ENGL 1101
RUSH
“Smile girls, smile!” screams a recruitment councilor. It is 7:45 AM and you are running to make it to your first sorority house on Milledge Avenue, also known as Greek street. You are wearing a red and white sun dress and your comfy rainbows. As you are racing to make it to the Alpha Delta Pi house, you have to work your way through a mass of other potential sorority girls. This year at UGA there are over 1300 girls participating in rush (DeShaun). Rush is a week long event with four rounds for girls desiring to join one of seventeen sororities at the University of Georgia. Rush was designed for you to get to know each of the sororities and what it means to be part of the sisterhood.
You know it is going to be a tough competition to get into the sorority of your choice, but you think that you have a better shot than some girls because your mother was in a sorority, which makes you a legacy. As soon as you make it to the ADPi house, you get in line according to the alphabet and get out your note card. At each house you have to provide a note card with your name, your rush number, the round, the event number, and the sorority house. Next the recruitment councilor knocks on the sorority house door and the doors open wide by the sorority president and the head of recruitment. They introduce themselves and invite you into the house. As you enter the house, you are surrounded by the current sorority sisters of that chapter. They are clapping and singing their sorority's songs in order to portray their sorority spirit. Next, a sorority member introduces herself and you chat about the weather, what you did in high school and over the summer, what you look forward to at UGA, and the Georgia football games. After you finish the small talk, she introduces you to as many sorority sisters she can find. “Ring, ring, ring” sounds the bell and your off to the next sorority house. For the first two days, you attend a twenty minute meet and greet at the seventeen sorority houses and then rank which sororities you prefer.
On the third day of rush, you receive a list of the sororities that invited you back for round two. During this round, you have the possibility of returning to twelve houses to go on a twenty minute house tour (Panhellenic). As you walk through each of the houses, you realize how exciting it would be to live in the sorority house as a sophomore. Every bedroom is decorated with booming colors, a wall at every house has pictures of previous sorority members, and the remaining rooms are fun and inviting. After all your house tours are complete, you return back to your tiny dorm room and take a long nap to recover from the day. Just as you lay down, it seems as though you are up again for another day of rush. During this day, you have the chance of returning to six houses to watch skits and learn about the different sorority's philanthropy (DeShaun). Philanthropy is a main focus in each sorority and portrays the values of the individual sorority through community service. This round helps you narrow down the sororities that you believe are the best match for you.
“Does anyone have an extra black dress?” says Maureen to a fellow rush participant. It is the Preferential round and most girls are wearing a solid black dress and high heels. This round only has three events that are fifty minutes each (Panhellenic). During your house visits, the current members perform special ceremonies and have members speak to the entire group in order to encourage you to join their sorority. After your last event, your mind is racing with thoughts about which sorority you should pledge. When you return to your recruitment councilor, you fill out a bid card listing the sororities you wish to join in order of preference. At the bottom of the card, you sign your name, which binds you to join the sorority that asks you back even if it was your third choice. So you have finally decided which sororities you liked and now you have to wait until the next day to find out which sorority picked you.
A white limo is waiting to pick you up downstairs in your white dress because you pledged Sigma Kappa! You made it through the exhausting week and now can relax. Although the week was stressful, you made many new friends and learned all about what it means to be a part of the Greek life.
Work Cited
Harmon, Elise. Personal Interview. 23 October 2007.
Harris, DeShaun. “Rush helps girls find houses.” The Red and Black Publishing Company Inc. 16 August 2006. 23 October 2007.
Flaherty, Maureen. Personal Interview. 23 October 2007.
University of Georgia Panhellenic Council. 2007. Greek Life Office. 23 October 2007.
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