So--first round at UT-Austin 1982...
There we were, with curled hair and plenty of makeup, cute sundresses and sandals--and pantyhose. Bare legs were trashy, y'all. It was SO hot, but we'd all been taught that ladies transcended discomfort
. It felt wonderful to go inside the air-conditioned houses and try not to gulp down the cold beverages offered (usually water or lemonade, although the Thetas were famous for 12oz bottles of ice-cold Coca-Cola).
It's hard to remember a lot of details, but I remember the Theta Cokes, the crowded houses at Chi O, Zeta, and TriDelt, and seeing my friends at the other houses. There were houses that I would have loved to have joined, and others that I didn't really see myself in. My legacy house, Chi O, was one of the latter--I just didn't feel like I belonged there. Chi O had a bit of a reputation for cutting legacies back then (before they changed their legacy definition to daughters and sisters only)--they had cut my best friend early, even though she was a chapter legacy and her mother had held several offices during her years there. Everyone was lovely--but that wasn't where I wanted to be. I felt the same way about TriDelt--there was a real sense there that they were much more interested in some of the other girls there than in me, and I was uncomfortable that it was so obvious.
After two days of walking around in heels and hose in the heat, we were all ready for a break. My dormmates and I went out to eat in the evening, but surprisingly, there was virtually no tent talk. We all focused on our own schedule and choices for the most part, although the third-gen Theta expressed grave concerns that she would make it through. The mega-legacy Theta scoffed and reminded her that her grandmother had endowed two Theta scholarships--she was a shoo-in. However, Mega-Leg had set her heart on Pi Phi, knowing she'd never get a bid because of her Theta history. Oh, the drama...
Second round involved up to four houses over two days, so of course the goal was to receive at least four invitations back. I found my convocation room and received exactly four invitations--yay! Alpha Phi (of course--my best friend's house), KD (I had had fun there, too), and DG (I was lukewarm on this one, but was ready to give them a chance). The fourth envelope was most definitely from Chi O...
Except it wasn't.
Every other house I had visited during first round had cut me, including my legacy house. The fourth invitation was from Gamma Phi--even though I had regretfully declined their first-round invitation. I was stunned--and very, very happy.
When I got back to the dorm, we all compared schedules and notes. When I told everyone about the Gamma Phi invite, there was shocked silence--and then my roomie said, "They must REALLY WANT YOU!" Everyone else agreed--Mega-Leg told me much later that she had shared that story with her older sisters, and none of them had ever heard of that happening to anyone.
I honestly don't remember much about second round, except that I was getting rushed hard by the Alpha Phis (led by my best friend--I knew that I was near the top of their list, but I felt a little pressured, and I just wasn't sure that was the place for me), the KDs were a little lukewarm towards me, and I have no memory of DG at all. Gamma Phi was the last house I visited on the first day of second round, and from the moment I stepped into the courtyard, I knew I was home. Julie from the summer rush party greeted me, and introduced me to Allison, a tall, gorgeous blonde who told me about the chapter's philanthropy and emphasis on participation in campus organizations and honor societies (which nobody had mentioned at the other houses). There was a totally different vibe in that house that felt very comfortable to me.
Fast forward to pref night. It was down to two houses--Alpha Phi and Gamma Phi--and while I knew that Alpha Phi was a sure thing, Gamma Phi had my heart. I knew my bestie would be so disappointed, but I also knew that she would understand and appreciate my decision. And she did--we are still best friends to this day. I preffed Gamma Phi first, Alpha Phi second.
Bid day--there was my Gamma Phi bid! Off I headed to my new home...
The Gamma Phi house was the farthest house from the convocation site, so by the time I got to a certain point, I knew that the other girls I saw were headed to Gamma Phi. I caught up with the girl ahead of me and asked where she was going. "Gamma Phi--what about you?" I told her I was, too--and by the time we got to the house, a bunch of us had already introduced ourselves as pledge sisters. It was a great way to start my Gamma Phi experience.
As for my dormmates--the Theta legacy next door was at the top of the Theta list, and her roomie also received a Theta bid. Mega-Leg, despite all efforts to change her mind, declined her Theta bid and spent a year waiting to join Pi Phi as a sophomore, which she very happily accomplished. My roomie became the first non-legacy Pi Phi pledge in almost a decade--and was absolutely miserable. Apparently there was a lot of hazing going on there, with the understanding that no one would dare report it for fear of reprisals from both the actives, and their own mothers--and roomie was getting additional pressure from actives and alums who told her that she had "stolen" a place from a legacy. Roomie ultimately deactivated at some point after our freshman year. (Let me add that while Pi Phi at UT is still legacy-heavy, they have opened up their pledge classes in recent years to include a lot more non-legacies.)
I was the only Gamma Phi in our entire dorm--but the dorm was right across the street from the house, so I didn't feel lonely at all. Most of the girls in the dorm pledged Big Six houses, and there were some who really looked down on Gamma Phi--one even told me that her family would never have let her visit that house, much less pledge it. Mega-Leg staunchly defended me by saying that I was happier in my house than most of the Big Sixers were in theirs--because I had made the decision based on what was right for me, rather than on family legacies and pressure. And that really sums it up--definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made.
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