This past weekend, Penn held a sorority Open House during which freshmen girls were free to wander into all eight sororities (Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Phi Sigma Sigma, Sigma Delta Tau, and Sigma Kappa, to be specific) to engage in some small talk and be force-fed cookies and chips by over-zealous sisters trying to avoid the inevitable awkward silences via food.

In order to maintain my OxfordCommaness (and by that I mean my anonymity), I won’t tell you which sorority I’m in. Actually, I may not even be in a sorority – maybe I’m only taking educated guesses about what Open House was like.

That being said, I’m pretty sure it basically consisted of looking girls up and down and talking about the weather, classes, and where everyone went to sleep-away camp. It’s hard to avoid those aforementioned awkward silences, especially during Open House, which is much more casual and less structured than actual Rush.

Speaking of Rush, here’s a bit of a PSA for any freshmen girls who are interested: it begins next semester on the first day of classes, January 14. You have to register for it (I said it was formal!), and if you have yet to do so, click here for the official site.

Also, I’d recommend heading over to J. Crew some time before January, because the attire for Rush is business casual. Again, pretty formal – especially compared to fraternity rush at Penn, which is really just code for getting drunk and eating Buffalo wings.

That being said, I do hope that Open House allowed freshmen girls to get a feel for each sorority and begin thinking about Rushing next semester!