Having Lil Bros & Sis's in different Organizations

collme83 · #1 06-26-2004, 03:01 AM

Hey all...i wanted to know how many of you at your schools intertwine having lil bros & sis's from different fraternities and sororities other than just in pi phi. if i don't make sense i mean for example ... being a pi phi and having a Phi delta Theta big brother and a lil brother in Kappa Sig, or a lil DG sis as well as one in Pi Phi. I know schools in Idaho and Washington do this...but at the University of Utah we only have lil sis's with in just pi phi. And how do you get that going on campus? b.c. i think it's a great way to meet more people other than your usual hangouts.

pi phi love,
...colleen*

jharb · #2 06-26-2004, 10:12 AM

Technically we're not supposed to have big brothers, but at Butler I know a ton of people do it. My "family" are Kappa Sigs at Wabash College which were just good friends and we decided to exchange paddles.

piphiarrow234 · #3 06-26-2004, 10:19 AM

wel from my understanding pi phi nationals says we cant have Big or Lil bro's b/c we are a female org and my having males involved in that can risk that (this is also why we cant have an arrowman anymore) well at least its liek that at our chapter i know my responce is kinda confusing, but basically. Nationals looks down on Lil or Big Bro's Greatly... =) but i know people who have lil and big bro's. In some frats every guy has a big sis and its a big thing and your usally picked by the pledge's big bro to be his big sis...

jharb · #4 06-26-2004, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by piphiarrow234
wel from my understanding pi phi nationals says we cant have Big or Lil bro's b/c we are a female org and my having males involved in that can risk that (this is also why we cant have an arrowman anymore) well at least its liek that at our chapter i know my responce is kinda confusing, but basically. Nationals looks down on Lil or Big Bro's Greatly... =) but i know people who have lil and big bro's. In some frats every guy has a big sis and its a big thing and your usally picked by the pledge's big bro to be his big sis...

Yeah, I've heard that too. Our big & lil bros don't serve any purpose really, and aren't mandated by the chapter. It's on a personal basis if you want to do it and really all you gain is the ability to have someone for a backup date to formal!

piphiarrow234 · #5 06-26-2004, 10:33 AM

hey thats the way it is here, its just like another mentor other than your big sis... i think its a good idea and i understand the politics about not having them, but i think they rock....

jharb · #6 06-26-2004, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by piphiarrow234
hey thats the way it is here, its just like another mentor other than your big sis... i think its a good idea and i understand the politics about not having them, but i think they rock....

I get the politics too, but sometimes it's just fun to have more of a family on campus. I missed my big bro last year, he was abroad in Germany! What's funny too is that he and my big sis were dating so we joked around about them being Mom & Dad!

piphiarrow234 · #7 06-26-2004, 10:39 AM

thats awesome, yeah its kinda like we dont have "big Bro's" but like guys in Frats who we are friends with who r "big bro's' but not really b/c we arnt allowed to have them... what frat is he in? yeah my friend was dating this guy and she was his lil bro;s big sis and they broke up and now hes like 'Im a child of a divorced family!"

jharb · #8 06-26-2004, 10:42 AM

He's a Kappa Sig @ Wabash. I love the TKEs at Butler...HOT HOT guys

At Wabash though (right down the road about an hour) the TKEs are mostly international students, so they are nice guys but not abercrombie guys. (I sound like such a ditz! lol!)

piphiarrow234 · #9 06-26-2004, 11:11 AM

lol yeah the TKE's at my school r awesome guys, my boyfriend is a TKE, =)

erniegurl00 · #10 06-26-2004, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by piphiarrow234
wel from my understanding pi phi nationals says we cant have Big or Lil bro's b/c we are a female org and my having males involved in that can risk that (this is also why we cant have an arrowman anymore) well at least its liek that at our chapter i know my responce is kinda confusing, but basically. Nationals looks down on Lil or Big Bro's Greatly... =) but i know people who have lil and big bro's. In some frats every guy has a big sis and its a big thing and your usally picked by the pledge's big bro to be his big sis...

Does that mean that we can't have lil/big bro's forcefully (I'll explain in a sec) or by choice? See, when I was a pledge I heard that my chapter's big bro fraternity was Beta Theta Pi (meaning we had no choice of who our bro's were.) But, this was just a rumor. Most people I know just ask their guy friends and exhchange paddles. That's it.

My big bro is a Phi Psi, although we never talk anymore. Long story.

collme83 · #11 06-27-2004, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by erniegurl00
Does that mean that we can't have lil/big bro's forcefully (I'll explain in a sec) or by choice? See, when I was a pledge I heard that my chapter's big bro fraternity was Beta Theta Pi (meaning we had no choice of who our bro's were.) But, this was just a rumor. Most people I know just ask their guy friends and exhchange paddles. That's it.

My big bro is a Phi Psi, although we never talk anymore. Long story.

see i've heard that our chapter's "Brother" Fraternity is Beta Theta Pi, but not as in a big/lil brother way....i don't know if that makes sense? but i also hear Phi Delta Theta was as well? who knows...my boyfriend's a Phi Delt YEAH!

pi phi love,
...colleen*

piphiarrow234 · #12 06-27-2004, 12:13 AM

No Pi Phi doesnt have a Brother Frat, as like the big bro's situation, we are not allowed to have a brother frat says nationals, and they look down upon chapters getting "local" bro frats, bc of all the stuff i said erlier, (all womans's org and can not be affiliated with males) just what i was told

dakareng · #13 06-27-2004, 04:04 PM

The reason that we do not allow big brothers/ little brothers (or anyone of the male gender) to claim affiliation in any way/ shape or form is to preserve our status as a women's organization. Just as women have fought to be allowed to enroll at men's colleges or be recognized in honor societies that were previously men-only, the day will come when a man wants to join a NPC group. Perhaps he will do it because he believes in their philanthropic work, or because he believes in their mission or whatever... the bottom line is that if the perception is there that Pi Phi has male members, even honorary or unofficial ones, then this pioneering man would have the precedent he needs in the courts to petition for full membership. Our status as a private organization will only protect us if there is NO precedent.

I understand that it is fun to have a fraternity big bro... as an undergrad, I was a fraternity little sister. Sometimes it is good to get the male perspective (in a non-romantic relationship) but I urge caution. If you want to have a "pal" in a fraternity, that's fine but please don't call it big bro/ big sis.... it might seem petty but a lot of risk management or legal issues come down to what the perception is... and being a Big Sister can be perceived to be more than what you intend.

breathesgelatin · #14 06-28-2004, 11:11 AM

This is always interesting to me, because we don't have anything like this at W&L. I guess it's mainly because we went co-ed so late (1985) and got sororities so late (1989), that we don't have any of these traditions at all. None of the fraternities do sweethearts, little sisters, anything.

We do have "University Big Siblings" that take you out as freshmen, they're people from your area who introduce you to the school and mentor you. My University Big Sister is totally awesome--I was actually abandoned by my assigned Big Sis and Kara took me in. She's still one of my very good friends and just an awesome all-around person. She's a Chi-O, actually.

I've had two University littles, one male, one female. The woman is really nice, but we didn't have much in common. She became a KD I think. The guy lives really close to me and we carpool a lot, he's chill. He didn't go Greek though. I'll be getting another University little in the fall, too.