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A Different Retro Rush Thread
My retro rush thread is a lot different from what has been posted here, but I think you’ll find it interesting. I attended a large southern school back in the mid-1960’s. At that time, there was an issue about Jewish girls pledging “non-Jewish” sororities. I wanted to go through rush but was discouraged from doing so because there were no “Jewish” sororities on campus.
I had recently moved to the city so I didn’t really know many people before school began. I ran into the boyfriend of a relative on campus who happened to be a member of a Jewish fraternity and he introduced me to his fraternity brothers. Through them, I met more and more young women. Our days were all the same, going to class, meeting in the “Den” for a Coke and going home. Boring. I was approached by two of the women I recently had met who said they wanted to start a sorority. Several weeks later, we had a number of women who were interested and we made an appointment with the Dean of Women to discuss getting the green light. She approached Panhellenic and they approved our starting a local sorority. Before long, we had a viable organization for Jewish women entrenched on campus. It was exciting choosing our name, motto, colors and symbols and developing a ritual. As we grew, we eventually discussed affiliating with a national sorority. Everyone seemed positive at the idea. Panhellenic enthusiastically approved bringing another national to the campus, mainly because we would not be in competition with the other sororities for members. We would have a separate rush with only Jewish girls attending. We were told by the Dean of Women that we would not be allowed to contact any of four known historically Jewish sororities ourselves but that she would contact each sorority to determine their interest level and to set up interviews. I have named the four sororities: Exodus Leviticus Deuteronomy Genesis |
This is interesting! I'm intrigued. I don't remember ever reading any local --> NPC threads before.
I'm not familiar at all with Jewish customs, so, while this may be obvious to others, it isn't to me: Do you mind if I ask why you started with Exodus instead of Genesis? |
A Different Retro Thread
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Paula M. |
Oooops... I completely misread the four groups! I saw Exodus, and noticed that the rest were biblical names as well, and must not have read carefully. I completely missed Genesis being on the list at all; I thought it was Numbers instead. (And I even thought, "how ideal would it be for this group to be Genesis, since it would be their beginning!") Anyway, I'm sorry.
Regardless of my code name mistake, I'm really looking forward to this thread. :) |
This sounds VERY good. I'm looking forward to it
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Me, too!
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Our first interview would be with Exodus. We had agreed not to make any decisions until we had completed “rush” with all four sororities The Exodus alum was a charming lady who was very proud of her sorority and she spent several hours with us describing the sorority and what they had in mind for a chapter. There was an Exodus chapter at a large state school about 180 miles away but they wanted more presence in the state. We were very interested in Leviticus whose representative also spent quite a bit of time explaining what Leviticus was about and what plans they had for a chapter on our campus. They had no chapters anywhere near the area at the time so this was an important step for them. By now, we were starting to realize how difficult it was going to be choosing an affiliation. We were very impressed by both Exodus and Leviticus. But we still had two more sororities to rush. A few weeks later, the Dean called to say we had an appointment with the representatives from Deuteronomy. There were two of them, one of whom was a national officer who lived in our area and the other was a local alumna. There was a small unrecognized group of Jewish girls on our campus which was interested in bringing Deuteronomy to our school. These were not girls we particularly liked and we had no desire to bring them into our chapter. The sister of one of these girls was a member of Deuteronomy. We had been told we could not contact any of the four sororities ourselves but since the other group was not a recognized organization, there had been nothing to stop them from doing so. The Dean and Panhellenic had agreed that only one new NPC sorority would be allowed on campus. The first thing the Deuteronomy national officer mentioned was the other group. She talked about bringing them into the organization which did not sit well with us at all. She and the other alum did not seem to be interested in us without the other group. It only took a few minutes for us to realize we were not a good fit with Deuteronomy. We felt none of the interest we felt from the Exodus or Leviticus representatives and the meeting ended much more quickly than the previous two. I think we all knew as we said our goodbyes that this was not the group for us. Paula M. |
Paula, I have a question - do all the groups in your story still exist?
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Paula M. |
Terrific thread! I'm also interested in what kind of challenges were felt by the Greek system during the turbulant mid-60s.
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We filled out our pref cards and it was a unanimous vote for Genesis. Several weeks later, the Dean called us to her office and announced that we had received a bid from our first choice, Sigma Delta Tau. We were thrilled and couldn’t wait to begin our pledgeship. A national Field Secretary came in and arranged for our pledging and we were now a provisional NPC sorority chapter on campus. We spent the next 6 months completing our pledgeship and earning our pearls. Back then, this was the standard time for pledging. A date was set for our initiation and chartering and a number of national officers, including our national President attended. After our initiation we were treated to a luncheon at a beautiful club with many local alumnae and the Dean of Women, who called us “her girls”, attending. Panhellenic invited us to a reception on campus later that day where we were welcomed by the other six national sororities, Alpha Chi Omega, Chi Omega, Delta Gamma, Delta Zeta, Phi Mu and Zeta Tau Alpha. We proudly wore our new Torch badges and serenaded our friends in the other sororities with some beautiful Sigma Delta Tau songs. That Fall, we had a successful rush, separate from the other sororities with only Jewish rushees attending our parties. For the next two years, things continued to run smoothly and we grew to be a successful sorority on campus in terms of grades, philanthropy, social and campus activities. Then everything changed. The late 60’s was a time of social unrest and racial and religious discrimination were at the forefront. All NPC sororities were informed that a separate rush was no longer allowable. Sigma Delta Tau would now participate in full rush along with the other sororities and each sorority would rush everyone who signed up, regardless of race or religion. We were the smallest chapter on campus and would now be competing with some top tier sororities for pledges. We were fortunate to have great alumnae in the area who helped us plan Fall rush. Since no sorority on our campus had a house, all rush parties were held at the homes of alumnae. Everything was in place until we learned that the pref round was to be held in a specific area of town. Unfortunately, we had no alums living in that particular area. The Dean gave us “dispensation” to have our pref party in the next subdivision over at the home of one of our alums. We welcomed all of the rushees and did our best to make everyone feel welcome. We offered bids to numerous Jewish and gentile rushees alike. Every gentile turned us down and we ended up with a good-sized Jewish pledge class. Only one Jewish girl received a bid from one of the other sororities, which she declined along with our bid. It seemed it was all for naught, but eventually, all NPC sororities became integrated. Alas, our chapter closed in the 70’s, like so many others a victim of the times when many students rejected the idea of sorority life, but we had contributed in many ways to our school, our national and our community. I am proud to have been a founder. We recently held our 42nd year reunion and thanks to Clairol, everyone looked fabulous…it was yesterday once more. BTW, the four historically Jewish sororities were (in alphabetical, not biblical, order) Alpha Epsilon Phi, Delta Phi Epsilon, Sigma Delta Tau and Phi Sigma Sigma. All were always open to everyone but had been founded by Jewish women because they had no other options available at the time. Now, if everyone will please excuse me, tonight is the first night of Chanukah and I am making my famous potato latkes (pancakes), which are traditional. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
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Glad your group found a match with SDT. And Happy Hanukkah! |
Great story! Thanks for sharing, Paula!
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Have a Happy Chanukah! Fraternally, Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
Happy Chanukah! Mmmmmmmm latkes! Great story Paula!
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Paula,
Thanks for sharing. Wish I was there for dinner with you! |
Pardon my ignorance but I've been curious- is latke anything like lefsa (sp?)? My stepdad's norwegian family makes the lefsa and a couple other things I won't even attempt to spell. :)
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I think I remember reading somewhere that lefse is a type of bread. Latkes are made from a mixture of shredded potatoes, onion and eggs which are fried in oil. The story of Chanukah is about the one night supply of oil in the Temple in Jerusalem burning for 8 nights in 165 B. C., allowing the Jews to keep the Eternal Flame lit and rededicate the Temple. We just finished dinner and my sons said this year's latkes were the best! (Patting myself on the back!!!). If I find the reference to lefse, I will PM it to you. Have a happy holiday. Sincerely, Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
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I am sending you a "virtual" latke. Enjoy! Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
I knew part of this already. but I'm glad to hear the rest.
So happy to be able to call you my sister! Now, do tell me, how I forgot to buy potatoes this weekend to make latkes??? |
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I might have to make my sweet potato latkes tomorrow . . .
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Wow! Please send me a "virtual" sweet potato latke. Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
I have a question.
How long was your local on campus before you became nationally affiliated? And, I thought Phi Sigma Sigma was the first sorority founded under nonsectarian terms so how does that make it a historically jewish sorority? Really, I'm just wondering. "On November 26, 1913, Phi Sigma Sigma was born, unobtrusively, without the thought of expansion. It was the first nonsectarian sorority; the only one that was open to diverse membership from inception and the only one with a ritual that was not based in scripture." -courtesy of phisigmasigma.org |
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Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
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Paula,
I loved your rush experience! It is amazing how the world has changed since we were in school. As I mentioned in my thread SDT is now back on the row at SC. Tomorrow night I'll be making latkes And every year I swear that I won't do it...and here I am with 10 pounds of potatoes ready to go. Happy Chanukah to all! (and since I'm married to quasi-Episcopalian I get to do Christmas as well.) Carol |
Ha, lefse!
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Paula,
Thank you for sharing your story.:) |
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I had read in The Torch that SDT reactivated Mu chapter at SC. I believe it is important to bring back chapters with history that have closed. 10 pounds of potatoes...I am impressed. I'm sure they were delicious and that there weren't any leftovers! There were none at my house. This is the only time of year I fry food...yum! Happy Chanukah! Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
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It was the Dean of Women who told us the names of the four "Jewish" sororities and who contacted DPhiE and Phi Sigma Sigma. All the DPhiE's and the few Phi Sigma Sigma's I knew were Jewish. Both sororities sent Jewish women from their national offices to interview us, so at the time, based on what we, 19 year old naive sophmores, were told, those two sororities were essentially Jewish. Now I know better. Phi Sig's founders were all Jewish which leads me to believe that they formed their sorority for the same reason our founders did...to give everyone the option to join a sorority regardless of race or religion. Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
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Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
I don't if it was mentioned before and I missed it, but what school is this?
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My Alma Mater is the University of Houston. We were a commuter school for the most part although there were six dorms filled to capacity. Many students were older and worked full time, attending school in the evenings after work. For those of us who wanted the full college experience, joining a sorority made all the difference. There is now a sorority row near campus with beautiful townhouses. I have seen pictures but haven't had a chance to visit the campus yet. Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
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Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
Breakstone is most likely her married name. My understanding is that the founders learned that they couldn't all be sisters in an existing sorority because they were of different religions, so they founded a new non-sectarian sorority. But I'll defer to the Phi Sigs, seeing as I'm an AEPhi and not a Phi Sig :)
(If I'm right, do I get a virtual latke? ;) ) |
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Paula M. Sigma Delta Tau ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People |
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