Graduation Cords
 

Does anyone know where I can purchase the Official Lambda Chi Alpha graduation cords approved by GA this summer?

Second this, someone was asking me the same thing the other day.

I believe this is our official supplier.

http://www.kalamazooregalia.com/

Click on graduation honor cords, which will take you to honorgrads.com, then click on color index. I don't see anything specifically set aside for LCA, but you can order by color.

Collegiate Regalia also has graduation cords, but I don't see LCA listed there either.

Just emailed nationals, shall see what they say.

On a different topic, what are the rules about wearing chapter guards on your pin? I am looking to get a chapter guard for my fathers pins that he gave me, but I would like to keep his on there as well for sentimental purposes. Is there anything against wearing a badge with two chapter guards?

Code VIII-4 of the LXA Constitution states, in part:

The badge guard normally is the Greek letter(s) designating the Zeta; without exception the guard is worn by all members so that the guard is clearly below the Delta Pi on the badge. The one authorized variation is that charter members of a chapter may wear the badge of the preceding well-established local society in place of the Zeta designation.

That being said, are you afraid of the badge police or what? It seems you've got a perfectly valid reason for wanting to use both. My advice would be to go ahead. If anyone asks why you've got two guards, explain the situation. I think a reasonable person would be ok with it.

I was going to either way. I didn't think it would be a huge deal. My mother told me when I buy it the only way she would let me put it on is if I sent to back home so she could take it where ever she takes that kinda stuff, and wanted me to ask around after I told her what I wanted to do.

The whole set is a Balfour from the 70's before the quality went all to shit, supposedly sold for a few hundred back in the day, so my mother says. Sapphires on the Lambda and pearls for the crescent on silver. His mother bought it for him before she died, lot of sentimental value for it as I never knew her. So I am trying to keep it as original as possible. "725 J.P.D 3.76" inscribed on the back. He wore it for my I night when he came up with two of my uncles, and gave me his pin after ritual was over.

While I am thinking about it, I was looking at Herff-Jones catalog and this is the guard that the old one most looks like:
http://www.hjgreek.com/index.cfm?eve...oduct_ID=10028
I don't suppose if anyone knows if the dimensions have changed. The proportions just don't look right.

If you know a decent jewler, you could probably have a guard made to match the old one.

Is that "Legal"?

And have you ever seen any wear one of those "officer dangles"? Some of those are pretty amusing, I really want to sport one of those web master guards or the one that lets everyone know you are a sportswear representative.

[QUOTE=dever860;1443874
The whole set is a Balfour from the 70's before the quality went all to shit, supposedly sold for a few hundred back in the day, so my mother says. Sapphires on the Lambda and pearls for the crescent on silver. His mother bought it for him before she died, lot of sentimental value for it as I never knew her. So I am trying to keep it as original as possible. "725 J.P.D 3.76" inscribed on the back. He wore it for my I night when he came up with two of my uncles, and gave me his pin after ritual was over.
[/QUOTE]

Are you sure that the metal quality is silver.......I dont recall any official badges being made from silver........although there is a specimen that was hammered from a Silver Dollar.......but for some reason silver as a metal quality just seems to fall a tad but short for Lambda Chi in my opinion. So White Gold is gonna be my bet.

Better ask Jono though.....he will know for sure.

Is this what it looks like John?

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...daChiAlpha.jpg

For the most part yes. I am not sure if it is a lens flair that is adding that rainbow luster, mine does not do that if not.

You are probably right in the fact that its white gold. I just assumed it was silver do to my ignorance on jewelry, and the fact that HJ sells things in sterling silver. It does say 10K on the back. The chapter guard is just a standard guard, no stones or anything. I wish it did though, those look pretty sweet.

That complicates things, especially if they don't make anything in white gold anymore.

@2nd edit....

Forgot, Aaron Parker, AD of Chapter services emailed me back saying that indeed Kalamazoo would be the best bet even though they don't list LCA as an option on their website. Will call them.

@3rd edit......
Called and they don't have the contract this year. So I am going to find out who does I suppose...

As far as having a local gold smith making a guard, I am sure it will be a lot more expensive than going through the "official jeweler" of LXA!

If you go to IHQ site or Herrf-Jones you can see the price of guards.

Of course depending on what you are purchasing will be the cost. I am not sure if they make it in White Gold anymore and needs to be a special order. What is funny, there is less gold in the white as will be only 10% but costs more!:eek:

As far as wearing Your Fathers Badge, if there was no guard with it, you can wear with your own Zeta Guard.

I am not sure if you bought Your Fathers own guard and add yours would be workable?

Checdk with IHQ and see they can tell you!

I know I was told I could wear my local Pin as a guard, but with LX Z, I really like to wear that as it messes with Brothers minds!:D Both are important to me so I also put on the Local pin below and to the left of my LXA Badge and guard!:)

I've seen other GLO's badges marked 18K and I think they are white gold all the way through. But I also got a LCA badge (Balfour) that had been set into a ring. The ring itself was small and of poor quality, so I pulled the badge out. Lo and behold, the marring revealed that the 10K "white gold" was really just plating. It was yellow gold underneath.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave.

Chapter guards are just letters. They don't have to be made by anyone in particular. Once, I was looking for a white gold, pearled, double letter guard, but they didn't show one for LCA. So I just searched the site until I found one for another GLO - I think it was Delta Gamma sorority - and ordered it. Not cheap, cost like $104 as I recall. But my order was filled and it arrived by UPS, sent from Delta Gamma HQ. Whatever it takes.

Perhaps ill keep my nativity about the quality. :) I would hate to find out that my grand mother got ripped off 32 years ago. I would love to get one of those blinged out chapter guards to go with the badge, cant replace grandma's though. I was talking to my mother about it on the phone yesterday, she was like, well yea its not silver it would have tarnished a long time ago. I never took the class on how to identify the composition of jewelry.

Hey John,

What about 'blinging' your guard out........kinda to set yours apart from your Dad's a little bit. Maybe something simple like all pearls, or alternating pearls and sapphires........Herff-Jones allows for pretty much any jewel combination you can come up with.