Milli's Retro Thread
 

Ok, since I have had so much fun reading the other retro recruitment threads, I thought I would do a retro thread regarding my recruitment (or “rush”) as it was in my day. I don’t believe I have seen any other retro threads from my particular, awkward era. I went through recruitment in 1990 at a west coast university. Big hair was still in but the 80s were done. Grunge hadn’t yet imposed the mandatory wearing of strait hair and plaid shirts on my friends and I. Recruitment still had some frills but was starting to be toned down some.

My parents had attended the same public university that I was attending but were not in the greek system. My step-mother was in a sorority at another university that had a chapter at my school; I wasn’t sure (and still don’t know) whether that made me a legacy to that sorority. I did not have any recs. So I guess I was lucky that legacy status and recs weren’t a big deal at this school.

Originally, I wasn’t planning on going through recruitment at all. However, at the end of Summer, two of my best friends from high school, who were attending another university, told me they were going through recruitment at their school, and I found out that a friend of mine from my summer job (we will call her “Jen” because there are a bazillion Jens in my age group) was going through recruitment at the same university I was attending. So, I figured I would go through recruitment too. I knew next to nothing about the greek system and, admittedly, was overly influenced by what my friends thought and were doing.

There were eleven sororities participating in recruitment, with another new sorority doing its recruitment and colonizing after the conclusion of regular recruitment. The twelve were as follows:

Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Phi
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Delta Zeta
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi
Sigma Kappa

I looked up the top twelve songs of 1990 and decided to use the songs as my code names. I was surprised to see that a few of the titles are kind of dirty, but I am sticking to the top songs idea nonetheless. The top songs of 1990 (and my code names) are as follows:

Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinead O’Connor)
Vogue (Madonna)
Vision of Love (Mariah Carey)
Poison (BBD)
From a Distance (Bette Midler)
Love Takes Time (Mariah Carey)
Hold On (Wilson Phillips)
Because I Love You (Stevie B)
It Must Have Been Love (Roxette)
Pump Up the Jam (Techtronic)
Rub You the Right Way (Johnny Gill)
Do Me! (BBD)

Next post, Open House.

PS: My high school graduating class voted Milli Vanilli as favorite band. Hence, my user name.

I'm excited! Go Vogue!! (My mom loves Madonna :) )

ha ha ha. This is potential comedy gold.

"I really liked the Do Mes, but they were kind of sluts."

"The Hold Ons were awesome except for the one really fat girl they kept in the kitchen."

can't wait to hear more!

I am officially old. Oh well.

Open House
 

Ok, so I showed up for my first recruitment group meeting and met my Rho Chis (recruitment counselors). One was very sweet, but she hardly spoke so she wasn’t much help. The other was very outgoing and wore anchor dangle earrings so we were all certain that she was a DG. (Duh, you can all probably guess right now that she wasn’t and was just trying to throw all of us idiots off track.) I loved the girls in my group and got to know a few pretty well since we lived in the same dorm which was a haul from the building where the recruitment groups met. (One was from my same home town; I’ll call her “Heather”. The other was from Oakland, California; I’ll call her “Amy”).

Before I do the run down on Open House parties, I have to insert this caveat: It has been almost 20 years since my recruitment, and over that time, my memory has become faded and garbled. I will do my best to recollect things correctly, but there are no guarantees that this middle-aged gal is getting it exactly right.

Open House parties at this university where short, since all eleven houses had to be attended, and water was served at each house. This was a dressier round, with most of the sorority women wearing matching dresses or skirt outfits.

Nothing Compares 2 U: I had heard that this was one of the “top houses” on campus, and the women in the house were very pretty. I was worried they would be snobby. I spent most of the time talking to only one woman but felt like we really hit it off, and I didn’t find her snobby at all. However, there was a popular girl from my high school also going through recruitment (the “It Girl”), and I became somewhat uncomfortable when the questioning turned to whether I was friends with the It Girl or lived near the It Girl. (As an aside, I wasn’t friends with the It Girl, but she was always friendly and not a big B.)
Vogue: This house had a reputation as the struggling sorority on campus. For that reason, I can’t remember anyone who didn’t try to cut this house right away. This wasn’t fair, but that was the reality of what was going on. I don’t remember very much about the party at this house.
Vision of Love: For some reason, I have a vision of these women in red dresses with wide scoop necks (almost, but not quite, Flash Dance style) that cinched in at the low waste. I recall having a pleasant time but nothing really stands out, positive or negative.
Poison: I loved this house. This house had a reputation as being strong on campus but not snobby. The women wore pretty, yellow sundresses. They were laid back and not at all what my image of sorority girls was about. (Recall I didn’t know anything about the greek system, so I was full of incorrect notions.) The physical house was really pretty but also homey. I left this house really hoping that I would get invited back.
From a Distance: This house had a reputation as being the house with the good grades. I can’t remember much about my conversation here, but I remember thinking the physical house was really cool: the sorority letters were incorporated into the house structure.
Hold On: I hadn’t heard much about this house. However, the physical house was very stately, and I have a definite recollection of this sorority’s Open House theme because it was somewhat of a turn off for me. It was a Ritz Hotel theme and the women dressed up like hotel counter clerks (white blouses, dark skirts and heels) and parked very expensive cars in the sorority’s parking lot (Jaguars, Mercedes- no joke). This was in stark contrast to the women I met with during the party who seemed really nice and not at all pretentious.
Because I Love You: This sorority’s physical house was beautiful. However, there wasn’t anything particularly memorable about the conversation other than I remember speaking briefly with a women who I knew from a competitive sport that I played in high school. I didn’t have any legitimate reason for disliking her, but I just got the feeling that we wouldn’t hit it off as friends and was worried that feeling might be mutual.
It Must Have Been Love: This was a newer sorority on campus. I recall the women wearing white sun dresses. I had a very strained conversation at this house and remember feeling that I wouldn’t be too upset if I didn’t return.
Pump Up the Jam: This was my step-mother’s sorority (though at a different school). Next to Vogue, it was probably struggling the most on campus in terms of recruiting members. The physical house was also kind of funky. Though this was one of the oldest houses on campus (dating back to the early 1900s), they must have built a new house in the 60s or 70s, and you could definitely tell. Most of the other sororities on this campus had houses that were very beautiful.
Rub You the Right Way: This was another house that had a reputation as being a "top house" on campus. The physical house was beautiful as were the sorority members. I was intimidated but recall having a nice coversation.
Do Me!: I really liked this house. The physical house was warm and inviting, as were the women I spoke with. In retrospect, I really screwed up at this house. I was very thin and would occasionally pass out if I didn’t eat properly. (I swear; I did eat well; I just needed to eat frequently to avoid this problem. I even passed out once in chemistry class.) Anyway, half-way through this party, I started getting really light-headed and was worried I was going to pass out so I asked the sorority member who was talking to me whether she had any candy or something else to eat so I could get some sugar. She looked at me like I was the strangest girl she had ever met, but she did find me some candy, and I avoided passing out in the middle of their open house party. We can all agree I was clueless. J
Love Takes Time: This is the house that was colonizing after formal recruitment. More on that later.

After Open House parties, my favorite was Poison. Heather's favorite was Rub You the Right Way. I think Amy liked Do Me! The next round was House Tours, and we were told we could attend eight parties for House Tours. I believe I marked down It Must Have Been Love, Pump Up the Jam and Vogue as the three houses I did not want to return to for House Tours.

Never trust a big butt and a smile.

LOL

The way they did the Ritz Hotel theme is BIZARRE!

I was in the 7th grade when most of those songs debuted! It is great that you remember so much.

Where is, "Smells like Teen Spirit"?

At least THIS thread makes me feel young! :) I was in sixth grade. Thanks Milli!

pssst...Benz...that was '91/'92... this was just pre-"grunge" :)

And your new sig made me laugh. I love Karen, even when I didn't like the show much the last few seasons, she always cracked me up.

Ooooooh! A colonization! Tell us more. :)

Then I'm really old!

House Tours
 

First off, sorry about the blinding bold font below. I couldn’t get it to go away and didn’t want to retype the descriptions so I was stuck with it.

As I mentioned, we could attend up to eight houses for House Tours. I opened my invite list and was really disappointed to find I did not have a full schedule. Only seven houses had invited me back to House Tours- Nothing Compares 2 U, Vogue, Poison, From a Distance, Hold On, Pump Up the Jam and Rub You the Right Way. I was dropped by Vision of Love, Because I Love You, It Must Have Been Love and Do Me!

At the time, I was shocked because other than Do Me! (at which I had asked for food) and Vision of Love, I was dropped by houses that were considered less competitive, and I still had what were supposedly the “top houses” on my schedule. However, I was really excited to still have houses that I liked on my list, including my favorite, Poison. Anyway, here are the House Tours reports:

Nothing Compares 2 U: This sorority’s physical house was small compared to the others. I had heard that, because of its smaller size, not all members could live-in the standard two years that members lived-in at the other houses at this university. I didn’t see the woman from the first round that I felt I had really clicked with. Like the first round at this house, I only talked to one woman. The problem was that we struggled to carry a conversation with each other. I left this house doubting that I would get asked back.

Vogue: I remember thinking the house was decorated cute but don’t remember much else. Again, this was the house that had a reputation as struggling, and I was hoping I would be able to drop them after this round. (I know; I shouldn’t have listened to the stereotypes.)

Poison: I recall a safari theme. I think the women wore khaki outfits. The house was really pretty. I again liked the women I met but didn’t feel the conversation was as good as it was during the first round. That had me worried as I still felt that I would fit in well with these women.

From a Distance: I don’t remember much about the tours at this house. I do remember this house being the subject of a widespread rumor that they had automatically cut everyone with grades below something like a 3.5 after first round. I didn’t have grades that high and had gotten an invite back, so I knew it wasn’t true.

Hold On: So the party before Hold On was the empty party on my schedule since I only had seven houses and not eight. I decided to stop and get a soda at a convenience store near Hold On and wait it out there. As I was walking by Hold On, my recruitment counselor with the anchor earrings was stationed outside Hold On and spotted me. She invited me to hang out with her during this party. I was really flustered. I didn’t feel like I could say “no, I don’t want to be seen hanging out in front of Hold On and not at a party” so I said “yes” and sat down with her and we chatted. A few minutes later, the recruitment chairman for Hold On came outside to ask what was wrong and why I wasn’t inside. My recruitment counselor explained that I didn’t have a party to attend so we were hanging out until the next party when I was scheduled to attend Hold On’s tour. The recruitment chair was very gracious and told me she looked forward to seeing me later. However, I was mortified and certain that Hold On would drop me after this round, having learned I didn’t have a full schedule. The actual tour at Hold On was nice, which was a pleasant surprise following the snobby hotel theme from the day before. The physical house was really beautiful, and the rooms were decorated very cute. I had a nice conversation and was glad that I was able to see a better side of this house. However, I doubted I would get asked back after the strange “why aren’t you inside” exchange.

Pump Up the Jam: I don’t remember much from the tour at this house other than feeling bad for the women since they had to give tours of this house and have it compared to the other sorority houses on campus. (Recall that this is the house that looked like it was built in the 60s or 70s).

Rub You the Right Way: I believe this house had a cruise ship theme. The conversation was ok but not great. I still felt intimidated by how pretty the girls in this house were. There was also a widespread rumor about this house that there was a sign at the back door that read: “Do you look like a Rub You the Right Way today?” I doubt this was true, but that was the rumor going around. I was worried that these girls were out of my league and that I wouldn’t fit in.

We could attend five houses for the third round, Activities Day. I had attended seven parties during Hours Tours and marked down Vogue and Pump Up the Jam as the two houses I did not want to return to for Activities Day. Poison was still my favorite.

Heather had sustained pretty heavy cuts after Open House but still had a few houses on her schedule that she was excited about. Amy’s experience was similar to mine- she had lost some houses but still had a pretty full, if not full, schedule. I think Do Me! was still her favorite, though she was starting to like From a Distance a lot too. I don’t recall seeing Jen since before the Open House parties, so I wasn’t sure how it was going for her at this point.

Ummmmmm.... infraction??

And, I'd like to request more recruitment threads with song names as the codes because that alone adds so much comedy to the story (intentional or not...:)):

I think she said before that her recruitment counselor wore anchor earrings to throw off the girls. She stated in an earlier post that this RC was not, in reality, a DG.

Ah, sorry, didn't catch that detail, thanks. Tricky RC!

Activities Day
 

I just got my kids to bed so I figured I better get the Activities Day description posted before someone wakes up.

Activities Day did not start out as not a good day for me. I opened up my invite list and again found that I did not have a full schedule. I had invites to only four houses, not five. On top of that, I had lost the supposed “top houses”, Nothing Compares 2 U and Rub You the Right Way, and my favorite, Poison. I had invites back to Vogue, From a Distance, Hold On and Pump Up the Jam. The only one that I had much interest in at this point was Hold On, though it hadn’t previously been one of my leaders due to the hotel theme from the first day. I was pretty devastated and thought about dropping out of recruitment at this point. My recruitment counselor (the one with the anchor earrings) convinced me to attend the Activities Day parties and make my decision about dropping after that. To this day, I can’t thank her enough for talking me into doing that.

This wasn’t a great day for my friends Heather or Amy either. Heather, like myself, did not have a full schedule and wasn’t left with many, if any, houses in which she had an interest. I can’t remember if Amy had a full schedule, but I think she had a few houses still on her schedule that she liked.

Activities Day was the most casual of all the rounds, and nearly every house did a skit of some sort. I recall wearing gray leggings with a gray and white striped shirt that came to the mid-thigh and cinched at the low waste. Sounds awful, and it was, but it was a popular look at the time. Here is how the day went:

Vogue: This house was such a pleasant surprise on this day. I was paired with a woman who I really clicked with. I can’t remember much about the decorations or skit, but I remember I had a blast. The conversation went really well, and I recall thinking that the member and I could be good friends. However, I still had concerns about this house having a reputation as the struggling house. I have a definite recollection of speaking with a PNM outside this house and that she told me that she either had or was going to intentionally behave in such a way that she would not get an invite back to this house. I think she may have said she intentionally spilled a drink. I was shocked that anyone would do something like that. We were required to attend all houses we were invited back to and could only not return to a house if we dropped them because we had an otherwise full schedule of our preferred choices. However, I couldn’t believe anyone would be such a B in an effort to not have to return. After all, we were not obligated to put any house down after Preference Night.
From a Distance: I can’t remember much about the specifics of this party. I remember thinking the women in this house seemed very genuine and that I would feel comfortable in this house.
Hold On: This is another house where I had a great time during Activities Day. I believe the house had a camp theme, and the skit was cute. The member I was paired with was so outgoing, and we had a great conversation. I also spent more time with one of the members that I had been paired with during tours. I noticed how diverse the women were and felt that the members I spoke with were very sincere in their interest in me. Despite the negative first impression I had from the hotel theme on the first day, Hold On was my new favorite after Activities Day. I wanted an invite back for their preference, but tried not to get my hopes up as I had already had some disappointment during recruitment.
Pump Up the Jam: I can remember absolutely nothing about this party which probably says something about how I felt about this house. This was my step-mother’s house at another university but that was not enough to make me feel that I could make Pump UP the Jam my home. These women seemed very nice, but things just weren’t clicking.

For Preference Night, we could return to three houses. I had attended four parties on After Activities Day, so I marked down Vogue as the house I wanted to drop before Preference Night. I am not proud of myself for doing that, and if I could do this all over again, I would have put down Pump Up the Jam as the house I wanted to drop. After all, I had a great time at Vogue but Pump Up the Jam was not very memorable. I am embarrassed to admit that my decision to choose Vogue to drop was entirely motivated by the reputation this house had as the struggling house on campus. To future and current PNMs, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Follow your heart.

I can’t remember anything about Heather’s favorites after Activities Day. I do remember that Amy had a clear favorite- From a Distance.

Preference Night
 

I opened up my invite list and was relieved to find that, for the first time since Open House parties, I had a full schedule. I was returning to From a Distance, Hold On and Pump Up the Jam.

Heather dropped out of recruitment before Preference Night. I am not sure whether this was because she was dropped by all the houses she liked or by all of the houses altogether. I can’t remember what Amy had for Preference Night other than From a Distance which was her clear first choice. Before Preference Night, Amy learned that she had some sort of an emergency at home. It may have been a fire at her parents' home, but I am not sure anymore. Because of that, she could not attend the parties for Preference Night. However, Amy didn’t drop out of recruitment. She told the recruitment counselors what was going on, and they told her they would notify the houses of the reason why Amy was not in attendance at the Preference Night parties.

Preference Night was dressy, with the PNMs and members wearing cocktail style dresses or dressier. I had a pretty, but simple, black dress that fell to just above the knee and had long sleeves and a tie at the waste. The houses did a take on a progressive dinner: The first house served salad, the second a heavy appetizer and the third a dessert. Unlike the other rounds, I can remember the order in which I went to the houses on Preference Night and will do the recap in that order. Here we go:

Pump Up the Jam: There was still daylight during this party, which ruined the mood during the candlelight part of the Pref ceremony. Since this was the first party, salad was served, and I remember having difficulty eating it gracefully. (Once I was on the other side of recruitment, I hated it if my rush crush turned out to be scheduled for the first party on Pref, because you couldn’t do anything about the lighting, salad or fact that there was a chance that the party would be less memorable after the PNM attended the other two parties.) The members at Pump Up the Jam all wore black dresses and looked very nice. These women seemed to have a very strong sisterhood, but I just didn’t feel that I would be happy in this house.
From a Distance: It was dusk when we entered and dark by the time we finished the appetizer. The members wore all white dresses which looked angelic in the candlelit ceremony. The members in this house still struck me as very genuine. This house had the reputation as being the “good girls” who cared about grades and not partying. From my observations, that reputation seemed accurate and was something I liked.
Hold On: The women at this house looked beautiful and were dressed in black dresses. The house looked gorgeous, and I was paired with the woman who I had spent time with during the House Tours and Activities Day parties. The letters I received from the members and the ceremony were both very touching. The women I had met at Hold On seemed diverse from each other, yet they seemed to have a close sisterhood. I felt special and comfortable, and this party solidified that my first choice was Hold On.

So, I filled out my bid preference card and ranked Hold On as my first choice and From a Distance as my second choice. Bid Day was the next day, and all the PNMs were to meet in their recruitment groups in a field to open their bids. We were told that we would get a call if we didn’t get a bid to any sorority. So I went to bed, nervous about whether I would get a call or find that I did not get a bid to Hold On.

cant wait to read what happens!

Bid Day
 

So, I didn’t get a call, which meant I had a bid to either Hold On or From a Distance. I went to the field and stood in circle with my recruitment group, and we all opened our bids at the same time. We opened our bids, and I had received a bid from . . . .




HOLD ON, also known as





CHI OMEGA

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...ture201731.jpg


So to update the rest of my story, Amy got a bid to From a Distance. Heather and some other wonderful women later joined the sorority that was colonizing after formal recruitment, Love Takes Time. Jen (my friend from my Summer job) ended up joining It Must Have Been Love. Her sisters went through recruitment at this same university, and they all ended up in different sororities.

My recruitment counselor with the anchor earrings ended up being a member of Hold On (Chi Omega)- I was totally surprised. The woman from Chi Omega who I was paired with on House Tours, Activities Day and Preference Night ended up becoming my big sis. I had a blast as a member of Chi Omega and now know everything worked out for the best.

I believe all of the sororities made quota other than Vogue. Unfortunately, Vogue’s recruitment numbers continued to fall, and this chapter of Vogue closed a few years after my recruitment. The late 90s were not kind to the greek system at my university, which was the University of Oregon, and I believe Pump Up the Jam, From a Distance and Love Takes Time eventually closed as well. This is really sad because I think Pump Up the Jam and From a Distance had been at the U of O for well over 50 years, maybe even 75. Last I knew, Chi Omega was fortunately still going strong.

Belated congratulations to you and Chi Omega!

YEAH...I love the ending to the story!!! ;)

What a cute picture! Glad to hear that you got your XO wish!

Great retro story, and nice touch with the picture.
BTW...Didn't your Rho Chi (with the anchor earrings) hint to you about the colony?

Girl, you know it's true...(sorry, I had to go there. it what I think of everytime I see milli vanilli's name!)

Lip synching, of course

Can you post the code??

Old? I'm not sure I even know half the songs/groups you used! I still have issues with "the kids today" throwing retro "Disco" and/or "80s" parties. Like they happened last century. Oh wait, they did.

~ As I type this, I'm listening to Tracey Ullman's "They Don't Know" on the '80s Pop Hits Radio on XM Satellite Radio. :)

HA HA HA. Whenever I see the pictures of the 80s parties I crack up. They aren't even close to dressing like we did.

That's true of every decade. I'm just ROTFL every time I see students dress up for a seventies party. Like if they're supposed to be hippies, they dress in these bright patterns and colors...the real hippies tended to dress in torn up, earth-colored crud. And as far as the supposed lingo of that time, I never heard anyone say "groovy" then or since.:rolleyes:

Well, according to barnard1897 in micky80's retro thread: