what? an NPC/NPHC hybrid retro thread??

[tld221]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

Spill! Spill!

And, I had no idea NYU had a weak greek system. I always assumed that since they were such a well known school that they had a great greek system.

Originally Posted by dukemama

I went to grad school at NYU in the early 90s and while I wasn't on campus all that much, I don't recall much of a Greek presence. Think about it, though....there's so much to do in NYC that joining a GLO (particularly for the social aspects) probably isn't a big priority for most students.

I don't know if it is "weak" per se. Also, NYU has only become a "well-known" school in the past decade or so, considering it has slowly been transitioning into a residential university vs. a commuter university. i have a lot of friends in admissions and they say that though the school attracts students from all over the world, the applications really didnt start to diversify until the last 10-15 years. for the most part, NYU students of the past were, at best, from the tri-state area.

anyway, with that said, i want to believe that at some point, NYU's greek life has gone through waves of success. Maybe when i got there it was at a low? I do know that by the time i graduated, more and more people i knew were going greek, and there was more of a greek presence (throwing campus-wide events, seeing letters on campus, and then i think a new Greek life director was hired, and she was very pro-greek and working to get ALL types of GLO's recognized) but still, at most its like 5% of the student population are greek, if that.

and dukemama is right - if a high priority of college life is going greek, then NYU may not be for you because it's ust not strong in greek life. its definitely a "greek life = 4 years of your life" atmosphere... which leads me to my next update!
(read on!)

[blueGBI]

Originally Posted by cuteASAbug

nice sig

I got it from DSTCHAOS. She spoke the troof when she first posted this in her sig.

[cuteASAbug]

I know. She got it from me. And then centaur532.

[tld221]

Ok, so i come back to campus that Monday (i think round robin was on a Saturday) and that is when Rush starts. Again, here are the chapters at NYU circa 2002:
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Alpha Phi Zeta*
Alpha Sigma Tau
Delta Phi Epsilon
Kappa Psi Delta*
Theta Phi Beta*
Zeta Sigma Phi*
Alpha Kappa Delta Phi (HAsianAmerGLO)
Note: now that I think about it, I don’t even remember KPL being there my freshman year – I distinctly remember there being 7 sororities. If I recall correctly, they share a chapter with Columbia – quite common with other orgs in the NYC area, sharing charters

i'm not gonna code them - not that im not clever enough, but it really wont make much of a difference. But here are a few characters that will appear (changed names of course):

Annie – one of the girls in my rush group, who also happened to be in my freshman seminar. She was from PA and was really excited about rush, but didn’t know anything about being greek like me.
Malika – the girl who I met at Round Robin who would give rush a try.
Chris – my BF at the time, who was a Syracuse alum and had his feelings about greek life (of course right?)
My mom – who I bore with all the details of my journey with greek life.
My aunt – who is also greek, but I am not very close with
Shari – a clubmate of mine I met sophomore year and bore with details.
Barry – my freshman year RA
Kim – one of my freshman year roommates
Mona – a member of Theta Phi Beta who I get close with

Now recall what i've told you about NYU's rush - very informal. no dressing up, no chants - hell, to be honest, i never saw my RC after that first day – I don’t remember her name or what she looked like. i DO remember you HAD to visit all 7 chapters spread over Monday and Tuesday, and you could stay as little or as long as you want (so legitimately, if you REALLY didnt like XYZ, you could show your face for 10 minutes and then go to the next house or if you REALLY liked ABC, you could hang with them for an hour and then go to every other house for 10 minutes). Everyone had a punchcard to verify that they went to each house. Then Wednesday and Thursday you were free to go to anyone's event's (so if you only liked 2 of the 7 houses, that's where you visited). Friday was an invite only night and was a dressier event (business casual, really). Then Saturday was I guess the equivalent of “silence” because that is when you waited for “the call.” Now I know that’s usually a bad thing, but we didn’t do bid cards or anything. The chapter would just call you and say, “Hey, we want to extend a bid… come over and meet all your sisters!” or “Sorry we wont be inviting you to our sorority, but we encourage you …”

actually, here's a quoet from NYU's recruitment website (which is current, and may not 100% reflect what i wrote above):

NYU’s recruitment runs very differently from other schools where the fraternity and sorority life population is much larger. There are no official cuts, ranking lists, or bid matching – matches between the individual and the organization are made on a much more personal level. That said, sometimes there just isn’t chemistry between a PNM and a sorority. If a PNM is only attending the events of one sorority and the sorority has no intention of giving her a bid, they are required by the Panhellenic Council to inform her of that decision to give her the chance to see other organizations that might be a better fit.

(Question for NPCers: does that mean NYU is a COB kind of school? or is just a really an informal rush?)

Rush happened mid-September and people were still getting the hang of their schedules, with getting involved with clubs and what not. I was involved with hall council and was writing for the university paper, so I really had to squeeze in the time between and after classes to go to events.

The girls in my rush group decided to get together to meet at 3rd north to visit the houses together (there wasn’t any pressure to stay with your group, so I don’t know why we were even grouped!) This created problems because no one could agree on which house to visit first. There were two Asian girls who only wanted to see aKDP. A girl from aKDP recognized one of them from HS and they both instantly left us in the lobby to hang with them. That left 4 of us – 2 girls were excited about DphiE, and me and another girl, Annie, were pretty open. Since all the sororities are in one tower, we decided to start from the top and work our way down to be fair.

The house at the top was Theta Phi Beta. When you come off the elevators, their letters and shield are painted on a huge wall near their front door. I don’t know much about sororities but they were founded in 1985 (or was it 88? Sometime in the 80s), theyre colors were pink and purple and their mascot was the Pink Panther. I thought it was cute and really girly, kinda not my style. We four go in the house and all the sisters are like ”HEYYYYYY ladies what’s up??” we all introduce ourselves, the sisters introduce themselves. I instantly click with Mona who is from LI and kinda sporty and academic, like me. They were having a game night – first we played Monopoly, which I enjoy as much as the first person, but with 20+ people divided into teams – no fun. After 10 minutes, no one wanted to play and the sisters quickly switched gears to Taboo – one of my favorites. Their mistake – having the sisters against the rushees. So it was like 15 of them versus 6 of us, but still fun. The two “dphie” girls were antsy cause they were ready to leave after Monopoly but the rest of us were having a good time. Then we switch to Charades and that was really fun, considering I am a shy person. Before I knew it, it was going on 9pm (we’d gotten there at 6:30!) and I was having a good time and hadn’t seen any of the other houses! The two “dphie” chicks were pissed at that point and blamed ME for holding them up and declaring that they were splitting off tomorrow. Fine by me, I said. Annie was chill about it, just brushed it off, and didn’t mind.

It was pretty late but Annie and I stick together to go to the next house, Alpha Phi Zeta. I don’t remember too much about them but when we got there, they were so quiet! Two sisters came from their rooms asking us to be quiet because they were studying (umm, its September, the semester just started!) and the rest of them were jus sitting around talking about TV and how they couldn’t wait for the new season of Friends to come back on (wow, im reaching back aren’t I?) Me and Annie politely stayed there for 20 minutes and left. Definitely not our cup of tea.

Next floor down: Alpha Sigma Tau. These girls were fun to hang with. The house was nicely decorated and had a couple of Greek Week trophies. Their theme was centered about the green M&Ms (their shirts – the only rush shirts I remember – read “its something about the green ones”) but I was a little unsure about how it made sense, aside from the color coincidence. Their “rush” was more similar to what I’ve been reading on GC, sort of going around, asking us about classes, where we were from, etc. While every girl had the same shirt, everyone wore it differently - some had the sleeves rolled up, others had fringe cuts, others made tanktops and knotted ties on the sides, one girl made a little dress out of hers! Some wore jeans, others wore pants and heels. They were the first ones to show us around their penthouse – not that there was much to see. Each house had 10 bedrooms – the president got a single, as did the membership chair, then everyone else had doubles. If you do the math that makes 18 to a house, which sounds really small but I can’t remember any chapter being that big that they needed any more space. Also, not every sister wanted or could afford to live in the house (it cost the same to live in the house as it did in the dorms, so if you were a commuter or lived off campus, chances are you continued to commute or keep your apartment. And people moved in and out the houses all the time, between studying abroad, taking a semester off, becoming an RA, getting their own place).

Anyway it was nice to see their house, the only drawback was 18 people to 2 bathrooms – not a good ratio at all! I click with Kate, a senior from my college and was excited to have another potential schoolmate (my particular college was definitely the least likely to join a sorority – we were the “hippie, free thinker” kids of the campus). As I was leaving the house, Kate takes me aside and says, “I really hope you consider joining us.” Surprised since it’s the first night, I say, “umm yeah, I guess…” and she says “Seriously, because I’m graduating and it would be really nice to have someone replace me, you know what I mean?” she laughed and I kinda laughed along with her, but I got off the elevator like “did she really just say that?” I wasn’t really offended, but 18-year-old freshman me was definitely taken aback. Then I wondered, “was that some reflection on how she feels among her sisters? Is this something I should consider?”

Anyway, it was late and time to go home – Annie lived in Weinstein, which was kinda on the way to Rubin. She said she was kinda so-so about all of them, and was hoping on a better impression the next day. I kinda felt the same way – one day wasn’t enough to know anything solid. But, I did get a better impression from AST and I think it was because they were NPC and the others were locals? They seemed to be more cohesive and more of a sorority. The other two I had visited were more like clubs and for that, I didn’t need letters to hang out. But I had such a good time with TphiB!

Rankings weren’t necessary, since everything was low-pressure and laid back, but in my mind, I liked Theta Phi Beta the most, and Alpha Sigma Tau was next, and then Alpha Phi Zeta, though realistically at that point, I wouldn’t accept a bid from them.

Would I even accept a bid? I was still uneasy about this sorority thing. Was it for me?


Here’s who I would visit tomorrow:
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Delta Phi Epsilon
Kappa Psi Delta*
Zeta Sigma Phi*
Alpha Kappa Delta Phi

(trust me, im gonna speed this up)

[Leslie Anne]

This is fascinating -- a hybrid story with locals too at a low-key Greek university. I can't wait to hear more!

Oh, and I'd say that the style of this recruitment is much more like COB.

[Brita]

Wow! This is such an interesting story! Please write some more ASAP!!! ; )

[AlwaysSAI]

More! More!

You must have been gone for the weekend as well! I went to see my sister and had a fabulous time!!

[tld221]

I've been gone for the week in St. Thomas (sand, sun and fun... and community service of course!) but if anyone wants me to continue the story, i will...

[Senusret I]

We do!

And forget you for having a vacation! LOL

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by tld221

I've been gone for the week in St. Thomas (sand, sun and fun... and community service of course!) but if anyone wants me to continue the story, i will...

I am SOOOOO jealous. I'm stuck at the lab 5 days a week, 8 hours a day and you're soaking up the sun.

NO FAIR!!!!

But, yes, please do continue!

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by tld221

I've been gone for the week in St. Thomas (sand, sun and fun... and community service of course!) but if anyone wants me to continue the story, i will...

Yes, I would. It's one of the most interesting to me because although it's sort of familiar so far, I know it's going to have one of the most major twists of all.

[Leslie Anne]

Yes! Please continue. I was hoping you would come back and tell us more.

[tld221]

Ok and i'm back! So the "next day," i go to visit the remaining houses. I had a long day with classes and didnt have time to go home and change to something more presentable. So here I am going to rush day 2 in my usual jeans and sneakers. Hot, right?

Alpha Epsilon Phi - They were VERY formal with their open house. all of the members were wearing a white blouse, knee-length black skirts and pearls. They served us tea or something really fancy, i dont remember the details too much. but the conversation was really stiff. one girl asked me what my favorite color was. i said "red, why?" and she says "how do you feel about green?"

and me, clearly weirded out and confused by where the conversation is going, i answer "...it's a nice color... why?" and the girl rushing me says "no reason, just asking." and then she turned to someone else! it was SO weird. another girl stands up and says some words, in particular about how they liked being a small chapter and wanted to keep it that way... yeah, not exactly what you want to say to a room of hopeful PNMs.

Delta Phi Epsilon - i really liked them! from the few DphiE on GC, i'm guessing the official colors are purple and gold? anyway, when i visit their house, their decorated in purple and white - NYUs colors. On the way in the house, Annie is on her way out and looks really happy! She says she had a good time and was only leaving cause she had homework. Anyway, the girl rushing me, Holly, shows me around the house (there are only 3-4 PNMs in the house, again, informal) which isnt all that much interesting, since all the houses have the same layout. I ask her if their sorority is NYUs sorority because of the color thing, and she says "Kinda... we're the Alpha chapter." I have no idea what that means, but i;m guessing its a good thing? Anyway, she's a junior i think and talks about the stuff she does on campus, including writing for the WSN (school paper), playing intramural sports (which are a little more popular than the sports teams) and being an RA. Coincidence... all the things I want to do in college! I wonder how she juggles all her activities, works, AND is in the sorority... and she says "trust me, many people who are greek do a lot... you'll get the hang of it. and i'm studying abroad next semester so i'll have a break." anyway, we talk some more, and she asks me why i want to be in a sorority...

and i freeze! no one has asked me that before! i thought it was just assumed that if you wanted to be in one, you just signed up and hope that they pick you. so i stammer back some gibberish... and she says "i really like you and all, but you have to know WHY you want this because if you don't, you'll become that bitter sorority girl that hated her house and thats no fun."

So i chewed on that for a minute as i walked to the next house downstairs...

Kappa Psi Delta - this local i felt like attracted all the Asian girls and that made me uncomfortable. i know that's not very PC. anyway i was there for all of 10 minutes and it was sooooooo uncomfortable. I'm 5' 7" and, well no size 2, but all these girls were like 5' 2" and REALLY skinny and talked about clothes, makeup and Asian pop stars. I tried it out but you could not PAY me to stay here.

Zeta Sigma Phi - i liked these girls - pretty fun, none over the top pretty like models, and i felt like i was just hanging out with the girls. They had a casino night. I learned the basics of poker and blackjack and they made mocktails with the faux martini glasses. fun times. there was no pressure and even though it was late at night and a schoolnight, i never felt like they were kicking us out. I recognized one of the PNMs from my classes, and she's having a good time too. This group was cool, but more on the indifferent side.

Alpha Kappa Delta Phi - i was so discouraged from the first group i literally stopped by their house to sign their sign in sheet to say I was there. I know its horrible but in my mind, these girls were going to be like the other sorority i mentioned above.

I went home still wondering, is this what i want? After seeing all 7 houses, at best i was just OK about this greek life thing. I felt like, if i didnt get a bid from any house, i would be OK.

Anyway, ranking the houses, even though NYU doesn't require you to:

Theta Phi Beta
Delta Phi Epsilon
Zeta Sigma Phi
Alpha Sigma Tau

Then they kinda taper off from there, AEPhi at the bottom. At that point, i didnt even rank KPsiD and aKDPhi cause to be honest i didnt see myself in the "Asian" sorority. Could i see myself in a "white" sorority? Hmm...

I call my then-bf, Chris, who is a few years older than me. He was a Syracuse alum and the minute i tell him i just came from rush, he flipped his lid. I think he called me everything outside my name for even going through rush and that "just please dont go Chi-O." i say "who is Chi-O?" and he says "this girl i know, she was awful and she was a Chi-O, that's all. but theyre the orange and red sorority, dont join them" me and Chris haven't been together long, and this was our first fight. I didn't want this to break us up. would it?

hmm... we'll see.

[AOII_LB93]

So you're posting away in other people's threads, but not your own?! Get thee back here and post!

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by AOII_LB93

So you're posting away in other people's threads, but not your own?! Get thee back here and post!

I was just thinking the exact same thing!

I think this is the longest cliff hanger ever in GC history!