5 or 6 "S's" for "don't have to wear your pledge pin when...
 

I've seen the term "5 S's" or "6 S's" used to describe the conditions under which a pledge is *not* required to be wearing their pledge pin. I can remember four of the five, but I'm not sure which one I'm forgetting..

Sleeping
Showering
Sweating (exercise)
Silk (certain good clothes which would be damaged)

Note, from 5 to 6, I do remember that you add 'Sex', but I'm pretty sure that it isn't the one missing from the 5. Also, does any group (presumable a sorority, due to using the term 'Silk') actually use this list in the 5 S's form? (I presume that the 6th S, wouldn't be used in any official capacity)

Sleep
Shower- going to and from/in
Sports- playing sports, guess you could include exercising
Sloshed- drinking
Sex

Never heard of 'silk'. Another one would be religious events, such as church, were it might not be seen as appropriate.

I always point out that this is NOT official, but that its a pretty good 'rule of thumb' to follow. I tell them pledges should be wearing their pin when they are out and about on campus and in the local community from 8am to 10pm or so. On campus, they may met or be seen by Brothers, who could report them for not wearing their pin, and off campus, doing so can lead to their meeting alumni Brothers, for whom we encourage the pledges to try to get their signature (as a kind of 'bonus').

I seem to remember only four "s"s.

Sleep
Showering
Sweat
Sex

Our new members don't need to wear their pledge pin any time that collegians wouldn't wear their badge.

Meaning they only wear it in situations where badge attire is appropriate.

We only had three Ses:

Sports
Sleeping
Sex

I guess I skated.

Yes.

And the 5 "S"'s help them understand when its appropriate/inappropriate.

Simple as that.

It helps avoid the unreasonable expectation of always wearing a pledge pin.

That was the one I forgot....

The 4th S.

No. They are required to wear badge attire (or pin attire, in their case) only when the collegiate members were required to wear badge attire. Meetings, ritual, and one day a week where badge attire was suggested for all members.

They are not required to wear badge attire all day/every day. So the "5 S's" don't apply at all.

Bit of a difference here.

WE expect (its more an expectation then a requirement) our active members to wear their service pin all day/every day. Meetings, rituals, and one day a week would be less then what we expect, really. For us, that's be the bare minimum. We really would like our members to wear them all day/every day. We'd certainly also expect them to be worn while doing service. Hence, we expect pledges to do the same, so they get into the habit (which is the main purpose of having them wear them, really). Note that our service pin is much smaller then our larger, more formal badge.

BUT, to avoid the issue of unreasonable expectations, the 4/5 "S's" were thought up to give when its unreasonable to expect them to wear pins.

Also cheaper...
 

I think one of the primary reasons that for APO, that we expect them to be worn all of the time is that they are *much* cheaper than the pins for the social fraternities and sororities. The pledge pin received at pledging and the brother pin received at initiation are both brass (or something close) and currently cost $7.00, the last time I checked. I run into people on eBay who believe that since it is a fraternity pin, it has to be 10K gold or gold filled or something. We do have more expensive versions of the pin, but my guess is that less than 10% of the brothers actually buy them.

Randy

APO's Service Pin and Pledge pins cost $5.

Our basic badge costs $40 for the cheapest version.

One of the reasons we create the Service Pin back in the 40s was to have insignia that ALL Brothers could afford. And they are small enough that we really want our members to wear them more or less all the time, not just for 'special' occasions like meetings & rituals and the like.

Nope our ALPHAS only wear their pin when we wear ours to meeting. They are not expected to wear them anyother time.

things have changed, I wore my pledge pin all the time......and this was not that long ago, early 90s

Wow. At my school, pledges have to wear their pins and have their binders at all times unless they've received special permission not to. I see pledges with their pins on at the gym all the time.

And for one of the sororities, you have to wear certain clothes each day, so getting precious clothes damaged wouldn't be too much of an issue.

This too:

For one of the fraternities here, their pledges have to wear a dime if they don't have their pin. It's interesting.

We don't have to wear a pin during Sigma or Phi, but we very often have our binders for interviews and signatures.