Can you stand another retro thread?

[That80sRush]

The pnm's are being admirably discreet and are not posting threads live with lots of commentary. So, until a few more recruitments conclude so that we can enjoy reading some of the play by play, how about another old one?

The groups at my school were:

St. Elmo’s Fire
Sixteen Candles
Pretty in Pink
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Some Kind of Wonderful
Footloose
Valley Girl
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Breakfast Club

[phimu88]

GREAT!!! My favorite movies!! You forgot Dirty Dancing though LOL jk

[WCsweet<3]

There is a special place in my heart for Footloose, but the Molly Ringwald movies... SO HARD TO CHOOSE!

[That80sRush]

Well, Dirty Dancing was the late 80's, and this was in the early 80's. Ferris Bueller was in '86, so I did stretch my definition a bit since I love that movie.

A little background first...

I grew up in the same town as a large university that I’ll call Big State U. Every year when the pledge classes of all the sororities were printed in the paper, I’d study it to see who I knew from school, who I knew from the department store teen board (this was a group that did fashion shows and promotions for the store) had pledged where. I had a pretty good idea that Sixteen Candles and Some Kind of Wonderful were the best, based on the girls who pledged.

My decision of where to go to college was based on four things: whether there was a good mall in town, if there was a Greek system, the annual snowfall – it had to be minimal, and my mother’s insistence that I go anywhere but Big State U. After careful consideration, I selected Small Private School.

Like all of my high school friends who were headed to Big State U, I spent the summer before freshman year getting recs. We all typed up (on a typewriter, of course) resume’s with our senior photos and high school transcripts attached to distribute. One of my mom’s co-workers, an active Phi Mu alum, stepped in to help me prepare the resume and select the photo. Since Small Private School didn’t have a Phi Mu chapter, she felt that she wasn’t unduly influencing me and could be objective. To this day, there is soft spot in my heart for Phi Mu’s because of her generosity.

My best friend was going to Big State U, and her mom was a Fast Times at Ridgemont High alum. Her older sister had also been a Fast Times at Big State U. So, that was one rec down. One of our good friends’ mom was a St. Elmo’s Fire, so there was another rec. The owner of the store where I’d worked for three years said she’d like to write me a rec for Pretty in Pink. She added that her sister, a Sixteen Candles, would also send one in if I could give her my resume. Sixteen Candles!! Oh, they were the BEST, and I was so grateful that I’d have a rec for them, since I knew that you didn’t get invited past the first round of parties without them.

In stepped my dad’s cousin Topsie (a great lady who has since passed away, that’s what she was really called instead of her given name, Frances) who had been a Fast Times at Big State School back in the 50’s. She lived in a different town and we didn’t see her often, but she knew when someone needed help with rush and was happy to come to my rescue. Topsie took copies of my resume and went to work in her small town. Within two weeks she wrote back that recs were being written for me by her friends in Some Kind of Wonderful (yay! I needed one of those), Fast Times, Pretty in Pink, and Valley Girl. I knew that Valley Girl was a not too strong group at Big State U, so I probably wouldn’t be joining them, but it was nice of Topsie’s friend to write a rec for me anyway.

My mom tried to help, but having attended a tiny liberal arts college without a Greek system in a different state, she really didn’t know where to start. She was also perhaps a bit preoccupied since she was preparing to work out of the country for six months, starting the week after I would arrive at Small Private School. (At the time I thought this was really cool and adventurous of her. Now, it seems the antithesis of heli-moming.) We went shopping for rush clothes, and she was really good about supporting me in my life long goal of joining a sorority.

I still didn’t have recs for Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day off, or Footloose, but figured that since I’d never heard of them they probably weren’t going to be ones I’d choose anyway.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

I'm a Phi Mu, so even though there isn't one at your campus, I'll root for Pretty in Pink!

[APhi4Ever]

Breakfast Club!

[jayneelizabeth]

Go SIXTEEN CANDLES!!!

"Oh and they are so PERKY" Haha love that one

[That80sRush]

By the time I loaded up my things in the car with the UHaul carrier on top, drove 500 plus miles to Small Private School with my mom, and moved into my dorm, Best Friend had already finished rush at Big State U. She was a Fast Times pledge, along with a group of our good friends from high school. Another cluster of friends had pledged St. Elmo’s fire. I was so, so ready for rush, and it was deferred for three excruciating weeks into the first semester.

I loved my roommate, I loved my classes, and loved everything about Small Private School, though I’d left a high school boyfriend back at home and I missed my friends. A lot of my thinking focused on what I should do “if” I decided to go back home to Big State U for my sophomore year.

As I got to know the girls on my hall, we talked about rush. Most of them were thinking of going through just to see if they’d like to be in a sorority. This seemed crazy to me, since I’d been planning to be in a sorority since I was in junior high. I told them about my recs, and many of them said “What’s a rec?” I was privately horrified for them, since I knew that they’d never get in a sorority without one.

We had early meetings with our Rho Chi’s, and received a Go Greek booklet. If I’d spent as much time studying for my SAT’s as I did pouring over that booklet, I wouldn’t have had to take them a second time. There were two pages for each sorority, one with the composite, and one with candids. Though I knew that sororities had colors, I was intrigued to learn that they had jewels, animals, flowers, and philanthropies too. My roommate and I squinted at the tiny composite photos to find the RAs from our dorm.

This was the first year that rush was deferred at SPS, as it had always been held before classes started. As a result, the sorority members really didn’t know how to act when they were told “no contact, no letters.” They were allowed to wear jewelry with their sorority letters, but no sportswear, once classes started. Unfortunately, this was not explained to the freshmen. The upperclass girls seemed either standoffish or snotty. At one fraternity party, my roommate and I were introduced to two Pretty in Pinks who seemed really nice, even though they were only able to make eye contact and smile at us. They guys said “They can’t talk to you, sorry.” Finally, an explanation!

The first official event was a meet and greet on a Sunday afternoon. I put on one of my bright floral wrap sundresses, espadrilles, and my add-a-bead necklace, and headed over with my roommate.

This event was not particularly well organized, since there were no name tags. As my roommate and I arrived, a pretty girl with curly red hair came over to us and introduced herself. She asked if we were excited about going through rush, and I told her that my best friend had already gone through at Big State U, and I was looking forward to it. She asked where if my friend had decided to join, and when I told her she was a Fast Times pledge she said excitely “I’m a Fast Times too!” I noticed her pin, and had a pang of longing to wear a pin too. I then met another Fast Times from my state, the President of Fast Times, a cool elegant blonde, and they introduced me to some of their friends in Pretty in Pink and Valley Girl, and a St. Elmo’s Fire from my state. I was still squinting to see what letters were on the pins.

[Benzgirl]

I'm picturing the Ferris Beuhlers to look like Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara)

[AlphaXi_Husky]

Loving this story - and the code names!

Sidenote - is anyone else put off by the JC Penney commercial that is a rip off of the Breakfast Club? I find it so annoying.

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by AlphaXi_Husky

Sidenote - is anyone else put off by the JC Penney commercial that is a rip off of the Breakfast Club? I find it so annoying.

I hate the commercial. The first time I saw it I got mad because I thought it was a remake of the original Breakfast Club. Personally, I don't think any Molly Ringwald originals would be any good without her.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by AlphaXi_Husky

Sidenote - is anyone else put off by the JC Penney commercial that is a rip off of the Breakfast Club? I find it so annoying.

LOL, YES. The first time we saw it, I looked at my husband and said "ugh, why'd they have to mess with the Breakfast Club? The kids they're targeting probably don't even know what it's a take-off from".

[AlphaXi_Husky]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

LOL, YES. The first time we saw it, I looked at my husband and said "ugh, why'd they have to mess with the Breakfast Club? The kids they're targeting probably don't even know what it's a take-off from".

I know - I think the real reason I don't like it is because it makes me feel old.

[honeychile]

I love your thread, your descriptions, and the code names! Two thumbs up!


And, nittanyalum, please tell me that kids don't know the John Hughs films! They're absolute classics!! Who can forget all of the phrases that came out of them??


(And I hate the JCPenney's ad, too!)

[barnard1897]

Originally Posted by AlphaXi_Husky

Loving this story - and the code names!

Sidenote - is anyone else put off by the JC Penney commercial that is a rip off of the Breakfast Club? I find it so annoying.

Yeah...I'm with you on that one--not sure what Penney's ad people were thinking--that "anti-establishment" Breakfast Club era parents, who actually have high school aged kids, are now going to run out and buy stuff there, as opposed to Abercrombie or Hollister? My response to that: Molly Ringwald/Claire's signature eye roll.