AXO Alum - I hate to date myself like
, (and you young whippersnappers will really hate to hear about this) but I was the last pledge class of my chapter that had the FULL PLEDGE PERIOD... I mean, I was bid on August 28, and was initiated on January 26.
So... we didn't even start any Big/Lil stuff till two weeks after Bid Day, so that the sophomores and juniors could really meet all the pledges. Then, you had an Alpha Sis for a week, then a Chi Sis, then an Omega Sis (selected by the Mystagogue based on who the big sisters had gotten to know). THEN you preffed, and a full week of Big/Lil activities, with Revealing on Sunday.
Another thing I really liked about the longer initiation... we also had class mixers - Pledge/Junior and Pledge/Senior, which were usually an ice cream or pizza party at the house... so that the older girls could really get to know the new members one-on-one. There just isn't time for that sort of thing anymore now, unless you could do it after Initiation.