Milli's Retro Thread

[milli vanilli]

Ok, since I have had so much fun reading the other retro recruitment threads, I thought I would do a retro thread regarding my recruitment (or “rush”) as it was in my day. I don’t believe I have seen any other retro threads from my particular, awkward era. I went through recruitment in 1990 at a west coast university. Big hair was still in but the 80s were done. Grunge hadn’t yet imposed the mandatory wearing of strait hair and plaid shirts on my friends and I. Recruitment still had some frills but was starting to be toned down some.

My parents had attended the same public university that I was attending but were not in the greek system. My step-mother was in a sorority at another university that had a chapter at my school; I wasn’t sure (and still don’t know) whether that made me a legacy to that sorority. I did not have any recs. So I guess I was lucky that legacy status and recs weren’t a big deal at this school.

Originally, I wasn’t planning on going through recruitment at all. However, at the end of Summer, two of my best friends from high school, who were attending another university, told me they were going through recruitment at their school, and I found out that a friend of mine from my summer job (we will call her “Jen” because there are a bazillion Jens in my age group) was going through recruitment at the same university I was attending. So, I figured I would go through recruitment too. I knew next to nothing about the greek system and, admittedly, was overly influenced by what my friends thought and were doing.

There were eleven sororities participating in recruitment, with another new sorority doing its recruitment and colonizing after the conclusion of regular recruitment. The twelve were as follows:

Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Phi
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Delta Zeta
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi
Sigma Kappa

I looked up the top twelve songs of 1990 and decided to use the songs as my code names. I was surprised to see that a few of the titles are kind of dirty, but I am sticking to the top songs idea nonetheless. The top songs of 1990 (and my code names) are as follows:

Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinead O’Connor)
Vogue (Madonna)
Vision of Love (Mariah Carey)
Poison (BBD)
From a Distance (Bette Midler)
Love Takes Time (Mariah Carey)
Hold On (Wilson Phillips)
Because I Love You (Stevie B)
It Must Have Been Love (Roxette)
Pump Up the Jam (Techtronic)
Rub You the Right Way (Johnny Gill)
Do Me! (BBD)

Next post, Open House.

PS: My high school graduating class voted Milli Vanilli as favorite band. Hence, my user name.

[betsykate]

I'm excited! Go Vogue!! (My mom loves Madonna )

[33girl]

ha ha ha. This is potential comedy gold.

"I really liked the Do Mes, but they were kind of sluts."

"The Hold Ons were awesome except for the one really fat girl they kept in the kitchen."

[FSUZeta]

can't wait to hear more!

[KSUViolet06]

OMG

BBD

I was in love with them in elementary school! My mom wouldn't let me listen to "Do me" though for obvious reasons.

I officially love this thread.

[milli vanilli]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

OMG

BBD

I was in love with them in elementary school! My mom wouldn't let me listen to "Do me" though for obvious reasons.

I officially love this thread.

I am officially old. Oh well.

[LucyKKG]

The way they did the Ritz Hotel theme is BIZARRE!

[Scandia]

I was in the 7th grade when most of those songs debuted! It is great that you remember so much.

[Benzgirl]

Where is, "Smells like Teen Spirit"?

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

Where is, "Smells like Teen Spirit"?

pssst...Benz...that was '91/'92... this was just pre-"grunge"

And your new sig made me laugh. I love Karen, even when I didn't like the show much the last few seasons, she always cracked me up.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

pssst...Benz...that was '91/'92... this was just pre-"grunge"

.

Then I'm really old!

[milli vanilli]

First off, sorry about the blinding bold font below. I couldn’t get it to go away and didn’t want to retype the descriptions so I was stuck with it.

As I mentioned, we could attend up to eight houses for House Tours. I opened my invite list and was really disappointed to find I did not have a full schedule. Only seven houses had invited me back to House Tours- Nothing Compares 2 U, Vogue, Poison, From a Distance, Hold On, Pump Up the Jam and Rub You the Right Way. I was dropped by Vision of Love, Because I Love You, It Must Have Been Love and Do Me!

At the time, I was shocked because other than Do Me! (at which I had asked for food) and Vision of Love, I was dropped by houses that were considered less competitive, and I still had what were supposedly the “top houses” on my schedule. However, I was really excited to still have houses that I liked on my list, including my favorite, Poison. Anyway, here are the House Tours reports:

Nothing Compares 2 U: This sorority’s physical house was small compared to the others. I had heard that, because of its smaller size, not all members could live-in the standard two years that members lived-in at the other houses at this university. I didn’t see the woman from the first round that I felt I had really clicked with. Like the first round at this house, I only talked to one woman. The problem was that we struggled to carry a conversation with each other. I left this house doubting that I would get asked back.

Vogue: I remember thinking the house was decorated cute but don’t remember much else. Again, this was the house that had a reputation as struggling, and I was hoping I would be able to drop them after this round. (I know; I shouldn’t have listened to the stereotypes.)

Poison: I recall a safari theme. I think the women wore khaki outfits. The house was really pretty. I again liked the women I met but didn’t feel the conversation was as good as it was during the first round. That had me worried as I still felt that I would fit in well with these women.

From a Distance: I don’t remember much about the tours at this house. I do remember this house being the subject of a widespread rumor that they had automatically cut everyone with grades below something like a 3.5 after first round. I didn’t have grades that high and had gotten an invite back, so I knew it wasn’t true.

Hold On: So the party before Hold On was the empty party on my schedule since I only had seven houses and not eight. I decided to stop and get a soda at a convenience store near Hold On and wait it out there. As I was walking by Hold On, my recruitment counselor with the anchor earrings was stationed outside Hold On and spotted me. She invited me to hang out with her during this party. I was really flustered. I didn’t feel like I could say “no, I don’t want to be seen hanging out in front of Hold On and not at a party” so I said “yes” and sat down with her and we chatted. A few minutes later, the recruitment chairman for Hold On came outside to ask what was wrong and why I wasn’t inside. My recruitment counselor explained that I didn’t have a party to attend so we were hanging out until the next party when I was scheduled to attend Hold On’s tour. The recruitment chair was very gracious and told me she looked forward to seeing me later. However, I was mortified and certain that Hold On would drop me after this round, having learned I didn’t have a full schedule. The actual tour at Hold On was nice, which was a pleasant surprise following the snobby hotel theme from the day before. The physical house was really beautiful, and the rooms were decorated very cute. I had a nice conversation and was glad that I was able to see a better side of this house. However, I doubted I would get asked back after the strange “why aren’t you inside” exchange.

Pump Up the Jam: I don’t remember much from the tour at this house other than feeling bad for the women since they had to give tours of this house and have it compared to the other sorority houses on campus. (Recall that this is the house that looked like it was built in the 60s or 70s).

Rub You the Right Way: I believe this house had a cruise ship theme. The conversation was ok but not great. I still felt intimidated by how pretty the girls in this house were. There was also a widespread rumor about this house that there was a sign at the back door that read: “Do you look like a Rub You the Right Way today?” I doubt this was true, but that was the rumor going around. I was worried that these girls were out of my league and that I wouldn’t fit in.

We could attend five houses for the third round, Activities Day. I had attended seven parties during Hours Tours and marked down Vogue and Pump Up the Jam as the two houses I did not want to return to for Activities Day. Poison was still my favorite.

Heather had sustained pretty heavy cuts after Open House but still had a few houses on her schedule that she was excited about. Amy’s experience was similar to mine- she had lost some houses but still had a pretty full, if not full, schedule. I think Do Me! was still her favorite, though she was starting to like From a Distance a lot too. I don’t recall seeing Jen since before the Open House parties, so I wasn’t sure how it was going for her at this point.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by Scandia

I was in the 7th grade when most of those songs debuted! It is great that you remember so much.

At least THIS thread makes me feel young! I was in sixth grade. Thanks Milli!

[ktbug10474]

what happened ?!?!?!?!

[milli vanilli]

I opened up my invite list and was relieved to find that, for the first time since Open House parties, I had a full schedule. I was returning to From a Distance, Hold On and Pump Up the Jam.

Heather dropped out of recruitment before Preference Night. I am not sure whether this was because she was dropped by all the houses she liked or by all of the houses altogether. I can’t remember what Amy had for Preference Night other than From a Distance which was her clear first choice. Before Preference Night, Amy learned that she had some sort of an emergency at home. It may have been a fire at her parents' home, but I am not sure anymore. Because of that, she could not attend the parties for Preference Night. However, Amy didn’t drop out of recruitment. She told the recruitment counselors what was going on, and they told her they would notify the houses of the reason why Amy was not in attendance at the Preference Night parties.

Preference Night was dressy, with the PNMs and members wearing cocktail style dresses or dressier. I had a pretty, but simple, black dress that fell to just above the knee and had long sleeves and a tie at the waste. The houses did a take on a progressive dinner: The first house served salad, the second a heavy appetizer and the third a dessert. Unlike the other rounds, I can remember the order in which I went to the houses on Preference Night and will do the recap in that order. Here we go:

Pump Up the Jam: There was still daylight during this party, which ruined the mood during the candlelight part of the Pref ceremony. Since this was the first party, salad was served, and I remember having difficulty eating it gracefully. (Once I was on the other side of recruitment, I hated it if my rush crush turned out to be scheduled for the first party on Pref, because you couldn’t do anything about the lighting, salad or fact that there was a chance that the party would be less memorable after the PNM attended the other two parties.) The members at Pump Up the Jam all wore black dresses and looked very nice. These women seemed to have a very strong sisterhood, but I just didn’t feel that I would be happy in this house.
From a Distance: It was dusk when we entered and dark by the time we finished the appetizer. The members wore all white dresses which looked angelic in the candlelit ceremony. The members in this house still struck me as very genuine. This house had the reputation as being the “good girls” who cared about grades and not partying. From my observations, that reputation seemed accurate and was something I liked.
Hold On: The women at this house looked beautiful and were dressed in black dresses. The house looked gorgeous, and I was paired with the woman who I had spent time with during the House Tours and Activities Day parties. The letters I received from the members and the ceremony were both very touching. The women I had met at Hold On seemed diverse from each other, yet they seemed to have a close sisterhood. I felt special and comfortable, and this party solidified that my first choice was Hold On.

So, I filled out my bid preference card and ranked Hold On as my first choice and From a Distance as my second choice. Bid Day was the next day, and all the PNMs were to meet in their recruitment groups in a field to open their bids. We were told that we would get a call if we didn’t get a bid to any sorority. So I went to bed, nervous about whether I would get a call or find that I did not get a bid to Hold On.