Stop the "Baby" Talk

[pearlalum]

Back in the day . . . we wore our pledge pins when we were dressed up (mostly for pledge meetings and chapter functions). Otherwise, we wore ribbon pins in our sorority colors (all of the 15 chapters did that); and on 2 days of the week, we had to wear our pledge t-shirts with our letters on the front and first names on the back. Also had to have our pledge notebook with us at all times, so we didn't get demerits from the actives.

[shadokat]

Ohhhh...in the old days, we wore our pledge pins every day. Before we got our pledge pins, we wore the ribbons. Once we got our pledge pins, we had to wear our pledge ribbons on our bra straps LOL I'm currently seeking therapy KIDDING!!!

[KSUViolet06]

This was posted on our official blog tonight. Love it.

"Baby violet is a plant. Not a person"

http://trisigmablog.org/?p=709

It includes commentary from former consultants, actives, and actual NMs discussing why they personally feel the term is lame.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

"Baby Violet": A Plant, not a Person.

http://trisigmablog.org/?p=709

What excites me most about this is that AST's national president just posted this on Facebook

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

This was posted on our official blog tonight. Love it.

"Baby violet is a plant. Not a person"

http://trisigmablog.org/?p=709

It includes commentary from former consultants, actives, and actual NMs discussing why they personally feel the term is lame.

[NutBrnHair]

Worth repeating! (Excellent article -- I re-tweeted it!)

[purpleandpearls]

I had a nice pledge pin and then one that our educators made with two color ribbons. Those HAD to be worn at all times and on your outer layer, so you'd have to move it from your hoodie to your t-shirt if you took your hoodie off. Our school wanted us to get rid of ribbons/pins for all orgs because they considered it hazing...they considered everything hazing. I don't remember anybody being called "baby" anything while I was still a student but apparently other D Phi E chapters say things like "baby unicorns".

[TNAuburnMom]

My daughter is a Theta and cannot wear the actual letters until after initiation. Her gifts on bid day just said Theta.

[PanseyGirl]

I do not know if this is still the tradition, but when I was a pledge, we were not allowed to wear the Tri Delta Crest until we were initiated.

[honeychile]

I think the crest is universal - NOBODY can or should wear the crest unless they are full sisters.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by honeychile

I think the crest is universal - NOBODY can or should wear the crest unless they are full sisters.

I think you're right, but there's something about that that always baffles me -- why do some people consider it bad, or even hazing, to say that members who haven't been initiated yet can't wear letters, yet they don't raise the same argument about not letting pledges/new members wear coats of arms? No, the pledge/NM doesn't know what the arms mean, but they don't know what the letters mean either. I don't see any difference.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

No, the pledge/NM doesn't know what the arms mean, but they don't know what the letters mean either. I don't see any difference.

Not always true.

Alpha Sigma Alpha and Alpha Sigma Tau both have open mottoes that correspond to their Greek letters, so you can't say that pledges "don't know what they mean." Anyone looking at the banner below the crests would know what the letters mean. (Whether they mean MORE than that may or may not be another story.) There may be other groups that have open mottos too, but those are the two I thought of off the top of my head.

This is why I consider it silly when I hear my sisters saying pledges should not wear letters - but I would never presume to tell anyone else the same thing. I have no idea what their letters mean or don't mean. If Theta has ritual saying they shouldn't be worn until after initiation, it's offensive if a school or anyone else tells them they should do things differently.

To look at it in a purely practical sense, there is usually too much imagery on a crest to explain what it all means on bid day/whenever you pin in your pledges.

[Gusteau]

I remember being a little worried last year when my sister sent me a text message saying "If one more person calls me a baby bunny I am going to punch them in the face!"

Luckily she didn't pinch any of her new sisters

[SthrnZeta]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

I remember being a little worried last year when my sister sent me a text message saying "If one more person calls me a baby bunny I am going to punch them in the face!"

Luckily she didn't pinch any of her new sisters

LOL! Two chapters at GMU have used "babies" on FB this year already. You would think with all of the talk about it over the past couple years, their advisors would have said something to their chapters by now.

[IndianaSigKap]

Back in the day, our Pi Phis were not allowed to wear the Beta. They couldn't even spell it out. Their bid day shirts always had Pi Phi in script. I think they may have changed with the script now. I believe, I have seen girls from campus with bid day shirts with beta written out, but have been told they still are not allowed to wear the greek Pi Beta Phi letters until initiation.

[KayDee29]

A friend of mine is a Tri Sigma, and apparently at their school they call their new members "Baby Sailboats." I didn't realize a Sailboat could be a baby, but I chose not to point that out.