Wear letters at a bar??

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

To me, it seems much more to the point to say "Remember that when you wear letters that you represent ABG to the world; be careful not to do anything while wearing letters that would reflect badly on ABG."

As the Greeks might say, moderation in all things; nothing in excess. (But yeah, we are talking about college students. )

Follow whatever rules your org has seen fit to adopt, but don't look at other orgs askew if they have decided on different rules.

First of all, it's just easier and more to the point to say "Don't drink in letters," rather than fall into the gray area involving people using their "good judgment" to determine whether their behavior is appropriate and upholding the ideals of the organization.

And it's not that we don't trust our own members, but I know that even I've been a little more drunk than I originally intended at times, and when I go out at 10pm, I don't know what's going to happen between then and 3am when I roll back to my apartment. We all know we've had those nights when we've said, "Oh, I'll just have one or two," but those two turn into ten.

And secondly,

Originally Posted by ilovetheviolets

The difference in my mind is whether the National Organization allows or supports it.

I'm not judging other sorority members if their organizations allow this to happen. From what I understand, there are many fraternities that don't have any rules concerning this. But from what I can tell, there are many people who are drinking in letters when their organizations say that they can't. And yes, when you choose to ignore the rules set forth by your national organization, and post pictures on Facebook of yourself breaking those rules, I might lose just an ounce of respect for you... especially when all you have to do is put on another shirt.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I'm not judging other sorority members if their organizations allow this to happen. From what I understand, there are many fraternities that don't have any rules concerning this.

I don't know of any fraternity that does have a rule banning drinking in letters. Is there one?

First of all, it's just easier and more to the point to say "Don't drink in letters," rather than fall into the gray area involving people using their "good judgment" to determine whether their behavior is appropriate and upholding the ideals of the organization.

It's easier, but not more to the point, in my opinion. More to the point would be to expect members to use good judgment and uphold the ideals of the organization in any situation, including while drinking, since that is what the actual purpose of the rule is, but it would be a harder standard.

I'm not criticising AST or any other org for adopting a "no drinking in letters" rule. I'm just pointing out that there are different ways to look at this particular issue.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I don't know of any fraternity that does have a rule banning drinking in letters. Is there one?

It's easier, but not more to the point, in my opinion. More to the point would be to expect members to use good judgment and uphold the ideals of the organization in any situation, including while drinking, since that is what the actual purpose of the rule is, but it would be a harder standard.

I'm not criticising AST or any other org for adopting a "no drinking in letters" rule. I'm just pointing out that there are different ways to look at this particular issue.

I don't know of any fraternity that has a rule concerning this, but I couldn't say that none of them do, because I simply haven't looked up rules stated by every fraternity. So there's definitely a possibility that none of them restrict the wearing of letters while drinking.

And I know you're not criticizing AST, I'm just giving my point of view, as well And yes, in an ideal world, you could simply say to members, "Use good judgment," and everyone's definition of those words would be the same, and no one would drink too much or act inappropriately while wearing letters.

But in reality, that doesn't happen. And just like we sometimes judge potential new members for being crazy and out of control while drunk, I'm sure they do the same thing with us. And I know that not all ASTs are perfect, and I'm sure that there have been a few that have done ridiculous things while drunk (and members from other sororities probably have, also), and I'm glad that my organization restricts those people from wearing letters to the bar so that everyone out that night won't think, "Wow, those are what the ASTs are like." As everyone always says here (generally referring to hazing incidents), actions of a few shouldn't be attributed to the entire organization... but it's human nature, and it happens.