AGDee's Retro aka How NOT to do recruitment

[AGDee]

Background: I was totally clueless. Totally. One of my best friends from high school was a boy named Michael who was the ex-boyfriend of a friend of mine (Nancy). After my friend cheated on him, I was very angry with her and remained close to him. He was a year older than me and when he graduated, he went to Eastern Michigan University (Go Hurons! ((Once a Huron, Always a Huron))). He had a new gf from my high school class and I drove her up to EMU a couple times to visit him. In the process, I fell in love with his roommate, who took me to my prom and we ended up in a long distance relationship.

First Semester Freshman Year: The year was 1983. There I was, a brand new freshman at EMU, entering the world of college, scared to DEATH, except for the fact that I had Rich (bf) and Michael (bff) there to guide me. During my first semester, I was getting my feet wet on campus. I'd been invited to join the University Ambassador's Society, an organization for students with good grades and leadership potential (based on high school info) who worked to help recruit new students by doing phone calls and tours and stuff like that. Michael was also invited to join as was Nancy. Pretty much, Michael, Rich, Nancy and I hung out all the time. We ate all of our meals together, partied together, etc.. even though Nancy and Michael were just friends. Through the Ambassador's Society, we met a TON of greeks. Michael and Rich both went through fraternity rush that first semester and ended up pledging TKE. When I was talking to my parents one day, I mentioned that and my dad told me that he is a TKE. I had no idea until that day. The greeks who were part of the Ambassador's Society were really amazing leaders. Several of them were seniors who were also on student government and stuff. Michael and Rich had two female friends who lived on their dorm floor named Karen and Theresa. Karen and Theresa hung out with us a lot too. Karen was really nice but Theresa just always rubbed me the wrong way. They were in one of the four sororities on campus.

So, once Michael and Rich were TKE pledges, I was at the TKE house with them a lot. They were really awesome guys.. campus leaders, preppy types, good grades and, as they wouldn't let you forget.. Ronald Reagan (President at the time) was a brother. Lots of sorority women hung out with the TKEs and they had a little sister group, which I contemplated joining. But, I decided to try out sorority rush instead.

Back then, our rush was pretty frilly (not quite so much as the South, but way more than today!). There were 4 NPC groups on campus and a local. The local sometimes did formal rush and sometimes didn't. Formal rush was held both fall and winter semesters, which was kind of insane.. no.. REALLY insane. I decided to rush winter semester, much to my mother's chagrin, but with my father's blessing "Don't worry, I'll help you pay the dues if you need me to".

[Leslie Anne]

Yes! Another Retro story. I'm a little confused though, were you at EMU too?

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Yes! Another Retro story. I'm a little confused though, were you at EMU too?

Oh, yes, I was at EMU too, a year after the guys had started there.

[susan314]

I was so hoping that you would eventually join the retro recruitment bandwagon!

(Think I mentioned to you before that my cousin was in a sorority at EMU - Alpha Sigma Tau, but she would have been a few years after you. Don't know exactly what year she went through rush, but she graduated HS in 1987. She lives in Texas now, but I'll be seeing her next weekend for a family cookout. I should ask her about her rush experience...we've never really talked about it, and she's the only other person in my family who initiated into a sorority.)

[AGDee]

The ASTs came back to campus when I was almost graduated (graduated in '87). I'm pretty sure they were the Lambda Chi Crescents and when the little sis groups were banned, they petitioned for expansion and re-colonized AST. Everybody was really excited because it was their Alpha chapter. Shortly after that, another group of women formed an interest group and I *think* they became Delta Zeta, but I was moving onward and upward by then. They now have a lot more.. DPhiE, Phi Sigma Sigma, and.. I don't remember them all now!

I should say, when I went through recruitment, the four there were

Alpha Xi Delta
Sigma Kappa
Sigma Sigma Sigma
Alpha Gamma Delta

ETA: I was going to start this before my mom went in the hospital but then the last couple weeks became insane and I barely even had time to read GC, let alone post this.


And then, Sigma Nu Phi, the local, who has been there over 100 years, which I think is pretty darn impressive.

[MaggieXi]

My dad is a TKE too and I never knew that until I went through Recruitment either!!

[AGDee]

Part 1 of what NOT to do.

Once I had decided to rush, I started asking the guys what each of the sorority chapters was like and got pretty much the same stereotyped reply from all of them.

Poodles: They are all blonde and pretty and stuck up, except for the fat ones and they are just fat. (Yes, very odd.. they were both the pretty group AND the fat group) They were one of two big chapters on campus. I wasn't blonde and, although I was not a stick figure, I wasn't fat either, so I knew I didn't fit in. Karen and Theresa were in this group and I knew I didn't want to hang out with them, so I eliminated them as a possibility.

Labradors: Very popular girls, party girls, (not "good" girls), the other of the two big chapters.

Russian Toy Terriers: Who?? Super small chapter, nobody knows any of them, pretty much the invisible chapter. I also eliminated them as a possibilty immediately, simply based on lack of campus visibility and smallness.

Airedale Terrier: "They are the really stuck up girls who won't sleep with us", the smart girls, they're the good girls.

So, before attending even ONE party, I had eliminated two groups purely based on the opinions of the majority of the TKEs (and my dislike of one member of one group).Can we stay STUPID rushee???