Found: Chi Omega Pin
 

ARS is my initials and it happens to be the Latin word for "art, skill" so I will go by that name for now. It's actually apropos but more on that later. What I am here for is to find a Chi Omega. Please let me explain.

Two years ago, I found a brand new Chi Omega jewelled membership pin at the Philadelphia Airport. It has no name or any identifying marks other than the usual XO symbols. Now, I know about Chi Omega since I am a Kappa Alpha alumnus myself. I have a few Chi O almae friends as well.

So, here's a conundrum for me and maybe a Chi O in here can help me. I would like to find who this person was and if not, find a Chi O that would want it. But there is a catch and more on that later too!

If you're a XO, please feel free to sound off. Thanks!

Why don't you talk to your Chi Omega friends, or contact their Headquarters?

There is no info engraved on the back of the badge?

Contact our national headquarters. There should be the woman's initials, initiating chapter, and initiation date engraved on the back of the badge. This would also help in locating her.

Thank you for the reply, Ladies! My name is Allen and I appreciate your responses. Well, that's the conundrum! There are no identifying names or numerals on the back! I will have to double-check. It's in my safe right now. I will check again sometime but as far as I can remember, no marks. A conundrum indeed! ;-)

But! I have an idea on what to do with it if I don't end up finding the owner. As a KA, I know how valuable and meaningful that jewel is so I can't simply give it away or sell it to someone or somewhere. Does that make sense at all?

No, please do not sell it anywhere. Our national headquarters collects old badges. If you can see the chapter on the back, you could also try returning it to that chapter. Since it was found two years ago, that member may still be around, or the sisters may know who it was.

I agree with you, Ms. Katee. I also have another creative idea that I can do with it. It's a bit personal so if you are curious, you may DM if you would like. But please be assured that it's as classy as any lady of Chi-O can be. I am a KA gentleman, after all. :-)

Oh, the badge is not that old. It looks very new (and shiny even!) as far as I can recall.

Allen, you are starting to sound really, really creepy :eek: I will take your word for it that you are a KA. As a Greek, you should know that the badge could very easily and simply be returned to the Chi O headquarters with a note of explanation. They could track down the owner or make sure that it ends up with another Chi O member. None of this "I have a secret" crap is needed.

pardon the crash, Chi Omega Panhellenic sisters. Allen, contact Chi Omega HQ. That is really the right thing to do, and surely a KA gentleman wants to do the right thing. The badge rightfully should be returned to Chi Omega HQ. There is a chance that the badge's owner contacted HQ to report its loss.

Am a little surprised that you didn't turn it in to the Philadelphia Airport lost and found or police or airlines or something of the sort.

ETA: thetalady - jinx, buy me a coke!

The badge belongs to the organization. Simply mail it to the Chi Omega Headquarters if you do not know the member who lost it.

On the way... maybe with a side of bourbon? ;)

I'd ask PTITY, but we know better.

PT?

Prue Tacos.

ree-Xi, I was actually thinking the same thing.

ditto!

you guys gave me nightmares. I would have been okay with creepy or smarmy or obsequious or something along those lines, but no... ree had to raise the spectre... and nightmares ensued. Yikes.

Someone's been watching too many spy movies.

I'm just curious...
Do most NPC badges have engraving on the back? Mine does not.

I think Balfour used to engrave all badges with initials & years (I have a vintage badge that has them). Herff-Jones doesn't - at least not for ASA (possibly you could special request it???).

On the badge engraving issue, Herff Jones does engrave Kappa badges, FWIW.

I think it varies with what particular GLOs want. Various sororities and fraternities use initials, chapter, initiation date, membership numbers ("badge numbers") or some combination. Based on old badges I've seen, ours used to have initials and chapter, I think, but by the time I was initiated they just had a serial number.

It may change the cost or the time to ship. AOII still has engraving through HJ. We have initials, chapter and initiation date on the back of every badge that goes out. I agree with MC. It is likely up to the powers that be with each group.

Mine does - it has my initials, chapter letters and member number. However, I found one online (which I bought) that doesn't appear very old which did not have any engraving at all. I thought that was strange.

Who, moi? Nope, just being observant.

And HJ engraves for AXiD, too.

This is turning into a great thread for the proposed history forum! Maybe there should also be a Lost and Found?

I believe there was one "suggestion"...please send it to Chi Omega headquarters. Chi Omega owns the badge. If someone found my badge, that's what I would expect from a fellow Greek. I would not be happy if I was mourning the loss of my badge, and the finder was sitting around for a couple years trying to think of what to do with it.

No, I meant the OP. Too much double-talk.

I've read that before (the bolded), but I'm wondering what that's based on. Say you kick a member out and she refuses to return her paraphernalia, her badge, etc. Does Chi Omega file a small claims suit for replevin? Is there a contract stating that the fee you paid for the badge was a lease for life of membership type of an affair?

It seems like a silly question, but considering there are entire websites dedicated to the resale of fraternity jewelry to folks who may or may not be members, I just doubt the validity of the bolded statement.

That said, it is probably still good form to just mail the badge back to Chi Omega's HQ with a cover letter explaining where you found it.

--as an aside, are you positive it isn't a pledge pin? I wouldn't think the initials would be on the back of one of those.

I'm not a Chi Omega, but yes, I'm almost positive I signed something like this in my initiation paperwork.

I know it goes counter to what many GLOs say, but I have said before that I question the legal enforceability of policies saying the GLOs retain ownership rights in badges and members have lifetime leases -- most of which policies are, so far as I know, relatively recent. Policies like these are certainly meaningless legally with regard to badges purchased prior to a GLO's implementation of such a policy.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting that the polices may not be binding on members ethically. But as far as legal rights go, I have my doubts.

Absolutely.

--the whole doctrine of "first sale" and all. And with the lack of engraved initials on the back, there'd be almost no way to conduct a reasonable search for the true owner, so the OP could always sell the thing on Ebay or trash it or whatever.

A finder of abandoned or lost property has title over everyone but the true owner.

Different GLOs seem to take different types of steps to prevent badges from being made for non-members. I've noticed HJGreek has some organizations which won't let you place direct orders with HJGreek, so I assume they can ensure the badge was being ordered by a member.

I can tell you that if you want a Sigma Nu badge right now, you can pop over there, pay their absurd price for fancy jewels like "diamondique" and have whatever you want engraved on the back. They won't want fingerprints or DNA or nothin'.

Our new members are informed that the badge belongs to Gamma Phi. They're supposed to turn over everything with letters if they are terminated or resign. How enforceable this is, is another issue. New members can only order through the New Member Educator. If I want to order a new badge, I have to call IH and speak to the one person who places the orders.

That said, if the OP came to GC to ask what he should do, then I think he was given good, honorable advice to send it back.

Mine doesn't. My chapter always just did a mass ordering of badges, then they were given to the new members at initiation.

Our badges are essentially "leased" to us as well.

We sign an agreement stating two things:

- Upon suspension or resignation, we must surrender our Quill (our membership badge) o the chapter EBoard or FHQ
- At death, the member can be buried wearing the badge, bequeath it to another initiated member in good standing, or have it sent back to FHQ. We're encouraged to state our preference in our will.

We aren't supposed to be buried in our badges. They are supposed to be returned to HQ upon our death, along with a paper with our name and date of death so we can be listed as deceased in the database. He needs to mail this into our HQ immediately.

Based on his posts, I sincerely doubt that is going to happen...