AGDee's Retro aka How NOT to do recruitment

[carnation]

Originally Posted by AGDee

They taught us songs, both internet worthy and NOT.

LOL!

I hope that any PNMs who are reading these retro stories are paying attention to those of us who are proclaiming "Don't do rush like I did!" Because recruitment counseling was in its infancy, some of us made decisions to exclude wonderful groups, drop out when we shouldn't, come close to shooting ourselves in the foot. Yes, we got bids where we wanted but we could have just as easily been dropped.

You could get an unskilled or uncaring RC (not common these days) and you may have to make major decisions without help, so please err on the side of choosing to go to as many parties as possible!

[honeychile]

I just love the tradition of the china cups! What a wonderful tribute to your chapter's longevity!!

Congratulations on your Airedale bid!

[Soliloquy]

Woo! You got lucky with that suicide bid, but I can't say that I am not suprised it turned out well. You had a lot of positive things going for you and a great support system. I almost felt your enthusiasm when you shared the reveal!

BTW, those little traditions you shared were so sweet.

[AGDee]

I never became the chapter president because my academic program was too demanding, but who knows, I could still end up a Alumnae Chapter/Club President or.. another President! If I do, then Dawn will get some credit for that!

I have no regrets, 23 years later, that I chose Alpha Gamma Delta. Oh yes, Sherri ended up being my sister-mother and I was thrilled. She was a great role model and friend.

The characters and what happened to them…

Rich: He decided after we had dated for a year and a half (a month into my sophomore year) that he was too young to be “tied down” and wanted to date other people, so we broke up. Two weeks later, he wanted to get back together, so we did. We went through that cycle a couple times and finally I met this very cute Lambda Chi associate (who ended up being my first husband) and told Rich to take a hike. He begged me not to break up with him, so I stayed. Two days later, he broke up with me. I think he just wanted to be the one to do it. He got really bad grades and a changed his major a few times, rarely dated anybody, and was still in school when I graduated. I have no idea what happened to him.

Michael: We remained very close friends and most people thought we were dating, but we weren’t. He graduated in 3 years because he was a chronic overachiever. He got a job with an auditing firm so he could get his CPA and had his sights set on buying the firm when the owner retired. The owner happened to be the father of my aunt (aunt by marriage, my mom’s brother’s wife). Michael ended up marrying one of the owner’s daughters, so he was my aunt’s brother-in-law, which was very cool. He became a half partner in the firm. Until he fell in love with the secretary at the office, left the firm taking half the clients with him, taking everything from their condo, leaving his wife with nothing at all .. and I never heard from him again. That family wasn’t too happy with him. I often wonder where he is now and what his side of the story was. He has such a common name that a Google search doesn’t help!

Nancy: She didn’t make grades the second semester either and was booted from college. I was glad because she had this nasty habit of going after every boy that I liked. Last I heard, she was living with someone, was pregnant and was going to a local community college. She hasn’t attended any of our high school class reunions, but I also have often wondered what happened to her.

Renee: She was so happy as an Alpha Xi Delta and she and I remained friendly, but not real close. We lost touch after college but then, about 6 years ago, some Office Max representatives were in our building giving us free stuff in hopes that we’d order some of it later on. You know, like a vendor fair. This familiar looking woman stopped me and said “Did you go to Eastern?” and I said “Renee, the Alpha Xi?” and she said “Denise, the Alpha Gam!!” and we laughed and hugged. She was just as bubbly and sweet as ever.

Kirsten: She ended up being the President of Sigma Kappa and was always sweet. I liked her a lot.

Libby: We ended up being roommates when I was a junior and she was a senior. She graduated with a 4.0 and did her internship as a medical technologist at the hospital where my mom was working as a med tech. She kind of ended up having a boyfriend living with us the last summer in our apartment. She married the dude and now lives in Texas and has two kidlets.

Sherri: She became my sister-mother and one of my closest sisters always. She got me the best job on campus (as a campus operator with her). We kept in touch for a while after graduation and I remember her wedding well. She worked as an accountant for a while but then abandoned that job to sell jewelry at home parties. She ended up getting divorced shortly after having her first child and I never heard from her again. I have tried to look her up but she’s listed as a “lost sister” on our website.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by carnation

LOL!

I hope that any PNMs who are reading these retro stories are paying attention to those of us who are proclaiming "Don't do rush like I did!" Because recruitment counseling was in its infancy, some of us made decisions to exclude wonderful groups, drop out when we shouldn't, come close to shooting ourselves in the foot. Yes, we got bids where we wanted but we could have just as easily been dropped.

You could get an unskilled or uncaring RC (not common these days) and you may have to make major decisions without help, so please err on the side of choosing to go to as many parties as possible!

I'm quoting this to emphasize it. I truly had no idea that my grades, previous/current leadership positions, etc. had anything to do with whether I'd get into a sorority. I had no idea that some women would get cut from all the chapters or go to Prefs but not get a bid until I was halfway through rush. I was really afraid at that point that I'd cut off my nose to spite my face. I truly didn't know if I was going to get a bid or not that night.

I also want to say that the face of each sorority at Eastern Michigan changed dramatically within a few years. With only 30 or so members, my chapter lost 3 members who all had 4.0's all in one semester. We no longer had the highest GPA on campus after that. We had one large group of members turn into wild party animals whom we had to constantly keep in check. THEN, those of us who were keeping them under control graduated and within two years, the chapter was almost shut down. I was the Chapter Advisor then and couldn't believe the crap that they started doing right under my nose. It was a living nightmare to see them go downhill so fast. Then, they were back up again and doing great, stayed at Total for several years in a row, which was very unusual and were chugging along pretty well. But, they were a very different chapter in 1990 than they were in 1984! The Sigma Kappas too... they went from very few members to Total in about a year and a half and were a really wonderful chapter. The Tri Sigmas stayed consistently solid and, from what I understand are still very solid today. The others have ebbed and waned. The point? Going by fraternity men's opinions is really stupid. They don't really know the ins and outs of a chapter. And, the stereotypes today may be very different than the stereotype in a year or two.

This was a lot of fun. I hadn't thought about my recruitment in a very long time and the more I thought about it, the more I remembered. I'm surprised how much came back to me. Those were the best of times... <clicking heels> There's no place like college, there's no place like college, there's no place like college...