Pref ceremonies
 

Reading all the recruitment threads has me thinking about my own rush experience. Yes, even though it was over a decade ago, I still think about that week.

I know that I must've preffed three sororities, since I ranked three. But for the life of me, I can't remember a THING about one of their pref ceremonies (not surprisingly, the one I can't remember was the one I ranked 3rd). Has that happened to you? I remember KD's (obviously, since that's who I pledged) and one of the others. In fact, I can still remember the lyrics to one of the songs that second group sang. But, I don't even remember being in the third group's party. :o

For those of you who have been out of school for a while, are there pref memories that you still have? Or have you, like me, completely forgotten about some of them?

Sounds awful, but I can't remember the pref ceremony for ZTA or Alpha Xi Delta, but the one from Chi Omega sticks in my mind. Go figure, lol. Probably because the room was so dark and hot!

We only had 2 pref ceremonies back when I rushed, as there were only seven sororities.

What do I remember? Quite a bit!

ADPi: I remember walking in, having my name announced, and being invited to take a flower from a basket. I was a little nervous: was this a test? What if I picked the wrong one? I blindly reached out and grabbed the nearest stalk among the roses, astromerias, carnations, etc. It was a carnation. Then-- talking to the girl who had rushed me the day before. We sat in her bedroom and sat on her bed, chatting. Her roommate sat on her bed with another PNM. It was quiet and low. She led me into the chapter room which was draped in white, with draped risers for us to sit upon. It was really beautiful. The sisters sang songs and gave testimonials. It was really touching. At last the president gestured to a column atop which sat an empty vase. She said that each of the flowers we had selected when we walked in stood for an individual attribute-- sisters then spoke about the flowers. Turns out my little carnation stood for courage and loyalty! We were invited to place our flowers into the empty vase to complete the bouquet. I got really emotional.

ZTA: I remember walking in, having my name announced and being invited to a take a flower from a basket. Sound familiar? LOL. The girl who had rushed me the day before greeted me and we sat at a table in the chapter room to talk. I think there were floating candles as a centerpiece, but I could be wrong. The ZTA's wore long white dresses with turqoise sashes-- it was a beautiful choice for dresses!!! I can't remember much about the pref ceremony. We were standing, and my knees started to lock. I remember looking around and seeing a lot of familiar faces of ladies I'd been going to the parties with, as well as the great sisters I'd met that week. The room was subdued and dimly lit, giving the ceremony an air of romance and mystery. I liked the atmosphere, but felt that I was having to try too hard to muster the same emotions I'd felt at the first party where the waterworks had just flowed from beginning to end.

After the parties, I met with my PNM buddy, who had just left Pi Phi and DDD. We went to the Student Union to compare notes. We handed in our pref cards... and the next day each of us got her first choice!

I think memories are great and fun to do-- but does this give away a special part of recruitment for the pnm's- I feel hypocritical because I love reading the memories as they bring back some of my own; however, I don't want to "spoil the specialness of the night." Opinions???

My pref ceremony can be summed up in one word:

CHEESECAKE.

That sounds like a great pref ceremony.

I remember with Kappa, sitting in the dimly lit chapter room which had been decorated with tulle and christmas lights, listening to a member from each pledge class explain what Kappa meant to them. At our place was an antique key and on our way out the door we were to put them in a treasure chest/wishing well.

I don't remember much about Alpha Gam's pref; I think we had roses at our place that we put in a vase before we left.

I remember ADPi's, but mostly because I went through it 3 more times as an active. KD's ceremony was the most memorable to me. I LOVED their pref - I actually listed them first on my bid card, then had a change of heart later that evening and had my Greek Life Guide switch my #1 to ADPi.

I remember absolutely nothing about Chi O's pref.

My preference night was a LOOOOOOOONG time ago. We were down to 2 houses that night and I received 2 invitations. I have no memory of the other house except that they made me feel special and wanted, but I knew I was not going to pledge there even if I was offered a bid. I started rush with no intentions of staying past the first day parties since that was the rule to stay in the dorm during rush. I had planned to drop after the first day and spend the rest of the week at the beach. Well... KD was my first house that first day and I fell instantly in love. Decided I would then stay in rush until KD dropped me (I had been the HS geek, so why would anyone want to extend a bid to me????). The only thing I remember about KD's rush was that the sisters were wearing long black dresses and the young lady who was rushing me asked me what I wanted in a sorority and I bluntly told her "This house." I am now serving my 3rd year as my AA president, and VP for a consortium of AA's in Southern CA for KD so I must have made the right decision.

DaffyKD :)

Hehe, I didn't get to see my sorority's pref ceremony until my SOPHOMORE YEAR as an active because I got dropped from recruitment but snapped up by TD (lucky me!). I love our pref ceremony. I cried myself during! We always rent out this cute little church hall, and with the decorations, it was perfect. We also introduce the sister BEFORE us, not ourselves...and that was really touching, because I think it demonstrates how well we know eachother.

I didn't cry when I was preffed, but I have cried when I've preffed certain girls (and everytime I've cried while preffing a girl, she's always ended up being a DG...haha) :)

I remember very little about the Alpha Xi Delta pref ceremony. I think it involved roses, and possibly a scroll?

I do remember leaving the AXiD pref ceremony arm in arm with Jen and Allie, two girls with whom I pledged Pi Phi later that evening. The three of us had been at the Pi Phi ceremony before the AXiD one. I distinctly remember the looks that passed between us, signifying that we knew where we were going.

I dont remember too much about Pi Beta Phi's pref. I do remember that with Theta not only did i boo-hoo there as a PNM, but i continued to boo-hoo each time I did it on the other side. Two years ago I went back to my chapter to observe their preference ceremony as an advisor and I cried again. It brought back so many memories of me experiencing it as a PNM. :)

I've never heard of a preference party anywhere with any chapter though that was not emotional and as beautiful as can be (as it should be!).

It wouldn't help even if you did remember. Our Pref Ceremony was changed last year. I think it is a lot better now

Since I didn't go through formal recruitment.. I can only tell you about AGD's since I went through the colonizing pref. The whole week was different for me... since I really didn't feel as if I was being "rushed". I know that I met with alumnae one day, then made stuff one night with a bunch of girls from other schools, we didn't have "skit" night, so Pref was just different. I remember sitting with a girl from UK and they were all in black (days before we wore red). They talked about this thing called "The Purpose" which was printed on a pearlly looking paper in the form of a pearl. Then they did the ceremony where we all stood and then I went back to the dorm. I have ADD so I normally space out when people talk too much... so I don't remember much else. I remember going back to my dorm room and praying about the future. If God's plan was for me to be an AGD then I would get an invite back... if not... then I would go through formal rush. See I thought that I wanted to be something different (because they were the group to be) but I also knew that I wanted to be special. So the next day I put up my pearl (no one told us we couldn't have them) and the next night I pledged AGD.

I'm glad that I did because I was apart of something. I am not a member with a number in the thousands, I'm number 33. That is the coolest.