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Pref and beyond:
So, you all have guess that I received an invitation to Pref at the laid back house. As my Rush Counselor handed me my invitation she gave me a meaningful look. I really didn't know that if I went that night I would get a bid so I was really stressed and did what all girls do from the beginning of time until now: Find other girls and get ready together.
I got together with several of the other Jewish girls. While we were excited Rush was an eye opening experience for some of us...and a painful reminder of other anti-semetic times in our lives. (See I said the words...). The anti-semitism was blatent, it was couched in the guise of "Where will all of us be the most COMFORTABLE?" And sometimes it is uncomfortable dealing with someone a bit different. On the other hand, we Jewish girls began talking and the question arose: If we don't try and change the system...who will? Does it need to be changed? (all this while applying eye shadow...). For all but 2 of us this was a moot point. We carried one house to Pref.
Pref was beautiful and meaningful. I knew that joining the laidback house was right for me. The one aforementioned Jewish girl was the first to break and joined a Christian house. My two friends who preffed two houses suicided and became my pledge sisters.
Loose ends:
So, the question becomes: What happened to the house where I had a rec? And what happened to my instant best friend who passed on me first round?
The first question is easy to answer: My cousin told me after rush that her chapter was the first to pledge a Jewish girl. And at the national level they received a lot of grief for that. (She is a good deal older than I am. She pledged around 1965). My cousin knew that I wouldn't get past the first round. The chapter at my school was old line. Okay then....
I saw Ms. Chicago's dress hanging on the door of her dorm room. It was gorgeous, and unused.
As for my new and instant and very temporary best friend? Right after rush I saw her on campus. She came up to me and asked if she could talk. We sat for an hour and her first words were, "I am a sophomore. This was my first rush and it might be my last. You see, despite my name and where I live....I am a Jew. I didn't know that my house didn't accept Jews until your name came up. I am so sorry. They wouldn't give you a chance." She discussed deactivating. (She didn't.) Her parents were devastated. (Her father wasn't born Jewish. He converted, very unusual for that time and place. But her mother was Jewish. And she was raised a Jew.) I listened. Finally I asked what the penalty would be if she told her sisters that she was Jewish. Would she be thrown out? She didn't answer. I still don't know the answer to that.
We saw each other on campus occasionally. But we never became friends.
The good news for me is and was I did find the best place for me. And all these years later I am glad I how things turned out for me. And I am really glad that my daughter, if she decides to rush, will have more choices but I hope the she has the same conclusion that she found the right place for her.
Oh and my rush counselor? She became my Big Sister...go figure.
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