[greekdee]

So glad you're liking it! It has been a blast writing this, pulling out the old photo albums, yearbooks, etc!! Here is the next installment:

Okay, my campus had fraternity houses but not sorority houses. They had a Panhellenic Building/Dorm that housed a large and beautifully decorated suite for each sorority. Each suite, of course, reflected the sororities colors, mascot and other symbols.

I remember which sorority I visited first and which one I visited last! I am not 100 percent sure what order the other five fell in, but will take you on my suite tour based on what seems most likely, considering where each suite was located. I do remember there were three on the first floor and four on the second.

I also recall what I wore – and it’s beyond me why I haven’t blocked this from memory . I remember the outfit because I wore it often, believing it to be cute and flattering. As they say, hindsight is 20/20 – and so are pictures and there are just way too many of me in this get-up.

I wore a pair of long culottes -- below the knee, wide legged babies that rivaled something Annie Oakley would wear when springing into the saddle of her favorite horse. Those legs were roomy enough to conceal a riffle and utensils to outfit an entire campsite. In keeping with the psychedelic decade at hand, they were a far-out, can’t-miss ‘em kelly green, and I paired them with a knit top that had thin, multi-colored horizontal stripes. Why, look at me– I’ll bet the colors of every sorority were woven into that top! On my feet, I wore chunky- clunky, three inch sandals that boasted platforms -- crafted from cork. In high school, we wore those walking bulletin boards with socks that had toes. Each toe was a different color. No, I did not wear the toe socks during Rush, but that’s about the only scary thing I didn’t present myself in.

We visited all seven suites on the first night! It was like getting sucked into a kaleidoscope of swirling colors, chants, cheers and songs. Exciting but hectic and everyone was glazy-eyed by the last party. I don’t think snacks or beverages were served.

BEE GEES: This was my first sorority suite and we were greeted by a group of enthusiastic sisters who were dressed alike. Though the styles of dresses varied slightly, the print and colors were identical. I was picked up by a very sweet girl who would be the first of many that night to ask me my major, hometown and dorm! After 10 minutes or so of chatting, the Bee Gees gathered in the center of the room and sang several songs. I remember they linked arms and appeared to care about each other a great deal. When they finished singing, several members took turns stepping forward to introduce themselves and share what the sorority meant to them. One girl who particularly stood out was a petite blonde who said, “I’m a senior and I just got married two weeks ago.” MARRIED??? Well now, I suddenly felt like I had stepped into a very mature and grown up world.

HEAT WAVE: Oh, this was so sad. There were only six sisters in Heat Wave. SIX. Several members from another chapter (at a school two hours away) had come in to help them rush, but it was still very obvious how small this sorority was. These girls were also dressed alike. There weren’t enough sisters to do a typical rotation, so each sister talked to a small group of rushees. I remember being seated on a sofa with several other rushees while a Heat Wave sat across from us, trying so hard to maintain eye contact and keep everyone included in the conversation. When she was bumped by another member, I looked up and saw one of the prettiest, most elegant girls I had ever laid eyes on. What impressed me about her was that she didn’t try to downplay their smallness. She did explain they had lost a lot of girls to graduation and transfer, but really emphasized the benefits of a small group, including their extreme closeness and having the opportunity to know each other through and through.

VILLAGE PEOPLE: We entered this suite to more singing, clapping and girls dressed alike! I was immediately picked up by a girl who lived in my dorm. Since we had already chatted some in the dorm, she didn’t ask me the typical rush questions. Instead, she led me around the suite and showed me a big collection of stuffed animals that represented their mascot, arrangements that featured their flower and the trophy case that displayed awards for Derby Week, Pikes Peak, All Sing and several other fraternity-sponsored events. This was one of the biggest sororities on campus and was perceived by most rushees as highly desirable. My rusher told me a little about their philanthropy and introduced me to several sisters before it was time for them to gather and sing. Perhaps it was because I knew someone in this sorority, combined with the casual manner in which I was rushed, but I felt very comfortable in this suite. I left Village People hoping to return!

COMMODORES: Guess what these girls were wearing? Right! The same dresses! They were also singing and cheering like the other sororities, but every song name dropped one of the top fraternities on campus: “We’re the number one likes of the Pikes” and “We like to go out with a Sigma Chi guy.” Commodores was the beauty queen sorority and it seemed like every sister was a former Miss Something. “Meet my sister Cathy, last year’s Homecoming Queen”…”Here is my sister Amy, former Princess of the Floyd County Silkworm Festival.” Other sisters were introduced as “the cheerleader”, “the drum majorette” , etc. This sorority was considered one of the best and the girls were flawlessly glossy in a Glamour magazine kind of a way. The girls I spoke with were very nice, though. At one point, their rotation went astray, leaving me and few other rushees sitting by ourselves. One very beautiful member looked directly at me, but made no attempt to rescue me – and it kind of hurt my feelings. A few minutes later, the party ended.

KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND: We were over half way through Round 1 parties and everyone was wearing down a bit. Farrah Flips were starting to go flat and the KC suite didn’t help with that. It seemed a little smaller than the others, was definitely warmer and felt like a packed-in sardine convention. Different stokes for different folks, though. There was a rocker girl in my rush group who looked like Joan Jett. I remember she wore a denim jacket with a skirt – common today, but I can’t remember if that was weird in ’77 or not. She also wore Jungle Gardenia perfume and must have doused herself in it before we entered the suite. The cloud just would not desipitate and was gag-inducing for the person sitting next to her -- me. However, this party was the first time I heard Joan speak – and she became lively and animated with these girls in their identical dresses. They were very nice and especially proud of their national and local philanthropies. Nationally, this is a very large sorority and I wish I had rocked it like Joan did– but I was choking on Gardenia, really needed a drink of water and was fantasizing about a cool breeze. The sisters grouped, sang a few songs and it was time to move on.

DONNA SUMMER: I got my second wind the minute I walked into this suite! They were not – NOT – wearing the same dresses! A wide array of styles were represented by the girls of Donna Summer and each one wore the fall color of her choice. They explained they did this to show their individuality -- that while they were bonded by sisterhood, they were not a cookie cutter sorority and desired to embrace each girl for the unique person she was. Limburger wrinkled her nose like she’d just gotten the results of someone’s bean burrito and said the unmatched dresses showed a lack of unity, but Bleu, Swiss and I loved what they were trying to convey. Looking around, they were a diverse group of women, but when they grouped together to sing, there was no doubt they were connected by a love for their sorority. The girl who rushed me the most was awesome. She had this cute, shaggy Olivia Newton John hairstyle, but mostly, she made me feel like I was the only person in the room. She listened to me talk about my high school pep club painting banners for football games, and acted like it was the most fascinating topic on earth. I knew I wanted to go back to Donna Summer!!!

ABBA: This was my last party of the night. The Abbas were great, but had to feel as tired, if not more, than the rushees did. Gouda yawned, and I mean one of those yawns that shows every filling in your head! She made no attempt to stifle it, but she didn’t care. After all, she was going to be a Donna Summer – she was a second cousin legacy and Donna Summer had to take legacies, right? (Wrong on both counts.) I spoke with several of the sisters and was shown a scrapbook one of them had made the during her pledge ship – it had won Best Scrapbook and was displayed on their coffee table. The sister was a little quiet, but the scrapbook was a good tool to help her rush and included creative, colorful expressions of their philanthropy, pledge retreat and social activities. Compared to the other sororities, Abba was a little subdued in the chanting and singing department -- but it could have been because everyone was just tired! Seven consecutive parties with no break made for a long night!

We did not do any ranking after Round 1. If we had, I would have ranked Donna Summer and The Village People at the top; as for the rest, I’m not sure how they would have lined up. Theme Parties (skits) were up next and would go on for two nights. We could accept up to four invitations and attend two parties each night. We were to report to the Greek Office the next day to pick up our Theme invites.

For now, most of the rushees went back to their dorms; some of us changed clothes and headed out to fraternity parties – not a good idea. Though I don’t recall any fraternity men actively promoting a sorority, they had their opinions about who was top and who was not. These parties were also a fertile environment for rushees to talk and compare notes – also not a good idea.

Story had it, the sweet girls of Heat Wave were on their way out, and this rush was their last effort to save their sorority. Consensus was, there was no point in pledging Heat Wave -- they were doomed to fold and why join a group that wasn’t going to make it?

Story also had it that the Commodores were brutal when it came to voting on who to invite back to their parties. Those Polaroid pictures that were taken? Supposedly, if the Commodores didn’t like you, they would throw your picture around the room then make a big ceremony out of ripping it to shreds. I would later realize this was completely bogus, but as a gullible, 17-year-old rushee…well, I went to bed that night hoping my picture wasn’t being flung around the Commodores suite while a bunch of beauty queens laughed at me.