Plegdes wearing letters???

[SthrnZeta]

Haha, oh geez, where it all began... Sigh.



Oh wow, it's interesting reading the thread I started. I had no idea what I was getting myself into because as far as "attacking" goes, THAT WAS NOTHING! LMAO. Still a good discussion though!

[LucyKKG]

I haven't seen Kappa Kappa Gamma mentioned in here (except for non-Kappas mentioning butt letters...ugh!), so I'll chime in. Our new members are allowed to wear letters. I don't know about the crest, because that topic has never come up. Obviously, they couldn't wear a member badge. Any other Kappas have a say in this?

[SAEalumnus]

The only official law where SAE is concerned is Title XIII, Section 66D1 of the Fraternity Laws which states, in part, that "[o]nly initiated members shall be permitted to wear or display the coat of arms of the Fraternity." Nothing official is stated regarding letters, but I know it's a common preference among chapters that pledges not use or wear the letters of either our name or motto since they have not yet been instructed in their meaning.

[guardedbystars]

I always thought that it was customary to NOT let pledges wear stitched letters, but apparently it's the other way around. How interesting.

No one in my chapter wore letters until we were initiated... In my personal opinion, I think that it means more (to yourself) after you're initiated.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by blulady

People, how difficult is it to just understand that everyone's organization is just not the same. Understand that if organizations in the NPC are permitted to wear their letters with any combination of colors it is because their colors may not have the level of significance to their organization as do members of the NPHC. As a member of an NPHC organization, I can say that our colors have a ritualistic, secretive meaning; therefore we are not permitted to wear our letters with any color just because we like the way it looks, or whatever the case may be.

I understand what you are saying...NPC and NPHC are very different creatures, but don't misunderstand the NPC. Just because AXORissa thinks that her colors aren't particularly meaningful does not mean that every NPC has random colors with no meaning in ritual. Since I can only speak for AOII, I will say that our color, Cardinal, is representative of our core ideal. As for the letters, etc. before initiation and color of sorority/fraternity 'nalia, NPC has changed a lot over time to suit the change in culture. In the beginning women in AOII were only allowed to represent AOII with their membership badges. They were not allowed to wear letters on anything else. Our founders liked the "simple" representation of our badge...we don't have a crest for this reason. They didn't use the rose in place of a crest because they didn't want a crest in the first place. Members changed things as the years went by, but the spirit of our ritual has remained unchanged despite what members choose to wear and when they are allowed to wear them.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by guardedbystars

I always thought that it was customary to NOT let pledges wear stitched letters, but apparently it's the other way around. How interesting.

No one in my chapter wore letters until we were initiated... In my personal opinion, I think that it means more (to yourself) after you're initiated.

It's more meaningful to you because that's the way you were taught. To me (who wore AOII letters proudly on bid day) I couldn't care less about not waiting. I loved my letters before I knew the meaning almost as much as I did after I learned their meaning. I didn't get to have anything with red roses until after initiation (a local tradition), and I thought that was cheesy!

[bellwisdom]

I know every chapter of my Fraternity is different and I don't know the International guidelines but at my chapter pledges can not wear the letters or any symbols of the Fraternity. They can wear the letters written out only and their Norman and that's it. If they wear anything that relates to the Fraternity, it has to be approved by the chapter and the chapter advisors first.

[MsDGP007]

Our sorority's policy is not to let pledges wear the greek letters. They can wear items with the name of the sorority written out however. As far as the colors that the letters are in -- if the letters are a solid color they need to be in our official colors. However you can get "sewn on letters" in a printed pattern. We have no restrictions on the color of the garment that you get the letters on.

[britt77]

most of the national headquarters set some type of rule about wearing stitched letters, the crest, etc. although not all chapters follow the rules. alpha xi delta allows new members to wear stitched letters, but not the quill (basically like our version of a badge) or the crest until after initiation. most everyone in a sorority on my campus carries a stitched letter bag, and we don't give those to the girls until after initiation. i know that DZ on my campus does not allow girls to wear their stitched letters until initiation. i think it all just varies from chapter to chapter and campus to campus.

[guardedbystars]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

It's more meaningful to you because that's the way you were taught. To me (who wore AOII letters proudly on bid day) I couldn't care less about not waiting. I loved my letters before I knew the meaning almost as much as I did after I learned their meaning. I didn't get to have anything with red roses until after initiation (a local tradition), and I thought that was cheesy!

I think it's more meaningful because after you (general you) initiated, you know everything about the traditions, secrets, rituals, etc etc. I feel like I wouldn't have loved my letters to the extent that I do now, knowing what they mean, if I got to wear them on Bid Day.

Are the red roses just a local tradition (i.e. do you know any other chapters that do it) or is it like the crest where you can't wear it until after initiation (where it's a national thing)? I don't think I have anything with the crest on it.

[LiDdLMiSsGrEeK]

for my sorority pledges are not allowed to wear letters or sport them in any fashion. Pledges are also not to write the letters until they are fullfledged sisters. They can write the whole name out, but I'm not sure if they're allowed to wear it or not. However to distinguish pledges from sisters, pledges wear pledge pins as well as other things to distinguish them from sisters. They do not what our letters mean and they have not earned them. As a sister or brother of your GLO how do, or how would, you feel about pledges wearing letters before initiation? I know I would be like "hey you haven't gone through everything that I had to go through to earn MY letters. You don't deserve them." also if a pledge can wear letters before init. if they do drop how can u guarantee they will not sport "their letters"?

Originally Posted by LiDdLMiSsGrEeK

for my sorority pledges are not allowed to wear letters or sport them in any fashion. Pledges are also not to write the letters until they are fullfledged sisters. They can write the whole name out, but I'm not sure if they're allowed to wear it or not. However to distinguish pledges from sisters, pledges wear pledge pins as well as other things to distinguish them from sisters. They do not what our letters mean and they have not earned them. As a sister or brother of your GLO how do, or how would, you feel about pledges wearing letters before initiation? I know I would be like "hey you haven't gone through everything that I had to go through to earn MY letters. You don't deserve them." also if a pledge can wear letters before init. if they do drop how can u guarantee they will not sport "their letters"?

I don't think I could ever take this person's posts seriously. I blame the Togglecase. Seriously guys, WHY DO YOU STILL FEEL THE NEED TO TyPe LiKe ThIs? WhY GoD WhY?

Wasn't there a SpiNeLLi who was posting here recently?

[ladygreek]

Glad this was bumped, so i could add my $19.13 worth. One of the reasons my org (can't speak for the rest of the NPHC) does not allow our Intake group to wear our letters is that completion of the process is not guaranteed. Look at some of the other threads in this forum about folx de-pledging.

Plus they have their own symbols (including a pin) to be worn until they are duly initiated as a member.

Also, it is not a matter of keeping the group secret so much as it is forbidding the walking in line, dressing identically, giving greetings, etc. in public as we did pre-1988. (Delta adopted a new process before the NPHC as a whole did in response to the growing number of hazing violations.) That process served as a model for the other NPHC groups to develop their own.

Why were the above seemingly innocent activities considered hazing? Because of the 20/80 rule. There were those who took them to the extreme causing financial hardship and public embarrassment. So because of the 20 percent we had to throw the baby out with the bath water.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by OTW

I don't think I could ever take this person's posts seriously. I blame the Togglecase. Seriously guys, WHY DO YOU STILL FEEL THE NEED TO TyPe LiKe ThIs? WhY GoD WhY?

I so agree with you on this. At first I thought folx did it because the capitalized letter spelled out something. But then I realized that in most cases it was just random and stupid.

[LiDdLMiSsGrEeK]

I present it that way because that is how it was given to me by my big sister as well as the way it appears on all my sweatshirts. I do not type in that fashion that is just how my name worked out for me.