Why do thirty or so well-dressed women line up outside a Greek house?
So I’m driving home last night, and I’m travelling down a block…. well, actually I was parked across the street (long story) from what I believe to be a fraternity, although it could be a sorority, too. There are about five such “fraternities” on the block. Outside each one is a line of thirty or so women, all dressed to the nines in high heels, fancy dresses and fur coats. I hear a female voice yelling, “All right girls, get ready.” I sit there for a moment, and then it looks like one or two women enter the building.
As I drive down the street, I see similar lines outside the other buildings with greek letters on them. Now, if the greeks are sororities, then I suppose this could be a rush (at this time of year?) However, if they are fraternities, and I don’t hear any signs of partying (usually you can hear the music from blocks away, and there’s a keg or two sitting on the porch, and lots of casually dressed (or semi-dressed) men consuming said beverage.
Can anyone explain this?
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13 Answers
Maybe you don’t hear the music because of the ‘silent rave’ phenomenon (iPods/MP3 Players & ear buds).
But if it’s a fraternity house the answer must have something to do with alcohol or sex.
@Grisson” ”But if it’s a fraternity house the answer must have something to do with alcohol or sex.”
One would think.
Except these women were calm and orderly, almost formal. It didn’t have the feel of such raucus goings-on.
It could be rush—you usually get some version of rush at the beginning of each semester. That sounds exactly like a rush activity: make everyone get dressed to the nines then leave them outside as you let one or two in to “review”.
Easy to sort out. Just make note of the Greek letters on the houses, and check online to see if they match sororities or fraternities. If the former, then it is rush. If the later, then probably some fraternity ritual, but, I don’t recall anything like this from my time in college, which (at the time) had the largest Greek system in the country.
Fraternities and sororities are not only about raucous loud parties. From what you describe, it sounds like it was a pledging ceremony night for a sorority.
@cwilbur “Fraternities and sororities are not only about raucous loud parties.” That would be difficult to prove from my front porch. I live near a southern university, and I’ve never seen any activity at any of the Greek houses that didn’t wind up with the police there, or drunks staggering around, or beer cans all over the street.
I’m sure there are fraternities and sororities that do community service activities and beneficial stuff. But if you see 30 people gathered up in front of a house with Greek letters on it, you can pretty much bet that’s not one of them.
“Beware of Greeks gifting beer”
<——-lived on frat row at uni for 3 years.
There’s a lot of ritual goings-on in frats and sororities, and if a pair of houses (beats a flush… no, wait…) are “aligned” in some way, they may have special rituals between them that involve dressing up. Other than the “kegger on Saturday” kind. They may have been the fraternity’s Little Sisters, or they may be a frat and sorority formal, too. You never know.
I’m thinking it’s rush. That’s going on at my school right now. is it rush season or something?
Many of the woman are required to dress up nicely, but I have no idea what the men do dress-wise. There may be some sort of ceremonial thing going on; many schools have that.
My school doesn’t do a lot for rush, but for “run out” (when the frats/sorors pick their pledges), all the pledges and sisters and brothers run SCREAMING out out the main hall and there is much screaming, and noise, and screaming. That’s why they call it “run out”. It’s supposed to be exciting. :)
Rush week at my school was only at the start of the autumn term. It might be different at chapters for other schools.
shilolo are you a Boilermaker?
@aprilsimnel
Yeah it works differently for different schools. I know for some (like mine) rush isn’t until the beginning of the Spring term because the organizations need to look at the freshmen grades from the previous semester.
That’s what made me think that it’s rush right now.
@grisson: lurve for amazing pun, wonder if you invented it for this thread.
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