[ASTalumna06]

I never said that my organization is the same as all the rest. breathesgelatin had said that they heard most NPC chapters allow new members to wear letters and not crests, and was apparently confused by this. She wanted evidence of it. She asked what the difference would be in not allowing the new members to wear the crest, but allowing them to wear letters. So I attempted, without any written evidence, to explain that based on my organizations rules, policies, and procedures.

And when I say that your letters identify you as part of an organization… that’s to say… the Greek letters are just that… letters. When you create an Greek organization, you put together 2 or 3 of those letters, and they mean very little when there’s nothing to back them up. Now, clearly a hundred years of history, at least in AST’s case, gives more meaning to those 3 letters. But to someone who isn’t part of my organization, even other Greeks, it’s essentially meaningless.

And in agreeing with 33girl, similar to ASA, we have an open motto that we expect our new members to embrace. I never said that every org has one and that’s what their letters stand for.

But like other orgs, we have meanings to our letters that we learn after initiation, but we feel that our new members reflect the sorority as much as initiated members do, and therefore, can wear letters. It's AST’s view that when you go through your first ceremony to become a new member, you’re a part of the sisterhood, and that entitles you to wear them. This is what we do to begin to integrate our new members into our organization. And when they're intiated, like I said, they can also wear the crest.

Everyone talks about their own organizations on here. Is this suddenly not allowed?