Rushing dances?

Taualumna · #1 01-15-2005, 12:18 AM

I'm reading old newspaper articles from the 20s and 30s, and they seem to mention rushing dances that were held at country clubs. What exactly were they?

Thanks

RedRoseSAI · #2 01-15-2005, 10:53 AM

Probably dances/social events to which prospective members of the club were invited by current members.

Taualumna · #3 01-15-2005, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by RedRoseSAI
Probably dances/social events to which prospective members of the club were invited by current members.

Actually, they were hosted by sororities, held at country clubs. Maybe I should have said that in my first post (oops!)!

The announcements in the social pages went something like this:

ABC is hosting its rushing dance at The Country Club this Saturday.

TSteven · #4 01-15-2005, 11:23 AM

I'm not sure if this is the same thing but it may be. I've heard about from relatives & family friends and seen pictures in yearbooks of 'open' dances.

Back in the 1950's & 60's, at my small hometown college, the fraternities (four at the time) use to have these open dances for all the students. Most were held at the start of, or early on, each semester.

At these dances, incoming freshmen would meet the chapter brothers. The gentlemen that the fraternities liked would then be invited to other rush events - i.e. Smokers. So basically these dances served as a rush event.

In any case, the dances were usually held at either the county club or the student union ballroom. Also very popular were 'street dances'. These were held at the start of the fall semester while it was still very warm at night. A big flatbed would be parked at the end of a street near campus and a local band would preform. The flat bed would be 'decorated' with signs from the fraternity sponsoring the dance.

ABC says: Welcome Back!

The open dances ended by the early to mid 1970's. There were now twelve fraternities on campus so a more 'formal' concept of rush was in place. Also the student body was too big for anything other than the street dances. Which still happens to this day. However they are either sponsored by NPHC/NIC/NPC with ~GO GREEK!~ banners, or usually thrown by the student activities board.

Taualumna · #5 01-15-2005, 11:30 AM

If they were called "dances", did that mean that members of the opposite sex were also allowed to attend? If not, then why were they "dances", and not "teas" (especially for sororities)?

TSteven · #6 01-15-2005, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Taualumna
Actually, they were hosted by sororities, held at country clubs. Maybe I should have said that in my first post (oops!)!

The announcements in the social pages went something like this:

ABC is hosting its rushing dance at The Country Club this Saturday.

Wow. Did they need third party vendors all the way back then?

Back to my hometown college, I don't recall any 'open' or rush dances thrown by the sororities. That was reserved for the fraternities. However, since the sororities had suites, they often held rush teas at the country club. And usually their dances were held there too.

TSteven · #7 01-15-2005, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Taualumna
If they were called "dances", did that mean that members of the opposite sex were also allowed to attend? If not, then why were they "dances", and not "teas" (especially for sororities)?

I would guess sorority 'rush dances' were open to both sexes. Perhaps ABC sorority would invite the men of XYZ fraternity to serve as escorts.

Taualumna · #8 01-15-2005, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TSteven
I would guess sorority 'rush dances' were open to both sexes. Perhaps ABC sorority would invite the men of XYZ fraternity to serve as escorts.

Interesting...I guess things were very different back then.

TSteven · #9 01-15-2005, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Taualumna
Interesting...I guess things were very different back then.

I agree.

On a somewhat personal note. Growing up in a small Southern college town with a vibrant Geek community was great. There wasn't really any negative connotations associated with being Greek.

Maybe it was a Southern thing. Maybe a small town thing. Not sure which or if it was both. But in any case, joining a GLO was considered both a privilege and an honor. Amongst both the students and the town folk.

And for what it is worth, I feel this is a carry over from the attitude of the 1950's & 1960's. That Greeks are an integral part of college life and future leaders of society.

Little E · #10 01-17-2005, 11:23 AM

I thought the term "rush" came from the literal rushing of freshmen from the train to the sorority/fraternity house at the beginning of the year. I've seen pics in our old year books of the frosh being literally pulled into houses as everyone scrambled to get the frosh.

PhoenixAzul · #11 01-17-2005, 11:29 AM

hehe, my advisor (and favorite professor EVER) was telling me about how weird the teas were at times, especially for girls who hadn't grown up in Greek oriented families/towns. She said there was a lot of stigmas against girls who only got invited back to one house for final, and 2 invite girls were considered "creme de la creme". She's never told me this before, but she was a 2 invite girl, and a DG! I never knew! This explains why she's so understanding of all the Greek stuff the editorial board is in.