Haha! I actually wondered this myself. :p

I don't see how HQ could force someone to get it removed. But those sorts of things are mentioned VERY on in the new member period, so who knows what the consequences would be?

Re: Sigma Alpha Iota and Phi Mu Alpha
 

I am a member of SAI and there is no drinking in letters rule. There was a statement sent out about my junior year that said there was no such rule but that a female of SAI should always conduct herself in a manner that sheds a positive look on the fraternity. IE we could have a drink together as friends even at a function but never to the point near intoxication

Haha nah I had on a DG belly button ring too.

Hmm.. We actually do have a rule against it, but it is more leaniant than other GLO's. According to a sister of mine who went to our national con. last year, we are allowed to drink in letters.. but with the stipulation that it is _legal_. So, if you are at least 21, or have a card that says you are.. you can drink in your letters. Otherwise, its a no go! (You shouldn't be drinking underaged anyways! ;) )

Well I must say that I'm going to sorority girl hell.

I've drank with my letters on, usually my lavilier but sometimes a shirt but the shirt, mind you, was under a sweatshirt. I've even been to bars wearing my lavilier, once even while skipping chapter (ok so it was senior skip). I have not burst into flames, and yes, it was always discrete, but there is a point where you worry too much and forget that what is a member of the sorority is you, not your sewn letters. Yes perhaps I'm being a twit, but it was not intentional to wear letters openly, it was a neckalace or a shirt that I covered up. I think you should be aware, but you also should not give yourself an anxiety disorder either.

Alumnae are over 21 and I really think they should be able to judge an appropriate situation.

*For AST if you are wearing letters you are supposed to cover them up or change, ie put your shirt on inside out. Sorority insignia is also part of this. We can't wear anchors, etc because it is also a representation of our sorority.

Way back when I was in school, everyone drank in their letters. Of course in those days everyone wore their badges everywhere (when properly dressed -- which was most of the time). If not, we were generally wearing sweat shirts or jackets with letters.

There was even a "Greek" (favored by fraternities and sororities) bar and the running joke among us radio-tv majors was that they wouldn't let you in unless your "pin" flashed the time and temperature. (radio announcer humor)

Of course that was before binge drinking was invented. We just called it chugging.

Things change.

Sigma Alpha Iota maybe, but not Phi Mu Alpha
 

Actually, Phi Mu Alpha is not a dry fraternity, at least not according to any national policy. Our risk management policy on alcohol provides (abridged):

1. The use of alcohol is prohibited as a recuitment tool or at rush functions, especially since the majority of prospective members are likely to be under age.

2. In the instances that persons of legal drinking age wish to partake of alcoholic beverages at functions which are sponsored wholly or in part by chapters of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, only members of the chapter who are of legal drinking age shall serve alcohol, and those serving alcohol shall be responsible for ensuring that those who drink are of legal age in accordance with prevailing regulations. Members of Phi Mu Alpha who serve minors alcoholic beverages, either wittingly or unwittingly, shall not be indemnified against the penalties which may result.

3. Chapters which choose to incorporate alcohol consumption by persons of legal drinking age in social functions shall be deemed hosts, and shall be responsible for the safety of those in attendance at such functions and are expected to designate drivers.

4. Chapters which provide alcoholic beverages at social functions shall be deemed responsible for the safe conduct of persons who have become intoxicated, and shall be prohibited from allowing such persons from leaving the event unescorted in an intoxicated state.

5. Due to the legal liability incurred by the provision of alcoholic beverages at sponsored events, chapters shall be prohibited from the sponsorship of events where alcoholic beverages are served for the purpose of raising funds, or where attendance is not limited to members of the chapter and a reasonable number of invited guests.

"While the fraternity recognizes the right of persons of legal age to consume alcoholic beverages, it does not condone excessive use of alcohol among its members or in conjunction with chapter sponsored activities. Chapters are expected to encourage responsible attitudes on the consumption of alcohol, and to take every precaution against contributing to an environment conductive to alcohol abuse on the part of its members and/or invited guests."

As far as drinking in letters go, there is no prohibition against it. The Fraternity expects brothers to refrain from acting in any way that discredits the Fraternity, especially if we are wearing letters so that our conduct could be a more obvious reflection on the Fraternity. Thus, responsible (and legal) drinking in letters is not a problem, while drinking to excess would be.

I've always thought the shirt inside out thing is the stupidest rule in the world. What looks worse, a girl in your letters having a Cosmo or a girl in your letters turned inside own having a Cosmo? The second one sure is going to draw more attention.

I just think it's a stupid rule because either way, you can tell which sorority the girl is from, it just looks sloppier so to speak if her letters are turned inside out.

There is such a negative exisiting perception of Greeks being whorish alcoholics that it only makes sense to avoid any sort of GLO-affiliation with your attire when you are acting loud and obnxious, drinking alcohol or looking to get your groove on. It's a PR thing. If we come off looking like polished, classy students with our letters on, that's good PR.

I'm not advocating binge drinking and rowdy behavior just because you aren't wearing letters-- even when you are not wearing your letters, people tend to know "who" you are. But college is a place to make mistakes-- hence all the over-drinking-- make your mistakes wisely. Stay safe.

So basically because some people have their minds made up that Greeks are a bunch of drunken idiots, we need to kiss their butts by making up ridiculous rules?

If someone wants to justify his bad opinion of Greeks because he saw someone drinking a glass of wine in letters, I don't see why I should waste one second of my life giving a rat's ass about it. Of course it's different if someone is acting a fool -- but someone can do that whether or not she's been drinking.

Drinking alcohol alone is not offensive to any reasonable person. If we start to worry about how we look to unreasonable people, I think we have a problem. WHO CARES?

Amen.

Ditto!

I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way, but...

At one point, my chapter was known as the "prude" chapter, where noone drank and noone had fun. In fact, a couple of non-greeks thought we were one of the community service sororities. So, as a "PR" move, we started letting our letters "slip out" at parties. Nothing drastic, but maybe we'd make sure to mention we were in a sorority while drinking, or "accidentally" leave our keychains on our keyrings. It was nothing that other sororities hadn't been doing for years, but it helped us lose our reputation as the "non-fun" sorority.

Also, something that we always have said to our new members, and that was said to us is that as large as our school is (I went to U of S. Carolina), Greek Life is small, and for the most part everyone knows what sorority everyone is in, anyway. You should always act with your letters off as you would with them on.

I'm sorry if others don't agree with me, but I really don't see much wrong with this. If they were drinking responsibly and not acting like drunken idiots, then I personally don't see it as bad PR. I kinda see is as good. But, maybe I understand this because of the chapter that I came from.

In a perfect world, you would probably be right..... But in the incredibly cut-throat and superficial greek world that exists on some campuses, reputation means alot more than it should.

I think you need to find a balance between being the "prude" chapter and being "those stupid ABC's who are always making fools of themselves at parties".

I agree. I'm sick and tired of the idea that we have to be all holier-than-thou all the time. The average college girl drinks, so why can't the average sorority girl? While I certainly don't condone pulling down your pants to show everyone your thong with letters on it, I think there are bigger problemsin Greek life than drinking with a lavalier on.

I don't think the rule "no drinking in your letters" was made because of the girl that drinks responsibly while remaining ladylike and just happens to have on her lavalier or keychain. I agree that that may not be a huge deal or bad PR. When I hear "no drinking in letters" told to our pledges, I generally think of a girl getting drunk off her backside with letters plastered across her chest at a bar or fraternity party. One girl acting like an idiot can ruin the great reputation my chapter spent the last few years building up.

We did the exact same thing. And guess what, our rush numbers started to go up. No girl wants to join a chapter full of drunks, but no one wants to join the chapter full of prudes either. Of course neither "image" is true, but if it's gotten to the point where you are losing girls to other sororities and fraternties don't want to mix with you, one way or another, you have to do something. And no, it's not true that "the good girls won't care if you're non-fun." Many of them will because they don't want to pay hundreds of $$$ in dues to join a sorority that (from what they see) never mixes with fraternities and is judgemental of people who drink.

And for the gabillionth time, at a lot of schools it doesn't make a damned bit of difference if you are in letters or not, because everyone has seen you during the week in class wearing letters anyway. To piggyback off my other post, if you're worried about girls acting like idiots when they get too drunk, educate them about their limits and how to drink responsibly instead of having BS rules about wearing letters.

Around here, it's generally looked down on to drink in letters. We even have it in our bylaws saying that we are not allowed to drink in letters. I just think it helps us look more classy!

At my campus, it was pretty uncommon to see girls at parties (especially fraternity parties) wearing their letters. We also didn't see very many wearing letters at the bar.

Then, I came to Austin and here, sorority girls wear their letters to just about anything it seems. Every fraternity party I have been to, I have seen almost every girl wearing her letters. It is almost strange if you DON'T wear them.

I have also found that lots of times, people somehow know that you're in a sorority whether you're wearing letters or not.

i know a few phi mus with related tattoos but no badge, crest or letters. One has carnations, one has a quatrefoil outline, one has stars.

is that bad?

My personal opinion.... NO, that's not bad at all.

I plan on getting a tatoo of a violet to represent ADPi. :) I think something like a flower or diamonds or stars or something is a good idea if you want to get a sorority tatoo. Better than actual letters anyway. Not everyone will know exactly what it standa for, and it can probably be prettier. :)

I think getting letters tatooed is a pretty common thing in fraternities though.

I don't think these are letter equivalents - at our convention this summer we received some really cute crescent moon necklaces as a gift and I've worn mine to the bars. I think anybody who knows enough to say "Oh, she's wearing a crescent moon, she must be a Gamma Phi" would also know that I was a Gamma Phi without my having the necklace on.

I agree with GP. Just because you're wearing a kite/key/owl/anchor/arrow etc. doesn't mean you're necessarily a member of a sorority that has that as one of its symbols. One of my sisters has a rhinestone anchor necklace that she always wears and she's obviously not a DG or an AST.

Sigma Alpha can absolutely not drink in their letters....we're totally dry :-D

Shelley

we're not allowed to drink in our letters, but it's fun to watch some girls easily forget they have something on...so on our get togethers we are always on the look out!

the frat boys at our school drink in their letters all the time, but i never wanted to ask if that was ok

Because my chapter is a bunch of alcoholics we clarified the whole symbol and drinking thing, and we were clearly told not too. We use those symbols, and in some cases they are very visiable so it is a representation. Plus it is the whole if your letters mean something, what about those symbols associated with them. They should carry meaning aswell. We aren't supposed to which is anal, but we I guess are supposed to follow the rules.

For those GLOs that do not have specific rules about drinking (or other questionable activities) in letters, here's a question for you to answer:

Will the actions I do embarrass myself, my brothers and sisters, or my organization?

If you can answer "Yes" to this question, then do not wear your badge, pledge pin or anything that would identify you as a member or pledge of "XYZ".

Or better yet, don't do whatever it is you were thinking about doing.

Amen.

My personal opinion of the matter is that I don't think there is anything wrong with drinking while wearing letters. People can embarrass themselves just as easily when not drinking as they can while drinking.

Or if there is such a rule-why limit it to just alcohol? Why not add in smoking, or other such activities that may not be good for image.

In the military there are whole host of activities we are not allowed to do while in uniform-granted b/c military guys can be total idiots but that is beside the point.

We also don't let our girls smoke in letters, because that looks bad as well.

I think this applies to any situation where the people around KNOW you are in the organization. If you have a mixer with a fraternity and a few of the women get absurdly drunk and act like idiots/sluts/whatever, it doesn't really matter whether they were wearing letters, does it? The men certainly know which sorority they are having the mixer with.

Perhaps it is because I'm outgoing and friendly, or maybe I'm not as in tune with other people or as observant, but somehow, in all walks of my life, more people know who I am than I know. When I was really sick and lost 65 pounds in 5 months, people I never saw before at work came up to me telling me how good I looked. I have had total strangers at work comment on hair cuts I've gotten. I had a woman stop me at the grocery store and say "I didn't know you lived around here!" She said she worked in my building. I didn't remember ever seeing her before in my life, but she knew me and where I worked and apparently was in the cafeteria every day when I was. It has made me realize that no matter where I am or what I'm doing at the time, I could run into someone who knows me in another capacity and I may not be happy that they've seen me in a different role.

Dee