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My sorority (Delta Zeta) has rules similar to your fraternity, SAEactive--our badges are the property of the sorority and are loaned to us for our lifetime use as members in good standing. When you sign your membership card, is that not an agreement to abide by the rules of the organization (one of which is that badges are property of the sorority)? For us, I think it is.
I am not a Pi Phi, and my badge has my initials, the date I was initiated, and the chapter I was initiated in engraved on the back.
I used to think that having a secret ritual was sort of hokey, but a lot of things have happened recently that made me realise how much I value my sorority and now it makes me a little angry to hear that someone who is not my sister might have read our ritual. I don't care if you are just using them for scholarly purposes, to me that seems a little disrespectful. Well, more than a little, actually. It seems like a fellow Greek should understand that.
And to everyone, it's no use arguing on this topic. There's always going to be some cheeky smart-arse out there who has to have the last word and dismisses valid points anyone else makes in order to justify the things they do. We'll never be able to give them enough "proof" that our badges shouldn't be treated like *collectibles*.
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