The awesomeness of MysticCat can't possibly be contingent upon caffeine. :( Say it ain't soooooooooooooooooooooooo....

:p

Exactly. I've exchanged event tshirts/screenprinted ones with a boyfriend, but not block letters. It is fine and normal. This type of thing just depends on campus culture really.

Am I the only person who sees no distinction from stiched block letters and just screen print? Sorry but I don't think most of our founders would care how the letters were formed.

I don't either, but different strokes for different folks ;)

I think the distinction people are drawing is between a shirt that would normally be seen as a sign that the person wearing it is a member of the GLO in question (which shirts with stiched, block letters almost always would) on one hand, and an event tee-shirt that simply indicates the wearer attended the event sponsored by the GLO on the other hand.

Right - like, I have an old (OLD) Kappa Delta Rock'n'Bowl shirt from VT where KS and APhi were teamed up - so it has our letters w/ APhi's on the front and the event logo (obv w/ KD) on the back. I don't think most places would tilt on me wearing the shirt - but even if it wasn't "personalized" to my letters (think if the LAX teams participated, for example), it still seems like something that would be fine to wear, if for no other reason than good publicity.

No. Why there is a difference to some people baffles me! They still represent the same thing and imo should only be worn by members.

The same as I wouldn't let someone wear my badge if it were made with gold plating instead of gold, I wouldn't let anyone but a sister wear my letters.

I think this must come down to campus culture. Because we were a campus that made a t-shirt for pretty much everything, it was a given that all dates for a fraternity or sorority party would be given a t-shirt. In addition, we all wore shirts promoting Derby Days, Phi Kap ManDays, joint Homecomings, Follies, etc. It also wasn't uncommon for people of the opposite sex to wear screened t-shirts as a PR and/or statement of support during rush. You came to campus in this culture, you witnessed it, and you didn't think anything of it.

However, every group on campus preached it that stitched letters were for members only. You NEVER saw anyone wear another groups stitched letters. To this day I can see a girl wearing a Phi Delt (example, only) party shirt, and I just simply think that she must have attended said party. In no way do I associate her with their entire organization.

I'm honestly confused by this. So if ABC and XYZ (both sororities) have an event together, they can't jointly make shirts with their letters on them to give out to both groups because the "other" group's letters are on it?

I think this must be a campus culture thing.

But that's the point -- some kinds of clothing (like jerseys with block letters) typically do represent membership while other kinds (like event tee shirts) typically indicate attendance at the event rather than membership. Hence the distinction some groups and some campuses make.

And I guess it bears saying again: Different GLOs have different policies about non-members wearing letters. We should all be following the policies of our own GLOs regarding our letters and not worry about other org's policies and letters.

And to get back to the topic of the thread, I would hope that no one here would be ill-mannered enough to intentionally embarrass a non-member wearing letters.

GROUP shirts (co-sponsoring, Greek Week) are a different thing.
If I wear a shirt that says "Cookout sponsored by XYZ fraternity" then that shows who provided the funds and place to have a cookout. Or a "Greek Week" shirt with all the orgs listed... it's assumed that I'm a member of one of those, but none specific.

If I walk around wearing a ABC shirt, people would assume I'm an ABC. And if I haven't been taught ABC's values then I could misrepresent that organization. Whether it's cloth letters, twill, or screenprint.

So if you happened to have parents event, does your chapter not get shirts that have TPA letters on them for your parents since they aren't members?

Ditto. The world won't end if someone is wearing my letters that isn't an AOII. I know I've personally given formal shirts and crawfish boil shirts to more dates in the past than I can count that have AOII all over them. Alpha Omicron Pi is still going strong. I've even seen a homeless person wearing such a shirt. It's not ideal, but I won't tear my hair out about it.

Agreed. Plus at some schools the sororities all give out crate loads of shirts that say "Rush XYZ" to any fraternity boy who will wear it. It's PR for them and I don't think people are too worried about them not knowing what the letters mean while wearing them.