matchmaker.osugreek.com

I always love to think that matchmaker.com would work for me… Well, I mean I use to until I met my current boyfriend! But back in the single days, it always seemed like putting a form up on the internet would be much more efficient then actually socializing. The quality may not have always be top notch, but the quantity would help even out the odds of finding a respectable option. The first week of school I found out that the Greeks had their own version of matchmaker.com.

It came as somewhat of a shock to me when I found out that nights blocked off for “Coke Dates” on the calendar actually meant a real DATE! Yeah. A fraternity would send over their freshmen pledge class (which could have freshmen to seniors in it) to the house in a straight line with enough flowers for each freshman girl in the sorority. The girls would line up inside the house shortest to tallest. This was so the tallest girl would hopefully not get stuck with the shortest guy… Heaven forbid, right? So both groups are lined up, and then you pair off. One guy to one girl. Well, that is until the end. The boy pledge classes were usually smaller resulting in 2 girls and sometimes 3 girls per 1 boy. Don’t worry though… Those double and triple dates were usually 95% a blessing in disguise. It meant you had a wing-woman to endure the next 30 minutes to an hour with if the guy turned out to be pig-headed or an absolute nerd. Did I mention the older sisters in the house would watch the whole ordeal from the porch, or jokingly harass you in the house right before! It was definitely a right-of-passage event.

This might be completely false, but this is how I like to think that someone came up with the whole “Coke Dating” scheme…. It starts at a house party or in a bar on the strip. There are a couple of Greeks enjoying a little alcohol. They are talking about the all important issues of course. How can they get rid of GDI’s? Why didn’t they name a building after the Greeks, like Greek Hall? When would there be a “Greek Row” constructed where all the sororities and frats have a granite block with their letters on it? And most importantly, how can the baby (freshmen) Greeks get more involved with the opposite sex baby Greeks? Parties were fine, and had worked up until this point, but there had to be a better, quicker, and entirely easier way to make the freshmen frats and sorority pledge classes mingle. After all, good Greek house relationships begin early and Follies and Homecoming only expose the freshmen to two houses… Hmmm, what to do, what to do? I am sure a few ideas were passed around, too vulgar to even mention, but soon a senior girl (because what guy would have willingly said he’d want to pay for coke dates??) mentioned the idea of Greek Speed Dating. What a novel idea! Houses could pair up on nights and the boys could come get the girls and go do something cute and date-y. The girl that proposed it was so gorgeous and well liked that the idea caught on, and is now basically Greek law today at Oklahoma State University.

I vividly remember hearing a story from our social SET chair that made me want to gag… APPARENTLY sometime back in the day (1970’s-1980’s) there was a girl in our sorority who ended up marrying her 1st coke date… What a fairytale dream right? OR it was a sneaky ploy to convince us that we needed to be looking our very best just in case Mr. Right came to pick us up for a coke date. AKA don’t be the ugly pledge class that no frat wants to hang out with.

I never really thought about the coke date from the frat’s point of view, though, until I met my boyfriend. He expressed to me the hurt that was put on his wallet every time a coke date was set up with a sorority. Because he was taller, he was in the back. Remember the boy pledge classes are notoriously smaller, so he ended up having to take out 2 or 3 girls. Since the males are so chivalrous and kind, they would pay for whatever date we went on. Usually it was kept pretty simple. Cokes, candy, maybe ice cream… But if you were taking out 2 girls once or twice a week… Let’s be honest. Those bills begin to add up. And not to mention the budget that has to be side aside for flowers! It is crazy the hoops that are jumped (for both the sororities and fraternities) so a “coke date” can take place. I just want to give a shout out thanks to all the men who shelled out the money to take me on the awkward dates. It gave me an awesome blog topic, and some good memories, too. And for the women who went on every date (showered and pretty), AND kept a smile, even when you felt like punching your date in the face… I commend your strength and patience. All in the name of Greek Socializing.