[navane]

Honest question to the OP - is this the tradition on your campus? Are the sweethearts expected to give gifts the fraternity members?

I ask because I remember reading a thread on here a long while ago where I learned that, in the south and midwest, women who are invited to a fraternity formal are socially obligated to gift their dates with elaborately painted coolers. Some of these coolers were ridiculously high-end looking and took several weeks to paint. Being from the west coast, I remember thinking how odd/awkward that tradition was [to expect someone to go to all that trouble for a date]. So, to be fair to this young lady, this may very well be a major social obligation on her campus.