A retro midwest recruitment

howtheSunrose · #1 07-10-2007, 11:16 AM

I'm looking forward to this one! Glad I caught a retro thread from the beginning.

oldrusheenowmom · #2 07-10-2007, 11:21 AM

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.

ISUKappa · #3 07-10-2007, 11:26 AM

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.

oldrusheenowmom · #4 07-10-2007, 11:55 AM

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.

oldrusheenowmom · #5 07-10-2007, 12:14 PM

The next days blend together: We moved into our own dorms- for me out of air-conditioned Maple and into old and hot Oak- One of my new roommates was quite a bit different than me- She had started rush, but had no invites after the first day- We didn't really click- I remember not being able to even take a napkin out of a house; not to ask to use the restroom; our rush counselors sat on blankets in front of each of the houses- guarding purses that you couldn’t take inside. I remember being rushed by a member of the pom squad (Navy) , the golden girl (twirler) (Fuchsia) , a former basketball rival (Red) —all in houses that I really liked. I see girls faces still-- I remember a girl “pardoning” herself from our conversation because the tone sounded and she needed to sing (Pink) Kind of a negative. Two had strong home town ties- one the town my mom had just left and one, the town where I grew up and lived until my parents divorced (Teal and Yellow); it was nice to have people call me by name.That is probably one of the things I most enjoyed- leaving a house and having girls call your name- I'm not sure that is "legal" now--My ranking of houses was Navy, and Red, then Taupe and Fuchsia, ,and the two hometown ties. One of my sister’s classmates was the rush chair for Taupe.

khlkcca · #6 07-10-2007, 02:41 PM

Keep going. I love the speed. I can follow the story better.

I am so amazed by the people that can remember every detail of rush. My memories are more like yours, scattered random tidbits.

Cold air dorms and phone duty, oh how I miss college.

oldrusheenowmom · #7 07-10-2007, 04:24 PM

My next clear memory is sprinting to houses after lunch one day because the computer had messed up, but we couldn’t be late to a party. For Iowa Staters, I sprinted from the Memorial Union to the Red house- a house on the south side of sorority circle. I remember the cute Pink Panther and trench coat opening at the Navy house—and unfortunately, I remember not clicking with the girl who rushed me at the party—the pom girl came in (probably some kind of signal that I didn't learn about until I was on the other side of rush) but I think it was too late. (A little side bar: I truly enjoyed rush; however, as I said earlier, I was home sick for my boyfriend and not sure that I wanted to join- I probably talked about him too much—in addition, my sister was not only Teal- but during this time she was the rush chair for Teal at the University of Iowa; she tried to support me, but at the same time, she was- shall I say, a little stressed).