Jeeze stichted letters or not!

What BS.

You do not want the other people on campus to know that these People are Proud enough to Associate with Your Organization???

What bushel Basket of Fruit or Vegies are you hiding you light under!

Letters or Names on shirts do not sully them, it is advertiseing that Hey We have these New Members! They in turn will help promote your Organization! Which in turn will help your Chapter Grow!

Oh, Dont Tell Me, you are all virgins intil the rite of Initation!

Give it a rest! God what a sick way to recognize your New Associates! YOU CANNOT SHOW WHO YOU ARE WITH!:o :eek:

This is one of the dumbest threads I have seen!:confused:

And I only WISH that this was one of the dumbest posts I have ever seen.

Why can't you understand that EVERY organization is different? Nobody goes around here talking about DUMB Lambda Chi Alpha and its practices are, so what gives you the right to talk to others the way you are?

Different organizations have different traditions! GET OVER IT!

When I became an APO pledge, we were given items that were ENTRUSTED to us. Nothing we were given belonged to us as pledges, specifically the pledge book and pledge pin. I don't think it made us work harder, but it made us APPRECIATE the solemnity of our initiation. Actually LEARNING what something meant and then being given the right to wear it.

Same with Alpha....I appreciate my letters because they were mysterious to me for so long.

And i RESPECT the fact that others do it differently! My school had NO NPC/IFC system, so a lot of what i know about it, I learned from greekchat and then later, when i went to grad school someplace where they had such a system. It's different, and if they are okay with it, i am okay with it!

I never would have though about having colors for my family tree....it's a tradition!

Cultural relativism man....it is a MUST that we adopt it in the Greek communities!

AND WHY CAN'T I IGNORE YOU??????

THAT SUCKS! :mad:

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pledges wearing letters
 

regardless, that has nothing to do with it. being male or femaile is irrelevant. the colors are just as important as the letters and hold just as much meaning to NPHC organizations.

If an undergraduate young lady was seriously interested in AKA as an undergrad student, even if her favorite color was pink, I doubt very seriously if she would wear pink 2 -3 times per week even before she because an offical "intakee" or what ever they are called. It would probably be seen as disrespectful by members of the organization and, because NPHC sororities are so closely aligned with their colors (unlike NPC) sororities other folks might try to "guess" her interest.

As an official 'old head' who went to college in the 80s when NPHC organizations pledged "above ground" it is also interesting to note that the pledgees did wear the organization that they were pledging colors. If you have seen School Daze, you will see Pyramids (the name that members of Delta Sigma Theta called --still call? I'm not sure-- their pledgees) from the Eta Kappa chapter (at Spelman college, my alma mater! :) ) with red sweaters on over white turtlenecks sitting in the stand during the homecoming football game. Other sororities did not allow the combination--even then. For instance, Ivies (the name that the members of Alpha Kappa Alpha called their pledgees) at my school could wear green (usually paired with white), but never work pink while they were on-line. Also interesting to note that this was the time that pledgees were expected to dress alike most, if not all of the time. BTW, they STILL did not wear letter though until they were offically members. Evidently pledgees were also instructed that they could not even touch the letters. I remember a particularly funny event in the cafeteria where a member was trying to make a pledgee touch her letters and the pledgee was running around like she was trying to make her put her hand on a hot stove! LOL Of course that would definately be considered hazing nowadays, but back then it was the norm. AS a matter of fact, people used to love to be in the caf when the pledgees came in 'cause they knew they would get a show! LOL

they are expensive. i got two of them, and they cost me a pretty penny. i gotta get my little brother one because he's in the bond now.

it's a secret

man, you need to get that ish and be out as hell.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pledges wearing letters
 

I did mean the colors that the letters are in (sorry if that wasn't clear). Like you said - the colors are as important as the letters.

To sum up: in NPHC, wearing another group's colors - in letters or in general attire - is looked upon the same as wearing another group's letters would be in NPC or IFC. Agreed?

I'm with Buttonz on this one

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pledges wearing letters
 

no, and like i said, the fact that it's a frat and a sorority with the same colors has nothing to do with it. in the NPHC, wearing your letters in anything EXCEPT your colors is a BIG NO NO. if i saw a bruh that had letters in anything except brown and gold, that's a situation.

AMEN!

We're the same (at least when I was active, and I think we still are). A few of my sisters were so excited to buy me my first item with our crest once I was initiated. Yes, it was a shot glass............ And yes, I still have it.

You can't ignore mods, so you're stuck with me too. ;)

Quite frankly, it doesn't matter to me what other orgs do as long as they don't mind what we do. Our umbrella councils are very different, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. While I certainly think the way that AKA or SGRho operates is a little odd, I know that the sisters of those sororities feel the same way about what Gamma Phi or Tri Delt does. It happens.

I just wish SOME PEOPLE would learn to behave and be a little bit more respectful.

I don't know about the whole argument here. I mean, what are we arguing about?

Who cares if someone else does something differently?

If it hurts them, who suffers for their actions? They do. Should we bother them about it? Nope.

I think it's perfectly valid here to say what your organization does.

I think it's overstepping to tell them that they are wrong for what they are doing.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pledges wearing letters
 

NPHC organizations (and many other BGLOs, LGLOs, and MCGLOs) have rules/protocol on how paraphernalia may be worn, including what color the letters may be. Each set of rules may have variations.

I personally will not comment on whether another organization's colors are equal in value to their letters. I CANNOT speak for ANY other organization on the NPHC, and I hope that none try to generalize on my behalf. We are all different organizations.

I have not seen sitched letter shirts in any colors other than the official colors of that organization. However, I will enumerate some things I have seen among NPHC organizations:

Letters on one of the two official colors.
Letters on white, black, gray, khaki, and denim.
Letters bordered in a color not normally associated with the organization, but not exactly clashing with the colors. I think this is called an "anchor" color.
Letters made from a fabric that is in the colors of the organization. (For example, black and gold plaid.)
Chapter letters (on the sleeve) in a color other than one of the two official colors.
Paraphernalia in the "official substitute" colors.

*****

Finally.....I am a grown man and will wear whatever colors I look good in....and that's ALL OF EM! lol But when it comes to Alpha paraphernalia, tradition dictates that my letters are in black and gold, and the fabric must be black and gold or some other neutral color.

I understood what you meant which is why I said

Me too. Got them for convention last year.

I'm glad we can get letters in many different colors. Brown is not exactly my favorite color.........

My letters mean a lot to me. But they mean the same, no matter what color they are in.

ditto!

Trust that!! I'm the only one to have a jacket in my chapter right now....so I'm constantly wearing it. My line's name is so long we had to abbreviate it on the jacket, but it does start up great conversations.

Great explanation soror!


THETA NU!!!

OK, so to sum up:

NPC/IFC:
- Some orgs allow pledges/new members to wear letters but not have anything with the crest. Others don't allow them to wear letters until after initiation.
- New members can wear things indicating their affiliation even if they can't wear letters (i.e. shirts with the name of the org spelled out, or the colors, or a new member pin).

NPHC:
- No letters or paraphernalia of any sort while on line. Can't wear them, can't display them, etc.
- No wearing the colors while on line.
- All lettered shirts, jackets, etc. would be in the solid colors of the org or a pattern that only used those colors.

[Would you have to forgo wearing all NPHC orgs' colors while on line? For instance, if you're on line for SGRho and have a favorite red and white sweater, does it go in the closet until you cross?]

MCGLOs tend to follow the NPHC model. Locals can follow either model as they choose.

Did I miss anything?

It's so interesting to see the differences in the way different GLOs do things... :)

(btw, I like those line jackets :) )

Edited for accuracy - thanks Senusret I :)

aephi alum,

I HATE to be picky about this, lol, but i just wanted to add a few things.

In terms of what you can wear while you are online if you are joining an NPHC organization, you really can't generalize. I do know for a fact that at least two NPHC sororities have "pledge pins" and one of those asks that their pledges/new members wear the colors of the organization during part of the official process. I only know this because it out in the open.

Other organizations have no pledge pins. The lengths of the NPHC intake programs are all different -- locations vary.

My pet peeve is anyone lumping the NPHC organizations together just because they are NPHC. We really are all different, with different intake procedures and rules.

One last thing.....while it is a privilege to wear our letters, I am pretty sure that forbidding someone from wearing what they have in their closet is considered an intake infraction. Not to say that it doesn't happen, or that it isn't a campus tradition in many places. I would just be surprised if an NPHC member came here and said "Yes, we forbid our aspirants from wearing our colors or other NPHC colors."

OK my bad... I was trying to pull together some things that NPHC orgs seem to have in common from what I've seen on GC and particularly on this thread. I know every org is different - just as with NPC (for example) some orgs let their new members wear letters while others (like mine) don't.

How could I restate my earlier post to make it more accurate?

Senusret I -- I'm curious as to why you are so strongly opposed to generalizations about NPHC groups. You say that all the groups are different, and yet it seems that there ARE certain generalizations one could make, such as that people on line are not allowed to wear letters, they are only allowed to wear letters once becoming a brother/sister. That's true for all 9 NPHC groups, right? I'm just confused because similar generalizations or statements about NPC groups don't bother me at all, like aephi alum saying that new members of some orgs can wear letters and new members of others can't. That's a reasonable generalization, to me.

The generalization that YOU stated is true. Aspirants to NPHC organizations do not wear letters before initiation.

Other generalizations that are being made by NPHC members here and non-NPHC members can be detrimental to the organizations.

Technically, an organization cannot tell you what colors to wear or not to wear as part of the rush process. There MAY be a dress code, but a dress code is different from saying "You may not wear my organization's colors to rush." A dress code is one thing -- forbidding someone from wearing certain colors is another.

As far as intake goes, t is not universally true that NPHC members may not wear the colors of the organization while they are participating in membership intake.

It is not universally true that the colors of an NPHC organization are equal in value to the letters. And I really wish that NPHC members in particular would stop making this generalization, since we only really know about our own organizations.

It is not universally true that the membership intake process is secret. What happens during membership intake is discreet, but, DEPENDING ON THE ORG, you can learn quite easily the duration of intake and what it generally entails.

Some NPHC organizations do indeed have pledge pins, others do not.

My problem is not with people who are seeking information -- it's fine to be curious. I just want to make sure that people know that every NPHC intake process is different, and some things cannot be generalized.

This has been a really nice, informative thread that has stayed on track and with an overall "nice" tone... with a few exceptions.

Thank you especially to the NPHC and other non-NIC/NPC members who are posting in this thread, as it's been very informative

Another thought -- whether there are any concrete rules about this or not, I've gathered that it's considered "bad form" to wear the colors of an NPHC org whose membership you are pursuing, either during rush or while on line. It also seems to be bad form to wear another NPHC group's colors during that time.
So now I'm wondering...exactly what colors CAN you wear? It seems that almost every color of the rainbow is taken by at least one of the NPHC orgs, and I doubt it would look very classy to show up dressed all in orange (as that color does not seem to be taken by any group). If you were online for any of the NPHC sororities, would it be acceptable for you to wear a black dress, even though black is one of Alpha Phi Alpha's colors? Etc with similar situations.
Or is it the color combination of an NPHC group that is a no-no?

TigerLilly,

A lot of these questions can only be answered by the members of the organization one is pursuing on that particular campus. In terms of what is allowed while you are "on line" you may never get those questions answered.

I personally can't explain it because it really is different wherever you go and it depends on the org.

Alright, cool, I'm just asking b/c I know next to nothing about NPHC orgs and I'm trying not to be ignorant. ;)
Thanks everyone who nicely answered my multiple pestering questions!!! :D

We're all here to learn! :D

there's a reason as to why our colors our chosen..you're right, i can't speak for any of the other eight. the whole point is that you'll never see the letters of your frat in anything except your colors, point blank. and that is why the colors are important as well. and i'm sure if you ever saw one of your bruhs ine something like that, you'd have a word with them. but as i said...it's going to be a misunderstanding if i ever see frat with my letters on in anything except brown and gold.

Hi Tigerlilly,
To answer your question, if I ran into a sister while having the colors on, i would highly doubt that she would stress the issue. No one is that anal to see if there is blue in my sneakers or not. There are some 'hard core' sisters that may stress the issue. But the deal is that one of our colors is royal blue which is highly different from your basic blue.

You are missing the point...They have to earn that right.

I co-sign!!!

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pledges wearing letters
 

Yes, like wearing our colors in a plaid or floral print...A definite No-No!!

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pledges wearing letters
 

It's just weird that you say that...all of the D9 embraced their colors and wear them with pride...hey, but to each his own.

Hello fellow Alum! I went to RU too C/O 1999!