Frills Bid Day

[33girl]

Originally Posted by kreich

"Back in the Day"--(Late 80s, Early 90s) Bid Night was all the things that are not really kosher anymore.

1. Actives picked up pledges at their dorms. Can you imagine all the girls who found out that they didn't get into a house having to endure the chanting and screaming in the hallways of their dorms? This ended my Junior or Senior year at which time pledges were picked up by a University bus.

2. While the pledges were out celebrating, a team of sisters went back to their dorm and decorated their doors.

3. The evening started at the chapter house with pizza and soda and ice-breaker events. I remember standing on my chair and telling everyone something "interesting" about myself. Examples of these "interesting" things were: "My favorite ice cream is 'rocky road'" or "I can touch my tongue to my nose"--stuff like that. I remember we were all so excited that the energy in the room was out of control!

4. We were given the cutest sweatshirts with ZETA spelled out and a bunny perched on the letters. I wish I still had that sweatshirt. Tons of pictures!!!

5. After the sorority social, we were taken to a fraternity party--which was overwhelming (at least for me).

This was pretty much our bid days too, except you could hear the rustling of your door being decorated before they knocked. I don't know what happened if the girl ever declined the bid - I guess just took down the decorations & went home.

My chapter had a party to which you could invite whoever instead of a mixer - that way if you had a boyfriend in another fraternity or who was an independent you could share that special night with him - or any of your other friends. The one time we had a mixer I didn't really like it at all.

Our Panhel finished making the "you didn't get a bid" calls by 3 PM and pledge pickup didn't start till 6 PM. That way if you didn't get a bid and it was too traumatic for you to watch you had some time to get out of Dodge. I still think this is better than the schools who make the girls open their bids in front of ALL the rushees, sororities & Rho Chis...that's absolutely barbaric IMO.

[AlphaXi_Husky]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I still think this is better than the schools who make the girls open their bids in front of ALL the rushees, sororities & Rho Chis...that's absolutely barbaric IMO.

THANK YOU! I completely agree and it's taking forever to get some of the people on our College Panhel to come around. In my day we opened in rooms with our Rho Chi groups, but somehow it got switched to opening in a large field on campus with all the PNMs, sorority members, RC's, and parents/friends/boyfriends watching. It is, indeed, barbaric.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Our Panhel finished making the "you didn't get a bid" calls by 3 PM and pledge pickup didn't start till 6 PM. That way if you didn't get a bid and it was too traumatic for you to watch you had some time to get out of Dodge. I still think this is better than the schools who make the girls open their bids in front of ALL the rushees, sororities & Rho Chis...that's absolutely barbaric IMO.

Agree. I prefered the way my campus did it - PNMs show up to a room on campus between, say, 3pm and 4pm, their recruitment counselor gives them their bid, then they can open it whereever and whenever they want. Some girls tore into them immediately right there, but other girls would go off to somewhere private like the bathroom to open theirs. The worst reactions I saw happened one year when I was a rho chi and we let the chapters design their own bid cards, so all the PNMs knew right away when they got their envelope which sorority it was for. Some of the girls were visibly upset when I handed some of them their envelopes, which just sucked.