That 70s Rush!
 

Gather around, young’uns! Granny’s got a story to tell you. I’m not a regular greekchat poster, but I have been lurking for years. Since several greekchatters have mentioned in the past that they’d like to hear a recruitment tale from the long ago era of frills, and at this time of year we are low on current recruitment stories, I thought it would be fun to tell you my tale. It’s all about that thing called rush. Yes, rush. That’s what we called it back in the olden days. So here it is, in all its frill filled glory . . . That 70s Rush!

18 Year Old Me
I grew up in a large metro area and attended a small private school, which I will refer to as Prissy Prep. There were two public high schools in the immediate area, which I’ll call East Suburbia and Central Suburbia. I had several close friends and even more acquaintances from junior high, church and other social activities that went to those schools.

I was pretty active in high school; it was easy to be since there were fewer than 100 students in each class. It was an academically rigorous curriculum and I graduated with a GPA high enough to earn a full scholarship to each state university I applied to. I decided to attend Jumbo State University (JSU), which is a large state school located in a big city about two hours away from home. Most of the students from my school who end up going to college in-state end up at JSU.

When I arrived at school, I knew absolutely nothing about sororities or rush. I arrived at campus early because I was required to attend a special orientation program for my major. But since it was the week before classes, most of the girls who had already moved in were there because they were rushing. (Yes, it was called rush then, and I will be using the vernacular of the day in my tale.) No one in my family had ever been Greek, so it never occurred to me to even investigate it. Two of my new suite mates were planning on rushing, which was scheduled to begin the day after I arrived on campus. They convinced me it would be a great way to meet people, and since classes didn’t start for a few days, I agreed to join them. After I discussed it with my folks, the girls brought me over to the Greek Life office and I registered. No recs. No preconceived notions. No idea what to wear. No expectations. No Greekchat to give me rush tips. Nothing.

I'm really excited for this story! I love hearing about "rush" vs. recruitment lol.

The Suitemates
Lisa was going to be the forth generation in her family to join a sorority. She knew the JSU Greek system inside and out. She was at least a single legacy to over half the houses on campus, and a triple legacy to one (which she had her heart set on joining and I later learned was the house everyone seemed to want.) Although I’d never met her before, Lisa went to East Suburbia high school and dated a guy who attended Prissy Prep. She was drop dead gorgeous, insanely well dressed, and super smart. I would have been completely intimidated if she hadn’t been one of the nicest, funniest and most sincere people I’ve ever met.

Tina was from out of state, a cheerleader and valedictorian. Smart, very pretty, and unfortunately extremely conceited, which was something it took me much too long to figure out. She must have researched the Greek System long before arriving (LOL how did anyone do that before the internet?!) because she knew the reps of every single house, had her recs in order and knew exactly where she was going to end up. And that just happened to be the same sorority Lisa wanted.

That sorority they both want must be something special, right? So I decided that it was probably the best place for me too. I can’t wait until we’re all sorority sisters! Gee, I’m not naïve at all, am I?

Greek Life at JSU
Even though it was the mid-70s and an era of decline for Greek life on many campuses, Greek life was still very important at JSU, and about a quarter of the student body was Greek. Although not quite SEC crazy, rush was extremely competitive. I think there were 700 - 800 girls rushing with me and quota ended up being around 50. With a few exceptions, most of the sororities had between 100 and 160 members. At the time, there were 13 NPC groups on this campus. Since this is the 1970s and I am woefully uncreative, I am going to name them after characters from “That 70s Show.” Here they are in random order:

Eric
Donna
Hyde
Fez
Kelso
Jackie
Red
Kitty
Laurie
Midge
Bob
Leo
Randy

Our parties were stretched out over five days, with an Orientation Session and Rush Counselor Meeting on the evening prior to the first day of parties and Bid Day on the evening of the sixth day. The sets were broken up like this:

Set One: Open House Day One – first 7 house parties
Set One: Open House Day Two – last 6 house parties
Set Two: House Tours – up to 8 parties
Set Three: Theme/Skit – up to 5 parties
Set Four: Preference – up to 3 parties

As long as people are interested and not bored to tears, I'll start talking about the actual rush days tomorrow.

Can't wait to see how you '70's rush compared to my own.

DaffyKD

I sure am enjoying your rush story -- I attended college in the 70's also. I am looking forward to reading your next post.:o

Wow, you sound so much like me. I was from a large metro area as well and I, too, went to a " Prissy Prep" and had friends in several other public and private high schools in the area. I was in a high school sorority which had members from the other private and some public schools.
I went to a large state university. No other members of my family had gone greek and I knew basically nothing about rush... no recs, no pre conceived notions. I still can't bring myself to call it recruitment.
Can't wait to hear more of your story. Go 70s!

ZTA72

I can't WAIT to hear your thread!

Love this! Keep it going! :)

I love it already! Let's hear more!

Love this thread already!

Where will Lisa and Tina end up??

Convocation/Orientation Evening
After spending the entire day in my major orientation program, I arrived back at the dorm to get ready for rush orientation. Lisa and Tina assure me it will be a casual affair, which is a good thing because all I have time to do is take a quick shower, put on some lip gloss and mascara and change my clothes. We walk over to the activities center together, looking a little like clones. We’re each wearing an embroidered peasant top, Levi’s 501s, and water buffalo sandals. No, we weren’t hippies. That’s just the way most girls dressed at the time and we met up with lots more girls wearing the same “uniform” at orientation.

The activities center is packed and so loud! I am overwhelmed by the sheer number of girls who are rushing. This rush thing is obviously a much bigger deal than I realized. The Panhellenic board takes the stage and explains just how things will work. I’m a little surprised when I learn we can’t go to the parties with whomever we want. I had hoped to tag along through rush with my suitemates, especially since I was sure we’d soon be sisters! I had a bit of an awakening when the process was explained during orientation.

After the convocation ceremony and orientation, we all break up into our rush groups and get to meet our Rush Counselor. She seems so sweet and genuinely interested in helping all of us. She hands out a booklet that includes a page for each sorority with a photo of the house along with their Greek letters and the words spelled out in English. All of those Alphas, Phis, Pis and Deltas! I knew the only chance I had to keep them straight would be to take good notes; and thankfully each page also had a place just for this purpose. Especially during the first four days, I ferociously scribbled notes right after each party. I still have that booklet and am using it to write this today.

I know two girls in my rush group from the public high schools I mentioned, but not well. The worst part is I feel like everyone seems to know what they are doing except ME! I’m confused but since I’m in it for fun, I’ll give it the old college try.

I’ve had a very long and overwhelming day and go right to sleep once I get back home, in spite of my jabbering suite mates whose anxiety keeps them up well past midnight. I sleep like a baby. I haven’t a care in the world.

Love this rush story already, keep it coming!

Me too!