Retro on the Rocks with a Twist?

[susan314]

I vote for the full story too...you have me curious. Anything less than all the details would be a letdown.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

I picked up the shuttle just before the last party was letting out so it wasn’t too packed yet. At the first stop this girl got on. She looked familiar but I knew I hadn’t been paired with her at any of the parties. Still, I knew she was a member of one of the sororities. She looked at me before she took a seat, smiled, and said “Hi, Lady!” I smiled back and felt happy; a bit puzzled, but happy.

ETA: I didn't realize I didn't quote what I was responding too. SECDomination was commenting on this person from the shuttle I thought, but someone responded that that was Irene.

Is this person on the shuttle Irene too?

[Buttonz]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

A lot of girls come to my school and assume they'll be DPhiE because they're Jewish-then they meet the chapter! Their all Hispanic and far from the "national stereotype". They are also one of DPhiE's largest chapters! After every recruitment we always hear the story "I'm Jewish so I was going to be a DPhiE, but..."!

We have chapters like that also! Also, ZBT is know as religious Jews almost all over.....every time I hear that I can't help but laugh cus the ones on my campus were anything but religious Jews.

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

My SAI little, as I have said a few times, is an SDT legacy. She told me yesterday that while SDT is no longer a "jewish only" sorority, every chapter has to be completely one way or the other-fully jewish membership or fully non jewish membership. I don't know how true that is....but, I would assume she is right because her info came right from a sister.

100% Not true! My chapter had a strong mix of Jews and non-Jews, as do other chapters I know of. I think what it is, as been mentioned several times already, people tend to go where there are more people like them, which is why a chapter tends to lean towards either almost fully Jewish or almost fully not.

My NM class (there were 2 of us) is half and half, the class after me (4 girls) was half and half, and the class after us was totally not Jewish...and the class before us (to throw it in) was 2 Jews and a non-Jew. And so on. A girls religion never made a difference to us or bothered us and we attracted a mix. We still never did anything mandatory on a Friday night or a Jewish holiday out of respect for the religious sisters, and did the same on holidays like Christmas and Easter. In fact, what made me in the end realize that SDT was the place for me was the then president telling me how when she was looking to pledge there wasn't any religious Jews and they told her if she joined they would stop holding anything mandatory on Friday nights, Saturday, and any other Jewish holiday when she couldn't be there because of religion, and how much that meant to her. That's when I realized just how much respect there was in between sisters and the different beliefs that everyone held, and that sealed it for me.

Okay, I went off on a tangent, but the whole aspect of a Jewish sorority and the idea that we were only allowed to take one type of person, or took mainly just one type, bothered me. Sorry!

[thetaprincess]

I vote for the full story

[ms_gwyn]

full story!

[mystikchick]

full story and an update! what was the drama?!?! was the girl on the shuttle irene? details! story! pleaaaaaaaaase!

[Leslie Anne]

Okay, the votes are in. Full story it is. I'll just tell it as quickly as possible.

BTW, I love the tangents we go on. This one has been very interesting. I'm certain that all the NPCs have non-discrimination clauses by now. I know KD does. Buttonz, was there a time when SDT was strictly "Jewish Only?" I'm curious about this with AEPhi as well. I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't know that DPhiE was founded as non-sectarian. I thought only Phi Sig Sig was. I love learning about the NPCs.



Alright, on with the story...

One by one the girls in the lounge got housing. Teri and I were the last. I was assigned to another high-rise and Teri got placed on the other end of campus in Montgomery. For me, Montgomery was prime real estate; right near the restaurants, bars, sororities and fraternities, and closer to my classes. Plus, the modern high-rises just weren’t fitting into my F. Scott Fitzgerald vision of college life. I really wanted Montgomery. I begged, pleaded, and (knowing her weakness) even offered Teri money to swap room assignments. It worked! I moved into Montgomery Hall, got a great roommate and met some really wonderful girls. In hindsight I'd say that it changed the course of my life.

I loved being a Water Skiing pledge. My dorm room walls were plastered with Water Skiing symbols. The sisters were wonderful. I got a fantastic big sis, “Angela” and made some close friends in my pledge class. My closest group of friends were,
“Irene”, “Tabitha”, and “Becky” (who I was the closest to).

Back then, pledge periods were a full semester; about 3 ½ months. I found that I was completely unprepared for college level work. I was seriously lacking in study skills and was basically majoring in “sorority.” By the end of the semester I didn’t have the GPA to be initiated. Neither did “Becky” or “Irene.” “Tabitha” decided that Water Skiing wasn’t good enough for her and ended up depledging. There was no COB/COR at Maryland at the time. (It's possible that a few chapters did some informal rushing in the spring, but I wasn’t aware of it.) “Tabitha” planned on going through Rush again the next fall.

It was really hard to see the rest of my pledge class become sisters without me. Irene, Becky and I (and 3 others) were "hold-over" pledges and were given the next semester to make grades. I returned to Maryland after Christmas Break determined to make grades and be initiated. Everything was going pretty well and I was making plans to move into the chapter house in the fall.

By mid-semester, though, things got pretty shaky in my life. My parents got divorced. Our home went up for sale. I didn’t know where my father was. His work usually took him out of town, often to Europe, for months at a time. My mother was going through a very difficult time. I didn’t know where my brother was and I learned that my sister had gotten addicted to drugs. I felt like the foundation of my life was being shaken to its core. I was an emotional wreck.

Just before the end of the semester, I got a devastating call from my father. My sister had tried to commit suicide and was hospitalized. I was on the next flight home to L.A.



I’ll post more in the morning. (The memories are getting to me.)

[UGAalum94]

Oh wow. I'm sorry that you went through all of that.

I'm glad you survived it.

It sure puts recruitment invites down several notches in importance.

[ms_gwyn]

{{hugs}}

I know this is tough, even in hindsight....hang in there girl

[Buttonz]

*hugs you tight* I'm sorry you had to go through all that, I couldn't imagine having to deal with that, while being a college freshman across the country.

In regards to your question to me (totally off topic) not that I know of but it's possible I guess

[AlwaysSAI]

Leslie, that must have been sooooo horrible! I can feel your pain. My parents too got divorced and I don't even know where my dad is. As for my sister, she had some really rough times in high school, but she's doing a lot better now.

{{{{{{Leslie_Anne}}}}}}}}}


At least we know you make it out to the other end. I bet it is very hard to write about that!

[honeychile]

((((((((((((((((((Leslie Ann)))))))))))))))))

Take your time. You have a wonderful style and I'm sure we all want you to tell your story comfortably.

[violetpretty]

My first semester, when I was in a forced quad in Denton, this very social freshman begged me to switch rooms with her. She had a room in Montgomery, and wanted a high rise on North campus to be around freshmen. She was willing to live in MY ROOM for that. I declined her offer though, because I didn't want the hassle of switching in the middle of the semester, and I went home enough as it was so I thought I could live it out till the end of the semester, plus it was just as far away from all of my classes. It probably would have been cool to have that room for when I pledged, since it is so close to the Greek houses, but the important thing was that I moved out of Denton after that semester.

Did your boyfriend visit you during this semester with all the horrible things happening? Was the chapter supportive of you? I think the grades thing was a big reason why Maryland switched to a deferred recruitment.

I'm ready to hear more when you are ready to share!

[Leslie Anne]

Thank you all for your hugs of support. It was difficult. I'm sorry to have been depressing but I had to explain what happened and why I didn't make grades yet again.

I needed a 2.0 to be initiated. Obviously, since I had just up and left school right before finals, I failed a few classes and ended up with a 1.99 GPA.

By summer things had stabilized and I returned to Maryland. I took 3 classes and aced them all. Considering what had happened, my counselor arranged for a "retroactive withdrawl" from my spring courses. I was back on track.

I never told anyone at Water Skiing what had happened. I was too embarrassed by my dysfunctional family. By fall, my pledgeship was over and if I wanted to be in a sorority I would have to go through the entire process of Rush all over again. (Don't worry, I never intended to take you all on that ride again. I'll cut to the chase....as much as possible.)


More in a bit...

[Leslie Anne]

Jess, I can see Denton working well for you with a straight shot down to the Chem building. I loved South Hill though. All my classes were on the mall; Skinner, Francis Scott Key, the Journalism building, etc.

This was before Montgomery was made into suites. (They started gutting the building around 1987-88.) Most of the girls in Montgomery were Freshmen and Sophomores.

My kinda-boyfriend had given me his address at school and I was supposed to write to him when I got to Maryland but I never did. There had been some mixed signals from him before fall, bluster about it just being "a summer thing", blah blah blah. During my sophomore year our fathers were working together in London for a few months. (They're in the same business.) He showed up in London for a visit; I didn't.

I hadn't told anyone in the chapter what happened but they were very supportive about my going through Rush again and trying to re-pledge as you'll see........