Back in the day . . .

[Leslie Anne]

Wow….thoughts of back in the day.

Yes, honey, Rush with frills! I get a little sad that Maryland no longer has Formal Rush in the fall….all the sisters lined up outside the chapter houses wearing their matching outfits trying to out-yell each other. (We wore black, straight skirts, white blouses and black bow ties. We probably looked like flight attendants, lol, but I loved it.) The Rushees had to endure rankings from the frat boys who brought their couches out onto their lawns. They’d zero in on a particular girl and hold up big cards, 1 through 10. Rushees took flowers and inspirational hand-written letters with them after Preference. And, yes, real candles.

The main hang out for Greeks was the ‘Vous which was pretty disgusting but had been around forever. It always had at least an inch of gunk on the floor and they only served beer on tap. Very bad, watery beer. I think of the ‘Vous every time I hear “How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths (often requested by the sillier sorority girls who thought it was a great “party” song – did they ever listen to the lyrics?) Around 1986 or so, they built Sante Fe Café and that became the nicer hang out with food and mixed drinks. The front patio was the place to be seen…in your letters…drinking. The ‘Vous is now gone. Not sure about SFC.

Campus traditions: Monday night serenades by the fraternity men in their coats and ties, stealing composites and plastering them with suggestive phrases cut out of magazines, massive scavenger hunts during Greek Week. Greek Week was just the best. The talent competition was a big highlight. I remember one year the Alpha Phis and whoever they were teamed up with did a Flashdance kinda thing and everyone freaked when they had water splashing down onto all the electrical equipment. That same year I pranced around the stage dressed as Snow White with my sisters as the dwarfs. It’s a hazy memory since I needed a whole lot of alcohol beforehand to get the nerve to dance in front of a few thousand people. We came in second though.

I must have missed the add-a-bead thing. I only remember pearls; lots and lots of pearls that dangled out over turtlenecks…never got the hang of that. Dressing for going out at night was big slouchy belts, big bows in the hair, and lots of bangles. Very Madonna-esqe.

Songs that will always remind me of certain fraternities:

“Blister in the Sun” = Delta Tau Delta
“Margaritaville” = Fiji
“The Wall” = Pike
“Shout!” and “Destination Unknown” = Phi Delt

Did any other campuses do Destination Unknown parties? No one but the presidents and social chairs knew where we were going. We’d just pile into busses and end up in some bizarre place. The first song of the night would, of course, be “Destination Unknown.”

Aww. The memories.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Did any other campuses do Destination Unknown parties? No one but the presidents and social chairs knew where we were going. We’d just pile into busses and end up in some bizarre place. The first song of the night would, of course, be “Destination Unknown.”

Aww. The memories.

Phi Delt does it here..

[Leslie Anne]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

Phi Delt does it here..

I guess it's become a Phi Delt tradition. I like that!

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

"Our" song was "Uptown Girl" - my favorite formal pics are of all the Gamma Phis in a giant kick line, dates looking on from the sidelines.

That sounds so cute. Anyone else want to see those photos?

Originally Posted by AOIIalum

I'll meet your "Holding out for a Hero" and raise it with a "Never Surrender". Spill it 33. Come on, you know you want to.

Yes! Spill it. Both of you.
I'll tell my most shameful stunt if you do.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Songs that will always remind me of certain fraternities

Oh geez, if I get started on that one I'll take up all the bandwidth.

Although I'm pretty sure no one else has a memory connected with "Holding Out For A Hero."

[SWTXBelle]

"Our" song was "Uptown Girl" - my favorite formal pics are of all the Gamma Phis in a giant kick line, dates looking on from the sidelines.

[AOIIalum]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Oh geez, if I get started on that one I'll take up all the bandwidth.

Although I'm pretty sure no one else has a memory connected with "Holding Out For A Hero."

I'll meet your "Holding out for a Hero" and raise it with a "Never Surrender". Spill it 33. Come on, you know you want to.

My memories involve early B-52s and Violent Femmes. The place would explode any time a song from either band was played. Needless to say that night we brought the band to campus tickets were sold out from just the Greek system! I think the tickets were like $5 for students. Those were the days.

Oh, and Leslie Anne, there were pearls too. Sometimes just on their own, sometimes in combination with a shorter add-a-bead, sometimes even pearl add-a-bead necklaces!

[SWTXBelle]

Twisted bead necklaces were really big - until cheap knock-offs appeared.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AOIIalum

I'll meet your "Holding out for a Hero" and raise it with a "Never Surrender". Spill it 33. Come on, you know you want to.

It's not scandalous or anything.

Scene: basement of the Crow house.

Dorky guy to my sister Cindy: Hey, what's up, what's your sign, etc.

(Holding Out For A Hero comes over the sound system because the brother in charge of music is busy, umm, imbibing)

Cindy: Excuse me, but I must go and jam to this.


Our song (sung at top volume in a circle in all public places) was Paradise by the Dashboard Light. It annoyed everyone but us. We eventually got the Crows to sing along with us (dirty lyrics, obviously).

[Leslie Anne]

lol I got the giggles imagining Holding Out For A Hero playing and then:

Originally Posted by 33girl

Cindy: Excuse me, but I must go and jam to this.

Oh, and Meat Loaf rules!

[SWTXBelle]

If those photos weren't pack, you know I'd post 'em!

[AOIIalum]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Our song (sung at top volume in a circle in all public places) was Paradise by the Dashboard Light. It annoyed everyone but us. We eventually got the Crows to sing along with us (dirty lyrics, obviously).

Okay, so Never Surrender was our chapter song (we were the brand new chapter on campus, so it was a theme thing). It got played, we all stopped whatever we were doing to circle up and sing at the top of our lungs. It worked for us!

[gee_ess]

It was the early 80's....

*elaborate skits at every round of rush complete with themed food, themed drinks, and crafty,creative themed nametags!

*one telephone per bedroom at the sorority house plus the main house phone that no one ever wanted to run and answer.

*studying..er,cheating on pledge tests, hide and seek activity to find your pledge mom, fraternity little sister groups.

*white hose...yes, white hose

*Fraternity events like Sigma Nu relays, Sigma Chi Derby Days, etc always involved sorority competitions where alcohol was part of the event. For example, the three-legged beer chug. (can you believe that!?)

*I barely remember Cardinal Puff, must have been all that alcohol at Sigma Nu Relays, but I do remember playing "Hi Bob" while watching old Bob Newhart reruns...

I am sure I will remember more...

[EtaPhiZTA]

Some of my favorites from the mid-eighties: real candle passes with real flowers on the candles, scavenger hunts with us "borrowing" composites (of course the fraternities would get them back once they came to serenade), paint pens and acrylic picture frames, preference night flowers and notes, and my personal favorite - house boys

[tallgreekalum]

Thanks for the memory of the 'vous! While I went to UMass, one of my best friends was a DTD at Terptown in the mid-eighties. If we were not in Georgetown at Winston's (watching the staff dance on the bar to the "the Boys are Back In Town!") or at "ChiDi" or Chinese disco, a restaurant that used to be a shag dancing mecca, we would be at the 'vous. Do you remember what the sludge that would build up on the floor? 'Vous goo. of course! "Gatoring in the goo" was a rite of passage for many a UM greek Then, next store for Little Tavern burgers (think White Castle)

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Wow….thoughts of back in the day.

Yes, honey, Rush with frills! I get a little sad that Maryland no longer has Formal Rush in the fall….all the sisters lined up outside the chapter houses wearing their matching outfits trying to out-yell each other. (We wore black, straight skirts, white blouses and black bow ties. We probably looked like flight attendants, lol, but I loved it.) The Rushees had to endure rankings from the frat boys who brought their couches out onto their lawns. They’d zero in on a particular girl and hold up big cards, 1 through 10. Rushees took flowers and inspirational hand-written letters with them after Preference. And, yes, real candles.

The main hang out for Greeks was the ‘Vous which was pretty disgusting but had been around forever. It always had at least an inch of gunk on the floor and they only served beer on tap. Very bad, watery beer. I think of the ‘Vous every time I hear “How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths (often requested by the sillier sorority girls who thought it was a great “party” song – did they ever listen to the lyrics?) Around 1986 or so, they built Sante Fe Café and that became the nicer hang out with food and mixed drinks. The front patio was the place to be seen…in your letters…drinking. The ‘Vous is now gone. Not sure about SFC.

Campus traditions: Monday night serenades by the fraternity men in their coats and ties, stealing composites and plastering them with suggestive phrases cut out of magazines, massive scavenger hunts during Greek Week. Greek Week was just the best. The talent competition was a big highlight. I remember one year the Alpha Phis and whoever they were teamed up with did a Flashdance kinda thing and everyone freaked when they had water splashing down onto all the electrical equipment. That same year I pranced around the stage dressed as Snow White with my sisters as the dwarfs. It’s a hazy memory since I needed a whole lot of alcohol beforehand to get the nerve to dance in front of a few thousand people. We came in second though.

I must have missed the add-a-bead thing. I only remember pearls; lots and lots of pearls that dangled out over turtlenecks…never got the hang of that. Dressing for going out at night was big slouchy belts, big bows in the hair, and lots of bangles. Very Madonna-esqe.

Songs that will always remind me of certain fraternities:

“Blister in the Sun” = Delta Tau Delta
“Margaritaville” = Fiji
“The Wall” = Pike
“Shout!” and “Destination Unknown” = Phi Delt

Did any other campuses do Destination Unknown parties? No one but the presidents and social chairs knew where we were going. We’d just pile into busses and end up in some bizarre place. The first song of the night would, of course, be “Destination Unknown.”

Aww. The memories.