[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

This is definitely my "bestest" recruitment story...

In the mid-80's, when I was a collegian, we received a phone call from the Panhellenic Office in between the first and second parties of Round One: Two fraternity men, named Pat and Chris, had officially registered for sorority rush under their real names. No one realized that they were guys until they showed up to meet their Rho Chis at the first house on that group's schedule. The Panhellenic office told us to be polite to them and not to make a scene, for the sake of the legitimate PNMs. An administrator was being sent to either our house or their 3rd scheduled party, to intercept the guys and pull them out of the group, but she definitely wouldn't get there before our party started.

We all tried to get a discrete look out the window as the group lined up on the sidewalk outside our house. First in line were the 2 Rho Chis, looking really put out as they clutched their clipboards. A few feet away, in the front of the line, were the 2 guys...and this was classic. They were definitely sporting "what not to wear" outfits...ugly wigs, elbow purses like Queen Elizabeth, floral house dresses, and sensible pumps. One had a straw hat with a flower on the brim, and their make-up left a lot to be desired...especially the big, round, pink circles of blush on each cheek. The PNMs were lined up a safe distance down the sidewalk and looked completely befuddled and even more nervous than usual. The guys, who were well-known in the Greek community, had huge smiles and were eagerly and patiently waiting.

As they came in, we paired them off with a couple of steadfast members who steered them into the TV room for conversation, instead of the living room. I'm not even sure they realized this was a "snub" because the next day the campus newspaper ran a front-page story on the whole debacle and we were really happy because we got some great PR out of the whole adventure...one of the guys was quoted as saying the "Gamma Phi Betas were the friendliest house and were the nicest to us."

I lied...here it is! It's back on page 76, and led to some follow-up discussion...the best part was that another GCer whose sorority was right next door also remembered this event and confirmed that by asking if this was at Maryland, which it was!