AGDee's Retro aka How NOT to do recruitment

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I had (cringe) a bi-level cut with big permed hair. If you don’t know what a bi-level is, I’m not telling, cuz they call it something else now and I don’t want to admit it.. BUT, it was VERY in then, I swear it.

A victim of the mullet trend!

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Ocalagirl

That is just SOOOO wrong to leave us hanging like that!! I want more!!!!!!!! Great descriptions

Isn't that the real fun of recruitment threads? The suspense?? I mean, I had only gone to one party and blew everybody else off... What I've been doing is waiting until there are 100 additional views and then posting the next part.. lol. I typed out the whole dang thing last night in a Word doc so I just have to cut and paste it now.

Originally Posted by violetpretty

A victim of the mullet trend!

Oh my gosh, you said it! But nobody called it that then! Really! It was a bi-level and a very poofy one at that!

ETA: The TKEs were always calling me Adrienne because they said I looked like Adrienne Barbeau and my hair was really very much like hers (but I didn't wear such low cut shirts!)

[Ocalagirl]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Isn't that the real fun of recruitment threads? The suspense?? I mean, I had only gone to one party and blew everybody else off... What I've been doing is waiting until there are 100 additional views and then posting the next part.. lol. I typed out the whole dang thing last night in a Word doc so I just have to cut and paste it now.

I know I know but I am just an impatient person. Forgive me
It cracks me up that you blew everyone else off because I don't think most women today do that, but in the retro stories that has happened a lot. I didn't know it was an option not to go to parties and my rho gamma never told me if I suicided I wouldn't be eligible for snap bids. I only learned about that after the fact on here.

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Two Preference invitations???

I bet it was the Labradors!

How much you wanna bet? $10? $20? You know what, $50, I could use $50. I bet it was the labradors!

Maybe they were trying to make up for the little mishap on the first night. Good hearted people make mistakes.

Did ya give 'em a chance this time?

[AnatraAmore]

Here's another view... update please!

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Ocalagirl

I know I know but I am just an impatient person. Forgive me
It cracks me up that you blew everyone else off because I don't think most women today do that, but in the retro stories that has happened a lot. I didn't know it was an option not to go to parties and my rho gamma never told me if I suicided I wouldn't be eligible for snap bids. I only learned about that after the fact on here.

I really cannot remember having any contact with my rush counselor. I remember them saying not to suicide at some point but I'm not sure I knew what that meant anyway. I meant it when I said I was clueless. Plus, I was getting most of my rush advice from TKEs.. who don't get NPC rush at all!

[AGDee]

Yes, I received Preference invitations from both the Airedales and the Labradors. I have to admit, I was little put off that the Labradors would invite me to their Preference. I figured, if they didn't know who I was, then why were they inviting me? In retrospect, I'm guessing it was my resume (good grades, lots of leadership activities in high school) and the fact that nobody could figure out who I was and they wanted to know. A few may have known me since I hung out with the TKEs so much too. Both invitations were professionally printed, embossed, like wedding invitations. Both had the sorority flowers on them. They were absolutely gorgeous! I knew Pref was a big deal and I had to pick the perfect dress .. but I only had a couple with me.

It was Pref Sunday. We would attend parties in the morning, then sign bid cards and then, in the evening, if we got a bid, bid night activities. I was starting to get nervous now. I was hearing about some girls who didn’t get invitations. I went to Rich and Michael with my fears and they just kept saying “Don’t worry, ALL the sororities would have wanted you”. Wellll, I really wasn’t that confident. But, those Airedales really seemed to like me and I really liked them, especially Sherri.

It was the first weekend in February and probably 10 degrees outside but this was supposed to be formal, so I dressed formally. I decided on a maroon dress with big shoulder pads (it was IN, honest!), an asymmetrical hem with a big wide belt, and the reliable black pumps. I decided to go with pearls for jewelry this time.

The party this time was in one of the oldest buildings on campus. It was also where the Ambassador’s Society was housed and it was beautiful. Starkweather Hall.
As we entered, the ladies took our coats. Sherri took my arm and escorted me into the room. There were no nametags but they all remembered my name. The room was lit with candles (we could use real ones back then) and there were white table clothes over all the tables. She gave me a china plate (with red and buff roses on it) that had a piece of cheesecake on it with my initials in raspberry sauce on top. Wow! There was tea and coffee and I chose tea. The teacup and saucer matched the china plate. Oh! And embossed napkins too! This was really, really elegant. Sherri was talking to me about how much Airedale meant to her. Dawn, the chapter President, came up to me and was talking to me also. She told me that I had made a really good impression on the sisters and that she could see ME being President of their chapter someday (blink.. whoa!.. they like me!!). They gathered us into a circle for a ceremony. Sherri recited a poem that had been written by an Airedale alumna that made me cry. She kept making eye contact with me and smiling as she recited it. There were some other things said by other officers that were all very touching. Each of us were given a pearl and escorted to a wishing well where we told to drop the pearl in and make a wish. We were then presented with a hand sewn felt pin pillow with the sorority letters sewn onto it and we received red and buff roses. They sang the most beautiful song I had ever heard and I got misty eyed again. Sherri kept making eye contact and smiling at me while she was singing. When they were done, they began to escort us out. Sherri and I kept talking and talking and she looked at her watch and said “You had better get to your next party” and I said “I’m not going to any other parties”. She smiled really big and said she was so glad to hear that.

Now yes, all this would’ve been rush infractions in this day and age, but then, I think it was pretty typical. Rules were pretty loose. Other women who had gone to this Preference too included Renee and Libby. Kirsten had only gone to Russian Toy Terrier. Renee was also going to Labrador and she really liked them a lot. Libby was only going to Airedale, like me.

We signed bid cards after the second Prefs were done and, of course, I suicided Airedale. We were told that we would get a phone call by 7 pm if we didn’t get a bid.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Each of us were given a pearl and escorted to a wishing well where we told to drop the pearl in and make a wish. We were then presented with a hand sewn felt pin pillow with the sorority letters sewn onto it and we received red and buff roses.

Hmmn...well, at least I know whether or not to expect a big plot twist now.

[AGDee]

Well, yeah, no real twists, just lots of memories about frilly rush and how crazy I was. I found out later that we borrowed the china from Wayne State every year because we didn't own anything. It also became a problem when our Prefs were the same day! I don't remember how we resolved that. We might have borrowed from U Mich that year?

[susan314]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Well, yeah, no real twists, just lots of memories about frilly rush and how crazy I was. I found out later that we borrowed the china from Wayne State every year because we didn't own anything. It also became a problem when our Prefs were the same day! I don't remember how we resolved that. We might have borrowed from U Mich that year?

You might already know about this, but at Michigan State we had an enormous collection of teacups and saucers with a lot of sentimental meaning. It was a chapter tradition dating back to our founding that when a Chi alumnae married, she came back for a special tea and presented the chapter with a cup/saucer from her wedding china.

Those cups/saucers were gorgeous...so many different patterns/styles representing over 70 years of Chi chapter sisters. We only actually used them at Preference, and it terrified me to handle them...the thought of my clumsy self breaking a special teacup from a long ago sister's wedding china made me incredibly nervous. Thankfully, I don't recall any ever actually breaking...we treated them with the utmost respect!

Such a shame that all those memories are packed away in storage somewhere, now that Chi is closed. Makes me wonder what the heck is going to happen to them if the unthinkable happens and Chi doesn't reopen for a very long time. I hope that they are preserved in a safe place, whatever happens. (Side note - VandalSquirrel's grandmother was a Chi alumnae apparently from the 1920s (? on the year). Makes me wonder if she has a teacup in that collection, but VandalSquirrel suspects now.)

(I never got the chance to present a teacup to the chapter, since I married in 2003...after Chi closed. Of course, I didn't actually register for china anyhow. LOL. But, I had always planned on picking out a teacup/saucer that I liked anyhow and presenting it to the chapter. Perhaps when we reopen, they can host another tea for those of us who got married in the interim and feel like we missed out on a special Chi tradition. )

[VandalSquirrel]

So Dee, do tell, what was the song they sang, I'm guessing Special Family!

I'm not sure if my grandmother came back with a teacup, she married when she was much older, and had my father (an only child) when she was almost forty. Which is completely normal in this day and age, but back then, it was We have teacups at Idaho, but less and less women are registering for china in this day and age.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

So Dee, do tell, what was the song they sang, I'm guessing Special Family!

I still cry to this day every time I hear Special Family. (And I've never even been through Preference! We used it for other stuff too.)

When I found out that you could hear a recording of it on our website, I e-mailed the link to all my chapter sisters just so they could get misty eyed too.


(Yeah, I didn't register for china either...but I would have purchased and presented a nice teacup anyhow, just for tradition's sake. After all, it could be the pattern I "would" have chosen had I felt the need to register for china. )

[UGAalum94]

One of our members was a chapter consultant, and I remember her telling me later about the teacups. It sounded like a wonderful tradition.

I like what using them communicates at pref. in terms of a presenting a unified, elegant overall impression of tradition, while still reflecting the individual characteristics and unique merits of each individual member.

Does anyone else have the teacup tradition?

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by susan314

I still cry to this day every time I hear Special Family. (And I've never even been through Preference! We used it for other stuff too.)

When I found out that you could hear a recording of it on our website, I e-mailed the link to all my chapter sisters just so they could get misty eyed too.


(Yeah, I didn't register for china either...but I would have purchased and presented a nice teacup anyhow, just for tradition's sake. After all, it could be the pattern I "would" have chosen had I felt the need to register for china. )

Special Family was sang at a recent wedding, and the most recent wedding there was no singing (or it happened after I left, but before the tent blew away), however she did register for china. I lucked out and inherited two sets of silver, but my sister got the china so I'm planning on registering for some. What I don't understand is that she got the china, but registered for more when she was married the second time. I can't tell you how cranky I was when I had to help pack it and move it because she divorced him.

Hi, I'm that dork who has the music downloaded to her Ipod. I know I'm not the only one *cough* OTW *cough*.

[mystikchick]

i love the idea of the china tradition, what a sweet and sentimental and tangible way to link to all the women who came before you! susan, if i were you and i'd had to deal with the fact that all the memories embodied in that china were packed up somewhere in storage, i honestly think i would cry.