Weird rush stories
 

Bumping this one! :)

Bumping again to remind all you actives that we'd love to hear any weird rush stories for this year!

I hear at least 1 a year at UCLA. Probably because about 70% are 1st time Greeks in their families that they don't know what to do or expect.

My BFF is the University of Northern Colorado Panhellenic president and as such hears all the weird sorority recruitment stories on that campus. She said that one PNM went through last year and stole a picture frame from one of the houses, then when asked why just said "Because I wanted to". She was not allowed to continue recruitment!

So when one of my younger sisters rushed 2 years ago she said she immediately noticed that a few houses stuck out because they were all blondes. She said people on campus called one end of Greek Row the Valley of the Blondes....If you joined those houses as a brunette you would soon be a blonde.
My sister has a very fair complexion with jet black hair and bright green eyes. She said at one of the "all Blonde" houses a girl rushing her leaned in really close and said, "Wow! Your eyes are soo green. I have never seen eyes that green with dark hair before."
My sister replied, "Oh thank you! I am Hungarian." and the girl exclaims, "Like from the Hunger Games?" and my sister just said she kind of looked at her and tried not to bust up laughing and the girl put her hand over her mouth and said, "I have no idea why that is the first thing that came into my head..."

After the umpteen Recruitments we've had the past month, and NOT A SINGLE WEIRD RUSH STORY?!?!?!

I'm hesitant to post weird rush stories because I've made my chapter and school so obvious and I'm still an active sister. I'm sitting on some good ones until after I think enough time has passed:) That said, I did find out from my BFF that the girl who stole something from the Delta Zeta house at UNCO did get a bid to a different chapter on campus eventually.

Other weird story: my other BFF's coworker went through recruitment this year and preffed three chapters, but ran up to her after Preference rankings were submitted and volunteered, unprompted, "I loved XYZ, but I just couldn't see myself there so I didn't put them down. Sorry!" My friend in XYZ was taken aback by how casually rude she was, and so was I! She also got a bid to a different chapter on campus, but part of me was hoping she didn't out of spite.

I mentioned this in another thread but didn't post here -- yet this is weird.
A few years ago at UCLA, over 30 international students signed up for Recruitment and NONE spoke English!
They were all from China and signed up for everything the university sent (because they didn't want miss anything).
Of course, all dropped before Day 1.

An LA alumnae who went to UCF (Central Florida) had a interesting Recruitment story.
She was a Rho Chi and randomly stationed one day in front of the Chi O house.
A PNM ripped her dress right before the party started. The Rho Chi had a sewing kit with her and was sewing up the back of the PNM's dress while she was walking up the stairs to go to the party. Enough to get her through the party.

Same thing happened a few years ago at Babson College, except these were 5 middle eastern MEN who signed up for panhellenic recruitment :-O

Did they pay the fee??

Side note, how on earth do you manage here with no English?

I've got one that I'll wait to share when recruitment is over.

Many international students understand English, they are just self-conscious about it.

Yes, they paid the fee.

UCLA has several international study programs where the courses are taught in another language. $ $ $

Wow, that is interesting!

I'm assuming registration was done electronically, so no one caught it before rush started? Most international students, I think, are discouraged or even restricted from joining the Greek system, if they are here on a sponsored program.

Social Greek system sure, but some of the professional/service greeks would be much less of a problem.

I can think of an example both at Clemson and the University of Rhode Island where a social sorority pledged and initiated a foreign exchange student who was only here for a year. I imagine it's rarer for a sorority because they have a set number of girls they can take, whereas a fraternity has more wiggle room on adding a member who will leave a year later.

UCLA has many exchange students who go through Recruitment.
The students who are "Semester Abroad" are FREE and don't count in quota.
Since every sorority but one initiates before the quarter ends, it is only an issue for 1 group. (wah, wah :()

A retro weird recruitment story:
About a week before the start of my 1st recruitment on the active side, I got a horrible case of pink eye (like, emergency room case). I had a gauze patch taped to my head. (Couldn't stand looking at it in the mirror so I drew an actual-sized eye/eyebrow and taped it to the gauze patch.)
But, what to do??? I was to be in a skit on Day 2! The Rush Chair (my big sis) held me out on Open House Day because I still had my patch on and didn't want to be contagious to PNMs. The morning of Day 2, my doctor cleared me, so I got to take my eye patch off and was able to participate in Recruitment / skit. The doctor discouraged me from wearing eye make-up the 1st day, so I just went for the natural look in the skit.

Registration is done electronically. Another difference with Babson, is that the international students are not exchange students, they are fully enrolled and spend their 4 years at Babson. I have spent many an hour searching through ICS making sure that PNMs are actually PNMs ;)

This story is from the early 1980's so I'm hoping that this house has polished their recruitment conversation skills. Our then chapter president's cousin went through rush at our school. They both have the same last name. Our president is a little concerned that this could be a problem with some of the other houses but she tells herself that it will be okay. While her cousin is visiting this house during recruitment their chapter president comes over to introduce herself and meet this excited PNM, who was thrilled to be asked back to their chapter on the third day of recruitment. President takes a good look at her name tag. "You're __________'s cousin aren't you? She's the current president of Delta Gamma right?" PNM answer "Yes she is.":) President stares at her and says "You do realize that it is a waste of our time to have you here at this party!" President then leaves the shocked PNM sitting by herself.:eek: Another sister rushes over to try and remedy the situation as the poor PNM stammers about how much she likes their house.
The next day the PNM was dropped by that house. She did end up pledging DG in the end but heard from friends at the other house that their president was lectured by their chapter's rush advisor who had been made aware of her comments by other members. Note to all actives, please treat everyone as a potential new member no matter who their family members are!

I presume the name is something fairly unusual like "Milekowski" rather than Smith...

It was a distinctive last name. And the recruitment applications at that time did ask if you had any sorority influences

OMG! I sure hope that wasn't an AEPhi chapter!

Rudeness goes both ways. Just like a PNM should never be rude to sisters at a rush party - you're a guest in the chapter's house, after all - a sister should never be rude to a PNM, because the sisters are the hosts, and because PNMs talk, meaning recruitment could have ended very badly for that chapter once the story got out. One bad apple spoils the barrel, especially when that apple is the president.

Besides, it's far from a "waste of time". Suppose the PNM in question felt she was a bad fit for DG, or vice versa? It's silly to assume that a PNM is going to want to pledge her relative's chapter.

Be assured it was not an AEPhi chapter and yes I agree that there should be no assumptions made about where a PNM would want to pledge.

I love this thread! While there are many worthy contenders, I believe this is the funniest recruitment story that I've ever read.!

Oh, the good old days! When we could refuse to allow men to rush an NPC sorority.

More of an initiation story but this seemed like the best place to share this memory. In the mid-eighties our CSULB Delta Gamma chapter was requested to initiate the then San Diego State colony. It's about a two plus hour trip from Long Beach to the SDSU campus so we decided to hire two buses to transport us.

(For those of you not familiar with CSULB greeks, there is no "row." The houses are located west of the campus amid apartments, single family homes and commercial corridors. The DG house is on Redondo Blvd.)

We've gathered at the house and are preparing to leave. One of the actives opens the front door and then immediately slams it shut. Upon hearing the door open, a member of the Long Beach Police Department's SWAT team had turned and pointed their weapon at our door. We hear someone outside shouting orders for us to remain inside with the doors locked. Naturally we all run to any available window to catch a glimpse of what is going on outside. There are several police cars stopping traffic on Redondo and are surrounding a vehicle with weapons drawn.

About thirty minutes later and after a phone call to the SDSU colony, a SWAT team member knocks on the door and informs us that we can now safely exit the house. All seventy plus members are then escorted past the handcuffed suspects who are face down on the neighbor's lawn. We finally are permitted to board the bus and head down the 405 to San Diego. Needless to say, but this is my most memorable start to an initiation!

Charterings with fire...
 

Somewhat similar to the previous poster... for the Alpha Phi Omega chapter at George Washington University, the 1987 rechartering was moved because the building it was scheduled to be in was on fire. (From the Winter 1987 Torch&Trefoil)

THETA CHI REACTIVATED IN RESTAURANT
When Region III Director, Bob Harris; National Alumni Chairman, Chuck Bowen; and National Vice President, Jerry Schroeder arrived on the campus of George Washington University on December 5 to reactivate the Theta Chi Chapter they were met by several dozen fire trucks, ambulances and police cars. It didn't take long to realize that the center of all the activity was the building where the initiation ceremony was to take place, as it was blazing
into night.

Amazingly, they found the petitioning group huddled on a street corner under a lamppost nearby with Brothers from three other chapters in Section 84 who were trying to attend the ceremony. Everyone retired to Mr. Henry's, a local restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue, where the chapter was reactivated in an upstairs room. Section Chairman, John Harding, denies rumors that a waiter passing by the room was inadvertently inducted into the chapter National Vice President Schroeder commenting on the evening's events noted that the Torch of Alpha Phi Omega would surely burn brightly at George Washington University for years to come.

:eek: Wow! I think a fire at your initiation site is something that no one will ever forget. Glad that another place was found so quickly so that the initiation ceremony could continue.

My *guess* is that they used the restaurant that they had intended having the banquet and charter presentation at. Just asked them to delay putting out the round tables for banquet and just leave the head table (if there was one). But I'm not sure. Made the school newspaper, of course. :)

Hoping for more weird rush stories for fall 2017!

Walking through a college campus near my sister's house recently, I came upon a large patch of bluegreen glitter covering a sidewalk.

Yes, it was Bid Day Weekend! New members were marching around campus singing fraternal songs.

Then, I noticed a live squirrel on the same campus whose entire right side was lightly covered in the same bluegreen glitter.

If only bluegreen were an Alpha Gamma Delta color, I'd think the squirrel received a bid from same ;) but alas, she is a member of the Bluegreens.

I really needed to bump this for fall 2017!

To share or not to share...not sure as it involves my own sibling but it does have a happy ending.:o

Share!

I stayed up entirely way too late reading this thread, but I love recruitment and the craziness that comes with it haha. With that said, here are some of my stories!

When I went through recruitment, I went to one chapter during Open House and the active practically refused to talk to me! I tried so hard to maintain a conversation, but she had her arms crossed and was looking elsewhere. Needless to say, I was not invited back.

At my school, we are allowed to bring a large bag with us to hold all of our stuff (we have deferred recruitment, so it's winter and we need space for our gear). I had a water bottle in my bag that had a pop top and somehow it opened during a round. I left the chapter and noticed my bag was soaked! We had to run off to the next chapter, but here I was with my stuff spread out trying to dry it as best I could. I must have been quite a sight. This was just after lunch, so I had another 4 rounds left (approximately 5 hours) before I could go home!

One of my sisters went through the same year I did. She ended up getting a stomach bug the day of Sisterhood Round, but decided to tough it out. She put a trash bag in her purse just in case. Well, she was at a chapter talking to an active when she felt sick. She told the active who promptly left her to get a Rho Gam, but my sister didn't make it and threw up in her purse! The active came back and my sister finished the round. She didn't have any way of disposing of it before the next round and left in the bushes of the neighboring chapter! She wasn't asked back, I'm sorry to say.

One story from my first year as an active:

A PNM started to passionately discuss politics (BIG no no at my school) and the sister rushing her didn't know how to steer the conversation in another direction. Her solution? "I'm Canadian." Funny thing is that she was actually born in Canada and some of my sisters weren't aware of that and thought she had made it up on the spot!

Another story:

This sister is in my bump group and I go to bump, but I accidentally scared her so badly she almost fell out of her chair. I lost it!

So a few years ago my sister and I are sharing a bottle of wine and reminiscing about when we went through rush. I rushed in 1981 and she followed two years later in 1983. We discussed how we'd felt about the various groups and which ones we liked. She shared that she'd really liked "ABC" and thought had been well-received by the members. To her surprise though she was dropped by ABC the day of preference. While disappointed she attended preference parties for XYZ and Delta Gamma then accepted a DG bid.

About a month after her initiation, she finds herself in a class with an ABC member that she remembered from rush. They became good friends and study partners that semester. While studying for a mid-term the ABC tells her that the majority of the house had really wanted her. She'd had stellar grades and test scores, was a co-captain for her high school color guard and was considered to be a sought after rushee that year. (And to ABC, the opportunity to steal a double legacy from DG was tempting as well!) To my sister's surprise her ABC classmate goes on to reveal what had happened when my sister went through rush. Everyone in ABC seemed to be ready to extend a bid based on the previous days voting and the praise she'd received. However on the evening when the votes for preference were being cast a huge fight broke out. An officer stood up and declared that she would NEVER accept my sibling as a member. When asked why she felt that way the ABC shared that two years prior in 1981 she'd had a huge crush on a member of SAE. However he'd turned her request to be her formal date in order to go out with me. SAE and I then dated briefly and broke up. Flash forward to 1983 and he's graduated and is involved with someone else. Even though the SAE had only gone on one date with the ABC but she still had strong feelings for him for years after their one and only date.

Apparently ABC members then are arguing with her and she begins to threaten to quit if they extend a preference invitation to my sister. She'd convinced a few other ABCs that her objections were valid. After a few rounds of heated debate and shouting their alumna advisor stepped in and told them to release my sister. Upon hearing this tale, my sister was absolutely shocked that she was hearing about this from an ABC member but never shared this information with me or anyone else for about twenty years.

When she finally shared the story with me it was my turn to be stunned too, because about a month after rush had ended in 1983 I'd heard the same story from one of my friends in ABC!! :eek: Like my sister I was flabbergasted to be hearing this type of information about the fight that had occurred during their discussion and voting. I too had never said anything to my sister or anyone else about it. My sister realized that she'd really dodged a bullet during rush and was happy that she was now a DG.

So after months of being here and assuring myself that there appear to be no members of "ABC" from our school who were students in 1983, I finally felt comfortable enough to share MY WEIRD RECRUITMENT STORY!!

Bump
There's gotten be some crazy rush stories this year!

TLLK's is a good one.

Thanks FSU Zeta! To be honest I was a little concerned that this story was just too weird to be told for a long time, so it added to my initial hesitation about sharing it here.