DBB's Retro Recruitment Thread

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Okay, I am going to do mine, just because irishpipes got me all nostalgic. Sigh.

I rushed at Illinois in 1999. I will use code names, and reveal at the end. It has been 8 years, and, being a midwestern school, chapters have changed a lot. This is a campus where one good rush can put a struggling chapter back on the map, and I saw it happen while I was there. I also knew nothing about reputations, and later found out that some of the houses I didn't like were top chapters. Who knew? So take my opinions with a grain of salt.

So, the mix has changed a little bit from IP's rush. The chapters are as follows:

Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Phi
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Delta Zeta
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Phi Mu
Phi Sigma Sigma
Pi Beta Phi
Sigma Delta Tau
Sigma Kappa
-------------------

Okay, beforehand, I knew the following:

Big brother (IRL) was a senior when I was a freshman. Most of his female friends were Ice Pearls, including one I had hung out with a lot while visiting him. My mom had been a Heart's Desire, at this same campus, and she had taken me to their house a few times when visiting my brother. I knew a few other people in each of those chapters, because they both drew heavily from my, um, "social crowd" (and that will give them away for most of you).

Let's see...a close male friend in a fraternity had told me that the Aquatic Blisses were the best chapter on campus because they were sweet, down-to-earth, cute girls.

That's about it. I was rushing with three other girls on my floor, none of whom knew much about any of the houses either. None of them were in my rush group.

I don't remember much about Orientation, other than really wanting to get it over with and get to the chapters. Our schedule was:

Orientation (Wednesday)
Open houses: 13 chapters (Friday)
Open houses: 9 chapters (Saturday)
First Invitational: 7 chapters (Sunday)
First Invitational: 3 chapters (Tuesday)
Second Invitational: 5 chapters (Friday)
Preference: 3 chapters (Saturday)
Bid day (Sunday)

There were 22 chapters in the open house round because we had breaks from the NPC groups where we we sit in a classroom and the associate members of the CPH would come talk to us (and we visited the one with a house).

In later years, the Tuesday night was eliminated, and we did First Invitational all in one day.

Also, I have no rush book, so I am going totally off of memory, but I do have a lot of details in my brain.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

So, first round...we started in Champaign, for everyone trying to guess, but we did NOT do Champaign one day, Urbana the other. Also, I don't remember where in there we went to the Union and heard from the associate members. I wore my CPH-issued rush t-shirt, some light-colored flared jeans, my hair in a pony tail, and no make-up, as it was 90 degrees out, we walk, and the houses don't turn on their air.

Provocateurs. They sang with so much energy that it was startling at first, but really cute. I was struck by the fact that a lot of them were medium-sized brunettes. Their house was really homey-looking, and right on the quad. The girl who rushed me was from my first high school, which was totally amazing, because not that many people from there end up at U of I (or college, for that matter). They were also in t-shirts and shorts, which I liked, because I felt comfortable. We talked about going out and stuff, she knew older brother, and I showed her my fake ID.

Water Bunnies. There were just so many of them! They were wearing capris, I think, and nice shirts. To be honest, it made me uncomfortable to sit in a chair in my jeans, while my rusher, in nicer clothing, sat on the floor. They were so peppy and cute, though, and I liked them.

Scarlet G's. I remember these girls rotated a lot, and every time, they would be like "Amy, I'd like you to meet Suzie. Suzie, Amy and I were just talking about the food in the dorms." so then Suzie would try to pick up the conversation, and I would end up having the same conversation I just had with the last rusher.

Ivory Jewels. I loved everything about this house. The girls were so nice and sweet, the house was gorgeous inside and out, and their skit was really funny.

Heart's Desires. I don't remember much here, except that there were a ton of Asian girls. I ran into a friend from high school, who I did not even know was at U of I (I later found out she had transferred in that year). I was surprised to see her, and she was not terribly friendly to me, so I was really put off by that. I was also afraid, deep down, of never knowing if a house wanted me, or had to take me as a legacy, so I walked out of here pretty confused.

Ravishes. They did an SNL skit that was so cute! I thought everyone looked so great, and I loved the fact that they all wore different stuff. They had the most energy, and this was my favorite house so far.

Vivid Dreams. Totally gorgeous house, inside and out. The girl who rushed me asked what my parents did for a living. Maybe it was just conversation, but I didn't think it was a polite question at all.

Glistens. This was a favorite of a lot of rushees. They did a big U of I skit, and were all dressed in orange and blue, but I felt like I got the dowdy rusher of the bunch. It seemed like everyone was having a great time all around me, and she and I weren't.

Jack Rabbits. I loved loved loved this house. They didn't do a skit, but took us on a house tour, and each area of the house had a different theme. These girls had mastered the art of walking backwards. I did notice that they were almost all blondes, though. I was near-certain that one of my Rho Chis was in this group.

Violet Glows. This house was really far from campus, and I think our Rho Chis even told us to ignore that. They did a saved by the bell skit, but at the end, so the girl rushing me was dressed weird, and I had no idea why.

Red Hots. I honestly don't remember a thing about this house, except that it was close to the quad.

So that's what I've got for you...more Open Houses in another post. Oh, and if you want to guess, go ahead, I will let you know if you are any good at it

[irishpipes]

I guess the U of I theme really worked since the Glistens were still doing it 12 years after I rushed!!! (Assuming Glistens = Waterford!)

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

I guess the U of I theme really worked since the Glistens were still doing it 12 years after I rushed!!! (Assuming Glistens = Waterford!)

You are correct.

[FSUZeta]

more please!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Okay, the rest of open house:

Aquatic Blisses. Super-nice rushers, and a gorgeous house. I remember just being overwhelmed because there were so many girls. They had really cute shirts, and looked nice without being overdone.

Sensual Curves. These girls were really dressed up, I thought, considering that the PNM's were in t-shirts. They were in sundresses, and they were very formal. The house was pretty, but had the museum vibe, as in, I was afraid to touch anything. I actually recognized the rush chair (she had dated one of my brother's friends), but didn't want to say anything about it.

Petite Passions. This chapter was noticeably smaller than the others, and they had 2 actives for every 3 rushees. I thought I had to be sure I said enough that they would remember me. Their skit was pretty sloppy and unrehearsed, but I thought maybe it would be nice to be in a smaller chapter.

Ripplers. I don't remember much about this chapter, but the girls were really nice, and I got to talk to one person for a long time, which I liked.

Ice Pearls. This was probably the house I knew the most people in, but I didn't know the girl who rushed me. I remember that they were giving out awesome snacks, and they talked a lot about which fraternities they hung out with.

Marvels. This was another chapter with 2 actives for 3 rushees. They gave us a house tour, and I liked the fact that they didn't do a skit. The girls were showing me their photo album, and talking about the philanthropy, and they had a picture of my brother and his friends, whose team had won last year's tournament. They told me that they were close with his house, and the first social of the year was with them, so I thought that was cool, and they also had an exchange with the other house I had a lot of friends in.

Wicked Lights. Another house where I noticed that there were a lot of blondes. They were again really dressed up, and I didn't like it when I sat in a chair and my rusher sat on the floor in front of me. They were rotating too quickly to really talk, I think.

Love Silks. I don't remember much about this house, except that the skit was really really funny.

So that was the end of round 1. We used SORUSH at the time, so I decided I wasn't going to rank them in my mind until I saw what invites I got back. We had to meet our RC's at 7am to do the paperwork, then began the next round around noon.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

I'm going to do a bit of a post script, because there seems to be a huge influx of NM's struggling with their choices post-bid day.

The first semester, I was all about partying hard, and so I naturally gravitated toward the people in the house who did such things. As a result, most of my pledge class did not like me, nor did my big sis. I moved into the house my second semester, and most of my friends were sophomores or juniors. In fact, I didn't even really get along with the other girls from my pledge class who also moved into the house (there were eight of us, in total).

I did really love my chapter, though, and had a ton of fun...I was that girl who never missed a party with a fraternity, that's for sure. My first rush as an active, my partner and I were in the "never gets a break" category because we had such good returns. In fact, I think this was true of almost all of the women who went on to be officers.

Sophomore year, I think I took on the job of external philanthropy chair, probably in an attempt to prove I was more mature. I really wanted to run for Panhellenic rep (most officers served from their second semester of sophomore year until their first semester of junior year), but when it became obvious that none of the current officers were running for president, I decided I would give it a shot. There were some people who thought I was too much of a partier and were concerned about how I would "represent the chapter" and all that, but they elected me anyway. I'm pretty sure that knowing the names of all the NM's worked in my favor :-).

That seriously burned me out, and I moved out of the chapter house as soon as I was done being on exec, but I was still around a lot as a senior, and tried to get to know all the new girls. It does get hard, though, especially in large chapters.

Another weird thing, IMO, is the girls I became friends with post-graduation. A lot of them were not necessarily the ones I was friends with as an undergrad. I have become very close to women I only sorta knew as an undergrad, and gotten to know women who graduated before I was even a freshman.

[DG Illinois]

Loved your story so much!

[Hartofsec]

What a great story!