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Gia Giudice
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Gia Giudice
Welcome to Dirty Rush, the truth about sorority life with your hosts, me, Gia Giudice, Daisy Kent, and Jennifer Kessler. Hey, it's Daisy Kent back on Dirty Rush, you guys. My mind is blown by all of these stories about pinning. We had so many callers call in and they're also different. Some of them are crazy. So we're going to dive back into this and talk more about these pinning ceremonies, what they mean from school to school, and just learn some more because I literally had no idea this is what pinning was about. How are you doing, Christina?
Christina
I'm doing great, thank you.
Gia Giudice
We've been getting kind of people's takes on what a pinning is or how it happened at their school. So I'm curious, what was your pinning like or what did it all entail?
Christina
It's a. Mine was actually kind of different. Not the stereotypical traditional pinning.
Gia Giudice
Okay.
Christina
I was a senior at Cal when I met my husband. Now.
Gia Giudice
Oh, I know.
Christina
Cute, huh? 30, almost 30 years, but.
Gia Giudice
Oh, congrats. That's amazing.
Daisy Kent
Thank you.
Christina
We. So we started dating our senior year. And. And to be honest with you, I'm not sure why originally he. We used to do pinnings on during Monday night meetings. And it was usually a surprise. Members of a fraternity, you know, we kind of filter into the meeting and it was really cute that way.
Gia Giudice
Yeah.
Christina
Anyway. But ours, I don't know if it was because maybe we hadn't. We'd only been dating maybe six, you know, eight months or something. Or I know that a lot of our friends were in different sororities and fraternities. And so we had planned this graduation party with our parents and some of our friends that were in different houses.
Gia Giudice
Oh, so fun.
Christina
We were hosting it at a hotel, you know, nearby hotel. And so I did. Unbeknownst to me, he decided to go ahead and pin me there. So his friends like, some of our. One, you know, one set of his best friends from home were there that didn't even go to Cal.
Gia Giudice
Oh, that's special.
Christina
Yeah, A couple of his friends for the fraternity and a couple of friends that were in different fraternities. And then one of, you know, a couple good friends of mine that were in my sorority, and again, a couple that were in different sororities. So it was really cool to kind of have a big group there. But I think what was so strange about my pinning is that my parents were there. My aunt and uncle were there.
Gia Giudice
So did you. Did you know you were going to get pinned before it happened?
Christina
No, we were. It was just really a graduation party. We, you know, just stereotypical party. Round tables, dinner bar. Right.
Gia Giudice
Yeah.
Christina
And then one of the. It wasn't even my husband one. It was one of the other guys stood up and, you know, started giving a speech. And so I. I was called to the, you know, kind of the front of the room. And. And they. They started bringing me flowers, which is a traditional part of the pinning. Usually a pinning. When the guys come into our. Our. I guess it was usually our dining room, they would all bring roses. So they would hand. They would hand the. The person. Everyone would have a single rose. And so the guys did that. And then, of course, my husband now had a big bouquet of roses, so that was obviously really cute.
Gia Giudice
Oh, so at your school, was it if, like. Because I've heard, like, a different. Like different kinds of paintings and what they mean at different schools was yours. Like, if a guy pins you, does that mean. Is it kind of like, like, before engagement thing, or like, they want to be with you forever or what does it come. Like, what does it necessarily mean at your school?
Christina
Well, that's, you know, that is so interesting. And I was trying to think back, truthfully, to remember everything because it's been a few. But I think, you know, I don't think we were 100 thinking engagement right at that minute. Minute. But I think most people that were willing, that were. That were. That ended up getting pinned were clearly pretty serious, right? Yeah, because you kind of had to stand up and say, you know, I want to put, you know, my fraternity pin on somebody. So it was kind of, I guess, a precursor maybe. Yeah, but I guess we hadn't really discussed at that point, you know, getting married or engagements or anything.
Gia Giudice
I just had a thought of, like, Twilight when, like, how the wolves, like, imprint on someone. I'm like, this is kind of like, so how long after you got pinned did you guys get engaged?
Christina
Oh, let's see. It was probably. It was maybe less than a year that we were really young.
Gia Giudice
Oh, my gosh. That's so great.
Christina
I know. That is wild. I know. I have children that are that age now, and it's funny to think that we were already engaged and married, and so it's very funny.
Gia Giudice
That is so funny. Do you have any kids that are, like, in college that have done, like, the pinning thing? No.
Christina
I mean, both our kids have graduated from school, and no, they did not do the pinning thing. So I don't even know. Is that something that's still going on? Is it still popular now?
Gia Giudice
It was funny. We've talked to a few people today. Like, one college's pinning was like a roast. So, like, the guy and the girl would be like, oh, like, we want to get pinned. And then everyone in their fraternity and sorority would roast each other. And then. Yeah, I was like, this sounds like a horrible idea. And then there was another. We just talked to a couple, and they had graduated recently. Um, and they did, like, a pinning, but it was like, the girls went and did, like, went on a party bus, did their thing. The guys went on their party bus, and then they met up, but the girl didn't know she was getting pinned. And then they were all kind of just like, drunk partying, and she pinned.
Christina
So, yeah, it's changed at our. The one I remember the most, truthfully, is some of our best friends from school, and they had a much more traditional pinning. It was very cute, though. We even snuck in for them. We snuck in her. She has a twin sister. And then he. He had a sister from Southern California that flew up, and so they had been hiding in the sorority house, so that. So that she didn't know that they were there.
Gia Giudice
Yeah.
Christina
And so that was super fun. And then, of course, I think there was. As far as the partying, I think he. I think our friend did buy maybe a keg or something, and we had a party after, you know, but.
Gia Giudice
Oh, that's so fun.
Christina
But it was really fun in that situation for her to have some of the siblings around as well.
Gia Giudice
Oh, definitely. Do most people get pinned, like, when they're a senior?
Christina
Yeah, definitely senior. And. And it was pretty rare. And I don't know if that's a California thing. I don't know. I mean, I feel like maybe in my four years as a member, I mean, I'm trying to think. It's definitely. I can count on one hand how many pittings there were. So it wasn't a super common thing.
Gia Giudice
Okay, that's kind of cool. Makes it, like, special.
Christina
Definitely.
Gia Giudice
Um, and then when you were at the sorority house and, like, your friends got pinned that or when you experienced one that was at the sorority house, was everyone, like, dressed a specific way or, like, have to wear, like, a certain color? Were there, like, candles and stuff? I'm, like, envisioning.
Christina
Yeah, no, I know. And our house was. We. We're fortunate. We have such a beautiful home, and it's big, and so we. Our paintings usually were held on Monday nights because that's when we had to be dressed in, I mean, kind of nicer clothes, not, you know, nothing fancy. And again, we're Berkeley, so we're not that probably proper. But if rumor had got gotten out that there was maybe a pinning or something, people might look a little bit nicer. But we typically did at least have skirts and. Or dress on of some sort. And so it was during dinner or right after dinner that kind of. The guys. But the guys definitely would have sport coats, and so they. They looked way better than most of us because it was mostly a surprise, you know, for the girls. Yeah, yeah. And it was. I remember it, you know, when you were freshman, sophomore, you know, a lot of times you really didn't even know the senior very well anyway, you know, in the house. And so it was kind of fun that they would. All these people coming in, and you're just sitting in awe, kind of admiring the whole process.
Gia Giudice
Oh, for sure. Like, you're probably like, I hope that's me.
Christina
When I see you're like, I can't even imagine right now. It's.
Gia Giudice
That's so sweet that we. Honestly, we haven't heard a story yet of somebody that's, like, been pinned like. Like this, and then it all, like, transpired into all this. So that's great. I'm so happy for you guys.
Christina
Well, the funniest thing was you said about engagement. My. Because we did it at this graduation party, my aunt and uncle. Everyone was there, and so my aunt literally thought we were getting engaged, and we were like, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Gia Giudice
They're like, it's happening. It's happening. They're like, no, she's getting thin.
Christina
No, no. I know. So I do remember that feeling of, like, no, no, we're not ready to be engaged. You know, like, that's. Yeah. Not where we are yet.
Gia Giudice
That is special, though, that you had everyone there that you, like, really care about, though. And now, like, I'm sure being married you said 30 years. Yeah, yeah. And like looking back on that, that's gotta be so cool.
Christina
Well, you know, it is cool. Like I, I just. But to refresh my memory, I did pull out an old scrapbook just to see a few pictures to remind myself. But yeah, I mean all the people there, we're still super good friends with and it's, it's kind of an interesting, you know, fun.
Gia Giudice
I love that. So do you have, you have like pictures from the day when that happened?
Christina
Yes. So we, I was kind of in scrap into scrapbooking a long time ago and so my sister had made, taken all the pictures from it and Ed put some in into a little scrapbook for me.
Gia Giudice
That's amazing. I love that.
Christina
But you know what else funny fact. The one, the other pinning that I was telling you about our. They got married the same year and so they're about to have their 30 year anniversary as well.
Gia Giudice
Oh wow.
Christina
I know. So maybe pinning works. Maybe that's the key.
Gia Giudice
Go Berkeley.
Christina
Who would have thought?
Gia Giudice
I love that. Well, thank you so much Christina for being on here and sharing that with us.
Christina
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So you're telling me that the AI that's meant to make everyone's job easier to manage just adds more to manage? On top of the thousands of apps the IT department already manages?
Christina
Funny how that works. Any business can add AI.
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Gia Giudice
We have Claire and Kara here. So I've been talking to people all day about getting pinned and what that means and I feel like at every school it means something different. And I heard you guys have kind of a unique story about getting pinned because you got pinned together.
Daisy Kent
Yes, right?
Gia Giudice
Yeah.
Daisy Kent
We had a double pinning which was super fun. Our friends went all out and surprised us. So.
Gia Giudice
So what like what did your pinning look like? It what all happened during that ceremony or party? I learned it could be many things.
Daisy Kent
Yeah. Kara, do you want to start?
Christina
Yeah, sure. I guess I can kind of give an overview of the night from our perspective. Yes. So it started out it was something that's special that our sorority does is that it's always a surprise for the girls getting pinned. So the boy Knows about it, all their friends know about it. The rest of the sorority does. And the way they surprise the girl is at dinner that night. They'll have we turn off all the lights and sing a silly song sort of. And pass around a candle. So that happened to us at dinner at our sorority one night. And they blow out the candle right next to you to the girls getting pinned. So that's how we found out that it was our turn.
Daisy Kent
We both, like, looked at each other in the middle and we're like, what is going on?
Christina
Yeah, we had genuinely no idea. Because also it's usually pinnings are between. Our boyfriends are both long distance. So it's usually only couples that are both at the school. So this was kind of a non traditional one, so we really weren't expecting it. Yeah. So our boyfriend flew in and drove in for it, which was really awesome.
Daisy Kent
Yeah. We had no clue that it was happening. So our friends did a great job of hiding it and getting us to dinner because a lot of the time it's hard to get. We were seniors, so we didn't go to dinner at the house all the time. So they got us to go to dinner, which was hard to get us to do. And then we got there.
Gia Giudice
And so then what happens, like when your boyfriend's like, came in?
Daisy Kent
Well, no, so the. The boys are not at the dinner. So the dinner is just girls in the sorority. And they pass around the candle and blow the candle out. And then one of your friends reads a letter from the boy.
Gia Giudice
Okay.
Daisy Kent
And then they kind of dismiss everyone after dinner. And then you go back to your apartment or wherever and get ready. And the girls wear a red dress. The girls getting pinned wear a red dress. And all of the girls were black dresses in the sorority. So our friends had picked us out red dresses. And every. They had it all set up.
Gia Giudice
It's literally like a mini bachelorette party. It is.
Christina
Yeah, exactly.
Gia Giudice
Exactly.
Daisy Kent
And we played like games with all of our friends, came over just girls. And then we went on a party bus to a bar or restaurant. Like, they choose different bars and restaurants per people. But yeah, we went to a bar with our. All of our friends on a party bus. Just the girls. And then we go back to the sorority, and that's where we do kind of like a bigger ceremony. And kind of the night has already kicked off, but it kind of turns into a party.
Gia Giudice
That's so fun. So why did you. Are your boyfriends like friends? Or did they know each other when this was happening?
Daisy Kent
So they've known each other just through us.
Gia Giudice
Okay.
Daisy Kent
Throughout this past year. And so our friends had been texting them for a couple months, and we're like, we really want to make this happen. This would be so fun. They go to different schools, so my boyfriend just was coming kind of. He told him the date that he was going to be in town, and then Kara's boyfriend was able to come that same weekend. So they had planned kind of.
Gia Giudice
That's so sweet. And are you all still together?
Daisy Kent
Yes.
Christina
Yeah, we are.
Daisy Kent
Yeah.
Christina
So the pinning is going strong, I guess.
Gia Giudice
Yay.
Christina
Love that.
Daisy Kent
Yeah.
Christina
And neither of us are long distance now, so kind of no way.
Daisy Kent
Yes.
Gia Giudice
That's amazing.
Daisy Kent
Yeah. I guess we could talk a little bit about the house part too, because that's kind of fun.
Gia Giudice
Yeah. Tell me what happened there.
Daisy Kent
So when you walk in, everyone in the sorority is there, and then everyone who's with the pinning party, like on the bus comes in and they're like singing a song and they lift the girls up that are getting pinned. Usually it's only one girl, but for us it was two of us. And they lift us up and we all sing the song. And then the boys come and we do like a hundred second kiss outside with everyone around. And then we like sign our names in our sleeping porch, which is kind of a fun tradition that our sorority had.
Gia Giudice
Oh, that's so fun.
Daisy Kent
Yeah. And then if people get married, they come back and circle their names. That's the whole thing.
Gia Giudice
But. Oh, no way.
Christina
It's a really fun tradition because there's names going back in that room to, like the 60s or. I think the oldest one we found was from the 60s or maybe the 50s. And there's tons of names with circles around them, so it's really cute.
Gia Giudice
So cool. Well, hopefully you guys can go back and put circles on it.
Daisy Kent
Yeah.
Gia Giudice
That'S so fun.
Daisy Kent
And it's usually only seniors, like, the boy girl has to be a senior.
Gia Giudice
Were there a lot of girls in your sorority that got pinned?
Christina
I think a lot. I would say. I feel like we had an above average amount.
Daisy Kent
Yeah, they happen like every quarter. We have a couple per quarter usually, so.
Gia Giudice
Okay, cool. Were there ever girls who, like, wanted to be pinned and were, like, pissed if they didn't?
Christina
I think. Yeah. I heard stories. I feel like.
Daisy Kent
Maybe it's people that weren't dating that long, so they didn't know. Yeah, like, they try to choose, I guess, more serious relationships.
Gia Giudice
Was there ever, like a guy that like pinned a girl and then they broke up and then he would, like, pin another girl. Are you only allowed to pin, like, one? That would happen. Okay. I was just like, oh, this could be tea.
Daisy Kent
There were people that were older that, like, were written in porch twice. Like, we didn't know who they were. It was way back. I don't know anyone from, like, our year. Yeah. Or like, while we were in college that that happened to. But we saw people's names in porch twice.
Gia Giudice
Okay, so you can. You can double pin.
Daisy Kent
Yeah.
Gia Giudice
If it goes wrong the first time.
Daisy Kent
Yeah.
Gia Giudice
Yeah.
Christina
And specifically one of our friend's dads, his name is written up there twice, which means he pinned two different girls in the same sorority, and neither of them are.
Daisy Kent
Neither of them are his wife, so no way.
Gia Giudice
So if someone breaks up, do they give, like, your pin back?
Daisy Kent
We don't actually get a pin. It's kind of funny. Okay. I don't even do, like, an actual pin.
Gia Giudice
Okay. Yeah.
Christina
It's just written in Sharpie.
Gia Giudice
I love that. Yeah, that's great. Okay, well, thank you girls so much for coming on. I love this story. It's been fun because every story has been different depending on, like, where people go to school and, like, what age they are. So it's been fun to hear all the stories. Okay, guys, thanks for listening into this episode. I hope you all learned a lot because I learned so much. But if you have any crazy stories or anything you want to talk to us about, call in at 844-278RUSH. That's 844278RUSH. Or you can email us at dirtyrushireheartradio.com make sure you tune in to the next episode. Can't wait to see you guys again. Bye.
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Date: November 9, 2025
Hosts: Gia Giudice, Daisy Kent, Jennifer Kessler
Episode Theme: Exploring the tradition of “pinning” in college sorority and fraternity life, with interviews from women who have experienced unique pinning ceremonies, and a spotlight on how customs change across campuses.
This episode of Dirty Rush dives into the tradition of sorority and fraternity "pinning" — a ceremonial event that symbolizes commitment and, in some cases, acts as a precursor to engagement. Hosts Gia Giudice, Daisy Kent, and Jennifer Kessler gather stories from listeners and guests about their own pinning experiences, exploring the different rituals, meanings, and emotions attached to the event across campuses and generations.
“It wasn’t even my husband... one of the other guys stood up and, you know, started giving a speech… They started bringing me flowers, which is a traditional part of the pinning.” (05:36)
“It’s kind of like, so how long after you got pinned did you guys get engaged?” (07:08)
“I can count on one hand how many pinnings there were [when I was a member]. So it wasn’t a super common thing.” (09:42)
“Our pinnings usually were held on Monday nights... we had to be dressed in nicer clothes... the guys definitely would have sport coats.” (10:03)
“I was kind of into scrapbooking a long time ago. My sister had taken all the pictures from it and put some into a little scrapbook for me.” (12:23)
Notable Quote:
“I remember, as freshmen or sophomores, you really didn’t even know the senior very well anyway, but it was kind of fun… you’re just sitting in awe, kind of admiring the whole process.” – Christina (10:03)
“Our friends did a great job of hiding it... We had no clue that it was happening.” – Daisy (18:18)
“It’s a really fun tradition because there are names going back in that room to, like, the 60s… tons of names with circles around them.” – Christina (21:50)
“We don’t actually get a pin. It’s kind of funny. It’s just written in Sharpie.” (23:41–23:50)
Notable Quote:
“The pinning is going strong, I guess… And neither of us are long-distance now, so… It’s kind of fate.” – Daisy Kent (20:46–20:56)
Christina on the meaning of pinning:
“I guess it was a precursor [to engagement] maybe… But I guess we hadn’t really discussed at that point, you know, getting married or engagements.” (06:32–07:08)
On traditions and surprises:
“The girls getting pinned wear a red dress. All of the girls wear black dresses in the sorority… They had it all set up.” – Daisy Kent (19:17–19:26)
On generational change:
“I have children that are that age now, and it’s funny to think that we were already engaged and married… It’s very funny.” – Christina (07:28)
On the significance of the shared moment:
“All the people there, we’re still super good friends with and it’s kind of an interesting, you know, fun.” – Christina (12:03)
The tone throughout the episode is light, inquisitive, nostalgic, and playful. The hosts balance curiosity and humor, drawing out both meaningful and funny moments from each guest.
Final words from Gia encourage listeners to share their own stories and tease more revelations in upcoming episodes.
“Dirty Rush: Pinning Your Hopes On…” offers a vibrant look at the diverse and evolving tradition of pinning in American Greek life. Through firsthand stories, the episode reveals how pinning is seen as a rite of passage, a display of commitment, and a cherished memory for many—one with as much variety and drama as the people who experience it.