Quote:
Originally Posted by blkwebman1919
However, you did imply that the practice of wearing letters (in any circumstance) was, for lack of a better phrase, "not normal" ("We didn't do it that way at my school", the "Nationals=franchise" comment, etc., etc.), and the "third world" comment sealed it for me.
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I did not mean to imply that wearing letters was not normal. In fact, in my experience, it is the rule rather than the exception while in school--at least to some degree. At my university, that was not the case and I was just pointing out a difference. I stand by the Nationals=franchise comment. I think that is the case. They want every chapter to be exactly the same and as large as possible to maximize their revenues, in my opinion and have little tolerance for different local traditions.
The "third world" comment was unfortunate, since you seem to reacted more strongly than you really should have had you known the real connotation. At my university 'third world' does not describe less competitive/popular/desirable houses. It describes a group of houses that are far away from the university and most of the other houses and have been called that since they moved there. They are at a big disadvantage during rush (for example they have to provide shuttle buses) and wear letters more to let folks know who they are. I will admit that I was sloppy in the 30 seconds I thought about that post in using a term that someone who did not attend my university would not understand.
Regarding your accusations of being elitist, I think you are going a little bit too far. Every university that I know has houses that are considered better than others and some that are considered not particularly good or at least not at all selective. I suspect you know that as well, if you were honest with yourself. Similarly, many universities are considered better than others. That's life. It may be inaccurate, but you should get used to it. Doesn't mean there are not fine folks in the less well regarded houses or that one can't get a fine education at a second tier school. I never said nor implied that. In fact, I never said that I considered my house to be one of the better ones. All I ever said was that it was uncommon for any chapter at my university to wear letters.