Wear letters at a bar??
 

This is more for Sorority women than Fraternty men...

I have recently heard from two people that there are sororities that are allowed to wear their letters out at bars (one supposedly encourages it, which I find hard to believe). I didn't know if this was true, I searched both alcohol policies, but did not find anything in there directly stating they shouldn't. Please, any info. would help. For now I will leave out the names of the 2 organizations I heard of doing this, if you want to know, please, PM me.

Um... I'm pretty sure ALL NPC sororities discourage the display of letters in situations where alcohol is present/being consumed.

So if those two sororities are NPC, it would be a no.

If one of those is Alpha Gamma Delta, it's a DEFINITE no.

I know of one NPC chapter around here that has members who wear their letters to the bar... all the time. I've also seen their alumnae do the same thing, so I just figured it was ok in their organization. I thought it was strange, but never really asked about it.

Alumnae and collegians don't always follow NPC rules and guidelines in their everyday lives. Just because they think it's OK doesn't make it OK.

I've seen alums wearing letters to the bar. While letters are something we probably shouldn't wear, there's a big difference between drinking in letters and just hanging out with friends and drinking in letters and acting the shitfaced fool.

Do you mean like wearing lettered hoodies/t-shirts to a bar?

I don't think it's appropriate to wear shirts/hoodies/etc to the bar, especially if you are going to drink.

We were always told as collegiates, that we were to never drink, go to a bar or a club or even a party that served alcohol wearing letters.

Yes that is true. I remember being told by some of the older girls that "drinking in letters was reserved for alumnae." I never understood why it was ok for alums to do that. If it's "disrespectful" to do when you are a collegiate, then it's "disrespectful" to do it as an alum. It's not like you stop representing your org once you become an alum.

Oh, I never said, "Even though it's not ok, it must be because they drink in letters." I mean, I thought it might be ok in their organization. This is going back to shortly after I was initiated. I saw them drinking in letters, I knew we couldn't in my organization, but I didn't know about theirs. And even today, I'm not about to lecture them concerning the rules regarding wearing letters and drinking.

And yes, they wear jackets, t-shirts, hoodies... everything... at parties, at mixers, and out to the bars (the corner bars, not the clubs - that might be weird clothing for a club).

I mean if you are a wet organization then I don't see any problem with it. I think an individual should always try to be respectful and not act a fool when representing your organization, but at the same time if you're drinking responsibly then why not?

I had a whole big thing typed out but I lost it so there ya go.

Honestly, it all boils down to image. There's a difference between my going to the bar without letters and making an ass of myself, even if everyone knows I'm an Alpha Gam, than there is by wearing letters in the situation and proving it, and giving off the perception that ALL Alpha Gams are drunken assholes.

I think it was an LC who came to our chapter while I was a collegian who put it this way: If you would take a kid there, in that context, then letters would be OK. For instance, say a bar serves good food, and you take your kid or your niece or nephew there for lunch or dinner. Letters would be OK (as long as you're not drinking). If you're going later at night, and taking a child would not be appropriate, then wearing letters would probably not be appropriate either.

Obviously lavalieres are easy to forget and I don't really take issue with that. It's the difference in seeing a flier posted on a light pole versus seeing a billboard hanging from the Goodyear Blimp.

Rules banning drinking while in letters are not common among fraternities. They are common in most if not all NPC sororities.

Eh. Chacun à son goût. Vive la différence!

Exactly. Even the other greeks take notice. Our newer members would always approach me at a party and ask, "Why are they wearing their letters?" assuming that they weren't supposed to be wearing them while drinking, either. It's just a respect thing to me. And like alphagam says... it's one thing for people to be aware you're in a sorority and you drink... it's another to be drinking with letters on and to have everyone at a bar or party feel justified in their thinking that all sorority girls are drunks.

I mean, if I'm getting ready to go out, what's the difference if I put on a shirt with letters, or one without. Quite frankly, why these girls are wearing t-shirts out every weekend is beyond me. Let's class things up a little, ladies! :)

I don't see it as such a big deal. I've seen members from every fraternity (that visits our local bar) and every sorority in letters at the bar at one point or another.

In fact a few seconds ago I was looking through some chick's Facebook pictures and some of them include pics of her and her sisters in letters at the bar.

The difference in my mind is whether the National Organization allows or supports it. One woman told me that this specific organization supports it, as it is a way for them to get their "branding" out there. I know that people might do it, no matter what a National Bylaw says, but again, if they support it, it's a different story. I personally never wear letters to a bar, lord knows we have enough trouble fighting off stereotypes, I don't need to add to it.

Okay despite my cry of vive la différence!, I will make a comment on behalf of those who don't impose this rule.

The problem with it, it seems to me, is that it automatically equates drinking with getting drunk and making a fool of one's self. Yeah, I know we're talking about college students, but to me, saying "don't drink in letters" for the reasons you have given is pretty much the same as saying "don't wear letters when you drink because we don't think you, our sisters, are capable of drinking responsibly." To me, it seems much more to the point to say "Remember that when you wear letters that you represent ABG to the world; be careful not to do anything while wearing letters that would reflect badly on ABG."

As the Greeks might say, moderation in all things; nothing in excess. (But yeah, we are talking about college students. :D)

Follow whatever rules your org has seen fit to adopt, but don't look at other orgs askew if they have decided on different rules.

First of all, it's just easier and more to the point to say "Don't drink in letters," rather than fall into the gray area involving people using their "good judgment" to determine whether their behavior is appropriate and upholding the ideals of the organization.

And it's not that we don't trust our own members, but I know that even I've been a little more drunk than I originally intended at times, and when I go out at 10pm, I don't know what's going to happen between then and 3am when I roll back to my apartment. We all know we've had those nights when we've said, "Oh, I'll just have one or two," but those two turn into ten.

And secondly,

I'm not judging other sorority members if their organizations allow this to happen. From what I understand, there are many fraternities that don't have any rules concerning this. But from what I can tell, there are many people who are drinking in letters when their organizations say that they can't. And yes, when you choose to ignore the rules set forth by your national organization, and post pictures on Facebook of yourself breaking those rules, I might lose just an ounce of respect for you... especially when all you have to do is put on another shirt.