IrishPipes' Retro Recruitment Story

[kchaptergphib]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

BTW - 22 sororities? Holy Cow!

Oh yes. I've never been down to the U of I campus, but I hear it's quite impressive for us greeks. See, we midwesterners can do greek life pretty well, too! I'm looking forward to the rest of the tread!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Only 19 sororities now, but over 40 fraternities. And housed, too.

[Hopeful_Bubbles]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

The tour ends at Memorial Stadium where Illinois is playing the University of Iowa.

Go Hawks! (no, I'm not a U of Iowa student, just a fan) I can't imagine seeing 22 houses and trying to keep them all straight.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally Posted by kchaptergphib

Oh yes. I've never been down to the U of I campus, but I hear it's quite impressive for us greeks. See, we midwesterners can do greek life pretty well, too! I'm looking forward to the rest of the tread!

I haven't been since I was a pledge way back when (we road tripped to visit them) but our house is fabulous.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by SmartBlondeGPhB

I haven't been since I was a pledge way back when (we road tripped to visit them) but our house is fabulous.

My mom and I went to buy my sister some stuff from their Greek stores, and we spent over an hour driving around and looking at the houses and figuring out which ones had moved since she'd been there, and into whose house. It was fun!

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by susan314

More recruitment stories.

I think its interesting to hear the stories from when rush was still rush with all the frills. Even with my story from 1992, rush had started to be slowly scaled back - I'd assume that 1987 rush at Illinois was still full-fledge frills.

Susan, I'm afraid I might disappoint you! Yes, there were a lot of frills, but I didn't write about them in my booklet! Those are the kind of details that I just don't have a clear recollection of either. I know we watched elaborate slide shows, but was that second stage or third stage? Was it the same at each chapter? I don't remember! I remember having certain drinks and desserts, but can't be sure which sorority or which party it was. So, I hope the details (or lack thereof) don't let anybody down! My notes were primarily my tool for remembering one chapter from another. It is difficult to explain how hard it was to remember the difference between Alpha Chi Omega and Chi Omega, Alpha Omicron Pi and Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Epsilon Phi, etc. With 22 parties over just 2 days, it was a real problem. The way I tended to keep things straight was by writing down how the chapter related to people I know. (In other words, "Erin's favorite" or "chapter that cut Barbara" etc.) I know that probably sounds strange, but the actual party details just all ran together (unless the chapter made a huge impression), even back then in real time. I am sure I would have remembered more about the outfits and songs if I had been a sophomore or even a Greek-educated freshman. But, I spent so much of my energy just remembering which chapter was which that I did not take as much note of those fun details as I wish I would have.

[irishpipes]

Background information: I wrote out my story in Word and as I am reading it I notice that I reference "shows" a lot. To clarify, my high school did a massive fundraiser every year called Street Scenes. The school was actually built with this in mind. All of the classroom walls were collapsible to accommodate Street Scenes! Anyway, for a weekend in February the entire school is turned into a series of night clubs. There is an Alumni Show, a Student Show, and various other bands and groups as well. Some rooms are restaurants (local restaurants come and serve food. Some rooms are bars or holding rooms with comedians. It is hard to describe, but it earned over $100,000 every year back when I was in school. (Check it out if you are ever in Lake County - they still have it at Carmel Catholic High School.) Anyway, the Student Show was very cool to be in. You either had to be really talented or really good looking! Most of the people in this were very popular. We worked on the Student Show for 6 months and it was very professionally done. I was also in school musicals, which were very "uncool" but because I was a singer I did them anyway.

************************************************** **

Over the summer, Julie, a girl who was a year ahead of me in high school and was on the volleyball team with me, sends me this awesome handmade card. It is a big orange “I” and when I open it the inside is blue. It welcomes me to U of I and tells me to call her this summer if I want any advice about anything. I wonder how Julie knows I am going to U of I. She was in my general group of acquaintances, but she isn’t someone I kept in touch with – in fact, I didn’t even know she went to U of I. I think it is really nice though, and she was such a nice girl that I giver her a call. She tells me that she is in a sorority, Galway, and loves it. She also tells me that at the very least you get to move in to your dorm room early by rushing, so even if you don’t pledge, it is a good idea to rush. Julie was very popular in high school and has a great personality. She isn’t cute in the stereotypical sorority sense, though, and that makes a big impression on me. Up to that point, I didn’t know that there was any kind of diversity on sorority life. I figured that membership selection had to be based largely on appearance because that is how sororities were portrayed. I loved the notion that a smart, funny girl like Julie (who wasn’t ugly – just not gorgeous or pretentious) was in a sorority.

*************************************************

I have a friend, Marietta, who is an alumna of Cork at Northwestern. Marietta's mom directed the Street Scenes Student Show and that is how I know her. Marietta is actually kind of locally famous. She has done a lot of commercials and theater. Her boyfriend was just in a movie, “Adventures in Babysitting.” Marietta has moved to California and was just in “Family Ties.” She is beautiful and talented and a genius as well. (She went on to marry George Newbern from "Adventures in Babysitting" and "Father of the Bride" - he was Brian the husband - and Marietta was on "Dear John" and "The Hughleys.") She volunteers to write a rec for me. I am not really sure what a rec is, and I initially tell her no thanks because I want a fresh start and don’t want the sororities judging me based on who I was in high school. (I thought that being an honors student, an athlete, and a singer were BAD things since they weren’t as cool as being a cheerleader. I was SO naïve.) Marietta tells us that her sorority will not accept anyone without a recommendation, so she asks for a senior picture and writes me up! As far as I know, that is my only rec. The great thing is that now I have heard of 3 sororities!!!

Marietta’s mom tells me that Barbara, another Street Scenes alumna, who was 2 years older than me, dropped out of U of I and transferred to Marquette the year before because she wanted to get into Waterford and didn’t. I am stunned because Barbara was beautiful and probably the most popular girl in my high school. Marietta’s mom told me that Gerri, an active of Waterford who was also in these shows, told her that Barbara was sort of quiet and that came off as snobbish. This sticks in my mind because I was pretty quiet too, at that age. And, it makes me worry because Barbara was someone I looked up to in school. On the up side, it means that I know one more person in a sorority at U of I! I am not sure if Gerri will remember me since she was a senior when I was a freshman, so we only were in Street Scenes one year together.

So now I have heard of Limerick, Galway, Cork, and Waterford, which is good I guess, but I had never thought about the possibility of being rejected until I heard about Barbara. In retrospect I should have asked Marietta a lot of questions about Greek life, but she was sort of intimidating and I didn't want her to think I was stupid. That kind of summarizes my whole rush - I didn't utilize some of the available tools because I was too embarrassed about how I would be perceived. I would never approach it that way if I had it to do all over again. I am worried that now several people know that I am planning to rush, so if something happens to me like what happened to Barbara, I will be mortified.

[PhoenixAzul]

love the codenames but I've got an issue...

No Antrim?!!

[aopirose]

You are cracking me up.

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAzul

love the codenames but I've got an issue...

No Antrim?!!

REPUBLIC of Ireland. (Of course I consider the whole island to be one country, but I digress...)

[PhoenixAzul]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

REPUBLIC of Ireland. (Of course I consider the whole island to be one country, but I digress...)

hehe, thanks for the clarification . For the record, I agree with you on that last sentence .

[Denise_DPhiE]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAzul

hehe, thanks for the clarification . For the record, I agree with you on that last sentence .

Phoenix, what are YOU doing in Ireland???

[PhoenixAzul]

Originally Posted by Denise_DPhiE

Phoenix, what are YOU doing in Ireland???

hehe..."If I told you...."

No, JK, just been keaning a bit for the wee country lately.

[SWTXBelle]

I'm going in August - and darn it, now I really want to go NOW!

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I'm going in August - and darn it, now I really want to go NOW!

A lucky lass you are!