Famous Rec. Writers
 

I had lunch today with a girlfriend whose daughter will be a freshman at University of Colorado this year. She was talking about getting all of daughters recs. together and said they had secured all of them but AXO. She was laughing saying that too bad Condoleezza Rice no longer lived in the area because she used to see her at church and would have totally asked her to write the rec! We both got a good laugh and then started talking about what a chapter would do if a famous person submitted a rec! We figured it would go one of two ways- either the PNM would automatically get a bid because of the "cool she knows xyz" factor OR she would be dropped immediately because no one in the chapter would ever believe that "XYZ" actually wrote the rec!

Anybody ever hear, see or know about a famous sister submitting a rec? Think it would be interesting...

Hope everyones summer's going well... so far I have ZERO! rec girls for the fall (a first for me)-- but do have a dear friend's daughter off to Ole Miss!!! Can't wait for her recruitment :-)

I've never heard of a famous sister writing a rec, but Kristin Chenoweth is doing the ribbon cutting for our new house at Alabama in August. Maybe she'll make some contacts and get asked next year! ;)

I've checked her address in our member search before, and she has her publicist's address listed. I think it could be pretty tough to get in contact with anyone famous to even ask. You'd definitely have to know them personally, like your friend.

We got a "rec" from the president of Phi Mu (I'm an Alpha Xi) because her daughter was attending a school where they don't have a chapter (that's how I'm remembering it anyway). It was treated like a celebrity rec and we were all told EXACTLY how to acknowledge it. I don't remember the deets now, but it was definitely an eye popper.

It's no secret that one of our chapters was founded because the daughter of our then-International President was about to matriculate. And yes, she came with a "don't even think about ignoring this" rec!

Interesting! DubaiSis and honeychile! I can't even imagine the pressure of rushing the president's daughter!!! ha ha ha... I was such a bad rusher that they probably wouldn't have even let me near the house!!!!

Sciencewoman that is SO COOL! on so many levels.. about Kristin Chenoweth coming to do the ribbon cutting. I LOVE her!

Well...talk about the pressure of rushing the President's daughter (literally) - Barbara and Jenna Bush both come to mind. I suspect their recs were written by their mother, a Theta alumna, who was married to the POTUS at the time they went through rush. I imagine the Yale and Texas alumnae didn't blink. After all, it's Texas. It's Yale.

:p

(ETA - thinking about LBJ's older daughter, a ZTA alumna - was her father in office when she rushed? Oh, this could be fun!)

Oooh AZTheta! I didn't even think about the children of famous people coming through!

I could be wrong- but from what I remember... Lynda Bird Johnson pledged the year before her father became President (was still VP) though... however Susan Ford (also a ZTA) pledged while her father was President!

I wonder if secret service had to come to the parties with the girls? Now that thought makes me giggle!!!!

I knew someone who was an active Zeta while Lynda Bird was in the Texas chapter. She said that the Secret Service was pretty annoying and that they had special rooms to stay in.

Understandable with all that went on back then.

Was sticking to your topic - the famous rec writer being Laura Bush, writing for her daughers (legacy recs). Didn't mean to derail the thread - sorry!

ha ha ha... not a derailment an interesting sidetrack :-) --- and those poor secret service agents Carnation- it was probably a toss up to whom was more annoyed the sisters with them or them with the sisters.... I can't imagine back then there were female agents- so imagine three or four men having to endure a house full of sorority girls---

Only a celeb in Zeta circles, but my pledge trainer, who was the Executive Director of our int'l headquarters at the time wrote a rec. for my daughter.

A few of the recent, notorious ones who have been in the news may have loved this assignment. Eww.

Uh yeah that would definitely be a Big Deal. A Very Big Deal!

If I remember correctly only Jenna went Greek in college. Jenna pledged Theta at UT while Barbara did not go Greek at Yale, but it is rumored that she was chosen for Skull and Bones the secret society to which her father was a member. I did hear that Secret Service agents had their hands full with the twins. When Jenna went through recruitment, they had to wait outside the chapter houses. She also ditched them at parties and bars. I cannot image being 19 and wanting to be a normal college student, but having the secret service tail you all the time.

Didn't Jenna get arrested for using a false ID in a bar???

Yes, and I believe Barbara was cited once too for underage drinking.

FSUZeta-- WOW! just WOW!! :-) I guess the closest thing my chapter ever got was a girl came though that a local alum had written for and that was a pretty BFD -- but NOTHING! like ED writing for you :-)

Yes on both the "twin incidents"-- I always felt sorry for them, as well as Susan Ford who also got into a fair amount of "trouble" for trying to lose the secret service tail... I would have HATED having a constant "babysitter" and would have HATED everyone knowing who I was, that I wasn't 21, etc.. etc.... children don't choose their lives. My husband and I used to see the Secret Service waiting outside the bars in Georgetown when they were in town... if nothing else it kept the normally rowdy line of drunk kids fairly orderly :-)

Laura Bush hand wrote a rec this past year on her personal stationary. Yes, the chapter pledged the girl, and yes, I am intentionally withholding details beyond that. :)

Barbara did indeed pledge Theta at Yale.

Did she initiate and stay active? It hasn't been listed in any of the bios I read for her, but it is listed in all of Jenna's.

Yes she did. They are both alumnae, as is their mother Laura.

ETA: I just confirmed this on our Sister Search. Not sure why there is sometimes a question about Barbara and Yale. *shrug*

Cool!

Barbara is listed on Theta's Notable Thetas page. (As is her mother, but I'm surprised Jenna isn't there as well!)

The Bush girls could have gotten a second rec from Lynne Cheney too. Imagine receiving recs from the First AND Second Ladies of the US!

Our now-former International President was initiated at my chapter, and while I don't believe she has children of her own her goddaughter went through recruitment with me and is now my pledge class sister as well:) I am certain that a lovely recommendation was written for her!

A few years ago, the daughter of Alpha Gam's sitting national president rushed at Auburn. Yes, she went AGD!

Have you ever seen a recommendation for a hollywood celeb vs someone in politics ? the list of "famous" people who were in a sorority is quite long and I would think that some of them would write letters for their friends daughters, etc.

Love this thread. Keep 'em coming. :D :D

Well, they are not really all that famous but LeighAnn Touhy (Blind Side) wrote a reference for one of our girls at A&M a few years ago. Her daughter (can't remember her name) is on the KD CAB at Ole Miss.

Wasn't it Collins?

She wrote the rec for her cousin when she went through recruitment at TCU two years ago. And yes, her cousin pledged.

Another of Kristin Chenoweth's cousins went to Oklahoma University a few years ago and I'm sure she wrote her a rec. That cousin went Theta. Kristin congratulated her on Twitter.

I always wondered if the chapters had to try to find Secret Service agents who were initiated Thetas or ZTAs to be in the initiation room during the ceremony for Susan Ford and the Bush twins!

My understanding is that the Secret Service agents simply stood outside of each event. Obviously, they would check out the house/room prior to the event.

My school tends to attract celebrity kids, many of whom go Greek. This year we had Bill Gates and Katie Couric's daughters pledge sororities, and Tom Hanks and Rob Lowe's sons pledge fraternities, among others. We're pretty used to bigger names so it wasn't a huge hullabaloo during recruitment.

Oh, you have to spill the beans, t*p!! I know that Katie Couric is a Tri Delta, did her daughter pledge her legacy chapter? How about the rest?

Katie Couric's daughter pledged Theta. That is her younger daughter. He older daughter is also a Theta, from the Yale chapter.

Interestingly, Melinda Gates is also a Theta, but I am not seeing her daughter's name in our Sister Search.

Correct, Katie Couric's daughter went Theta. Melinda Gates' daughter went Pi Phi. Rob Lowe's son went Kappa Alpha, and Tom Hanks' son Theta Delta Chi.

This is when I really wish we had chapters at the uber-prestigious schools. I notice that Kappa, Theta and Pi Phi tend to have a fair number of chapters at the Harvards, Yales, and Princetons of the world.

We have a chapter at the school in question...Duke, right?