"You Are Always Wearing Your Letters"
 

I saw this posted on a college Panhellenic's Twitter and thought it was a cool piece. Apologies if it's already been posted - I couldn't find it anywhere else on here.

http://apathymyth.blogspot.com/2010/...r-letters.html

It's essentially a blog entry about how, when you join a fraternity (or sorority) you are responsible for representing them for the rest of your life, no matter what you do. If more new members and members understood this, I think Greeks as a whole would have a lot fewer risk management issues.

Thanks for sharing I really like it. Hmm now how to tweak it to make it appropriate for meeting...

so true

I've seen this message totally ruined, though.

It isn't an excuse to be judgmental and unfortunately I saw this very true and insightful idea abused repeatedly when I was an active. Everyone makes mistakes or stupid choices. The best way to represent letters is to try your best but to be mature enough to admit to and learn from mistakes. I saw it used as a threat, not an ideal to live up to. I feel that new members in my old chapter are less likely to understand this idea or think of it positively because members in leadership positions abused it to the point of tarnishing it. (For instance, badgering members for minor indescrestions like smoking or occasionally swearing in letters. The correct way to address that is to explain WHY they should want to avoid that and why it's important, but instead I saw freshman girls being made to feel like they were unworthy members because they were "making the sorority look bad". Maybe essays like this could be incorporated into more new member programs so that members understand behaving stupidly doesn't make them bad members or bad people as long as they learn from mistakes and treat others with respect.)

It's no different from being a practicing member of a religion, an employee of a company, or a student athlete. In every case you're representing an entity that is extremely important to many people and your actions WILL reflect onto that group. It's an important thing for everyone to remember because we're all representing someone or something whether we're in a greek organization or not. And of course, you're ALWAYS representing yourself.

^^^I was going to say exactly this same thing.

It amazes me how some people can be so hung up on others doing inconsequential things like dropping an f-bomb or drinking in letters, when the fact of the matter is people will have a much worse impression of you if you're in your letters at a restaurant, and are rude to the waiter. Or if groups of members always cluster together at parties and give dirty looks to anyone who even tries to penetrate the circle to say hello. Those actions are remembered far longer.

Agreed. I had to constantly remind them that no one cares about a swear word once in a while, or a cigarette. People do remember bitches, and one consistent turnoff for PMN's is the appearance of there being cliques in a chapter. Sisterhood is more important than the little things.

I understood annoyance with girls who were occasionally and politely reminded of rules but just refused to pay attention to them, but not with the ones that lit up right after their extremely stressful midterm forgetting they were wearing a t-shirt with letters, or ones who had to leave a party early after one too many (everyone has a bad night, and as long as this isn't a reoccurring thing...I always said "chill out").

Sorry I'm a little late to the party, but I wanted to thank littleowl for posting this. I've been looking for something to express this very idea to my sisters for some time, and this is perfect. Thanks a bunch!

I had to reread this, and still have the same response. I took the post on a much higher level than an everyday indiscretion. The lines that stood out for me were:
"We're not asking you to give up anything. We aren't asking you to become something you aren't. We're asking you to become something more. We're inviting you to become part of a group of men who make a promise to take care of each other, every day. We're asking you to become the very best version of you that you can be. "

For me, this is like saying being a woman of "poise and purpose". I have some bad habits, but I try to live the ideals of my sorority.

"For me, this is like saying being a woman of "poise and purpose". I have some bad habits, but I try to live the ideals of my sorority."

Great way of saying it.

YES! YES! YES!

The very day, or better yet, the very moment I was inducted into Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., I went from being Ninjapoodle to "Ninjapoodle the SGRho".

I absolutely LOVE this essay. Although when I read it, it was the same essay but with sorority instead of fraternity but it goes both ways. I couldn't have sad it better and it's definitely something that every sorority woman and fraternity man should understand.

What a great point. Some people fail to remember that you are a reflection of hundreds of years of tradition, no matter what you're doing.

Everyone needs to remember what you promised when you were initiated. :)

Only where people know you're an SGRho and/or where people know about and care about Greekdom.

I still say that Greekdom is always more important to members than it is to nonGreeks (including aspirants). While there are people who know the good that we do in the community and think it's fantabulous, there are more people who don't care who is doing the good, as long as it is being done. I prefer to live my life to the fullest and uphold certain ideals as DrPhil or DrPhil-the-Christian-Black Woman-Professional, etc. I will never pretend as though being a Delta holds me to a higher standard than any of my other identities should.**

**I'm a sinner and not a saint. :D