UCF takes a subtle potshot at romance
 

UCF Police found a fraternity member covered in plastic wrap and tied to a tree behind the Pi Beta Phi sorority house on Sunday night.

Sean Pierce, the plastic-wrapped member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, also was decorated in shaving cream, marshmallows, chocolate syrup and vegetable oil, and had permanent marker writings on his body and face, according to the form that referred the incident to the Student Conduct Board.

Pierce was accompanied by several other members of his fraternity who, according to the referral form, had poured and thrown the materials on him. Pierce told police his fraternity brothers did this to him because he "lavaliered" his girlfriend - gave her a necklace charm bearing the Greek letters of his fraternity - the previous night. Pierce's girlfriend is a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority.

Pierce told police that this treatment was done to all members who lavaliere their girlfriends, according to the form.

Phi Delta Theta President Christopher Merritt said that's not the case.

--- See rest of article at http://www.ucffuture.com/news/2004/0...n-640720.shtml

A very stupid tradition at my university. Lavaliere your girlfriend and then streak down Greek Park and jump into Lake Claire, with a caravan of your brothers cheering you on in pick-up trucks, honking and hooting, and alerting all the sororities on the row to come out and see.... now they've started adding various condiments and plastic wrap to the mix? Kinky.

This "tradition" is also done at other campuses - but I've never heard of it for dropping/lavaliering - usually this "high honor" is reserved for either pinning or engagements.

Not a local tradition at all...and, some of the variations I've heard being considered - he's lucky he at least got to wear something, even if it was saran wrap....

Speaking of saran wrap - we had a toga party once way back when, and one brother decided that would be his toga material. He was also one of the stunningly brilliant brothers who couldn't figure out why our chapter got closed in 1989...:rolleyes:

At UCF, lavaliering is the equivalent of a pinning. From there, you go to promise ring or engagement ring! We don't pin at all. It's funny, because Greeks work in the Greek merchandise shops, and when a guy comes in to buy a lavaliere, the rumors start to fly!!!

Of course, when I was a collegian, we liked to call fraternity lavalieres "the kiss of death." 85% of those couples were broken up within weeks of lavaliering. (And it would take most guys at least 2 years of dating to give the lavaliere away in the first place--- I don't know if it had more to do with the stigma of giving away your letters, or the fear of getting thrown in Lake Claire, the man-made lake at the end of Greek Park.)

Every sorority girl at UCF dreams of being lavaliered, and having the special candlelighting sisterhood celebration from her chapter... Every fraternity man at UCF hems and haws and dreads the day his love for his girlfriend leaves him covered in algae and leaves at the bottom of the lake!

But as I said, that was the scene 3-4 years ago. Now we've graduated to tossing salad dressing and hershey's syrup at the brothers. I'm SO proud of my alma mater. ;)

I don't think this is rare. These sorts of rituals exist everywhere in some form or another.

Well, it is stupid as Hell!:mad:

But, if no charges were filed, the local COPs cant do anything about it!:) It would be dropped in Court when said Brother said Oh No, I will not press charges for My Brothers being Dim- Friggen- Witts!:p

Einstein Brains dont make a smart individual!:eek:

LXAAlum would I get an Amen From You!??????:D

On pining adpiusf, I would never give anyone My Badge, I worked to damn hard to get it!:mad:

Letters, maybe!;)

My mom felt the same way about getting pinned - she still has it, even offered to give it back. She was told that he got another one after he gave her his and he WANTED her to keep it as a momento of their life together. It's a Pi Kapp pin and she married a Sigma Nu. ;)

They get more creative don't they? ;)

It use to be either jump in Lake Claire (our nasty, polluted lake that is so dear to the UCF Greeks) or streak down greek park with 100's of sorority girls watching. You can even have your girlfriend run beside you if you like! I think my boyfriend opted to be thrown in Lake Claire for lavaliering me. How sweet. :)

And, adpiucf, I am proud of our alma mater too!!!!! heh heh

ITs the least a boy deserves for giving his letters away .. . whipped little saps ;)

This is the first time I've ever heard of people really doing anything like that in terms of tieing a brother up and throwing food at him. I think stories like this do continue to give people a negative vibe about Greek Life. I just find it kind of hypocritical that if this had been done to a pledge, all hell would break loose about hazing, but since this was done to a brother, people just think it's a funny prank. What message are we trying to send out? That we treat our pledges better than we treat our brothers?

No No No . . that you really shouldn't give your letters away.

I talked to some odler alums from some big southern chapters once and they told me that this stuff happened and that there was an undercurrent of seriousness to it . . like they really thought the Brother was a Twit and that this was a form of funny punishment.

Hazing does apply to members and potential/new members as well. But, in this case, the brother isn't going to press charges, especially if it is an established tradition. But, if something horrible happened, there might be trouble. I really think hazing laws are getting ridiculous, but I'll still uphold the law because I SURE don't want to get in trouble! LOL!

ETA: James, you are one mean son of a gun!!

This was a common occurance at my alma mater (just ask my poor boyfriend!). Mostly for lavaliers though, pinning never really occured at my school. One fraternity actually had a huge paddle that they tied the guy to and carried them to the sorority dorm in the middle of the night. Typically the girl had to come out and "rescue" her man and then the whole fraternity sang their sweetheart song to her.

Hey James, be nice.

I lavaliered the then future Mrs. DeltAlum when we were in college, and nothing bad happened to me.

Of course we never got pinned. That could have been ugly.

Biggest mistake I've seen
 

I've helped a lot of chapters publish alumni newsletters, and once saw an issue with a huge and hilarious mis=print.

On the front page was a picture of a nice looking lady, with a caption "Tom just got pinned".

Inside was a picture of a guy tied up and covered with assorted ugly liquids and garbage, with a caption "Welcome to our new housemother."

It's true - wish I could find my copy now.

Videos on TV
 

A video - from the police car's camera - was on TV here tonight

Notorious
 

UCF charge onto the field... with our spirit we'll never yield...
BLACK and GOLD charge right through the line!
Victory is our cry! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!
Tonight our Knight's will SHINE!
U-C-F Knights! U-C-F Let's Go Knights!

(Wow, that was very Earp-esque, wasn't it?)

... I am so VERY proud of these guys~ They get my vote for the "Sissies" this month! All in good fun. They're not what I would call rule-breakers, hazers, or anything of the sort. This was an atypical occurence.

(although...and ZTAngel, back me up on this if you were in school when it happened... this is sub-par compared to the Great Streaking Episode of Sig Ep Pledge Class of '98. I have photos. I'm evil. That event ended with the UCF-PD catching the boys with their pants down, literally!)

ETA: I respect all the Phi Delts, and I can happily assure anyone that these are a great group of guys that would never harm a hair on their brothers' or new members heads.

Re: Notorious
 

I wasn't at UCF yet but I definitely heard about that grand event. That was the year that they stopped doing their pledge class streakings. Well, at least they stopped doing it for all of greek park to see. ;)

This saran wrap thing has been in a bunch of papers all over the country. My dad emailed me the article from his newspaper and asked, "Do you UCF kids have anything better to do?" Nope.

Honestly, I think the media has blown this out of proportion. The guy was a brother, not a pledge, and he was a willing participant. Nobody is shocked about this event. I'd say that every fraternity on our campus has a "gift" of sorts for the brother that lavaliers his girlfriend. The only difference being that Phi Delt got caught.

I feel bad for the Pi Phi who now has to deal with 1000's of questions from people about what's going on with her boyfriend.

I know I'm being a hypocrite, but I kinda find the hype funny. Only because I know my university and I know that this guy and his fraternity are not at all the stereotypical testosterone raging Animal House stereotype. They do good work for the school and the community. That doesn't make this prank right, but I know no one got hurt (this time) so I can laugh about it. I'm horrible. Flame away!

Something else funny about the Sig Ep Streak-- in days of old, the newly initiated brothers would line up late late late in the night, just after they'd been initiated and then liquored up. They'd line up by the Pike House at the beginning of Greek Park, stripped down to their boxers, displyaing painted Sig Ep letters and symbols on their bodies, puff on a vintage stogie, and at the signal, they'd drop their shorts and run like hell to the end of the street, where they'd jump in the lake. A couple of sorority women would be pre-warned to spread the word, and the girls would line the streets to bear witness to this semesterly rite of passage.

Well, in spring 98, instead of streaking at 5 in the morning, the guys did it at 8 PM on a Sunday (the night we have chapter meeting). Everyone was leaving chapter, and hauling benches and chairs off the sorority house porches. The guys lined up, ran down the street, jumped in the lake and back to the Sig Ep house, when they were accosted by the UCF-PD. I heard they were all charged with indecent exposure, but that could just be a rumor.

I was one of the ones snapping photos at the event, and I was schocked that Walgreens developed them! Couple years later, I was in a class and the people I was sitting around were all introducing themselves. It turned out we were all Greeks. This one guy was named Greg. I said, "Oh you're a SigEp, right?" And he smiles and goes, "Yeah, how'd you know?" I turned bright red and mumbled, "Um, I've seen you around." Yeah... as in ALL of him. LOL. And in pictures!

It is sooo wrong for me to be laughing about this. It just helps perpetuate all those stereotypes. But ah.... college!

This event is not representative of the normal actions of the chapter.

I agree 100% The men I have met from your chapter have always shown class, tact and are complete gentlemen!

Don't ruin some good fun . . .

Well as long as its in good fun, continue on James.

*wishes she had seen that* Seems like I miss all the fun. :D

You would not beleive how long it took me to crawl out from under my rock and hear about this little fiasco. And I agree, stuff like this for lavaliering is nothing new. Not the wisest idea, but it's generally harmless and small.

My guess as far as the lavaliering curse is because half the time it's pressure from the sorority girl who wants a candlelighting. ;)

Took a picture of it on CNN

Hope they dont get too much trouble

http://rdwarlock.echotheory.com/uplo...20on%20cnn.jpg

I didn't know that this was still done. When I was at Arkansas, pinned men usually got tied to the giant DG anchor--even if their pinmate wasn't a DG-- in their underwear. At Auburn, they got thrown into this nasty pond by the SAE House.

I think that if I knew my S.O. was going to have to go through something insane like that, I would not take the lavalier or pin. I wouldn't want him to do it over something trivial like that. Shoot, I wouldn't want him to go through anything like that for me at all. It just wouldn't be worth it. And for what? To say he's my steady boyfriend?

Dee

At Hillsdale, I believe one of the fraternities makes the someone who has just lavaliered his girlfriend streak around her sorority house, and another fraternity throws the guy in a lake in our arboretum. However, it seems that if the lavaliering boy in question does want to streak or get thrown in a pond, he doesn't have to. In truth, it's all harmless fun.

It depends on the fraternity here what will happen to a guy when he lavaliers, but I know that my ex's house would have all the guys in his pledge class shave him BALD and then tie him to a ladder in the front of his girlfriend's sorority house. I have a thing with shaved heads (I CAN'T STAND THEM!) so clearly it's a good thing he never lavaliered me b/c I would have probably broken up with him for the shaved head. (Just kidding...maybe ;) )

I agree with whoever said that getting lavaliered is the kiss of death. It seems to be true at my school too!!!

I am sure you wouldn't want him to be humiliated over little 'ole you. . . but if he uhm volunteered to do it as a symbol of his regard for you, I am sure it would be just adorable. ;)

Count me among the women who'd break up with a guy who let his "brothers" shave his head, tie him to a stationary object, dump disgusting subtances all over him, etc. Call me a wet blanket...I've just never understood what's so fun and harmless about humiliation or degradation.

It's not that I don't get the point of a silly good time. I've been a part of fabulously fun traditions where willing participants streak, jump into ponds, and the like. But everybody ganging up on one guy? I don't see the appeal, and I'd lose respect for my boyfriend if he wanted to be a part of that.

No.. not really! I wouldn't need someone to prove their love to me by being humiliated or degraded nor would I want someone to be "punished" for making a committment to me. I'd just pass on wearing his letters and know that he cares without all the pomp and circumstance. My first husband was a Lambda Chi and when we were in college, we kept things discrete because I didn't want him getting any of their weekly chapter "awards" for being whipped, etc. I mean, people knew we were a couple and all, but he never skipped a social to hang with me (or vice versa) and we both had our independent Greek lives. He gave me a promise ring our junior year and we got engaged during our senior year but we just didn't do any of the lavaliering/pinning stuff. It wasn't important to me.

Dee