The streets of Madison are filled with a gaggle of ladies. It's hot, it's sweaty and it's Greek. Greek life at the University of Wisconsin-Madison never really played a crucial role in one's social life. With the bumping buzz of State Street and its city flare, girls never had to join a sorority to have a "life".
I came to school believing that I was definitely not joining a sorority. But, as the day for Fall Recruitment came closer and closer, I started to change my mind. All my new friends decided to rush so I figured … why not? I decided that I would rush, but not pledge.
Up, up, and up the union steps I went to find girls in red and white baseball tees that would assign me my rush group. "Don't stop believing, hold onto that feeling," the tunes of Journey and other old-school artists fill the union. To be quite honest, I thought the whole thing was cheddar. But, I continued on with the nights' activities anyway.
My group was led by our Rho Gammas to the Humanities building where we played an ice breaker. They passed around a bag of peanut M&M's and each girl was to take a handful … if they weren't allergic. Each girl was to say where she was from, her age, where she is living, and answer a question based on her most prevalent color of M&M's. After leaving the room that night, I was turned off. I really wanted no part.
Click, click and click. The pounding of heels on Langdon could be heard by all. An array of cowboy boots and stylish flats swarmed the streets. During the second and third days of rush, each group toured the 10 houses and made the trip to the Hillel for Sigma Delta Tau.
Bang, bang and bang as the sisters pounded on their front doors. I was taken back. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. YELLOW! I had to close my eyes for the brightness was too much. I saw about 30 girls in yellow T-shirts all singing in unison. Estrogen overload was my first thought. A girl immediately took me and another rushee, sat us down and started to question us. With a smile on, I answered the questions. "Where are you from, where are you living, what do you like to do", these were some of the typical questions that I was asked. After chatting it up for a while, we were then passed off to another sister. "This is ____, we were just talking about ____, it was nice meeting you, good luck with the rest of Rush." That's how each sister made her exit. The whole process was like a job interview. It's like my T-shirt said "For Sale" and I had to convince these girls that I am a good investment.
"If you don't know whether to go Greek or what sorority is for you," was one of the lyrics to an adapted version of 'N sync's, "Dirty Pop." The sisters paraded around the houses putting on a show for the rushees. The skits were my favorite part of rush. The roles had switched; they were selling themselves to us! During one of the 11 skits, I looked over at my friend and mouthed, "I want to do one." She found this amusing since I was the most anti-sorority girl.
As the days of rush came to end I was in shambles. I had decided to join one but couldn't figure out which one I wanted to do. I became a girl obsessed with Rush. I must have flip-flopped which sorority I was doing about 15 times. Occasionally, I would see the girls that rushed me when I was out on the town. We were not allowed to speak, touch, or acknowledge each other at all. Sometimes we would slip in an occasional smile or a "shady" chat. That could be construed as "dirty" rush, a practice taboo to some of the houses on campus. A sorority that "dirty" rushed was looked at in a bad light, but that didn't stop some of them.
It was the last night … the night before everyone would receive their bids. The girls that I was rushing with had all decided to do one sorority, but I wasn't sure whether that was the one that I wanted. I was a royal mess, my stomach was churning, my thoughts were scattered.
The sun was down, the air getting colder by the minute, my time to make a decision fading. I was one of the last two girls on line, then a revelation came; I had to do what was right for me.
The gaggle of girls marched this last time. Each girl was handed an envelope with her bid. RIP! I pulled out my bid and a smile instantly stretched across my face. I got what I wanted.
I am a pledge. I figured going Greek would add to my social life and my overall experience of Madison. Is it necessary? I don't think so. Is it right for me? Yes.
Skye Kalkstein ([email protected]) is a freshman.
