A very retro rush - with frills
 

Waaaayyyyy back in the dark ages, I went through rush.

A bit of background, while neither of my parents had been in greek organizations, my uncle and his wife had. This aunt was also a national officer of her organization (but not a major officer) and I had been raised to know this group inside and out. My father was very eager for me to join a sorority, and he certainly had his opinions about them! I think his main source of information was an article that was published in Texas Monthly about rush at UT. Mandatory reading for me. Had to recite paragraphs verbatim (not really, but almost).

So I applied to two colleges - one that had national sororites, one that had local only. Guess which one was selected?

At the time, my college had 5 sororities. Since I love Jane Austen, I'll call them:

Pride & Prejudice
Emma
Sense & Sensibility
Mansfield Park
Persuasion

Yes, I know that leaves out Northanger Abbey, but that really was one of her weaker works.

Just to show you how long ago this was, my first introduction to these sororities was when I received letters from a member of each of these groups, welcoming me and telling me a bit about the college and their group. This finally ended sometime around my junior year but it was a really nice tradition and made me feel welcome. I returned letters to each, except for Mansfield Park, who had neglected to give me her return address. I had a good correspondence going with Emma, Sense & Sensibility, and Persuasion.

And then I arrived at campus...

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY frills! :)

oooh- this should be fun- I want more hints as to where you went school.

Were there lawn dances?
They got rid of lawn dances on my campus before I rushed, but I remember hearing about them!

bring on the frills!!

I arrived on campus, and not much happened until January - we have deferred rush!

I did meet a lot of sorority women, especially my correspondents with Emma and Sense&Sensibility. But I had a great time getting to know the other freshmen on my wing. My college was a heavily greek campus, so most of them intended to rush. Interestingly enough, if there were stereotypes, no one really talked about them.

At one point in the fall, the freshmen were able to visit each chapter in their chapter room (the fraternities had houses, the sororities had chapter rooms in the main women's dorm). There were very few members of Mansfield Park, because they had just reorganized the year before - I think they had 8 members at the time.

And all semester, my aunt was writing me, sending me cartoons, and basically really rushing me for Emma.

Finally January arrived ...

oh this is gonna be fun... but one question:

what exactly is "frills?" i know it means over-the-top fancy rush, but what does that involve? wearing dresses and going to tea? and how far back in the dark ages are we going - i see you're writing letters (:D) and all.

i can kinda imagine what regular rush looks like, having been through one at my school (which, noting my siggie, didnt really work out for me) and reading the recruitment threads here, but an old-school rush - i need details to set the scene.

When my sister was an active (at the hometown university), they would give each PNM some sort of a nice token or gift at each round. For preference it was something really nice. I know she still has one of the other chapter's preference gift given to her. A porcelain "Cinderella Slipper" on a velvet pillow. Something to do with a "perfect fit" I guess. I just know that it represented Cinderella in some way. And as I recall her chapter gave her (gave out) a silver keepsake box that was lined.

There were elaborate skits, full fledge food and punch, and decorations with massive floral arrangements. I'm not sure if there was an agreed upon budget cap or not. After my sister became an active, my brothers and I (all younger than our sister) were "volunteered" to help prior to rush. (This was my Mother's chapter too - thus the forced labor.) I recall to this day stuffing tissue paper in this giant door covering thing made out of chicken wire that I think may have been a horse shoe. It was over the front door or something like that.

When I attended college years later and at a different school, they also had "frills". However, no gifts and there was "limited" outside help. (No younger siblings tied up in the basement stuffing tissue paper into a chicken wire horse shoe.) Also there was a budget cap. But from what I recall, it still allowed for a lot of "frills".

As for what they wore, I have no clue what my sister wore. However, this would have been a time when a lady rarely wore slacks for these kind of events. So my guess is that everyone was pretty much dressed up. At UK, it was more casual, but still kind of dressy.

I'm excited about this thread because I am OBSESSED with Jane Austen. I'm sad you skipped Northanger Abbey though, I liked it more than Mansfield Park. I have to root for Pride and Prejudice though. It's my absolute favorite.

Frilla
 

I was in one of the last rushs to include "frills" at my campus. Gamma Phi Beta gave us a saucer champagne glass filled with mint pearls. I don't remember what ZTA gave me!
We had budgets - but I know one chapter drove to Tyler to pick up bouquets of roses (Tyler is a "Rose City" and you used to be able to buy a dozen small roses for $1.00) for their PNMs and yet stay under budget.
I also remember when we had a 50s theme for our skit day, and had roller skating sisters delivering little glass Coke bottles. Ah, back in the day . . .

or the busby berkley song and dance productions on the front lawn! we practiced them so much that the sigma chis, who lived across the street, could do the routines as well as most of us!

Now THAT I would have liked to see! :D

We lived across the street from the Sigma Nus, Sig Eps and Sig Alphs and they always used to stand out in the front lawn and make fun of our "Kappa Kappa Kappa Gamma, I'm so happy that I am a...." never failed, if we were outside singing for something there were at least 10 in front of every house "helping out". ;)

i chuckle about it now, but back then, we were all mortified that they would come strolling out of their house on cue, singing our song and doing our dance. of course, being boys, by the time rush rolled around, they were more interested to sit on their porch roof rating the rushees :eek:!

Now it's January. The girls on my wing have become very close, and we sort of created our own "sorority". Since we are on 3rd West, we called ourselves "Tri Wupsilons".

Our rush began the first weekend after we returned. On Friday, we attended parties at all 5 sororities. Saturday morning, we received our invites, and we could accept 3. Sunday morning we received our pref invites, and we could accept 2. Immediately after our last pref party, we would go to the cafeteria to sign bid cards. Monday afternoon, we had to vacate our rooms so the Panhellenic members could put our bids on our beds (I'm not sure how they knew whose bed was whose, but our names were on the envelopes). At the designated time, we returned to our rooms, got our bids and would run out to the designated location of our sorority.

The party invitations were on cards provided by Panhellenic. Each card indicated the appropriate attire, which on first night ranged from cotton and heels to jeans and things, so all the rushees were changing outfits in the 15 minutes we had between parties!

I'll also tell about the rush of Marianne, my roommate, and Eleanor, another friend.

The Panhellenic reps were our group leaders. There was no disaffiliating; everyone knew who was in what sorority. The freshman RAs, however, did not participate in the rush parties, but we all knew their affiliation, too.

For the parties, our rush "date" came to take us to their party. Most were held off-campus (none were in the chapter rooms) - some at alumna homes, some at various meeting rooms around town. I think the sororities had to get a bit creative at finding venues.

Pride and Prejudice had a Friday Night at the Movies theme, where they showed slides of their activities. My rush date was a pledge (she had joined in the fall upperclass rush - initiations were usually about 3-4 months after pledging). I remember they had the cutest nametags that looked like movie clapboards. My RA was a member of P&P, and most of the Tri Wupsilons had it high on their list. Marianne's cousin was the chapter president.

Emma had a song party at an alumna's home. My rush date was another pledge, who had always said hi to me whenever she saw me the previous semester (but I was pretty embarrassed because I had forgotten her name). My aunt is an Emma, and I was already very, very familiar with their information. I met a lot of members, and was very excited to be there.

As I had mentioned before, Mansfield Park was rebuilding, so a group of us met in the dorm lobby to be taken to their party. They had an American Graffiti party, which involved writing things on paper-covered walls. There were several alums there, and I talked with one for a while. Actually, I don't think I ever talked to any of the active members, so I didn't get much of an impression from them.

Next was Sense & Sensibility. Their theme was Gold Rush, and it was like a wild west saloon. During the fall semester I had gotten to know several members and felt pretty comfortable there.

The final party was Persuasion, with a Journey Back to Childhood party. The members were dressed in pajamas and we sat on sleeping bags to talk to the members. Another pledge for my rush date, who was a bit on the quiet side. I did meet a senior I liked quite a bit. I got the impression that they were something of a more rowdy group.

wait, does this mean EACH group had different requirements for appropriate clothing?!?! :eek: also, what year were you rushing (i'm also intrigued by the writing letters reference, but i love the idea, i think it's very classy)

Yes, each group had different attire requested. One group even had girls wear jeans to their pref!

I'll reveal the year of my rush at the end of the thread.

Oh, yeah. They did that at my campus too. How humiliating!


BTW: I love this thread. My campus did frills back in my day, but I don't think it was anything like dvs-dv's.

Anxiously awaiting more..... :)

Hilarious!

So I wonder if they practiced in the house beforehand? Cause I am so visualizing the choreographer from when Lisa from 'The Simpsons' signs up for the Little Miss Springfield pageant.

I said "Step pause turn pause pivot step step," not "Step pause turn pause pivot step pause!"

i have no idea, but they had our performance pretty down pat!

i cannot imagine having to change outfits for parties on the same night! yikes!!

Saturday morning we returned to our rush groups for our invitations. Rumor had it that you were guaranteed an invitation to second night if you had a rec. Given that my mother had networked like crazy for recs, I wasn't too worried.

And sure enough, I was invited back to all 5. I think almost all of the rushees were; this was way before NPC guidelines on how many invitations to issue.

I really didn't know any Mansfield Parks so I declined their invitation. Ditto with Persuasion, although I did like that one senior I met.

So I will be returning for second night to:
Emma
Pride & Prejudice
Sense & Sensibility

Marianne and Eleanor are both returning to Emma, Pride & Prejudice, and Persuasion. Turns out that Eleanor's mother is a Persuasion.

Once again, the dress ranged from cotton & heels to slacks, to informal dress. We spent quite a bit of time planning what to wear and how fast we could change clothes!

Sense & Sensibility was first. Another acquaintance picked me up. Their party was a Wizard of Oz theme, which was quite cute. They have some very talented singers in this group! I do feel comfortable here. This group is something of a chameleon - there are smart girls, rowdy girls, pretty girls, etc.

Pride & Prejudice had a fabulous fifties Pop Shop skit. I particularly remember one member singing "Teenager in Rush" to the tune of "Teenager in Love". This is a really cool group of girls who seem to really have it together. The only downside was my rush date. She never initiated conversation, and only seemed to respond to whatever I said with, "Oh, really". I don't want to judge a whole group by one person, but she was definitely off.

Last party was Emma. Their party was based on a Broadway musical and if I reveal it, will completely give away which sorority this is. It was elaborately done - costumes, choreography, music, etc. Very sentimental. The chapter president was my rush date, and I just loved her! My aunt is calling regularly to make sure Emma stays at the top of my list.

Wow- that's quite an impressive rush date!

Sunday morning we met once again to receive our pref invites - we could accept two.

I received invitations from

Emma
Sense & Sensibility

which I promptly accepted! I wasn't upset about being cut from Pride & Prejudice. Although they were a great group, I just hadn't made any connection there. Marianne accepted invitations from Emma and Pride & Prejudice. Eleanor received pref invitations for all 5!, but surprisingly accepted Emma and Pride & Prejudice, cutting her legacy sorority.

Another phone call from my aunt, who related how she had suicided Emma.

I went to Sense & Sensibility first, and seem to recall wearing a long formal dress. My rush date was my summer correspondent, who gave me her drop (lavalier) to wear during the party. There was a lot of one on one intense conversation about what S&S meant to them, then a group talk, then the wishing well. Looking around the room, I saw a lot of my friends here.

Then Emma. A pledge I'd never met was my date. I wore a formal white cocktail dress. They did another musical skit to Pippin (the legend of the mystical fill-in-name-of-gemstone). It was pretty amazing! I felt like I'd been raised to be an Emma. But as I was leaving, I noticed another rushee sobbing her heart out, and I couldn't for the life of me understand why - I'm just not that emotional.

We were immediately whisked to the cafeteria to sign bid cards. I should add that at my college quota was determined by the number of rushees accepting second night invitations. Which made it hard for some sororities to make quota, as there were quite a few dropouts after second night.

I really didn't think much as I wrote out my bid card. I listed:

Emma
Sense & Sensibility
Pride & Prejudice
Persuasion
Mansfield Park

It never occurred to me to not list all the sororities!

Afterwards, there was still quite a bit of excitement, and rushees were telling each other who they put first (yelling from cars at the Sonic!). I was a bit upset, though, that one rushee told her sister (a member of Sense & Sensibility) who wrote what. Obviously, silence was just a vague concept here!

On Monday, the alum reps for each chapter met and hand-matched the bids (before the days of computer matching). If a girl didn't get a bid, she would get a phone call around noon.

So I eagerly awaited Monday afternoon...

OK i know this is a "Frills" rush and all, but you were wearing this girl's letters during RUSH??????? oh you got some 'splanin' to do!

We did that at Illinois. During each rush party (for first stage - open house) the sorority gave you a name tag that may or may not have had their letters on it. At the end of the party they took it back.

I have heard that some houses have girls wear letters during prefs and then take them back at the end of the party. I guess the idea is that you will want to wear the letters again if you get the chance to wear them during prefs because you will have gotten a little "taste" of what it feels like to be an XYZ.

Well, it's not as if they gave us the badge to put on. It was meant to get the rushee to feel what it would be like to be a part of that sorority. Until I started reading GreekChat, I had no idea how particular some groups/chapters were about their letters. It was also definitely the custom on my campus for pledges to wear letters.

Mercifully, there was no phone call at noon, but I didn't expect one since I listed all 5 sororities on my bid card.

At 2:30, everyone left their dorm rooms so the Panhellenic reps could put the bids on our beds. I was really excited because I couldn't wait to see the bid from Emma.

Finally, we were allowed to return to the dorm (masses of girls running up the stairs and down the halls). I saw the bid on my bed, tore it open, and read my bid from.....



Sense & Sensibility!



Huh. I was pretty shocked, but ran out to S&S's site to join my new sisters. As I met my pledge class, I saw that these girls were all my friends - practically all were Tri Wupsilons. Later I saw the pledge class for Emma and realized that wasn't the place for me.

Marianne, my roommate, pledged Pride & Prejudice. In fact, we were both elected president of our pledge classes, so we jokingly referred to our dorm room as the White House. Eleanor, in a surprise move, had put Persuasion down first on her bid card and happily received a bid from them (despite not attending their pref) - she said she had to do it for her mother. Eleanor was quite the character - her dorm closet wasn't big enough, so she had a closet bar in the back seat of her car where she kept her extra clothes. As for the Tri Wupsilons, all of us either pledged Pride & Prejudice or Sense & Sensibility.

My aunt had been called by Emma, and was told I just wasn't high enough on their bid list. She was supportive, even finding out when my initiation week was and sending me flowers. But she felt a lot of guilt over what happened, and our close relationship deteriorated. A few years later, she and my uncle were divorced and I haven't seen her since.

The years in Sense & Sensibility had their ups and downs, but my pledge class had a very strong bond. In fact, we still get together for an annual reunion - we've shared so many life experiences together!

So getting into the revelations -

I rushed in January, 1978 at Southwestern University (Texas).

Sense & Sensibility - Delta Zeta
Emma - Delta Delta Delta
Pride & Prejudice - Alpha Delta Pi
Persuasion - Zeta Tau Alpha
Mansfield Park - Phi Mu

this was a fabulous thread!! thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!

it was so neat that when you gathered with your new pledge class, you discovered what a great fit your sorority was. i also liked that although you had made friends with your roommate and with girls in your dorm, it appears that you all made your decisions independent of each other based on what you felt was best for you, and respected each others decisions. good advise for any pnm!

Great story -- well-written & fun! Thanks for sharing.

Sincerely,

Nut B. Hair, lover of frills

This was a great story, I had no idea how frilly recruitment could be! I was glad you got a bid from S&S, since that was the one I would have picked based on your descriptions of preferences. Did it seem annoying to you that your aunt was all up in your business and trying to pick a sorority for you?

My aunt wasn't annoying, just very eager. She and my uncle did not have any kids, so I was as close to a legacy as she was going to get.

Wonderful story! I was surprised that you didn't get Emma (I thought it was DZ) but so glad that S&S turned out to be the right sorority for you. Thanks for sharing! :)

that's really sad about your aunt :( i mean i know her heart was in the right place, but i guess that's where being so invested in the process and legacy gets to be a problem. but yay for finding your home, this was definitely a different and very interesting rush thread to read (given what i've gleaned about how rush works these days from GC).

Just to clarify -- I'm guessing that you were not technically a "legacy" to Tri Delta. (I'm thinking aunts/nieces are not legacies for DDD?)

Correct - I was not technically a DDD legacy, especially since she was my aunt by marriage. I don't recall ever considering myself a legacy, but I certainly knew that was where everyone in my family thought I should be.

Now that you have revealed Emma, what musical did they do?

Thanks - I forgot to mention that! They did "Carousel". I don't know if Tri Delta still does it, but I know so many chapters did Carousel that they were famous for it.