Why?
 

I've been wondering this for a while...it seems like after their collegiate years, marriage, etc., sorority women seem to take their letters off their cars and stop wearing greek shirts and so forth. Why is this? If membership is for life, why does it seem that they put their letters on the back burner after graduation? I've noticed this isn't quite as much of an issue for BGLOs in this area...Some of my teachers were AKAs and they proudly sport AKA plates on the front of their cars and stuff like that. I've also seen lots of Deltas and Omega Psi Phis, by the way. I'm just wondering, is there a set of rules that say you can't wear your letters or keep them on display after you go Alum or get married or whatnot?

I know in my org most our alum still wear letters proudly and they still have stickers on their cars and such. Many even have the clothes with alum written on them. It may just depend on the chapter, though!

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If your going to go greek, why not be a goddess?

I think it is just kind of like those things might seem kind of youthful to some people?? I know I am going to be sporting my letters all the time. I am going to be teaching in a HS so it's always good PR!! PLus, I totally agree, what's wromg with having a license plate cover etc...? But I think it's just a littl younger for them?

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Katey, ZA chapter of AGD
"Could I have been anyone other than me?"-Dave Matthews

I have a ZTA license plate cover and at least 2 ZTA window clings on my car. I proudly wear letters all the time. In fact, I wore my Zeta Tau Alpha - Crown Chapter Winner t-shirt to a meeting at work on Monday (we've got a very casual office!)

B.

Well, I'm sitting here wearing a coral-colored shirt with white "Pi Phi" letters on it--I've started wearing my letters a lot! This great elderly AKA at work wears her letters all the time and I thought, "Hey, why not me?"

So if you ever meet me, I just might be wearing my Pi Phi or "Mom of AOPi" shirts! We even got my husband a "Dad" shirt and Mr. Jock actually wears it!

I can't say this is true for my sorors-- we even buy "my mommy is an AKA" bibs and t-shirts for our baby girls or "future AKA" and "AKA in training" shirts are not uncommon for toddlers.
We are really encouraged to move on from Undergrad chapters to Grad chapters..

There are some ladies who do not become sorors until they are out of the "college life"..

I still wear a sorority shirt (polo style or blue jean long sleeve) every now and then and my car still has a crest...

And my coffee mug is on my desk!!

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IVY in my HAND-- AKA in my HEART

I've been out of school for quite a while and can proudly say that my car still sports my Delta Zeta crest, and that I still wear my t-shirts very frequently. As a matter of fact, I wore my 1996 DZ Crush Party shirt to work last Friday (that's our casual day) and got a lot of interested glances because of it! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by dzrose93 (edited May 03, 2001).]

Speaking from my experience, I can say that the VAST majority of my Kappa stuff is T-shirts. These shirts wear out, get old, or are just outgrown by many people as they get older. Also, adults just don't wear t-shirts as much as college students. And when they do, it's usually when they are around the house or when they work out of something. Maybe that's why we don't see that much.

Kappagirl00 is right. Some of my favorite shirts have been put in my pajama drawer because they have holes in them or have a noticeable stain that prevents them from being worn in public. Since I'm no longer in chapter, I don't have the opportunity to replenish my t-shirt collection with newer shirts. But I do still wear the nicer ones I have! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

DZrose

I noted that you and others were stating that your t shirts have worn out etc.
I was recently asked by co worker about my "para". She told me that it seems that BGLO's seem to have more para items like--umbrellas and pen sets etc.

Do you find this to be true?



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IVY in my HAND-- AKA in my HEART

Hi loviest95! I don't think that BGLO's necessarily have more items with their organization's name on it -- maybe just more of different types. For example, I see a lot more stationary, magnets, picture frames, flower pots, badge pillows, etc., for Panhellenic sorority members than I do for BGLO's. But, I also see more umbrellas, hats, pens, etc. for AKA and DST than I do for sororities like ADPi or Phi Mu. I don't think I've ever seen an umbrella for Delta Zeta - I'd probably own it already if I had! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

I'm not sure exactly why this is the case. Probably manufacturers of Greek merchandise focus on making different types of paraphernalia for each group. I'm in marketing research, so I would guess that perhaps Greek manufacturers have found that BGLO members prefer to purchase a certain type of 'nalia and that other GLO members tend to purchase another type. It's all about what makes money in the long run. Hope this answers your question! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

Hmmm . . . out of all the mainstream groups of which I have met alum the only group that never said "I was xyz" was Sigma Chi . . . they were very insistant in saying that they Are Sigma Chi's.

Part of the problem for the standard NIc NPC groups is probably because we, or I should say I for my group, are not well organized on the alumni level. There are alumni chapters, but from what I understand the vast majority of them do not function anywhere near as well as the BGLO graduate chapters . . . Or with the same purpose. But I may be wrong here or generalizing to much.

Nor is transition into some type of active alumni life part of our education or doctrine unless you become a volunteer. . . it would be a nice powerbase if we all had better organization . . . there are 176 thousand plus living Kappa Sigmas now, that would be a hell of a networking and politcal base . . . not to mention if all the groups were equally well organized on that level.

Well, I know of some of my Brothers, me included have personalized tags on their cars. I for one am proud after 36 yrs to have LXA 1 on my Honda car!!!!!!
In Kansas you have on front and back to you can see me comming or going! LOL

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Tom Earp LX Z#1
Pittsburg State U. (Kansas)

I think it's the same members that say "I used to be a ___". I guess in college it's cool and the real world is just confused by it!
I wear my badge that's now a necklace all the time, I dress up for work and make sure to put it on! I get tons of compliments on it daily, I do have to explain it 100 times, but I think that's fun!
My niece has a FUTURE KD shirt too, like loviest95 said, we have tons of that!
I have just begun an Alumnae Association and one suggestion was to wear letters around town, maybe we can find other alum in the area, just with a shirt or sticker!

laughing in my boots...and dying of histeria up in here...whew...i must of hit a gold mine or something... http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Well, let's see. It's been 3 years, I still wear a dz shirt every now and then--I've got loads of them, but my wardrobe has changed and I wear more 'dressy' stuff nowdays than I did in college--so basically I don't wear letters as much because, well, I just don't have any suits with the letters DZ on them, and I'm not sure my business would like that too much.

I just bought a new car--my old car had 2 bumper stickers on it, one with turtles, one saying Delta Zeta. I'm not putting anything on my new car--I've never been a bumper sticker gal--I just did it because I had them and it was an old car. It's not that I don't LOVE delta zeta--I just don't want to put anything on my new car . . .

I am getting married soon, I live with my fiance and have been for about 2 years (in august). When we first moved in together, our house looked like a college dorm room. I had tons of turtles and DZ signs and NOTHING else to decorate with! I didn't want my house to look like a dorm room forever, so slowly that stuff got packed away and I got more things to actually make our house look like a home.


I don't think it has anything to do with the sorority--I think it just has to do with the fact that peoples lives change after college--dramatically. It's not a lack of love for their organization--it's just that they've moved on in life and do other things. I'm constantly in contact with an alumni chapter here--I'm still involved, I just don't decorate or sport my dz stuff as much because my life has changed. I've had people ask about my badge (I've worn it with a suit before to work) and think it's really cool--but I've also had people roll their eyes at me. It's obvious they don't know what it stands for--but it's never good to have co-workers or bosses think you're not a serious person--or that you're lost in your college days.

My personalized license plate says "SUE-XO" -but everyone is so non-greek in Connecticut- that when I get a compliment on it - it is because they think the xo stand for a kiss and a hug! Oh well! I do have all my paddles hanging in our T.V. room and I plant red and yellow flowers all around our house! Little things that keep reminding me of Chi Omega http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif Sue

Huh? I'm not following you...

My cousin's wife is a Kappa and she's been alum for about 5 years now, and everything in their house is decorated with fleur-de-lis and she bought me a set of coffee mugs with irises on it (DPhiE flower). Ok that last part of sentence doesn't totally fit, but I guess what it's saying is that there are other ways of showing pride in your glo in your alum years other than sporting your letters http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif.

I can understand how things have changed. I have graduated and my new house is VERY different from my college apartment! BUT I still have A LOT of KD elements up.
Well, I don't have random "college" looking stuff in my house, but I do have a nice framed picture of a natulius shell and I have dried white roses in pretty arrangements and my membership certificate is going to be framed with our original small badge. I just think when I'm older I would love a KD room or nice things for my office. I think it reflects what I love!

I don't know if this can be explained. Instead of studying for my Statistics final, I'm thinking about this...I have a few possible reasons.
1). Members of NPC groups usually Rush/are initiated fairly early in their collegiate careers (like, first semester), while NPHC members usually can't join until their sophomore years or later. Maybe it's an issue of burn out in some cases? Like, after 4 years of being XYZ, it's time to move on, whereas NPHC members haven't been members as long? I have a cousin who was initiated into an NPHC sorority her senior year in college, and is still really into it (more than other NPHC alumnae I know her age) after two years after school.
2). I'm agreeing with the idea that your life changes. In some cases, you live with members, eat with them--your entire social sphere is the sorority. After college, your life changes--you move, you live alone, you get a real job, you get married. Your sorority just isn't that important to you anymore. Instead of wearing your letters to class every day, you might just wear them around the house. Or instead of having your paddles up in your dorm room, you have your Initiation Certificate framed with your sorority flower in vases. There are more mature ways of expressing sorority pride.
3). There IS a stigma, regardless of whether or not we believe it exists, against Greeks. For some employers, a member wearing letters or carrying things with letters may denote to them irresponsibility (due to the bad rep Greeks have--earned and unearned), or immaturity (it is really a college thing). One would not want their co-workers to believe that "Oh, so-and-so was a 'sorority girl'...she must not be a good employee." And you KNOW people think that.

Okay...I'm rambling. On to Statistics!

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