Plegdes wearing letters???

[Senusret I]

NPHC organizations (and many other BGLOs, LGLOs, and MCGLOs) have rules/protocol on how paraphernalia may be worn, including what color the letters may be. Each set of rules may have variations.

I personally will not comment on whether another organization's colors are equal in value to their letters. I CANNOT speak for ANY other organization on the NPHC, and I hope that none try to generalize on my behalf. We are all different organizations.

I have not seen sitched letter shirts in any colors other than the official colors of that organization. However, I will enumerate some things I have seen among NPHC organizations:

Letters on one of the two official colors.
Letters on white, black, gray, khaki, and denim.
Letters bordered in a color not normally associated with the organization, but not exactly clashing with the colors. I think this is called an "anchor" color.
Letters made from a fabric that is in the colors of the organization. (For example, black and gold plaid.)
Chapter letters (on the sleeve) in a color other than one of the two official colors.
Paraphernalia in the "official substitute" colors.

*****

Finally.....I am a grown man and will wear whatever colors I look good in....and that's ALL OF EM! lol But when it comes to Alpha paraphernalia, tradition dictates that my letters are in black and gold, and the fabric must be black and gold or some other neutral color.

[Buttonz]

I cant imagine having to only wear letters in our colors. One of m favorite things about goign shopping for letts is matching up patterns and backgrounds but maybe thats just me

[Eclipse]

Originally posted by Buttonz
What I meant was....before a girl was on-line for AKA, she wore a lot of pink, because itwas her fav color. TO suddenly go from wearing a lot of pink to none would give anyone who was close to her the idea she was on line for them IMO

I understood what you meant which is why I said

If an undergraduate young lady was seriously interested in AKA as an undergrad student, even if her favorite color was pink, I doubt very seriously if she would wear pink 2 -3 times per week even before she because (should be becomes...don't want to change it because that's how it was in the original post) an offical "intakee" or what ever they are called.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
Stan I have the American flag letters too - I really like them!

Me too. Got them for convention last year.

I'm glad we can get letters in many different colors. Brown is not exactly my favorite color.........

My letters mean a lot to me. But they mean the same, no matter what color they are in.

[tunatartare]

Originally posted by Buttonz
I cant imagine having to only wear letters in our colors. One of m favorite things about goign shopping for letts is matching up patterns and backgrounds but maybe thats just me

ditto!

[WhirlwindTNX]

Originally posted by Zetagymnast
My sorority has jackets like that. They are hot. Our colors are turquoise and black. We crossed in the Spring so we got White jackets with turquoise letter with a Black border. I got my big sister name, my number and my lines' name on the back. On my sleeve I got the semester I crossed.

Trust that!! I'm the only one to have a jacket in my chapter right now....so I'm constantly wearing it. My line's name is so long we had to abbreviate it on the jacket, but it does start up great conversations.

[WhirlwindTNX]

Originally posted by thetanustew
Here is a basic run down..... they reflect the people that we went through the process with as well.

Sorry if this description is confusing. Perhaps some other folks in organizations with jackets can help clarify!

Cheers,
Shannon

Great explanation soror!


THETA NU!!!

[aephi alum]

OK, so to sum up:

NPC/IFC:
- Some orgs allow pledges/new members to wear letters but not have anything with the crest. Others don't allow them to wear letters until after initiation.
- New members can wear things indicating their affiliation even if they can't wear letters (i.e. shirts with the name of the org spelled out, or the colors, or a new member pin).

NPHC:
- No letters or paraphernalia of any sort while on line. Can't wear them, can't display them, etc.
- No wearing the colors while on line.
- All lettered shirts, jackets, etc. would be in the solid colors of the org or a pattern that only used those colors.

[Would you have to forgo wearing all NPHC orgs' colors while on line? For instance, if you're on line for SGRho and have a favorite red and white sweater, does it go in the closet until you cross?]

MCGLOs tend to follow the NPHC model. Locals can follow either model as they choose.

Did I miss anything?

It's so interesting to see the differences in the way different GLOs do things...

(btw, I like those line jackets )

Edited for accuracy - thanks Senusret I

[Senusret I]

aephi alum,

I HATE to be picky about this, lol, but i just wanted to add a few things.

In terms of what you can wear while you are online if you are joining an NPHC organization, you really can't generalize. I do know for a fact that at least two NPHC sororities have "pledge pins" and one of those asks that their pledges/new members wear the colors of the organization during part of the official process. I only know this because it out in the open.

Other organizations have no pledge pins. The lengths of the NPHC intake programs are all different -- locations vary.

My pet peeve is anyone lumping the NPHC organizations together just because they are NPHC. We really are all different, with different intake procedures and rules.

One last thing.....while it is a privilege to wear our letters, I am pretty sure that forbidding someone from wearing what they have in their closet is considered an intake infraction. Not to say that it doesn't happen, or that it isn't a campus tradition in many places. I would just be surprised if an NPHC member came here and said "Yes, we forbid our aspirants from wearing our colors or other NPHC colors."

[aephi alum]

OK my bad... I was trying to pull together some things that NPHC orgs seem to have in common from what I've seen on GC and particularly on this thread. I know every org is different - just as with NPC (for example) some orgs let their new members wear letters while others (like mine) don't.

How could I restate my earlier post to make it more accurate?

[TigerLilly]

Senusret I -- I'm curious as to why you are so strongly opposed to generalizations about NPHC groups. You say that all the groups are different, and yet it seems that there ARE certain generalizations one could make, such as that people on line are not allowed to wear letters, they are only allowed to wear letters once becoming a brother/sister. That's true for all 9 NPHC groups, right? I'm just confused because similar generalizations or statements about NPC groups don't bother me at all, like aephi alum saying that new members of some orgs can wear letters and new members of others can't. That's a reasonable generalization, to me.

[Senusret I]

The generalization that YOU stated is true. Aspirants to NPHC organizations do not wear letters before initiation.

Other generalizations that are being made by NPHC members here and non-NPHC members can be detrimental to the organizations.

Technically, an organization cannot tell you what colors to wear or not to wear as part of the rush process. There MAY be a dress code, but a dress code is different from saying "You may not wear my organization's colors to rush." A dress code is one thing -- forbidding someone from wearing certain colors is another.

As far as intake goes, t is not universally true that NPHC members may not wear the colors of the organization while they are participating in membership intake.

It is not universally true that the colors of an NPHC organization are equal in value to the letters. And I really wish that NPHC members in particular would stop making this generalization, since we only really know about our own organizations.

It is not universally true that the membership intake process is secret. What happens during membership intake is discreet, but, DEPENDING ON THE ORG, you can learn quite easily the duration of intake and what it generally entails.

Some NPHC organizations do indeed have pledge pins, others do not.

My problem is not with people who are seeking information -- it's fine to be curious. I just want to make sure that people know that every NPHC intake process is different, and some things cannot be generalized.

[kddani]

This has been a really nice, informative thread that has stayed on track and with an overall "nice" tone... with a few exceptions.

Thank you especially to the NPHC and other non-NIC/NPC members who are posting in this thread, as it's been very informative

[TigerLilly]

Another thought -- whether there are any concrete rules about this or not, I've gathered that it's considered "bad form" to wear the colors of an NPHC org whose membership you are pursuing, either during rush or while on line. It also seems to be bad form to wear another NPHC group's colors during that time.
So now I'm wondering...exactly what colors CAN you wear? It seems that almost every color of the rainbow is taken by at least one of the NPHC orgs, and I doubt it would look very classy to show up dressed all in orange (as that color does not seem to be taken by any group). If you were online for any of the NPHC sororities, would it be acceptable for you to wear a black dress, even though black is one of Alpha Phi Alpha's colors? Etc with similar situations.
Or is it the color combination of an NPHC group that is a no-no?

[Senusret I]

TigerLilly,

A lot of these questions can only be answered by the members of the organization one is pursuing on that particular campus. In terms of what is allowed while you are "on line" you may never get those questions answered.

I personally can't explain it because it really is different wherever you go and it depends on the org.