Quote:
Originally posted by aaeapo
I am pledgemaster for this coming fall for the alpha alpha epsilon chapter at College of Charleston and I was wondering about the whole line and nickname thing...can someone explain the whole line thing to me? how can I get this started in my chapter?
-Ashley
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I'll let someone else cover lines. We don't have them in my chapter, not familiar with them.
There are basically 2 ways that chapters organize their pledge classes. One is by lines, the other is to use a 'big-little' system.
With a big-little system, each pledge is paired up with an active brother. The active serves as a mentor to the pledge and is refered to as the Big Brother. The pledge is a Little Brother. Typically, Bigs & Littles are organized into families that strength back to the founders of the chapter. As part of their pledge education, pledges are expected to learn about their family tree: who is the founder, who are the other members, etc. In some chapters, these families may have special tradtions and the like.
As I said, the Big Brother is to be a mentor to the pledge. Help them out, advise them, make sure they are doing their pledge requirements. Many chapters will have special Big-Little events to help the Bigs & Littles get to know each other better, and the like. Many times Bigs will present their Littles with gifts after they are inducted into APO. In some chapters, the Bigs might be expected to present their Littles with their first APO jersey. Many times Littles will also present gifts to their Bigs.
The use of nicknames is another aspect used in chapters. Be careful you don't stray into hazing. The idea of a nickname is some name that says something about that Brother. Some chapters may give nicknames to the pledge while they are a pledge, then another nickname once they become Brothers, others may only give out nicknames once they've become Brothers. Typically the nickname is choicen by the Big, based on what they've seen about their Little. This nickname is then put on the back of their APO jersey, above their Chapter number.
My nickname is "Collector". I collect stuff (pez, apo memorabilia, scouting memorabilia, comic books, etc). On the back of my APO jersey you'll see Collector above "51", which is my chapter number.
Other nicknames I know:
Our Section Chair is "Mr. Forklift". He had a run-in with a forklift.
Some nicknames in my chapter: "Strike the Pose" (Brother who models), "Mystress" (a goth brother), "Sniper" (Brother who likes to shoot), "City" (brother whose name is similiar to a couple of local towns in the area), "Starfox", etc.
Hope this helps
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