Paddles -- does your org give them as gifts to bigs/littles, etc

KappaTarzan · #1 11-10-2002, 07:18 PM

here's the deal.. we are required to make paddles for our big and for our educator, but we dont' use them to paddle each other.. they are usually huge (one is 5 feet tall

) and of course they are always very beautiful

does your chapter allow you to make paddles? do you hang them around your house?

aephi alum · #2 11-10-2002, 07:39 PM

In my local sorority we were required to make "something" - didn't have to be a paddle. My pledge class went in together on a paddle for our pledge mom. Each of us also got gifts for our bigs, and our bigs got gifts for us. I gave my big a paddle, and she gave me a little wooden cut-out of 2 people holding hands, with our names and letters.

(No actual paddling involved, of course - both my local and AEPhi forbid hazing.)

AEPhi discourages gifts of paddles, but does encourage bigs and littles to exchange gifts. I did a cross stitch of our letters and a spray of lily of the valley... I made two and gave one to my big from the local at our initiation. I got letters for my little. (I'd planned to give her a cross stitch of her own, but never got around to making it, oops!)

We don't have a house, but people usually displayed things in their dorm rooms... my big hung her paddle and the cross stitch, and the wooden cut-out she gave me lives to this day on the corner of my desk.

SigKapGirlie · #3 11-10-2002, 07:56 PM

We do a pillow/paddle exchange. We make our Big Sis a paddle and they make their Lil a pillow with letters on it. We, as a pledge class give the chapter a gift and give our New Member educator and assistant a gift also. I liked making my paddle for my Big Sis. Most of the paddles get hung up in the girls room. and of coruse they are not used for paddling us.

astroAPhi · #4 11-10-2002, 08:09 PM

I ordered my big sister a paddle for graduation. I'm not very artsy so I got her a really nice cherry stained one with our letters engraved on it and her name and me and my twin's name (her other little) on it. She absolutely loved it.

OUlioness01 · #5 11-10-2002, 08:38 PM

we make quatrafoils (you can see the shape on www.phimu.org) to exchange with our bigs/littles. However, we'll make paddles as family trees and for friends. we also have paddles hanging up in the house that have lists of "sister of the quarter" from back into the seventies until now.

angelic1 · #6 11-10-2002, 08:38 PM

Instead of paddles we have always had arrows... back in the days when pledges had to carry them.. they were signed on the back by sisters.. today (since we do not haze in no way...) we just have an arrow painting party so that your arrow gets to go up around the great room ceiling (there is a ledge around the room in which they sit).

They are painted and decorated.. you can put your pledge class on them and name and stuff... then it goes up so that everyone has a spot in the room. Its actually really neat looking.

TKESweetheart · #7 11-10-2002, 08:48 PM

We always make paddles for our big. It is "vouluntary" of course. We present them to our bigs at formal and its a very special time. Some times we have paddle parties were the new pledge class will get together and do it. My friend who is an ADPi says her chapter does pillows. They decorate their own pillow and have pillow signing day when the whole chapter asks you questions and then signs your pillow. ITs very easy fun stuff-like what are our colors? All the sisters write really nice things on the back of the pillow.

tangerinedream · #8 11-10-2002, 09:09 PM

[COLOR=blue]
We make paddles for our lil sisters and then our lil sisters make them for us. Then we have a paddles exchange which involves some of our most emotional memories for the new initiates. We hang our paddles in our own houses though, not the sorority house. ITB, Erin

CarolinaDG · #9 11-11-2002, 12:19 AM

Paddles and a secret item (not known until initiation) are exchanged. Paddles are given to bigs and bigs give the secret item to the littles. And of course the paddles aren't used, they're just pretty.

I know that most fraternities here make paddles for themselves for initiation. There are rumors as to whether or not these are used, but I'm not here to get anyone in trouble.... I will say, however, that Sigma Chi is one of the few fraternities that doesn't use them. They instead have white crosses. I don't know who makes them. They aren't used for paddling, and if you ever saw them, you'd know how impossible that would be, anyway.

Optimist Prime · #10 11-11-2002, 12:50 AM

Pledge Class Paddles are in the house. ones that bigs/lils make each other are kept by them!

UFKappaGrL · #11 11-11-2002, 02:29 AM

We make paddle for our bigs and they make us keys... we exchange them after initiation... every new member has to make their bog some sort of a paddle... ours aren't that big though... like 2 ft?

Kevin · #12 11-11-2002, 02:41 AM

Haven't really gotten traditions like that started in our chapter yet. Beta class is about to do the "Hell no week" a week where we basically laugh at other fraternities during their Hell Weeks

While they can't change clothes, have to wear blazed orange stocking caps, carry around madegascar cockroaches.. we're playing capture the flag, sitting out in front of the house yelling at them on their midnight runs... good times.

MsVixen · #13 11-11-2002, 05:51 AM

we give our bigs a paddle their senior year (or their 4th year in the house... whatever) its just a gift.. you have gotten to know your big very well by that time so its really personal and heartfelt.. (and pretty)

AngelPhiSig · #14 11-11-2002, 06:55 AM

In Phi Sigma Sigma:
We make paddles, which we now call plaques... but theyre still paddles.

The class makes one big one for the sorority and then bigs and littles exchange...

In TBS:
The bigs get the littles their first letter shirt, and the littles make the bigs a pillow!

SilverTurtle · #15 11-11-2002, 12:47 PM

Nationally I don't think many of the chapters have them, but mine does. We always had a paddle party, where the new members decorate their paddles. It was usually a big/little kind of event, and everyone was welcome. So there would always be members who never quite finished their paddles or wanted to add to them that would show up, too.

We were't required to do anything with them, they just hung up in your room (mine's still in my bedroom!) as decoration. I think every chapter on our campus had paddles, because I can't think of a greek's room I was ever in that didn't have one. Although I know some went about making them differently (e.g. making them for your big or little, your pledge educator, etc.)

I got signatures from all of the actives and fellow new members when I was pledging. Then my senior year at our end of the year banquet I took it and had everyone sign it, so almost everyone I was ever active with signed it. Which I think is really cool.

One of the fraternities on campus required their new members to carry their paddles at all times. They had to get signatures from all the actives, their pledge brothers, their advisors, all of the faculty that were alumni, etc. It was kind of cool to see how many faculty alumni there were, because all of these guys would be having them sign those things for weeks! Then one year the administration cracked down and said they couldn't require the pledges to carry them at all times, so the brothers and the pledges carried them for the last week of pledging. As far as I know, that worked, and they still require them to carry those things the whole time (except sleeping, jobs, etc.) and the pledges seemed pretty proud to be carrying them- a whole unity thing I guess.