[NutBrnHair]

For the next round of Rush (Invitationals), the rushees could attend up to 3 parties. Nut received invitations to all four and decided to regret the invite from the Emeralds. In her mind, it was between the Emeralds and the Sapphires, but her OA was a Sapphire – plus, she had friends at home who were Sapphires, so she kept this group for another round.

Again during this round Nut recalls most everyone wore sundresses or skirts and blouses. Very few wore slacks – remember…it was Middle Georgia in late August! The parties were longer this round – maybe 45 minutes each. The decorations and themes were more elaborate in most of the suites.

The Pearl group had created a Cabaret in their suite. The rushees were seated at card tables for four. If room permitted, a member of Pearls also sat in a chair or knelt beside the rushee to which she was talking. At one point during this party, Nut and Carol were seated next to the noisy window air-conditioner with 2 other rushees and no member of the organization was talking to them. The skit began and it was a collection of songs performed by talented members of the group.

Nut then attended the party hosted by the Sapphires. There seemed to be a lot of local (hometown Middle GA) girls in this group. Again, Nut spoke to her OA and was introduced to many sweet and pleasant members. Their skit was similar to the Pearls with singing and dancing.

When Nut entered the Ruby suite, she noticed that there were no elaborate decorations or special seating. After several great conversations with Susan (remember her – the junior who had helped Nut & Carol move into the dorm?) and others, the members asked the rushees to gather in the middle of the room for a “ceremony.” The rushees sat on the floor and were surrounded by the Sisters of Ruby. The lights were dimmed and there were 5 Sisters kneeling in the front of the room. The first one lit a candle and began to tell the rushees that while others try to entertain you tonight – we want to share a part of our Sisterhood with you. Each speaker spoke about a different aspect of the group. The final speaker was Traci, a drama major who held the title of Miss Topia. After her speech – the candle was passed from rushee to rushee before the party ended.

The next day, Kay, Nut’s friend from home said she and her R.A. were going to walk off campus to a local drug store where they made fresh squeezed lemonade and asked if Nut and Carol wanted to go. Oh yes, Kay’s R.A. was Leslie, the one they’d met at the Sigma Nu party! Leslie led the pack of four freshmen down the street for lemonade! They all paid for their own and had great fun laughing at Leslie – she had a terrific sense of humor. There was no discussion of Rush at all, so this little foray kept the rushees minds off of Rush for a bit.

Later in the day, they would find out where they would be attending prefs!