|
Auburn rush back in the day lasted several days. It was full of frills--the skits, usually based on a Broadway musical or well known story (Alice in KappaLand) were well-rehearsed with incredible scenery. We did Showboat my senior year and had this gorgeous backdrop; the story took place on the stage on the boat. The rushees walked into the chapter room on a dock we'd built and the room was darkened because it was supposed to be nighttime so we also had recordings of crickets under the dock. I was a dancer and had a very tiny costume!
Pref parties were also extremely elaborate and very expensive to put on. At AU, the sororities gave unreal favors--we gave small sterling bowls with an arrow on them and the Chi Os were each required to go home over the summer and sew 2 huge owls each. Hehe, my Chi O roommates were furious about that!
Rushes at Arkansas and Mississippi State were about the same..expensive, gorgeous, took forever to prepare for.
I will agree that one thing that the new release figures have done is make rush fairer for the medium and smaller groups. Back then, quota would be set after first or second parties- meaning that quota was huge and the traditionally bigger groups would rack up with all the sought-after girls and the other groups rarely took quota. Many groups would fold. Also, many rushees got hurt at the end because the big cuts came before prefs. Of course, now they get hurt way early...
|