"The Row" in the background -- 14 fraternities and sororities in a horseshoe shape around the field.
I was in a fairly small group being taken on a tour of the campus. I befriended a very cute guy and a sweet, soft-spoken girl who looked like she was probably born wearing a Laura Ashley dress. I can’t think of a clever name for her so she’ll just be “Laura Ashley Laurel.”
At the end of our tour we were told about sorority and fraternity Rush. (Yes, that’s Rush, not Recruitment.) The three of us headed over to the Student Union to sign up.
Have any of you ever noticed those flyers on campuses that read, “Rush Resumes” with phone numbers you can tear off the bottom? Well, we passed one on the way to the Student Union and the cute guy nervously asked, “Do we need a resume to go through Rush?” To which I replied, “Oh my gosh! I hope not.” Laurel was clearly brainier than we were and told us it had nothing to do with Rush; the flyers were referring to resumes prepared
quickly. Phew! Obviously I had no clue about sororities. I think that summer had been the first time I had even heard of them. (Good thing Maryland didn’t require recs or I would have been in big trouble.)
So I signed up and got my Rush Booklet:
After leaving the Student Union, I decided to take a walk around where I thought the sororities were located. I saw girls moving into houses with Greek letters on them and although I couldn’t read the Greek letters yet, I knew I had found them.
I was in awe. My kinda-boyfriend had been talking about “Bicker” and the eating clubs over the summer. I had completely romanticized the sororities at Maryland as if they had come right out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. It all seemed so magical. I thought about how amazing it would be to actually be a member of one of those groups.
One good thing about my perception was that I didn’t expect to get a bid to a sorority. I thought of it as a slim possibility that would be a great honor. The tough part would be talking to all those women. I was excruciatingly shy. The senior quote chosen for me in my high school yearbook had been, “………..” since I rarely spoke 2 words to anyone but my closest friends. I was trying to change my life and be more outgoing though, so I was going to give Rush a try.
I got back to the motel and learned from my mother that the university had found me temporary housing. I would be sharing a lounge in La Plata, which was one of the high-rise dorms out in the middle of nowhere, with 7 other girls until a more permanent spot could be found.
La Plata is way on the right beyond the football stadium. On the left is "the graham cracker" (7 sororities). The rest of the fraternities and sororities are around the graham cracker and on "the Row."
My mom helped me move in and we said a tearful good-bye. She was booked on the next flight back to L.A.
The lounge wasn’t too horrible. They put 4 bunk-beds in the room with dressers and desks. Everyone on the hall hated us though. They wanted their lounge back. I could understand that, but it’s not like we chose to be there. I quickly called my friend, “Suzanne”
to let her know where I was and found out that she was going through Rush too. Yay! She was a sophomore so I think she already had an idea about which sororities she was interested in, but she didn’t tell me anything about them. I was glad. It didn’t matter to me what they were like. I didn't want to know about stereotypes. I’d feel lucky to get into any one of them! I asked the other girls in the lounge if they were going through Rush. They all looked at me like I had two heads. Oh, well.
I studied the Rush booklet (the "vitals" on each sorority) and made flashcards so I could learn the Greek alphabet. Psi and Upsilon had me confused but, fortunately, none of the sororities had those letters.
The first two days of Rush would be spent visiting all 18 chapters. Then we would get invitations. (The rushees didn’t do rankings.) From there would be Set of 10, then Set of 4, then Preference with 2 sororities.
I’ll start my first day of Rush in my next post later today.
Meanwhile, I’ve got a question for you. Should I mess with Jess or not?
As a fellow Terrapin, I just HAD to guess which houses were which when she told her Retro story. As it stands, it’ll be pretty easy for her to figure out which ones mine are based solely on geography. Should I scramble them around to make it tougher for her or not? <evil grin>
Gwyn, I should have called you as soon as I had problems. (She installed Fire Fox on my computer a few weeks ago…you should have seen her fingers fly! I was like, “what are you doing?” She’s amazing.) 
You’re not into leopard-skin bikinis or bondage…….er, nevermind. None of my business. 
Hybrid Mode
