A very retro rush - with frills

[dvs-dz]

Yes, each group had different attire requested. One group even had girls wear jeans to their pref!

I'll reveal the year of my rush at the end of the thread.

[Leslie Anne]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

i chuckle about it now, but back then, we were all mortified that they would come strolling out of their house on cue, singing our song and doing our dance. of course, being boys, by the time rush rolled around, they were more interested to sit on their porch roof rating the rushees !

Oh, yeah. They did that at my campus too. How humiliating!


BTW: I love this thread. My campus did frills back in my day, but I don't think it was anything like dvs-dv's.

Anxiously awaiting more.....

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

i chuckle about it now, but back then, we were all mortified that they would come strolling out of their house on cue, singing our song and doing our dance. of course, being boys, by the time rush rolled around, they were more interested to sit on their porch roof rating the rushees !

Hilarious!

So I wonder if they practiced in the house beforehand? Cause I am so visualizing the choreographer from when Lisa from 'The Simpsons' signs up for the Little Miss Springfield pageant.

I said "Step pause turn pause pivot step step," not "Step pause turn pause pivot step pause!"

[FSUZeta]

i have no idea, but they had our performance pretty down pat!

i cannot imagine having to change outfits for parties on the same night! yikes!!

[dvs-dz]

Saturday morning we returned to our rush groups for our invitations. Rumor had it that you were guaranteed an invitation to second night if you had a rec. Given that my mother had networked like crazy for recs, I wasn't too worried.

And sure enough, I was invited back to all 5. I think almost all of the rushees were; this was way before NPC guidelines on how many invitations to issue.

I really didn't know any Mansfield Parks so I declined their invitation. Ditto with Persuasion, although I did like that one senior I met.

So I will be returning for second night to:
Emma
Pride & Prejudice
Sense & Sensibility

Marianne and Eleanor are both returning to Emma, Pride & Prejudice, and Persuasion. Turns out that Eleanor's mother is a Persuasion.

Once again, the dress ranged from cotton & heels to slacks, to informal dress. We spent quite a bit of time planning what to wear and how fast we could change clothes!

Sense & Sensibility was first. Another acquaintance picked me up. Their party was a Wizard of Oz theme, which was quite cute. They have some very talented singers in this group! I do feel comfortable here. This group is something of a chameleon - there are smart girls, rowdy girls, pretty girls, etc.

Pride & Prejudice had a fabulous fifties Pop Shop skit. I particularly remember one member singing "Teenager in Rush" to the tune of "Teenager in Love". This is a really cool group of girls who seem to really have it together. The only downside was my rush date. She never initiated conversation, and only seemed to respond to whatever I said with, "Oh, really". I don't want to judge a whole group by one person, but she was definitely off.

Last party was Emma. Their party was based on a Broadway musical and if I reveal it, will completely give away which sorority this is. It was elaborately done - costumes, choreography, music, etc. Very sentimental. The chapter president was my rush date, and I just loved her! My aunt is calling regularly to make sure Emma stays at the top of my list.

[CZAXOTerp]

Originally Posted by dvs-dz

Last party was Emma. Their party was based on a Broadway musical and if I reveal it, will completely give away which sorority this is. It was elaborately done - costumes, choreography, music, etc. Very sentimental. The chapter president was my rush date, and I just loved her! My aunt is calling regularly to make sure Emma stays at the top of my list.

Wow- that's quite an impressive rush date!

[dvs-dz]

Sunday morning we met once again to receive our pref invites - we could accept two.

I received invitations from

Emma
Sense & Sensibility

which I promptly accepted! I wasn't upset about being cut from Pride & Prejudice. Although they were a great group, I just hadn't made any connection there. Marianne accepted invitations from Emma and Pride & Prejudice. Eleanor received pref invitations for all 5!, but surprisingly accepted Emma and Pride & Prejudice, cutting her legacy sorority.

Another phone call from my aunt, who related how she had suicided Emma.

I went to Sense & Sensibility first, and seem to recall wearing a long formal dress. My rush date was my summer correspondent, who gave me her drop (lavalier) to wear during the party. There was a lot of one on one intense conversation about what S&S meant to them, then a group talk, then the wishing well. Looking around the room, I saw a lot of my friends here.

Then Emma. A pledge I'd never met was my date. I wore a formal white cocktail dress. They did another musical skit to Pippin (the legend of the mystical fill-in-name-of-gemstone). It was pretty amazing! I felt like I'd been raised to be an Emma. But as I was leaving, I noticed another rushee sobbing her heart out, and I couldn't for the life of me understand why - I'm just not that emotional.

We were immediately whisked to the cafeteria to sign bid cards. I should add that at my college quota was determined by the number of rushees accepting second night invitations. Which made it hard for some sororities to make quota, as there were quite a few dropouts after second night.

I really didn't think much as I wrote out my bid card. I listed:

Emma
Sense & Sensibility
Pride & Prejudice
Persuasion
Mansfield Park

It never occurred to me to not list all the sororities!

Afterwards, there was still quite a bit of excitement, and rushees were telling each other who they put first (yelling from cars at the Sonic!). I was a bit upset, though, that one rushee told her sister (a member of Sense & Sensibility) who wrote what. Obviously, silence was just a vague concept here!

On Monday, the alum reps for each chapter met and hand-matched the bids (before the days of computer matching). If a girl didn't get a bid, she would get a phone call around noon.

So I eagerly awaited Monday afternoon...

[tld221]

Originally Posted by dvs-dz

Sunday morning we met once again to receive our pref invites - we could accept two.

I received invitations from

Emma
Sense & Sensibility

which I promptly accepted! I wasn't upset about being cut from Pride & Prejudice. Although they were a great group, I just hadn't made any connection there. Marianne accepted invitations from Emma and Pride & Prejudice. Eleanor received pref invitations for all 5!, but surprisingly accepted Emma and Pride & Prejudice, cutting her legacy sorority.

Another phone call from my aunt, who related how she had suicided Emma.

I went to Sense & Sensibility first, and seem to recall wearing a long formal dress. My rush date was my summer correspondent, who gave me her drop (lavalier) to wear during the party. There was a lot of one on one intense conversation about what S&S meant to them, then a group talk, then the wishing well. Looking around the room, I saw a lot of my friends here.

Then Emma. A pledge I'd never met was my date. I wore a formal white cocktail dress. They did another musical skit to Pippin (the legend of the mystical fill-in-name-of-gemstone). It was pretty amazing! I felt like I'd been raised to be an Emma. But as I was leaving, I noticed another rushee sobbing her heart out, and I couldn't for the life of me understand why - I'm just not that emotional.

We were immediately whisked to the cafeteria to sign bid cards. I should add that at my college quota was determined by the number of rushees accepting second night invitations. Which made it hard for some sororities to make quota, as there were quite a few dropouts after second night.

I really didn't think much as I wrote out my bid card. I listed:

Emma
Sense & Sensibility
Pride & Prejudice
Persuasion
Mansfield Park

It never occurred to me to not list all the sororities!

Afterwards, there was still quite a bit of excitement, and rushees were telling each other who they put first (yelling from cars at the Sonic!). I was a bit upset, though, that one rushee told her sister (a member of Sense & Sensibility) who wrote what. Obviously, silence was just a vague concept here!

On Monday, the alum reps for each chapter met and hand-matched the bids (before the days of computer matching). If a girl didn't get a bid, she would get a phone call around noon.

So I eagerly awaited Monday afternoon...

OK i know this is a "Frills" rush and all, but you were wearing this girl's letters during RUSH??????? oh you got some 'splanin' to do!

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by tld221

OK i know this is a "Frills" rush and all, but you were wearing this girl's letters during RUSH??????? oh you got some 'splanin' to do!

We did that at Illinois. During each rush party (for first stage - open house) the sorority gave you a name tag that may or may not have had their letters on it. At the end of the party they took it back.

[dgdramadawg]

Originally Posted by tld221

OK i know this is a "Frills" rush and all, but you were wearing this girl's letters during RUSH??????? oh you got some 'splanin' to do!

I have heard that some houses have girls wear letters during prefs and then take them back at the end of the party. I guess the idea is that you will want to wear the letters again if you get the chance to wear them during prefs because you will have gotten a little "taste" of what it feels like to be an XYZ.

[dvs-dz]

Well, it's not as if they gave us the badge to put on. It was meant to get the rushee to feel what it would be like to be a part of that sorority. Until I started reading GreekChat, I had no idea how particular some groups/chapters were about their letters. It was also definitely the custom on my campus for pledges to wear letters.

[dvs-dz]

Mercifully, there was no phone call at noon, but I didn't expect one since I listed all 5 sororities on my bid card.

At 2:30, everyone left their dorm rooms so the Panhellenic reps could put the bids on our beds. I was really excited because I couldn't wait to see the bid from Emma.

Finally, we were allowed to return to the dorm (masses of girls running up the stairs and down the halls). I saw the bid on my bed, tore it open, and read my bid from.....



Sense & Sensibility!



Huh. I was pretty shocked, but ran out to S&S's site to join my new sisters. As I met my pledge class, I saw that these girls were all my friends - practically all were Tri Wupsilons. Later I saw the pledge class for Emma and realized that wasn't the place for me.

Marianne, my roommate, pledged Pride & Prejudice. In fact, we were both elected president of our pledge classes, so we jokingly referred to our dorm room as the White House. Eleanor, in a surprise move, had put Persuasion down first on her bid card and happily received a bid from them (despite not attending their pref) - she said she had to do it for her mother. Eleanor was quite the character - her dorm closet wasn't big enough, so she had a closet bar in the back seat of her car where she kept her extra clothes. As for the Tri Wupsilons, all of us either pledged Pride & Prejudice or Sense & Sensibility.

My aunt had been called by Emma, and was told I just wasn't high enough on their bid list. She was supportive, even finding out when my initiation week was and sending me flowers. But she felt a lot of guilt over what happened, and our close relationship deteriorated. A few years later, she and my uncle were divorced and I haven't seen her since.

The years in Sense & Sensibility had their ups and downs, but my pledge class had a very strong bond. In fact, we still get together for an annual reunion - we've shared so many life experiences together!

So getting into the revelations -

I rushed in January, 1978 at Southwestern University (Texas).

Sense & Sensibility - Delta Zeta
Emma - Delta Delta Delta
Pride & Prejudice - Alpha Delta Pi
Persuasion - Zeta Tau Alpha
Mansfield Park - Phi Mu

[FSUZeta]

this was a fabulous thread!! thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!

it was so neat that when you gathered with your new pledge class, you discovered what a great fit your sorority was. i also liked that although you had made friends with your roommate and with girls in your dorm, it appears that you all made your decisions independent of each other based on what you felt was best for you, and respected each others decisions. good advise for any pnm!

[Ocalagirl]

Great Story!! I really enjoyed reading it!!!

[NutBrnHair]

Great story -- well-written & fun! Thanks for sharing.

Sincerely,

Nut B. Hair, lover of frills