Most chapters of Gamma Sig operate in this way as well.

One of the BEST lines I heard after initation was when one new sisters turned to the others and yelled, "WE GOT OUR GREEN!!":D :D

After initation, it is tradition that sister-mothers give their sister-daughters a green jersey with red, yellow and green letters on the front, their name on the back, and GT on the sleeve.

At our campus, we get lots of compliments as a show of sisterhood when you see green jersey's everywhere!:D

I think my earlier question got over looked, and I'm curious so I'm asking again...Zetagymnast and cammykaze1920, you both said that you weren't allowed to even wear your sororities' colors during your pledge period. My questions are...
Did I understand that right? What would have happened if you had worn the colors? Why does this rule exist?
I don't know what your colors are, Zetagymnast, but cammykaze1920, did you really have to exorcise all blue and white from your wardrobe during your pledge period??? That seems a bit excessive! Just think, if you wore jeans and some kind of white shirt: that's blue and white. Would that be bad, during the pledge period???:confused:

no letters, no writing the letters, no standing in front of letters in the house, no touchign letters, no hand gestures, etc.

I agree, the words 'eat' especially in the booty area is not a good thing....;)

Co-sign!!
And I must say that I saw some girls from your sorority on-line earlier this year in NYC. The line was very tight...especially since it was pretty cold out that night.

I seen them for my org....Plain ole crazy if you ask me!!

To answer your question, when I was online I was told in advance what to wear. When I wasn't in my sorority sisters presence, I could wear whatever I wanted.

Think of it this way:
Next year, my sorority has a convention with sorority sisters from all around the world. If our colors are royal blue and pure white, I would not dare enter into a forum with lets say, pink and green. That is just disrepectful to the organization.

pledges not wearing colors
 

Just to chime in on the pledges not wearing colors discussion...

one reason pledges are often not allowed to wear colors is that many organizations keep their intake process extremely secret. Not only do pledges not get to wear letters until they have been initiated, they do not get to let anyone know that they have been accepted to go through the sorority's intake process. Part of the reason is that if everyone knows Suzie Q. is an XYZ pledge, and she doesn't make it all the way through the process, that reflects badly (and publicly) on both her and the sorority that she did not make it in to. (She couldn't handle the intake process or couldn't manage her time or whatever. Also the sisterhood looks bad because they seem to accept women who give up easily. Both are bad reflections.) If Suzie Q. nevers wears the sorority's colors, then she is not linked to the sorority and no one knows she trying to become an XYZ.

Another reason that some groups forbid pledges wearing their colors during the intake process is much like the reason they forbid pledges from wearing letters--when you earn the right to sport the colors from head to toe and to wear the letters, you get the "we finally got our green" feeling that someone mentioned earlier.

And to respond to the comment about not being able to wear blue jeans with a white t-shirt being harsh...yes, it is serious...if you are not supposed to wear blue and white, then you just don't wear blue and white!

I know that this all sounds sort of odd, but that's the way it the system works in a lot of organizations!

Proud to wear the lavender and Carolina blue of Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.--

Re: pledges not wearing colors
 

What about blue OR white? Like, can you wear blue jeans with a purple t-shirt?

What if there are other colors involved? For instance, wearing a red white and blue shirt or outfit? What if your panties and bra are blue and white striped?

This thread is the first time i've ever heard of pledges not being able to wear the colors of the sorority. Obviously, I could understand not wearing pink and green. That's not the most common color combination in most people's wardrobes. But something like blue and white is a bit more common.

I can also more understand cammykaze1920's comments that she couldn't wear it when she was online, but when she wasn't in the sorority's presence. That makes a little more sense and is more understandable.

But a hard-line- 24/7 approach like thetanustew's is so extreme. NEVER being allowed to wear the colors together until you're a sister is a bit much. I'm pretty sure that would be considered hazing by NPC orgs.

For us, there are days when our pledges are required to wear our colors. On Wednesdays, all the sisters are supposed to wear letters, only since pledges can't wear letters they have to wear Navy Blue and Gray. Usually they just do jeans with a gray shirt or sweatshirt.

Re: pledges not wearing colors
 

It's very interesting that you say this...

When I was a senior in college, another Tri Sigma and I lived with a woman we SUSPECTED was pledging an NPHC sorority. Turns out she was, but she was SOOOOO secretive...

We love showing our new members off....So interesting the differences b/w NPC and NPHC sometimes! :)

Re: Re: pledges not wearing colors
 

I doubt it. I never heard of someone paying so much attention to a person that they would say "you know I haven't seen Suzie wear lavender and Carolina Blue in a long time..."

Requiring pledges to wear pledge pins could also be considered hazing! It clearly marks pledges as different from sisters, and requiring pledges to do anything that sisters are not required to do is one definition of hazing.

Not all organizations have this "no colors" rule, of course. In fact, addition to being in a sorority, I am a brother of Phi Sigma Pi, and during our pledge period, we had to wear colors one day a week (purple and gold on Wednesdays). I guess that could be considered hazing as well...especially when combined with wearing a Phi Sigma Pi pledge pin.

Having gone through intake and initiation in both of two different diverse organizations, I can see positives and negatives for both the extreme secrecy and the wide openness concerning the pledge period. Honestly, I do not flatly, across the board endorse one or the other. A lot of the aspects of both are based on private organization meanings/rituals/etc., and I think it's difficult to say "that is harsh" or "that is too lenient" without understanding the rest of the context of the intake process.

Soooo....while I can't explain specifically why certain groups are hard core about NOT letting pledges wear certain things (colors/letter/crests/etc.) yet others are hard core about MAKING pledges wear certain things (colors/pins/etc.), I think that I can explain that groups have reasons for doing what they do. These reasons tend to go beyond what people --even those invovled in other similar organizations-- can relate to.

Just my two cents...
:) S