need advice
 

Last year, I lost my SAI badge. I ended up buying an old one from Ebay. It's 10k gold, and has two guards(one for a fraternity award, another for the President). I ended up finding my original badge but I still wear the old one I bought from Ebay.

However, I'm starting to think I shouldn't wear this old one. I mean, granted, it's better for a sister to get the badge from Ebay and wear it proudly than to let it go to some random pin collector. However, 1)SAI has the same badge policy as many GLOs, where after you die, your badge should be sent to National HQ, and 2)the pin simply isn't mine.

Old SAI badges have the member's name, chapter, and initiation date on the back. This one is from 1936, and I did a little research and noticed their initiation date was the same as the chapter's installation date. So, this pin belonged to one of the chapter's founders.

I'm having a moral dilemma. This badge is prettier than mine(mine is only gold plate), and I enjoy wearing it, though I'm starting to feel guilty for wearing it.

What do I do?? Should I sent it to Nationals? Contact the chapter it came from? Keep wearing it?

Any and ALL advice is welcome.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

IMHO, you shouldn't feel guilty; you should be honored to be wearing a piece of your GLO's history. You obviously treasure it and take care of it.

Does your HQ display older badges?

Didn't want to comment earlier since I know little about sororitiy nationals, but I agree with LeslieAGD, and think your nationals would be pleased to know that a badge had been "rescued" from E-Bay and is being proudly worn.

All in all, I would imagine that your National would rather see you enjoy your badge in good health rather than have a non-member have it.

That said, be sure to make arrangements for its "disposal" at the time of your death. Decide whether you want to leave that pin to the chapter involved, or to your National.

Too many greeks don't have suitable arrangements in their wills, and that's how the pins end up on ebay!

Kudos to you for rescuing an e-Bay badge instead of just ordering another one! I would contact SAI's national office and let them know that the badge is in your possession. I'm sure that they'll be happy to know that a chapter founder's badge is not lost. I don't see why they wouldn't let you, its rescuer, enjoy it while you're alive, provided that you make provisions for its disposition when you've died. In that case, the chapter in question would probably love to have the badge to display or use as an award.

Yepper, Kuddos to you! I have @ 36 Badges from ebay!

3, I hold special:

1. White Gold, pearsl and saphires in the Lambda

2. Yellow Gold, pearls with Opals in the Lambda. eBay

3. Yellow Gold, with and Rubys and 3 Diamonds in the Lambda! Ebay. A Brother and that is sad!

Have contacted Hdq. about a Pearl and all Diamond in the Lambda! Mucho bucks. Jury is still out on this one!:( Hell, I am just prolonging it, I am sure I will order one with my Guard of LX in pearls!

Oh, yes my Chapter Designation is LX!:cool:

Why You may ask, Da Look At Sig!:) :cool:

Wear it. It sounds great!

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I think I will contact our executive director and ask her about it. I will have this badge sent back to HQ after I die, so it won't be lost. So I guess it is okay to wear it. :)

I'll caution you on contacting the HQ-- there are two views out there about badges. As most people said here-- one view is "Yeah you saved the badge--wear it proudly!".

The other view, especially from HQs, can be that by not buying the badge from the sorority's vendor, the sorority lost an opportunity to receive income. Many of the vendors shares royalties on the sale of sorority badges and jewelry with the national organizations. So someone from HQ might not like that you saved the badge for that reason.

And for a soapbox moment-- if we all stopped buying badges on eBay there would be no market for them there. And the sellers would stop selling them. I know that's a pretty idealistic view but I have seen badges go for 5 times what you could get them from the vendor for--and most of that is members driving the price up on each other.

All of that said-- I say enjoy the badge-- and, as someone else said, make sure you make arrangements for its return to the HQ when you will no longer need it.

Another idea--

You could also arrange for the badge to be sent to the chapter it originated from upon your death. I don't know if SAI uses honor badges, but I'm sure that chapter would treasure a chapter founder's badge either as a honor badge or an archival treasure.

I like this idea the best...

If I had the money to do badge saving, I would donate the badges directly to chapters for women who maybe could not have afforded to have a badge otherwise.

Exactly! While I admire the idea behind saving badges off of ebay, there are so many other ways you could use your money to help your organization. These are tight financial times, and most inter/national GLOs are pinching every single penny they can to find to get ahead! Donate to the chapter, donate to your Foundation, but don't donate to the ebay sellers' retirement fund!

My 19.04, of course. ;)

I still haven't decided exactly what to do with the badge...but I am considering mailing it to the chapter. I'm sure they'd like to have it in their archives, and it would probably mean more to them.

Not sure yet though.

YES, YES

Kudos to you for getting it especially if it's from a founding member of a chapter. We donate the ones we can get back to our Ih but I am a firm believer that it's SO much better for a member to wear it (who obviously cares about it) rather than for it to sit in a box somewhere.

Contact the chapter first! They may not care and it would just end up in a box.

Wear it with pride!

Fraternally,
Melanie
Chair, Badge Task Force