Plegdes wearing letters???

[tunatartare]

For us, there are days when our pledges are required to wear our colors. On Wednesdays, all the sisters are supposed to wear letters, only since pledges can't wear letters they have to wear Navy Blue and Gray. Usually they just do jeans with a gray shirt or sweatshirt.

[sigmagrrl]

Originally posted by thetanustew
Just to chime in on the pledges not wearing colors discussion...

one reason pledges are often not allowed to wear colors is that many organizations keep their intake process extremely secret. Not only do pledges not get to wear letters until they have been initiated, they do not get to let anyone know that they have been accepted to go through the sorority's intake process. Part of the reason is that if everyone knows Suzie Q. is an XYZ pledge, and she doesn't make it all the way through the process, that reflects badly (and publicly) on both her and the sorority that she did not make it in to. (She couldn't handle the intake process or couldn't manage her time or whatever. Also the sisterhood looks bad because they seem to accept women who give up easily. Both are bad reflections.) If Suzie Q. nevers wears the sorority's colors, then she is not linked to the sorority and no one knows she trying to become and XYZ.



Shannon

It's very interesting that you say this...

When I was a senior in college, another Tri Sigma and I lived with a woman we SUSPECTED was pledging an NPHC sorority. Turns out she was, but she was SOOOOO secretive...

We love showing our new members off....So interesting the differences b/w NPC and NPHC sometimes!

[zchi2]

Originally posted by BetaRose
Actually, if Suzie Q. never wears the sorority's colors, it would be highly suspicious, and people would figure out what she was up to....

I doubt it. I never heard of someone paying so much attention to a person that they would say "you know I haven't seen Suzie wear lavender and Carolina Blue in a long time..."

[thetanustew]

Originally posted by kddani

NEVER being allowed to wear the colors together until you're a sister is a bit much. I'm pretty sure that would be considered hazing by NPC orgs.

Requiring pledges to wear pledge pins could also be considered hazing! It clearly marks pledges as different from sisters, and requiring pledges to do anything that sisters are not required to do is one definition of hazing.

Not all organizations have this "no colors" rule, of course. In fact, addition to being in a sorority, I am a brother of Phi Sigma Pi, and during our pledge period, we had to wear colors one day a week (purple and gold on Wednesdays). I guess that could be considered hazing as well...especially when combined with wearing a Phi Sigma Pi pledge pin.

Having gone through intake and initiation in both of two different diverse organizations, I can see positives and negatives for both the extreme secrecy and the wide openness concerning the pledge period. Honestly, I do not flatly, across the board endorse one or the other. A lot of the aspects of both are based on private organization meanings/rituals/etc., and I think it's difficult to say "that is harsh" or "that is too lenient" without understanding the rest of the context of the intake process.

Soooo....while I can't explain specifically why certain groups are hard core about NOT letting pledges wear certain things (colors/letter/crests/etc.) yet others are hard core about MAKING pledges wear certain things (colors/pins/etc.), I think that I can explain that groups have reasons for doing what they do. These reasons tend to go beyond what people --even those invovled in other similar organizations-- can relate to.

Just my two cents...
S

[TigerLilly]

To thetanustew -- Hey, another PSP brother!! Pop over to the PSP forum sometime!!! (Even though it's a bit inactive...)
So, I still have some questions about the colors thing. Like 33girl asked, can you still wear one of the colors while pledging? Like, blue jeans if the org. you're pledging has blue as one of its colors, or your favorite pink sweater if pink was one of the colors?
Could you wear the color on your shoes? (Since I have blue tennis shoes on right now, I thought of that.)
What if you had a job, and your job uniform included the colors of the org. you were pledging? Obviously the org. wouldn't ask you to not wear your work uniform, would they?
For cammykaze1920, you weren't allowed to wear colors around sisters, but otherwise you were...but what if you ran into a sister unexpectedly, at the store or something, while you were wearing a "forbidden" color?
And I know I'm asking a lot of random questions, but I'm curious about this stuff because I had no idea that some groups had the rule about not wearing the colors. I'm just trying to understand how it works, since it seems incomprehensible to me that you would be banned from wearing certain colors.

[Zetagymnast]

Originally posted by TigerLilly
I think my earlier question got over looked, and I'm curious so I'm asking again...Zetagymnast and cammykaze1920, you both said that you weren't allowed to even wear your sororities' colors during your pledge period. My questions are...
Did I understand that right? What would have happened if you had worn the colors? Why does this rule exist?
I don't know what your colors are, Zetagymnast, but cammykaze1920, did you really have to exorcise all blue and white from your wardrobe during your pledge period??? That seems a bit excessive! Just think, if you wore jeans and some kind of white shirt: that's blue and white. Would that be bad, during the pledge period???

My sorority colors aerw turquoise and black. Obviously, most people wear black. What I am saying is that you cannot wear the colors in combinations, you are not a sister. They do get a ribbon that is black, cause the sisters have turquoise ones. But, you cannont wear them together, cause everyone would know you are online.

[Tom Earp]

How damn inane, fantastically stupid, and Add on here___!

OH, OH , We as a Soroity dont want anyone on our Campuses to know that we a da Associated New Members!

Geeze Get in the real Life of Hello Land! LALA LA, Who are you kidding?

if I"was" to become a Member of YOUR FINE Friggin Organization of which I was Proud to Associate With, but could not show How Proud I am, Then, I would tell you and yours to Kiss some serious Butt!

I am sorry, but I wwant to have All Of My New Associates to Proudly Say Hey, I Associated With LXA!

[thetanustew]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TigerLilly
To thetanustew -- Hey, another PSP brother!! Pop over to the PSP forum sometime!!! (Even though it's a bit inactive...)

I did pop over there much earlier and noticed that it was rather quiet. I tend to check out the national PSP page more often. Plus, I check up on my Alpha Kappa brothers at UNC via their site, too!

So, I still have some questions about the colors thing. Like 33girl asked, can you still wear one of the colors while pledging? Like, blue jeans if the org. you're pledging has blue as one of its colors, or your favorite pink sweater if pink was one of the colors?
Could you wear the color on your shoes? (Since I have blue tennis shoes on right now, I thought of that.)


If pink were one of the colors, you would definitely NOT want to wear a pink sweater. You may be able to get away with a sweater that had a pink stripe in it or something like that, but you would be advised NOT to cover your entire top half in one of the sorority's colors--even if it is your favorite color! I'd avoid the shoe thing, as well. But maybe that is just me.

What if you had a job, and your job uniform included the colors of the org. you were pledging? Obviously the org. wouldn't ask you to not wear your work uniform, would they?

I can't imagine that they would. I mean, the idea behind the not wearing colors is that it helps you blend in and NOT draw attention to the fact that you are pledging. If you tried to tell a boss that you couldn't wear a uniform because it had puce (or whatever color) in it, you would draw a lot of attention to the fact that you were pledging! The same thing sort of goes for jeans...how would you explain to people that you are NEVER wearing jeans to hang out in? It would be tooooo obvious! (Now the jeans and pink sweater combo if the sorority colors were pink and denim blue would probably be a beeeeeggggg no-no!)

For cammykaze1920, you weren't allowed to wear colors around sisters, but otherwise you were...but what if you ran into a sister unexpectedly, at the store or something, while you were wearing a "forbidden" color?

I know you asked someone else, but I would like to respond because of the idea that forbidding colors 24/7 is harsh. If you just don't ever wear the sorority's colors, then this NEVER becomes a problem! That's the rationality behind it. I mean, you know how it is...the ONE time that you decide to go to WalMart at 3:00 a.m. in your pajama bottoms with a holey sweatshirt, messy hair, and unbrushed teeth is the same ONE time that the guy you totally have the hots for decides to go to WalMart at 3:00 a.m. The same thing happens when you are pledging--it is Murphy's law! The minute you walk out of your room in the sorority's colors is the minute you run into the president of the sorority or one of the founders or...

And I know I'm asking a lot of random questions, but I'm curious about this stuff because I had no idea that some groups had the rule about not wearing the colors. I'm just trying to understand how it works, since it seems incomprehensible to me that you would be banned from wearing certain colors.

I can see how it would seem weird. At first I thought it was just a power thing ("Ha! Let's not let our pledges wear our colors. That'll make their lives more difficult!"), but just as the Greek letters have a special meaning to the organization's members, the colors do, too. It's sort of the same principle.

And by the way, ask questions all you want! When I was an undergrad, I knew only about NPC sororities. That is why I got involved with PSP--it was MUCH more diverse than ANY of the NPC sororities at my large, Southern university in the 1980's and I wanted that diversity. I learned more about the NPHC organizations years later as I pursued membership in Theta Nu Xi (which is not an NPHC organization) and met more and more people who were either involved in NPHC groups or who had close friends who were. A lot of the NPHC traditions and so forth seemed odd to me, too, and I asked lots of questions about the "how" and "why" behind them. I found it fascinating (and still do find it fascinating) to learn about NPC, NPHC, and other Greek groups in order to understand exactly how my sorority was influenced by their traditions as well as how we were doing something that is totally new and different.

All of this conversation is truly enlightening!

[thetanustew]

Originally posted by Tom Earp
How damn inane, fantastically stupid, and Add on here___!

OH, OH , We as a Soroity dont want anyone on our Campuses to know that we a da Associated New Members!

Geeze Get in the real Life of Hello Land! LALA LA, Who are you kidding?

if I"was" to become a Member of YOUR FINE Friggin Organization of which I was Proud to Associate With, but could not show How Proud I am, Then, I would tell you and yours to Kiss some serious Butt!

I am sorry, but I wwant to have All Of My New Associates to Proudly Say Hey, I Associated With LXA!

Well, one way you could show your pride in being "a Member of YOUR FINE Friggin Organization of which I was Proud to Associate With" would be to respect the rituals and traditions of the organization and to protect its secrets...

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by Tom Earp
How damn inane, fantastically stupid, and Add on here___!

OH, OH , We as a Soroity dont want anyone on our Campuses to know that we a da Associated New Members!

Geeze Get in the real Life of Hello Land! LALA LA, Who are you kidding?

if I"was" to become a Member of YOUR FINE Friggin Organization of which I was Proud to Associate With, but could not show How Proud I am, Then, I would tell you and yours to Kiss some serious Butt!

I am sorry, but I wwant to have All Of My New Associates to Proudly Say Hey, I Associated With LXA!

Tom, different organizations do things differently. While we might not always agree with the way our Greek friends in the NPHC or NALFO or other councils do things, we still need to show them the same respect that they give us.

Also, I know of plenty of chapters of NIC fraternities who don't allow NMs to wear anything with letters other than maybe a pledge book, yours included.

Let's let everybody do their individual thing - it's not going to offend my sisters if I come to the house in a brown sweater and khakis as a NM, but it would obviously offend an AKA if I was online and strutted over there in a pink&green polo shirt.

To each their own.

[starang21]

Originally posted by cammykaze1920
As a member of a NPHC organization, I believe the ideology is the same. There is no way possible that when we have girls on they can wear letters in any shape or form. As we say, if you don't know your history, then Zeta is a mystery. Honestly, I think it is crazy to have aspirants wear the letters, spelled out or greek formation. They don't have a clue of the history behind it. When I was online, I couldn't even wear the colors, at all.

co sign...in now way shape or form. there's a reason for the letters chosen. if i see someone who isn't frat with my letters on, best believe that can and will be handled. intakee's aren't frat, prospective's aren't frat. in addition...none of my frat will EVER wear our beautiful letters in anything outside of the colors of our organization. that's something i've noticed, a lot of organizations will allow members to wear the letters in all different colors.

[33girl]

Originally posted by starang21
in addition...none of my frat will EVER wear our beautiful letters in anything outside of the colors of our organization. that's something i've noticed, a lot of organizations will allow members to wear the letters in all different colors.

We had this discussion before...I think a large part of it is that there are only 9 NPHC groups, each with their own unique color combo. (at least among girls and guys) There are 26 NPC groups and like 65 IFC groups. I mean, when I wear my colors, I'm also wearing the colors of Chi O, Theta Chi and probably a lot more. Therefore it's just not as big a deal if I wear someone else's...I mean, you can't say I'm dogging DZ if I wear pink & green, cause you could just as easily say I'm dogging Chi O when I wear my own colors. Comprendez?

[honeychile]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
Tom, different organizations do things differently. While we might not always agree with the way our Greek friends in the NPHC or NALFO or other councils do things, we still need to show them the same respect that they give us.

Also, I know of plenty of chapters of NIC fraternities who don't allow NMs to wear anything with letters other than maybe a pledge book, yours included.

Let's let everybody do their individual thing - it's not going to offend my sisters if I come to the house in a brown sweater and khakis as a NM, but it would obviously offend an AKA if I was online and strutted over there in a pink&green polo shirt.

To each their own.

A wholehearted co-sign!

[DeltaSigStan]

I have a couple sweaters with letters on it.

One is Green, white to celebrate our Fraternity colors.

One is Blue and black to celebrate my lil/big bro family colors.

One has the letters in an American flag design (kinda hard to explain if you haven't seen it).

So, they all have significance.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by DeltaSigStan
I have a couple sweaters with letters on it.

One is Green, white to celebrate our Fraternity colors.

One is Blue and black to celebrate my lil/big bro family colors.

One has the letters in an American flag design (kinda hard to explain if you haven't seen it).

So, they all have significance.

Stan I have the American flag letters too - I really like them!