Girlfriends wearing letters?
 

Okay so, I claim to be a Lambda Chi Sweetheart, My boyfriend has been a brother for going on four years now and I spend about half my time at the house. He is fine with me wearing his letters, I just was wondering if there are actually any actual rules about this?

Huh? Are you on the chapter's composite? Did they have an official ceremony naming you sweetheart?

That's one issue.

Whether girlfriends can wear letters is a separate issue.

You CLAIM to be a sweetheart.. you hang at the house a lot.. and your boyfriend is ok with you wearing his letters.

So what you're saying is.. you're not really an official sweetheart and you wear your boyfriend's letters to bed?

Yea, you probably can't do that.. but no one really knows except you and him. And if he cared enough to have you wear his letters in public, he'd ask his brothers about it.

Since she isn't an official sweetheart, would his fraternity shirts be considered shaking shirts?

Our Lambda Chi chapter doesn't really do them. Our school is 75% guys, so girls are EXTREMELY rare. And most of them avoid Frats at all costs.

But thanks! This answers my questions! I tend to be really big on following rules. So thank you very very much!

I don't think 25% qualifies as extremely rare. ;)

Plus, you only need one to name Sweetheart.

did he lavalier you? back when I was in school if a woman was lavaliered, then she could wear her boyfriend's letters. but that was the dark ages, so who knows what the rules are now...

But what if more than one woman claims to be a Sweetheart?

Rules on things like this vary from fraternity to fraternity, and also from campus to campus. A Lambda Chi could say what Lambda Chi's stance on this is, though there aren't as many of them around here as there once were. But the most reliable answer is going to come from her boyfriend's chapter.

Looks like you have a nice set of your own letters to wear...just stick with those.

if you have been lavaliered then yes it's perfectly acceptable to wear the letters.

Even if you weren't Lavaliered, it doesn't matter.

It would matter if you had JUST started dating and you were simply a common woman that he was associating with.

The thing you can't wear is the badge; we have the friendship badge for that specific reason.

The friendship badge means more to us than a lavalier and it has the letters.

If you're on here asking, it means that you care about this and that you aren't a common association with this brother; ergo, you can wear the letters because you are his girlfriend and would respect them.

Here's the thing. You CLAIM to be a Lambda Chi sweetheart.

Unless you were officially voted as being a sweetheart, or lavaliered by a brother of the fraternity, then this isn't something you should do.

It runs along the same lines as if I just decided to wake up one day, buy the letters of your sorority, and wear them around. Because I decided to.

I don't mean to sound mean or harsh, as I understand this must be a real question you have, or you wouldn't have posted it. I am hoping to just avoid you running into a conflict at your campus with the guys who you have to see all the time.

Get permission from the fraternity. What you're doing is really stepping on the feet of a lot of girls. There are girls who have done a lot for the fraternity, more than just "being around the house" and have been voted in as sweethearts. Even more, there are girls who have worked their butt off in relationships with a brother and were lavaliered, and granted that privilege. YOU'VE decided to give yourself that privilege. It's also not something your boyfriend can just say is ok. It's not up to him as an individual. It's up to the chapter as a whole. If it's fine what you're doing, then what is to stop every brother's girlfriend from wearing letters? YOU can't decide that you deserve them.

Without being given direct permission, you could be really disrespecting a lot of people who have earned the right to wear the letters, and were acknowledged by their local chapter for their work.

One of the biggest things here is that you don't know what our letters mean. They represent a lot to a lot of people.

I personally have lavaliered my girlfriend whom I've been with for 3 years. Other brothers in my fraternity have done the same. I know there are many girls who wish they could be lavaliered. It really downplays the importance and symbolism of a sweetheart or lavaliered girl being allowed to wear our letters if just anyone can wear them, and not to be mean, but until it's voted on by the fraternity, you're "just anyone" no matter how much you feel you do for the chapter.

Talk with the chapter, validate your reasons to them as to why you feel you would be a good candidate for becoming a sweetheart, and proceed with the process. Trust me, it's going to feel a lot better being announced an official sweetheart and go through the ceremony rather than you yourself deciding that you are one.

Again, I know I might be sounding pretty harsh here, but mine and many other chapters really hold a high standard for who can wear letters.