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Welcome to our newest member, AlfredEmpom |
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07-10-2007, 11:10 AM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 83
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A retro midwest recruitment
I have had so much fun reading other retro stories that I decided to post my own- I hope that pnms today can find a little relevant advice and some humor- remember this is 1983, so I am using that vocabulary- I don’t remember much about clothes except espadrilles were mentioned in the rush guide, and one afternoon, I wore a pink, low waist dress with matching pink keds and my sister said I looked like a Blue (see below)- Iowa State had sixteen sororities then. I named them by color because I am not creative-
Yellow
Brown
Orange
Red
Pink
Teal
Seafoam
Taupe
White
Purple
Green
Gray
Fuchsia
Navy
Blue
Burgandy
In the fall of 1983, I headed off to Iowa State with a slightly askew home life. During the summers, I lived with my dad, so didn’t really do much rush preparation with my mom (a Phi Mu) or sister. Mistake number one-- my sister was in a sorority at the University of Iowa and knew things; instead (Mistake number two) I chose to listen to my boyfriend (now husband) who based his thoughts on his view of the sororities from six years before. He didn’t want me to join a sorority, so I had negative thoughts. Add to that intense “home” sickness- my mom took a new job and moved. So I was homesick for a home that no longer existed. However, pre-boyfriend, I had always wanted to be in a big, classy, sorority. Based on knowledge (from I seriously don’t know where), I dreamed of being a Blue. So, my advice on the houses was that Gray and Blue were bad from my boyfriend—and my sister added that Blue were snooty. I had also done a little work and had recs to several houses- In addition, my grandmother had been a Navy, while my sister was a Teal.
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07-10-2007, 11:13 AM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: My music room
Posts: 166
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Yay for an Iowa State story!
I have a really good friend who goes there and is in a frat!
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07-10-2007, 11:16 AM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 32
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Wow, you had several connections to different chapters! Should make for an interesting story!
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07-10-2007, 11:16 AM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 82
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I'm looking forward to this one! Glad I caught a retro thread from the beginning.
__________________
Kappa Delta Sorority
P.C. 2006
Love in AOT
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07-10-2007, 11:21 AM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 83
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Day One
Back then, Iowa State housed all of the rushees in Maple because of the air conditioning, and you received a rush roommate. My roommate, Linda, came from Edina, MN, and was awesome. Then, to my surprise, Karen, an old basketball rival from “the town next door,” was housed next door. We dropped the “rival” status and quickly became friends, too. We also suffered from “miss our boyfriends syndrome.” I don’t remember the other girls in my rush group, but do remember my rush counselor was a peppy, brunette. Iowa State had 16 party day, 12 party day, 8 party day, 5 party day and Preference. The first day was 16 house tours and my rush counselor told us to try to write something- such as the color of the carpet- to distinguish the houses.
Day One-- Talk about coincidence or fate. My first party was at Blue. I was absolutely floored when at exactly 9:00, women came pouring out of the house- singing, cheering, smiling. It was truly electrifying and I was got unawares (maybe I should have asked my sister more questions). The house was beautiful and had new blue carpet (I wrote it in my book). My tour guide was nice and as nervous as I was- her first rush on the other side. The rest of the day is a blur of memories: cold air dorms, phone duty, an open courtyard, cramped and hot…until the last house, Purple. Karen and I were exhausted and decided we were tired of playing the game. We walked into the house like we had been there before. We sat and laughed and joked and relaxed with the ladies. The house wasn’t popular and we had little in common except that we had a great time. The ladies let us take charge, and we both would say the party was one of our most refreshing memories.
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07-10-2007, 11:26 AM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,464
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Yay for an Iowa State story! It'll be interesting to see what rush was like 14 years before I went through at Iowa State.
__________________
It's gonna be a hootenanny.
Or maybe a jamboree.
Or possibly even a shindig or lollapalooza.
Perhaps it'll be a hootshinpaloozaree. I don't know.
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07-10-2007, 11:55 AM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 83
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Results and Invites
The next morning the rush counselors handed out our computerized invitation list; I was lucky and received invites back to all the houses. I had to cut; The first cut was easy- my boyfriend had warned me about Gray, and the second and third were easy too- I hadn’t been impressed with Seafoam and had felt claustrophobic at Green (ironically my daughter’s house). But the last choice—I have a terrible conscience. I knew it should be Purple, but I felt like I owed them a second visit. So instead, I cut my dream house because of the things my husband and others had said. I hope most of you are saying grow up and think for yourself- don’t worry, I have- but I hope pnms reading this realize the choice is ultimately about you and what you have to live with.
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