Big/Little
 

My friend who's a DZ has Turtle Buddies and Rose buddies-I always thought that was cute!But that is before initiation. After initiation they are called Big's & Little. My old roomie was an ADPi and she had a diamond sister. My sorority always called them Big Sis & little Sis.We had "anchor Angels" before initiation.

"Moon Babies" -- THAT IS SO ADORABLE!!! Gamma Phi didn't do that at my school...

Im a DG too and ours in pretty much the same although our pink/blue/bronze sisters are given to us one by one each week. They usually give us a little gift of DG stuff like a cup or a sticker or a picture frame. Then after the first three weeks we get our big sisters which is the same as everyone else and they give us a bunch of stuff and we have to figure otu who they are.

Re: Formal name for Bigs/Littles?
 

In APO, big/little programs are something left to each chapter. Most call them 'Big Brother/Little Brother', but as we are co-ed (yes, everyone is called "Brother"), many usually say 'Big' and 'Little'.

In Alpha Sigma Alpha, on your new member ceremony you get a ruby sis who is like a big and then the little is the pearl sis... and then you get a real big sis later on... we used to do the mom-dot thing and big/lil but they changed it...

At my school (ACW)... the new girls get a Mystogogue on Bid Night... this is one of the upper classmen (jr or sr) and she's there to guide them. [I actually got 2 this year.. YAY]. Then we have 3 weeks... and the new girls get a :
- Carnation Sis
- Lyre Sis
- Panda Pal
Then from those three they choose their big sis (well the big's also choose ths littles)... then you have big sis/ grand big/ great grand big .. etc etc.


Depends, in some fraternities they do, some they dont. One fraternity at school has their big brothers choose a girl to be the guys big sis. And those girls are ALL considered Sweethearts (and don't have to be greek).
Then, there's another fraternity at school (that I'm a little sis for) where the Fall pledge class gets big sis's. Those girls are already little sisters for the fraternity, and y'all pick each other. Then in the spring these girls get Big Brothers (from upper classmen who choose them.. girls don't get to pick).

So I have a big family thus far:
Big sis - june
Lil sis - Lindsey
Grand Lil - Amanda
2 mystogogues (not really in the family) - Anna & Ashley

Lil bro - Stephen
Big Bro - Nick
(and I might get another lil bro cause this new pledge class is bigger than the new little sisters coming in)

- hope that helped in someway... but I guess i talk just to hear myself talk (or rather type)

At my school, frat boys all have "pledge moms," chosen by their big bros. I actually have three pledge sons, and pretty much, you take them out and get them drunk, and give them something (shorts, hat, etc.) with your letters on it.

Sig-Mom? hehe
 

That's really interesting about the Sigma Kappa chapters because I have never heard of a Sig-Mom or Violet Sis. At Purdue (Beta Sigma), new members get Heart Moms during their pledgeship and then during their I-Week, they get a Big Sis.

For the record, I have one heart daughter and 2 Littles! :)

We just call them big and lil sis. People are really into their families here (grandbaby, grandma etc.) Each family has a set of letters that is passed down. If a older person in the sorority terminates its up to the family if they want to choose new letters. The t-shirt i got was getting kind of old and didnt fit - so i just made it into a pillow and started a running tab on the back of the fam. The new girls get their big sisters a few weeks into the new member program. Thus, the week before initiation they get a 'guardian angel' that leaves them little gifts every night. this person is revealed at initiation. the VP is in charge of the new member process and they are dubbed the pledge mom. we have sailboat buddies for the actives that change every semester and that is almost like a secret santa.

My chapter of ADPi has violet sisters that all take us out. From those we "pref" which one we want as our Diamond Sister, then the New Member Coordinator puts us together with our Diamond Sister. Lots of the girls in our chapter actually use the term Diamond Sister and Diamond Family, but my friends and I usually just say Big and Little. :)

Lindsey
Texas A&M University

With my chapter, we just have big and little sisters. However, we enjoy charting our "geneology". For instance, this semester I got my first little sister as well as became a great-great aunt for the second time. :p

Translation: My big sister had another little sister who was my "twin". She had a little sister, who had a little sister, who had another little sister initiated this semester. Right now, I'm the family "matriarch" because I'm the oldest member of my family (both in terms of age and initiation date).

During the new member program, we assign everyone in the chapter Bear Buddies each week to set aside some special time to hang out with a sister to further strengthen our bonds of sisterhood. It's a great program!

I think each chapter is different on their diamond sisters and any additional sisters. My chapter this year started "bid day buddies" which was a mentoring sister until the Alphas received their diamond sisters within the first week or so. When I first joined, we got our diamond sister within 2 days of bid day, and then we had a violet sister, lion sister, and a pi sister all leading up to our initiation. It was a great way to meet some of the older members of the sorority that I wouldn't have gotten to know otherwise. the chapter has just started the "Alphas pref their diamond sister", and it seems to be working for them. We were assigned our <> sisters (I think), and I personally chose my "little" diamond sister. I've always added big or little in front of "diamond" in order to differentiate between the two of them. I also referred to my "diamond family" as well (I know, not exactly what the TME program advocates! :o )

We havebig/lil sis and unoffically we choose a big and a lil bro...the cool thing about that is that you get to choose your big bro and then accept a li lbro if your asked....I don't have a big bro yet...soon maybe :)

On bid day in my chapter new members got "Guardian Angels" who were usually girls that will potentially become big sis's for the pledge class. The pledge's are the guardian angels' little devils. Then we had mixer/sisterhood things with all the potential big sis's (mostly sophomores or other sisters who didn't have little sis's yet). We wrote down a few sisters who we wanted as our big sis, and they wrote down who they wanted as little sis's, and then someone matched them all up. Then we had a super-complicated process (involving puzzles and the like) for our big/little revealing. It was lots of fun!

Sarah

Phi Gamma Pi and Kappa Phi
 

Phi Gamma Pi:
On the night of pledge initiation Phi Gamma Pi gives their new members an "Emerald Buddy." That girl gives the new member a decorated pledge binder with their new member class on the cover of it. This person is from the pledge class before. As everyone has said, that person is their temporary or pseudo Big.

A week or 2 before initiation week the new member gets a Big. I was lucky enough to have my Emerald Buddy be my Big! I love her so much!

Kappa Phi:
In Kappa Phi we have Bigs and Littles. Usually a Big for a Kappa Phi pledge gets picked within 2 weeks of their pledge initiation and leaves them gifts at every meeting (once a week) until their active initiation where they reveal who they are and give their Littles a paddle. The Littles don't have to return the gift, though I gave my Kappa Phi Big her paddle as a Christmas present.