LSU RUSH

#1 02-16-2001, 03:21 PM

I am being nosey - sorry- but I am really interested in LSU rush. From all the posts I have seen here- it seems like the toughest around - can I get some idea from anyone who is there or heard about it - why is it so big and cut-throat? Thanks!

prospectiverushee · #2 02-16-2001, 04:27 PM

ISU_XO

I attend LSU and have been thur rush. I'd rather not post my thoughts about the LSU Greek System here on the message board,but you can feel feel to email me. My email addy is in my profile

BABELSUSA · #3 02-16-2001, 07:26 PM

i can not say that I have been through LSU formal rush. But I am in a sorority that does informal rush only. Sigma Alpha. Email me if you wanted to know some more info at mgomez1@lsu.edu

carnation · #4 02-16-2001, 07:54 PM

I don't know anything about LSU but I know that UGa rush was a real killer this year (lots of heavy and early cuts) and the University of Texas is supposed to be rough. My sister's friend's daughter hired a "rush consultant" to help her be fabulous (???) and the consultant is in big demand.This girl was a beautiful, rich one from a notable Houston family so I don't know why she was so worried about rush.

33girl · #5 02-16-2001, 08:33 PM

My (totally random) take on the situation...

A good friend of Mr. 33's moved to New Orleans a few years ago. He is originally from one of the more exclusive communities in the Western PA area, so it's not like he just crawled out of the backwoods. But he said the Society, capital "S" scene down there absolutely blew him away - he didn't believe the layers upon layers of social strata and the importance of being an "old" family. While LSU isn't in NO, I would bet a lot of women from NO go there. The Greek system is probably very connected to the social scene and there is a lot of importance on being in the "right" sorority.

Just my guess.

Allie_XO · #6 02-16-2001, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 33girl:
My (totally random) take on the situation...

A good friend of Mr. 33's moved to New Orleans a few years ago. He is originally from one of the more exclusive communities in the Western PA area, so it's not like he just crawled out of the backwoods. But he said the Society, capital "S" scene down there absolutely blew him away - he didn't believe the layers upon layers of social strata and the importance of being an "old" family. While LSU isn't in NO, I would bet a lot of women from NO go there. The Greek system is probably very connected to the social scene and there is a lot of importance on being in the "right" sorority.

Just my guess.

I am from Podunk, Alabama.

Your comments remind me so much of my hometown. The social ranking was complicated (and pretty stupid). For instance, the Mayor is not originally from there, and the reason he was elected was that the "lower classes" voted him in. Naturally, he is not welcome in many gentle households. However, a judge who has connections back into antiquity is one of the gentry. The rankings within the "upper crust" change pretty much everyday and it is really hard to explain to someone not familiar with it.

There are "good" GLOs that the children from "good" families are supposed to join. Kappa Kappa Gamma and Sigma Nu (I think) are the big ones. Also, if you don't attend Alabama or Auburn, no one gives a damn (unless it is a private school - but that doesn't happen much because when these children are running the family business they are going to need to be able to communicate with the less educated). The only reason I went out for rush here was because they didn't have a Kappa chapter here. I know that is horrible, but I didn't want to be pressured (both my grandmother and aunt were Kappas) into pledging them.

Also, (and this is really crazy) if members of one family want the members of another family to "owe" them, then they will make sure that their son or daughter gets into their GLO. That ties them together and forms some sort of alliance.

And this is in a small town with only 15,000 people. There are maybe 5-10 top families. I can only imagine what it must have been like in New Orleans - they are a lot more rooted in tradition.

Allie

James · #7 02-18-2001, 01:09 AM

All I can say is that is amazing what the levels of social status that develop among communities with a bit of history and no significant or inspring real life tasks.

Some of these people have to put a down payment on a new life. Because if they have the time and energy to spend worrying about the subtle nuances of social etiquette, then they have entirely to much time on their hands!

The only altar of aristocracy that is justifiable of reverance is that of individual talent married to real life achievement.

But what do I know . . . I am just entirely to self-centered to categorize groups as cool or not cool based upon archaic social criteria or stereotypes.

It takes too much energy and detracts from quality me time. You actually have to individually impinge upon my awareness for me to like or dislike you. And chances are if you weren't a nice person I wouldn't pay enough attention to you to dislike you . . .
Again it takes to much energy.

But I'm just hopelessly self absorbed

James

#8 02-19-2001, 02:24 PM

Thanks everyone for the insight. Hiring a consultant to prep you for rush ... that is a new one!

juniorgrrl · #9 02-19-2001, 04:39 PM

Have you ever heard of the book "A Southern Belle Primer, or Why Princess Margaret Will Never Be a Kappa Kappa Gamma." Its a look at Southern life and customs. There is an entire chapter in it on Rush, and the lengths people go to for their daughters to be a Kappa, a XO, a Theta, or Pi Phi. It talks about how some mothers make their daughters go to schools that have less selective KKG chapters to pledge and be initiated, and then transfer to Auburn, LSU, UT, Ole Miss, etc.

And yes, the New Orleans social strata plays a big part in Rush at LSU. While a lot of the girls from the old line families don't attend LSU, the ones that do go KKG. Its just understood. If you read the debutante bios in the paper every August, you'll see that the girls for that season are all Kappas, and a few are XOs.

When I rushed, I was prepped by the mother of a friend who had rushed the year before. She sat me down and told me that I had a tiny chance of being accepted into certain chapters because of my hometown. She told me what was realistic to hope for. She also helped me figure out what to wear, told me the big no-nos (panty hose and open toed shoes), etc. Her daughter had been burned the year before, because she was a legacy to a chapter, and at pref, they promised her a bid, and then she didn't get one. I know a member of that chapter who denied that they dirty rush like that...but I believe it. I don't know why its so cutthroat, honestly. There are more than enough girls to fill the houses. But it seems that each chapter only wants the youngest, prettiest, perkiest girls in the easiest majors. The better sororities have more education majors as opposed to engineering majors - after all, gotta keep their GPA up...

AlphaGamGirl · #10 02-19-2001, 05:05 PM

Juniorgrrl, it is sooo funny that you mention that book=) My aunt gave it to me. I know a lot of people outside the South would say the contents of the book are exagerrated, but all of it is true. There are girls at my school who went here last semester, pledged and joined a sorority, and then transferred to a big school this semester. When it comes down to it, joining a sorority does have a lot to do with your family background and where you are from. Especially if you go to a Southern school.

Recent Alumna · #11 02-19-2001, 05:27 PM

Why does everybody make such a big deal about LSU rush? It can't be all that different from rush at other SEC schools... I go to one.

#12 02-19-2001, 05:27 PM

Someone emailed me a very nice note and told me about that book too. I will def. pick it up!

IowaHawkeye · #13 02-19-2001, 06:34 PM

someone told me that rush in the south was a very serious matter.. but i never believed it until i read that book. i think it is absolutely crazy the lengths people will go to (hire rush consultants) in order to get into the "elite" house... rush here in the north and the midwest is sooo much different.. i'm glad i don't live in the south where all of the pressure exisits

Margie · #14 02-19-2001, 06:51 PM

From what I understand, rush isn’t any different at other SEC schools than at LSU. It’s just that no one has talked about other SEC schools in awhile.

carnation · #15 02-20-2001, 12:30 AM

If you like the KKG book, you might also want to try Just As We Were-a Narrow Slice of Texas Womanhood by Prudence Mackintosh. The book contains part of an essay she wrote for Texas Monthly in 1979 about sorority life in the South, especially Texas.

She's a Kappa and she talks about the competition to get into the "Big 6" at Texas.
I've been meaning to order it and I just checked--it's available at www.bibliofind.com.