Can you stand another retro thread?

[That80sRush]

The pnm's are being admirably discreet and are not posting threads live with lots of commentary. So, until a few more recruitments conclude so that we can enjoy reading some of the play by play, how about another old one?

The groups at my school were:

St. Elmo’s Fire
Sixteen Candles
Pretty in Pink
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Some Kind of Wonderful
Footloose
Valley Girl
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Breakfast Club

[phimu88]

GREAT!!! My favorite movies!! You forgot Dirty Dancing though LOL jk

[That80sRush]

Well, Dirty Dancing was the late 80's, and this was in the early 80's. Ferris Bueller was in '86, so I did stretch my definition a bit since I love that movie.

A little background first...

I grew up in the same town as a large university that I’ll call Big State U. Every year when the pledge classes of all the sororities were printed in the paper, I’d study it to see who I knew from school, who I knew from the department store teen board (this was a group that did fashion shows and promotions for the store) had pledged where. I had a pretty good idea that Sixteen Candles and Some Kind of Wonderful were the best, based on the girls who pledged.

My decision of where to go to college was based on four things: whether there was a good mall in town, if there was a Greek system, the annual snowfall – it had to be minimal, and my mother’s insistence that I go anywhere but Big State U. After careful consideration, I selected Small Private School.

Like all of my high school friends who were headed to Big State U, I spent the summer before freshman year getting recs. We all typed up (on a typewriter, of course) resume’s with our senior photos and high school transcripts attached to distribute. One of my mom’s co-workers, an active Phi Mu alum, stepped in to help me prepare the resume and select the photo. Since Small Private School didn’t have a Phi Mu chapter, she felt that she wasn’t unduly influencing me and could be objective. To this day, there is soft spot in my heart for Phi Mu’s because of her generosity.

My best friend was going to Big State U, and her mom was a Fast Times at Ridgemont High alum. Her older sister had also been a Fast Times at Big State U. So, that was one rec down. One of our good friends’ mom was a St. Elmo’s Fire, so there was another rec. The owner of the store where I’d worked for three years said she’d like to write me a rec for Pretty in Pink. She added that her sister, a Sixteen Candles, would also send one in if I could give her my resume. Sixteen Candles!! Oh, they were the BEST, and I was so grateful that I’d have a rec for them, since I knew that you didn’t get invited past the first round of parties without them.

In stepped my dad’s cousin Topsie (a great lady who has since passed away, that’s what she was really called instead of her given name, Frances) who had been a Fast Times at Big State School back in the 50’s. She lived in a different town and we didn’t see her often, but she knew when someone needed help with rush and was happy to come to my rescue. Topsie took copies of my resume and went to work in her small town. Within two weeks she wrote back that recs were being written for me by her friends in Some Kind of Wonderful (yay! I needed one of those), Fast Times, Pretty in Pink, and Valley Girl. I knew that Valley Girl was a not too strong group at Big State U, so I probably wouldn’t be joining them, but it was nice of Topsie’s friend to write a rec for me anyway.

My mom tried to help, but having attended a tiny liberal arts college without a Greek system in a different state, she really didn’t know where to start. She was also perhaps a bit preoccupied since she was preparing to work out of the country for six months, starting the week after I would arrive at Small Private School. (At the time I thought this was really cool and adventurous of her. Now, it seems the antithesis of heli-moming.) We went shopping for rush clothes, and she was really good about supporting me in my life long goal of joining a sorority.

I still didn’t have recs for Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day off, or Footloose, but figured that since I’d never heard of them they probably weren’t going to be ones I’d choose anyway.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

I'm a Phi Mu, so even though there isn't one at your campus, I'll root for Pretty in Pink!

[WCsweet<3]

There is a special place in my heart for Footloose, but the Molly Ringwald movies... SO HARD TO CHOOSE!

[APhi4Ever]

Breakfast Club!

[That80sRush]

By the time I loaded up my things in the car with the UHaul carrier on top, drove 500 plus miles to Small Private School with my mom, and moved into my dorm, Best Friend had already finished rush at Big State U. She was a Fast Times pledge, along with a group of our good friends from high school. Another cluster of friends had pledged St. Elmo’s fire. I was so, so ready for rush, and it was deferred for three excruciating weeks into the first semester.

I loved my roommate, I loved my classes, and loved everything about Small Private School, though I’d left a high school boyfriend back at home and I missed my friends. A lot of my thinking focused on what I should do “if” I decided to go back home to Big State U for my sophomore year.

As I got to know the girls on my hall, we talked about rush. Most of them were thinking of going through just to see if they’d like to be in a sorority. This seemed crazy to me, since I’d been planning to be in a sorority since I was in junior high. I told them about my recs, and many of them said “What’s a rec?” I was privately horrified for them, since I knew that they’d never get in a sorority without one.

We had early meetings with our Rho Chi’s, and received a Go Greek booklet. If I’d spent as much time studying for my SAT’s as I did pouring over that booklet, I wouldn’t have had to take them a second time. There were two pages for each sorority, one with the composite, and one with candids. Though I knew that sororities had colors, I was intrigued to learn that they had jewels, animals, flowers, and philanthropies too. My roommate and I squinted at the tiny composite photos to find the RAs from our dorm.

This was the first year that rush was deferred at SPS, as it had always been held before classes started. As a result, the sorority members really didn’t know how to act when they were told “no contact, no letters.” They were allowed to wear jewelry with their sorority letters, but no sportswear, once classes started. Unfortunately, this was not explained to the freshmen. The upperclass girls seemed either standoffish or snotty. At one fraternity party, my roommate and I were introduced to two Pretty in Pinks who seemed really nice, even though they were only able to make eye contact and smile at us. They guys said “They can’t talk to you, sorry.” Finally, an explanation!

The first official event was a meet and greet on a Sunday afternoon. I put on one of my bright floral wrap sundresses, espadrilles, and my add-a-bead necklace, and headed over with my roommate.

This event was not particularly well organized, since there were no name tags. As my roommate and I arrived, a pretty girl with curly red hair came over to us and introduced herself. She asked if we were excited about going through rush, and I told her that my best friend had already gone through at Big State U, and I was looking forward to it. She asked where if my friend had decided to join, and when I told her she was a Fast Times pledge she said excitely “I’m a Fast Times too!” I noticed her pin, and had a pang of longing to wear a pin too. I then met another Fast Times from my state, the President of Fast Times, a cool elegant blonde, and they introduced me to some of their friends in Pretty in Pink and Valley Girl, and a St. Elmo’s Fire from my state. I was still squinting to see what letters were on the pins.

[jayneelizabeth]

Go SIXTEEN CANDLES!!!

"Oh and they are so PERKY" Haha love that one

[Benzgirl]

I'm picturing the Ferris Beuhlers to look like Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara)

[That80sRush]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

I'm picturing the Ferris Beuhlers to look like Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara)

Actually they did! With spiral perms. They were a very pretty group of girls.

On to the first round...

The first night of rush was three parties. Best Friend had coached me about how to act for rush: Be really friendly, make a good impression. Since this was late September, it was time for fall clothes. I wore my navy blue LL Bean button down corduroy shirt dress, a maroon Gant paisley shirt under it, a maroon Aigner belt, and my navy suede espadrilles. There were a few girls on my hall wearing pants, and I looked at them with the same disdain you’d have for someone eating with the wrong fork: they just didn’t know any better.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: This group’s facility was small-ish, so they didn’t have a lot of room for moving around. Chairs for the rushees were on the perimeter of the room, with chairs for the sisters in a circle facing them. We went in single file and were seated, and it was like musical chairs for the members. When the girl to the right moved over, it was time to meet a new sister. This was one of the two traditionally Jewish sororities on campus, and the girls were all sophisticated, pretty and bubbly. My roommate’s older sister had been a member of this group at SPS and had deactivated three years earlier, so she was going to cut them after the first round before they could cut her.

St. Elmo’s Fire: I went to this party excited to tell the members about how a bunch of my friends had just pledged St. Elmo’s at Big State U. The couple of times that I brought it up, the members didn’t seem too impressed. This was a classy, conservative group of girls.

Sixteen Candles: Oh, I was excited for this one! We met a group of alumnae who explained that the sorority would be recolonizing that year. I talked to a nice alum and was sure to follow Best Friend’s advice: Be really friendly, make a good impression. They showed a slideshow, and told us that this would be their only party of rush, and would have events after rush. I was a little confused about why such a great group would have to do this.

Next day, the rest of the parties:

Pretty in Pink: Any of the guys who commented about this sorority talked about how it had the prettiest girls, and the easiest too. I really liked everyone I met, and they were a sassy, enthusiastic group.

Breakfast Club: What a fun group! I really liked all the girls I talked to here, and they really seemed to like each other. This was the other of the two Jewish sororities, though more non-Jewish girls joined here, I’d heard. I could see why. They were a blast.

Fast Times: I was re-acquainted with my new friends from the meet and greet here, and the President stopped by to say hello. I also met the Rush Chairman, who seemed really happy to meet me. I felt so welcome and happy here, I hated for the party to end.

Some Kind of Wonderful: Finally! I was really excited for this one. I learned from their composite in the Go Greek book that they weren’t as large as the others, but I knew how good they were at Big State U. This was the only party with two rushees per sister, and even then there were long lulls in the conversation. I was trying really hard to be really friendly and make a good impression, but it was hard since the sisters I met didn't seem to be able to do the same. I wanted to like it here, I expected to love it here. I just didn’t.

Footloose: Judging by the photos in the Go Greek book, my dorm friends and I had concluded that this was not going to be a group we’d join. Still, the girls were friendly and talkative, and it was a much nicer experience than the let-down of Some Kind of Wonderful.

Valley Girl: This group seemed to have the highest percentage of blondes. They were nice, and the Valley Girl that I’d met at the meet and greet waved and said hello. I liked them, but didn’t really love them. I was surprised that they were so good, knowing that it wasn’t a really strong group at Big State U.

Our Rho Chi met with us individually the next day with our invitation lists, and we could go back to six parties. I’d been invited back to all eight, and I quickly crossed off Ferris Bueller’s Day Off after that weird rotation experience and Some Kind of Wonderful since it was so painful.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by That80sRush

Since this was late September, it was time for fall clothes. I wore my navy blue LL Bean button down corduroy shirt dress, a maroon Gant paisley shirt under it, a maroon Aigner belt, and my navy suede espadrilles.

L.
O.
L.
I'm sure the under-30 crowd is cringing at the visual, but I know you were STYLIN' in that outfit at the time!

[AlphaXi_Husky]

Loving this story - and the code names!

Sidenote - is anyone else put off by the JC Penney commercial that is a rip off of the Breakfast Club? I find it so annoying.

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by AlphaXi_Husky

Sidenote - is anyone else put off by the JC Penney commercial that is a rip off of the Breakfast Club? I find it so annoying.

I hate the commercial. The first time I saw it I got mad because I thought it was a remake of the original Breakfast Club. Personally, I don't think any Molly Ringwald originals would be any good without her.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by AlphaXi_Husky

Sidenote - is anyone else put off by the JC Penney commercial that is a rip off of the Breakfast Club? I find it so annoying.

LOL, YES. The first time we saw it, I looked at my husband and said "ugh, why'd they have to mess with the Breakfast Club? The kids they're targeting probably don't even know what it's a take-off from".

[AlphaXi_Husky]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

LOL, YES. The first time we saw it, I looked at my husband and said "ugh, why'd they have to mess with the Breakfast Club? The kids they're targeting probably don't even know what it's a take-off from".

I know - I think the real reason I don't like it is because it makes me feel old.