at my school, none of the organizations really let their new members wear letters as soon as they are pinned, but then again we really don't have a bid day either. We however, decided it would be in our best interest to give girls shirts saying something! we will spell it out on a shirt for them, and we give them little presents with letters, and they have a secret sister (we call it a rosebuddy) that gives them lettered things (cups, car stickers, pens, notepads, etc).
also, another thing that we do differently (and that caught on as a really big trend here) was we let our new members wear letters for their big little night. the big sisters will go out and buy a hoodie with our letters on it, and it will say so-and-so's little. its kind of like a gift to the new members since big little is supposed to be really special! we let them wear the hoodie all day to class the next day, and if we are having a letter day on campus or philanthropic event or something until they are iniated.
sometimes its easier to help new members understand the significance of their letters by giving them the opportunity to wear them. it gives the girls a sense of pride and belonging that a spelled out tshirt or some gift could say. they should not be considered "earned", because a quality new member has the grades and the class to surpass any form of "earning" you can toss at her. the real responsibility starts when they finally have their big sis to mentor them, and to help them with anything they may ever need. generally we do big sis around midterms, and it is great to see the girls studying together and hanging out and going to meetings while still being able to fulfill their academic and financial responsibilities. the girls keep their big/little hoodies forever, it is something that is never passed down as a senior send off gift. it means so much when you get your big sister, and it means so much to the bigs whenever they get their little(s)! these hoodies are more revered than any trophy greek week could ever win!
another thing: we did have some strange opposition from other groups at first. some would be confused if our new members were iniated, and then i guess their new members would complain that so and so gets letters.. so basically now almost all groups do it. its really cute when u see the new girls wearing letters for the first time, they get really excited and i absolutely love it. guys on the otherhand think that on this campus its a sign of weaknes... some are starting to come around though now that its becomming more mainstream. you never know what type of trend you may start just by doing things a little differently, and even if there is some confusion or strange looks at first, just ignore it and keep trendsetting! because true weakness is the inability to adapt to new situations, improvise old situations, and overcome negative values and beliefs!
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I'm glad that "pledges" wearing letters isn't up to individual chapters' opinions for Delta. This thread is really old so this stuff has been said over and over.
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