In the interest of keeping you folks entertained at work, I'll write up my rush story from the late 90's. When I worked full-time, those boring days at the office were often filled with reading forums like this, so I hope you all enjoy! I think this is especially entertaining because I had a HORRIBLE roomate, and the outcome of rush ended up costing me a friend.
I went to Ohio Northern University, a small libral arts college in west-central Ohio. Until the last few years, there wasnt even a McDonalds in the small town of Ada. We had a Hardee's, a few pizza joints, 2 bars, and my sophomore year we got a Taco Bell (
). With a student population of 3,200, and the nearest decent sized cities about 30 minutes away, greek life was (and still is) very popular.
The summer before fall quarter my freshman year, I attended a two week chemistry refresher class, for incoming science students who hadnt had chemistry since their sohpomore or junior year of high school. There I met Julie, who became my chemistry buddy. It was too late for us to request that the school assign us as roomates (we already had our roomate assignments), but we promised to look eachother up once we both got onto campus.
Labor Day weekend rolled around, and I moved in on that Saturday. My roomate was from BFE West Virginia. She was a very interesting girl, and though we had the same major, we had nothing else in common. I quickly became friends with 4 girls in the 2 rooms across the hall. Ann, Melissa, Nicole and Amanda were all really funny, easy to talk to girls. The 5 of us would sit in the hallway and talk all the time. Amanda and I bonded the closest. We both were very social people, and were looking forward to the social (read - partying) aspect of college. She agreed to come with me to go find Julie, who was in the large freshman dorm across campus. (We got stuck in an antiquated army barracks type overflow dorm). Naturally, the three of us became fast friends and decided we had to find a party for the next few weeks. It was then that we first heard about the GLOs on campus. Julie's RA was a girl named Jess. Jess overheard us talking about wanting to go to the frats, but not knowning anyone, we were aprehensive. She agreed to take a group of freshman girls around to some of the frat houses to meet people. It was from Jess and the various frat guys that we began to hear about greek life.
Julie already knew she was going to rush. Her older sister was a Kappa Delta, and even thought ONU didnt have a KD chapter, Julie knew she wanted a bond of sisterhood, like her own sister had. Amanda and I hadn't really thought about it. But because she and I lived across the hall from each other, and because we clicked so well, we both agreed it was at least worth a shot and a good way to meet more people (since our dorm was so isolated, and a mishmash of people). Melissa, Ann, and Nicole were rushing as well. To look at me, and even know me, I am NOT a typical sorority girl. People from home were shocked that I was rushing. I was the first girl from my high school graduating class to go through rush (others did in later years at their respective colleges). But... college is different for everyone. Had I gone to a larger college, I may not have gone through with it.
Open house was 2 weeks after moving in weekend. The 4 chapters at ONU were:
Delta Zeta (DZ)
Kappa Alpha Theta (Theta)
Zeta Tau Alpha (Zeta)
Alpha Xi Delta (Alpha Zee - they are not known as Fuzzies at ONU)
I will call them (in random order - named for Ohio towns):
Toledo
Columbus
Cleveland
and Dayton
There were 4 rounds of rush at ONU:
Open house (4 houses)
Philanthropy aka First round (4 houses)
Skit aka second round (3 houses)
Preference aka third round (2 houses)
Or dorm was assigned a great rush counselor (RC). She was enthusiastic, without being in your face about it. She understood that Amanda and I were doing it just to meet people, and that we likely wouldn't pledge anywhere. We didn't think we were sorority girl material. On open house day, we all dressed casually (khakis, nice tops, sandals mostly). All houses were located off campus, and were a bit of a walk.
The first house was
Toledo. I wasn't sure what to expect. At such a small school, stereotypes dominate. But I knew enough to keep an open mind and not characterize everyone the same. The Toledo house was known as the party house. Even from our few visits to some frat parties, Amanda and I witnessed a strong Toledo presence at them all. At first, we both kinda thought because of this, if we went anywhere, it would be here. We were greeted by the whole sisterhood in their great room, in your face cheering, a HUGE amount of energy. I had no idea that one collective group of 80-some girls could be THIS excited about rush!!! I was completely overwhelmed. The Toledo sister I was paired with was a senior, and an extremely energetic sister. We had a good conversation, but she really didn't let me talk at all. She would ask me a question, and would interrupt me before I was finished answering. That and the over the top energy put me off slightly, but I knew other Toledo sisters were not all the same. The actual Toledo house was older, but big. About 16 girls lived in it, but parts of the house were pretty shabby and needed some work. It was also the house furthest away from campus. Amanda fell in love with the Toledo house, but I would need some more convincing.
The second house was the
Dayton house. I really don't like mentioning stereotypes, but it is indeed a real part of rush. I'm not going to divulge what the stereotype was though, it was cruel. My RA, as well as Julie's RA, were both Dayton girls, and they didnt fit the stereotype, so I didn't put much stock in it. At this house, we were greated with tasteful singing though, much better than being screamed at. I was actually paired up with the Little of Jess the RA. When Jess noticed her Little had me, she joined us on the house tour. Not going to lie, both of them rubbed me wrong. I just was not clicking with them. They felt fake, and the conversation felt forced. Their actual house was also a large one, housing about 20 girls. But they had less room than the Toledo house did, and things were cramped. Their house also felt like it was on the verge of being condemed. It was ancient, and needed a LOT of updating (dark wood panelling throughout - depressing!). Amanda and I were both really happy to get out of there.
The next house was the
Columbus house. It was a really small house, not in membership, but in size! Only 8 sisters lived there. It was very nice though, and tastefully decorated. It looked like an actual residential home, not a sorority house. We were greeted with more tasteful singing, thank goodness. I don't remember who I was paired up with, but I remember loving the exhibits. In each of the 4 bedrooms, there was a display about current sisters, Columbus history (local and national), etc. The stereotype for the Columbus house was the smarties/athletes/hot girls. I really didn't fit in with the stereotype, I felt. Yes, I was smart, yes I was an athlete, but I wasn't HOT, and that's what the frat guys thought about the Columbus house. It made me a little self conscious, because I didn't see a single non-hot girl the entire time I was there. They were all beautiful, friendly, and just oozed confidence. I left feeling good about them, but unsure, because I didn't fit the stereotype. Amanda wasn't so sure about them, she thought they were too pretty.
The last house was the
Cleveland house. I was paired up with a girl who actually had gone to a rival high school. Monica and I clicked! We had a lot of mutual friends from home, and really got along well. The Cleveland house was known as the girls-next door, with a few oddballs thrown in the mix (some people thought them the "weird" girl sorority"). Their house was also beautiful, and home to about 15 girls. I loved the decor, and everyone I talked to. It felt like home. Amanda did NOT like this house at all.
When we left, I called Julie to see what her thoughts were. She liked Columbus, Dayton, and Toledo, and didn't like the Cleveland house at all. (She got paired up with one of the weird ones...)
I didn't have to rank at the end of Open House, that won't come until after philanthropy round. First round was the very next day.
More to come later!
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