on them, and I almost lost it. I just told him to remember what he saw, and I'll tell him the story later. His word, "Hooker?" I'll have to ask him where we were.

FSUZeta, I agree! I don't see this story in North Carolina at all. Not Duke. Not pink hosiery. The sorority houses at UNC are pretty but not grandiose. None Tudor.

And ChiOLu: Agree that Phi Mu is a better fit as the "traditional Southern sorority" than Alpha Phi.

Phi Mu wasn't at OU yet when I was at OU in the mid-80s, but came on the scene later - 2002-2006, I believe.

One thought - could the smaller school be Auburn? It has a very active Greek scene, and one of my friend's daughters was a Phi Mu there in the last 7 years.

The smaller school would most definitely NOT be Auburn. They are a public land grant university. Very big school.

Oklahoma. I beieve that ChiOLu is correct. Per IrishPipes' thread, APhi left in 1998 and Phi Mu arrived in 1998. If Phi Mu occupied the APhi house, then it fits the Telluride description as she noted.

I caved. Can't believe I just wasted that much of a lovely summer day on that :-\

Mine too. Billy's granddaughter arrived on Thursday afternoon to move back to Oxford for her sophomore year.

That means I've got a free pass whilst the family visits. I need to be careful. The Pink Sequin Panty Hose tale was like crack ...

I haven't been around GC as much as I'd like lately. This thread was a joy to read as I always wanted an ending to that thread. Might be all fiction but darn it, I was invested in that one and wanted answers!

Okay, I know I'm late to the fun here . . . but I had to create an account just to comment on this thread! From my user name, you can probably tell I'm from OU. The DG house was renovated in 1989/1990, and I don't recall seeing pink sequin panty hose as a popular fashion item during that era. There were twins from Tulsa in the Kappa house during that time, but they went through rush at the same time and I don't think they were ever in different colleges. BUT there were also twin twirlers who did NOT go through rush at the same time. Their father was an attorney, but they weren't from Tulsa. I think they both ended up at Chi-O after COB.

Welcome SoonerMama and thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

The reason I brought up the twin twirlers is that they weren't really cheerleaders, but maybe a small enough detail to change? The twins who were KKG were both petite and dressed in a more flashy style than was common on campus in the late 80s/early 90s - and BOTH ended up in law school. The ChiO twin twirlers also both went to law school.

Just another data point on the mystery discussion... but it was how the author referred to cheer in her post that set off my very first fiction alarms. A real cheerleader would never have used some of the terms she used.

So, if this was based on a real set of twins, but the author wanted to use cheer instead of twirl for her roman à clef, that would explain why the terminology was wrong...

I'm new to GC and somehow found this thread and then had to read the Pink Sequins one. Y'all have me literally LOLing. I want to know the ending, too! Danggit! I'll never view pink sequins in the same way ever again.

Someone really should fan fiction an ending for that thread. I still want answers, LOL!

There are enough writers on GreekChat to make a competition out of this!

Fascinating logical idea. Why not set up 3 anonymous impartial judges (from the current contributors) to judge said contest; but what should the grand prize be?

Wearing a pair of pink sequin hose, of course! http://www.redriderleglamps.com/a-ch...-size-leg-lamp

YES!

Writers, go for it. I beg of you!

If you can some others, I am in. I love the original overly dramatic writing style!

YES YES YES! I still want to know what the "thing" is. :D

I could be persuaded!