Rushing into a new year T
he biggest event of the summer began with a lot of small
talk. " Would you like a Pepsi?'' " Hi. my name is ..... what's yours?" "Can I take you on a house tour?" During a five day period. 600 men and women were oriented to the l 7 fraternities and nine sororities. Most went through rush in hope of pledging while some went through just to see what it was like. Women ' s rush was more formal than men's with organized tours scheduled every day. The first day was filled with tearful farewells to parents. who were as misty-eyed as their girls. Trunks. bags and suit· cases were unloaded and moved into the Theophilus Tower.
" My sister and mom unloaded bags. gave me a hug and said good luck. While I was saying "no. don' t leave me." said Kristen Durbin. The next three days encompassed the heart of rush with orientation . tours and meal days. Parties answered questions about the houses. such as. how much they cost to pledge and. of course. how good was the cook? By the end of the three days. rushees generally had narrowed their choices down to two houses: and then came Preference Night: The idea was to make the rushees feel wanted. comfortable and pressured without actually saying so. " When I went to this one house. we got these poems handed to us by someone we had gotten close to during the week:· said Kristen Beck. " I
Alpha Chi Omega. FRONT ROW: Tiffany Kerbs. Wendy Jakich, Michelle Drewien. Beth Rowland. Wendy Forman, Terri Beebe. Teresa Anderson. SECOND ROW: Reagan Davis. Chana Pea. Lynne Rowell. Vivan Martin, Terri Slack. Anne Raffetto. Kim Johnson. Becky Soderllng. THIRD ROW: Barbara Hinkle. Jana Pfefferkorn. Julie Fromdahi, Renee Grimmett, Anne Marrone, Lori Rumelhart. Malla McBirney, Casey Walrath. Karen Frederiksen. BACK ROW: NaDean Strange. Stacey Jacklch. Gwen Reed. Anne Wright. Kim Lannen. Karen Streckfuss. Usa Duff. Maile McBirney. Kristin Harris.
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thought it was so neat until I looked over at the girl next to me and found that mine were exactly like hers." The rushees made their choice and the houses made theirs. Then on Squeal Day the final selections were announced and rushees ran to the house where they could be living for the next four years. Men ' s rush went through two firsts. First was tour day. where house visitations were required. and secondly two days of dry rush were incorporated into the schedule. The traditional wet rush continued as before as each house tried to outdo the other with bands. food and everything from Mai-Tais to beer. Bands. beer and food weren't the only thing that attracted rushees. Girls
played an important role. From the Delta Sigma Phi's jello wrestling to the Delta Tau Delta's mud slide to the Phi Delta Theta's bikini contest. houses sponsored events to attract girls and impress the male rushees. Pledging meant a home. not a room to live in. Pledges gained not a house full of roommates. but friends. As the music faded. rush came to an end and the newly chosen pledges moved into their new homes and the small talk continued. ··How many credits are you going to take?" 0
M
en's rush actl· vities provid· ed a release from the tensions of women's rush. Michelle Knowles spent a play· ful afternoon at the an· nual Delt mud sllde. (Photo by B. Baln)