ADPi History & Traditions

honeychile · #1 03-12-2006, 01:04 AM

This is NOT to expose any ritual, but to post any traditions, or fun items you've "discovered" about Alpha Delta Pi. Some of y'all know that I've begun to collect older Pledge Manuals, and some of the information is a real hoot - too funny NOT to be shared! So, in that vein, I open this thread for the entertainment value - and to see what our alumnae may have gone through! Enjoy!

honeychile · #2 03-12-2006, 01:20 AM

I recently won the 1959 Edition of the Alpha Delta Pi Pledge Book, and found some fun items. Let me see....

-At the time, there were 31 NPC Sororities:

ACW
ADP
AEF
AGD
AOP
AF
ASA
AST
AXD
BSO
CW
DDD
DG
DFE
DZ
GFB
IAP
KAQ
KD
KKG
FM
FSS
PBF
PKS
SDT
SK
SSS
QFA
QSU
QU
ZTA

Of these,
BSO *absorbed by Zeta Tau Alpha
IAP *disbanded in 1971
PKS *absorbed by Sigma Kappa
QSU *absorbed by Alpha Gamma Delta
QU *absorbed into Delta Zeta
are no longer NPC sororities. I found it terribly interesting that the Pledge Pin for Theta Upsilon is a Fleur-de-lis - the KKG flower! Iota Alpha Pi's Pledge Pin is diamond, with a "shadow", somewhat like a <<>. I had thought that maybe it would be similar to ADPi, but it was a Jewish sorority at a time when the distinctions were very much carved in stone.

honeychile · #3 03-12-2006, 01:50 AM

A lot of this 1959 edition is still in the current New Member Book, so I'm trying to pick out parts which aren't. It differs from two later editions (at least!), too.

Page Six is "What Alpha Delta Pi Means". There's a lot of comparison of seeds (Pledges) becoming trees (Sisters, then Alumnae), then there's this piece:

"Each letter of Alpha Delta Pi can be significant to us:
A - "Associations." Such as we find at a convention. Meeting girls from all over the country and parts of the world. Associations with people who have goals of getting college educations, girls who are striving for a better way of life, girls who want to be admirable women.
L - "Love." Love for one another. Love of a sister when she's in trouble or can't quite get those grades she's worked so hard for. Love for people who cannot have all the things in life that we have. Love for school and learning.
P - "Patience." Patience with others. Understanding that others are not always like ourselves. Patience with problems. Patience when living with another who doesn't want to keep her room clean or work as hard as she should. Patience in waiting for those final grades. Patience in waiting in lines to be registered. Patience in all walks of life.
H - Humility, hope, happiness, honor combine in each Alpha Delta Pi.
A - "Appreciation." - Appreciation of being able to live with so many wonderful girls. Appreciation of democratic living. Appreciation when your sisters give you a present for work well done. Appreciating just that you're able to be in college and in a sorority.

D - "Daughters of Democracy." Daughters whose fathers and mothers want them to grow up having all of the best things in life. Democratic living - having officers each doing her own duty to the sorority government and by doing them learning that government and cooperation work side by side. Freedom of speech, expression, and freedom to act at all meetings.
E - "Education." The very essence of college. But education comes from many other sources than books. From a sorority such as ours we are educated three-fold. We learn to strive together, work together, and educate others.
L - "Loyalty." - Loyalty to the sorority and to the college. Going to football, baskeball, hockey, and baseball games. Taking part in campus politics; working on homecoming decorations; working with foreign students; working on Greek Week, Snow Week, Campus Carnival, Freshman Orientation, All-University Congress, college boards and University Plays, all of which are samples of some of the things we do at any of our universities. This loyalty isn't haphazard. It goes all the way from planning to the finished product. What would a college be without fraternities and sororities? They represent three-fourths of the people who make these activities possible. They have goals - philanthropy mostly - helping others. $10,000 from the Greeks at one school was given to Radio Free Europe; $200 is given every year to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis from one Alpha Delta Pi chapter. Thousands of dollars are given to Cerebral Palsy funds, Cancer Research, and Crippled Children.
T - "Tolerance." Tolerance for others' religions and beliefs, for others who do not believe as we do. Tolerance we learn in a sorority such as ours.
A - "Attitudes." Not formed but enriched. In a bond of sisterhood they can be developed into grood traits of character, good emotional stability, and love for one another.

PI - P for pledge and I for initiate, the whole inner spirit of a sorority. Girls who work hard, asking nothing in return. They are paid by knowing that they have done womething for others as well as for themselves.

And if we want to put an "S" on our letters - Alpha Delta Pis - it would be for "Sisterhood," the greatest of all words, for in this we hav friendship. And as for this - 'The light of friendship is like the light of our two stars, seen plainest when all around is dark.'"

ADPi Conniebama · #4 03-12-2006, 02:03 PM

Keep 'em coming

I looked at my 'old' pledge book the other day and found some interesting items, too.

I don't have it with me right now but I will tell you what it is when I pull it out again.

loyally
connie

honeychile · #5 03-13-2006, 01:43 AM

Okay, the next few posts will be about Standards. Some are the same, most aren't. Enjoy.

"...Founded in an age and place that was distinguished by its gentlewomen, Alpha Delta Pi has a proud tradition to maintain in the quality of its membership.

"Moral Code - Any girl guilty of moral laxity is subject to immediate expulsion from membership.

"Dating Manners - The popular girl is one who is fun, a good sport and 'good company'. She doesn't cheapen herself by letting someone paw over her, she doesn't sit in parked cars or indulge in heavy courting at the dormitory or sorority house entrance at closing hours. She introduces her escort to the housemother, double dates with her sorority sisters, knows her standards and keeps them high. [edit - this is what my original pledge book said, too, the one we called the pawing pledge book!]

"Drinking - Drinking is not a mark of sophistication. The girl who is socially adept knows how to refuse gracefully - and does. Alpha Delta Pi does not approve drinking among college students and will not tolerate misuse of liquor. A girl who makes a spectacle of herself or overindulges is liable to severe discipline and dismissal from membership if she does not bring her standards into conformity with those in the sorority." [still more on drinking]

"Frequenting beer taverns is beneath the dignity of an Alpha Delta Pi. A beer hangout is not a proper place for a girl to spend her time. Fraternities on some campuses go all out for 'beer busts' but again Alpha Delta Pi maintains that these are below our level of social activity."

"Secret Marriages - Alpha Delta Pi does not approve secret marriages. If any girl marries without the consent and knowledge of her parents, she must announce the marriage immediately to her parents, the chapter and school officials. Secret marriages can lead to expulsion from the sorority.

"Girls who marry while still in college are not permitted to continue residence in the sorority house. The only exception to this is when the husband is stationed overseas in government or Army service and is outside the continental United States.

"Married or divorced women are not eligible for membership unless the Grand Council has mad a very thorough investigation and recommends that an exception be made." [again, this part about secret marriage is word for word from the "pawing pledge book"]

**I thought I had said this, but when I pledged, the chapter wasn't prepared to take the largest pledge class on campus! So, nine or ten of us were given older pledge books to use, while they ordered more of the current ones. The older book was what we called "The Pawing Pledge Book".

ASUADPi · #6 03-15-2006, 07:48 PM

Okay the secret marriages part had me laughing.

honeychile · #7 03-17-2006, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ASUADPi
Okay the secret marriages part had me laughing.

That was still in my Pledge Book! We were never sure exactly what that was all about, though.

Okay, still in 1959 Standards:

"Personal Appearance: - You are expected to be well groomed and suitably dressed at all times. This does not mean you must spend a lot of money on clothes. On the contrary, simplicity is the keynote of dress - and do avoid borrowing or loaning your clothes. Clean hair, manicured nails, subtle makeup, clothes that are neat and clean, shoes polished - these are the marks of a college girl who knows her way around. Be sure your clothes are in good taste for the occasion.

"Shorts, jeans and sleeping attire are not acceptable for coming to meals or being on the first floor of the sorority house. Hair in curlers is banished to upstairs also, and an unforgiveable faux pas would be to wear curlers and bandana on campus. It simply isn't done.

"Language - A lady is known as soon as she opens her mouth and speaks. Some college jargon is clever, a great deal of slang is cheap and vulgar. Swearing is beneath Alpha Delta Pi standards. Learn to express yourself in good English and be equal to carrying on an intelligent conversation with adults upon occasion. A loud voice which calls attention to the speaker lacks culture."

FWIW (especially to those who don't believe that I was raised strictly!), when I was growing up, I was never allowed to wear even hot rollers outside of my bedroom! When I complained about it, I was told that my daddy was a man, and no aspiring lady wears rollers in front of a man! I never even wore them in front of my ex-husband (unless he came into my dressing room)!

FirstAndFinest · #8 03-17-2006, 08:28 AM

When I was pledging, there was still the prohibition about married members. One of the girls in the plegde class ahead of me secretly married - many of us found out but it was a secret from her parents. I remember being scared that she'd get kicked outta the chapter if everyone found out she'd gotten married! I wonder if she's still married....

adpi*violet · #9 03-17-2006, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by honeychile
- and do avoid borrowing or loaning your clothes.

Oh dear... glad that this was changed! We borrowed each other's clothes all the time! Especially formals!

ASUADPi · #10 03-17-2006, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by honeychile

"Shorts, jeans and sleeping attire are not acceptable for coming to meals or being on the first floor of the sorority house.

If this "rule" were still in effect all of my sisters at DG would have been in trouble. LOL. We would always come down stairs to eat breakfast still in our pajamas. We would watch TV downstairs in our PJ's too. You would see us wear jeans for dinner.

Thinking back I think the only time we would have been "dressed appropriately" would have been Monday night dinner/chapter. He he.

polarpi · #11 03-17-2006, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by adpi*nurse
Oh dear... glad that this was changed! We borrowed each other's clothes all the time! Especially formals!

Not just formals - remember Ruthie's pants that my roommate borrowed?

honeychile · #12 04-01-2006, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by adpi*nurse
Oh dear... glad that this was changed! We borrowed each other's clothes all the time! Especially formals!

We did, too! In fact, I had one dress (formal) in particular that we started putting little tick marks on, to see how many times it was worn. I actually ended up leaving it there!

erikasue · #13 04-22-2006, 11:28 PM

Is there a way I could get an email or PDF of a pledge book? I NEVER got such a thing when I pledged.

ASUADPi · #14 04-22-2006, 11:41 PM

We no longer have a "pledge" book . We don't call our new members pledges, they are Alphas. So in all technicalities your "pledge" book is your Alpha manual.

And if you didn't get an Alpha manual, well then the NMC did something wrong, because you should have gotten one when you became an Alpha.

Hope this helps

FirstAndFinest · #15 04-23-2006, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ASUADPi
And if you didn't get an Alpha manual, well then the NMC did something wrong, because you should have gotten one when you became an Alpha.

I think this, too, has changed. I kinda backed up our MIA TME Advisor this semester, and learned there are folders that are to be given to Alphas but the lessons are all online, not in a manual/book. (The NMC Manual is available on PO, so you could check it out to see what is to be given to the Alphas.)