Another slow GC day, here goes nothing....
 

Tom Earp, from the 2 sentences that made sense, your questions have been answered in this thread already.

Ditto @ cuteASAbug

Difference in terminology. Our new members, i.e., new initiates can wear our letters. Our candidates for membership (formerly know as pledges) cannot.

at my school, none of the organizations really let their new members wear letters as soon as they are pinned, but then again we really don't have a bid day either. We however, decided it would be in our best interest to give girls shirts saying something! we will spell it out on a shirt for them, and we give them little presents with letters, and they have a secret sister (we call it a rosebuddy) that gives them lettered things (cups, car stickers, pens, notepads, etc).

also, another thing that we do differently (and that caught on as a really big trend here) was we let our new members wear letters for their big little night. the big sisters will go out and buy a hoodie with our letters on it, and it will say so-and-so's little. its kind of like a gift to the new members since big little is supposed to be really special! we let them wear the hoodie all day to class the next day, and if we are having a letter day on campus or philanthropic event or something until they are iniated.

sometimes its easier to help new members understand the significance of their letters by giving them the opportunity to wear them. it gives the girls a sense of pride and belonging that a spelled out tshirt or some gift could say. they should not be considered "earned", because a quality new member has the grades and the class to surpass any form of "earning" you can toss at her. the real responsibility starts when they finally have their big sis to mentor them, and to help them with anything they may ever need. generally we do big sis around midterms, and it is great to see the girls studying together and hanging out and going to meetings while still being able to fulfill their academic and financial responsibilities. the girls keep their big/little hoodies forever, it is something that is never passed down as a senior send off gift. it means so much when you get your big sister, and it means so much to the bigs whenever they get their little(s)! these hoodies are more revered than any trophy greek week could ever win!

another thing: we did have some strange opposition from other groups at first. some would be confused if our new members were iniated, and then i guess their new members would complain that so and so gets letters.. so basically now almost all groups do it. its really cute when u see the new girls wearing letters for the first time, they get really excited and i absolutely love it. guys on the otherhand think that on this campus its a sign of weaknes... some are starting to come around though now that its becomming more mainstream. you never know what type of trend you may start just by doing things a little differently, and even if there is some confusion or strange looks at first, just ignore it and keep trendsetting! because true weakness is the inability to adapt to new situations, improvise old situations, and overcome negative values and beliefs!

When we join, we were able to immediately start wearing our letters. They actually gave us a shirt and a bag on bid day with our letters.

However, we could own nothing with our crest on it until after initiation. That also goes with our lavalier.

this is how i would have thought most where. i have never heard of pledges wearing letter n such. in my eyes that defeats the point of saying they earn it. i mean why? i love the idea of the jerseys with the screen letters on it and then the stiched letters after they corss. thats cool .:D

In my sorority, you do not "earn" letters. New Members go through a new member education where they learn about the organization.

After you figure out what to do about your sorority (the one who has the same letters as an already existing group), you might want to invest in some spell check. Thanks. :)

Ditto!

yea. maybe i used the wrong "terminology" i didn't mean to get on any1's bad side i was just saying that its a cool idea....... i don't see the place for a hostile remark in that..... dang mybad

you're new here, you'll get used to it.

OTW, thanks for taking the time to post what many of us were thinking. Personally, I was just too tired of this tired ol' thread to post!


Oh, and Jessie...

"termination" = terminology?!? LOL Spellcheck won't catch everything!

Fairleigh Dickinson, huh? Nice.

Really. I wonder if any National Staff would be interested in that tidbit of information...

The most interesting people tend to come from that chapter.

You cannot "earn" the right to be a Gamma Phi Beta. It is an honour to be invited to membership, and after careful preparation to be initiated into full sisterhood.
The ability to drink copious amounts of alcohol, do strenous exercises, sucumb to peer pressure, fit a physical stereotype, endure humiliation, or any other of dozens of "tests" sometimes put forth as a way to earn Greek letters is not what we look for in our potential members. Sincerity, dedication, intelligence, depth of character, and yes, love, learning, labor and loyalty are the distinquishing characteristics of our members.
Our pledges are allowed to wear our letters from day one, although the crest is reserved for initiated members, as is our badge. I am proud to be a member not because it means I have successfully run an obstacle course, but because I am a part of an organization of women whose creed means more to me with each passing year.

*applause* I don't think that I could say this any better.