Formal name for Bigs/Littles?

[AGDAlum]

Just curious -- does your GLO have a formal name for the big/little sister/brother program?

For example, in Alpha Gam we call 'em sister-mothers and sister-daughters. IIRC, in Alpha Chi the big is the "mystagogue," which I think means something like a guide to the mysteries.

Anyone else?

[Optimist Prime]

I call mine Chris.

[AGDAlum]

My question was what your GLO calls the program. I kinda doubt your fellows all refer to their Big Chrises and their Little Chrises...

[GmuTeke]

LOL, actually my little calls his big brother Chris, it being my name and all. :p

Sorry, no formal Greek-name for big/little brothers in my fraternity.

[Optimist Prime]

Lol. My bad. I really need a nap.

[AngelPhiSig]

In Phi Sigma Sigma we have Sapphire Sisters... and in TBS we have sponsors... its all Big and Little to me!

[carnation]

With us, it seems to vary from chapter to chapter. Before we get a big sister, though, we get a Beta Buddy like the AOPis get Panda Pals and the ChiOs get Owl Pals.

[PinkStar17]

In Phi Mu we call them Carnation sisters, but here we call them big sis and lil sis. :D

[AEPhi-QTPie]

While an undergrad, we incorporated a new "heart sister" program that came from above, I think to keep from calling women "little sisters". Well, I am not sure how that fared, since we just started calling each other "big heart sister", "little heart sister" anyway. From reading the other NPC groups' names, i.e. "Sapphire Sister", etc., I would gather that this was a national movement to eliminate nicknames that may or may not connote superiority/inferiority. I personally LOVED being someone's little sister, since I had no siblings of my own. Thoughts?:cool:

[lyrelyre]

At Alpha Chi Omega we formally call them mystagogues. But at my chapter we call them Moms and Dotters. We call our temps Lyre Buddies.

[Heather]

at my chapter (Chi Omega) we had grand big sis, Big sis, little sis, grandlittle sis, you get the idea, just add great "onto" the beginning to continue the tree.

Before your big sis, you had "F.F.F.s", (pronounced "fufufu's") which stood for fine feathered friends.

[shadokat]

We've always called ours bigs and littles. We also have Pearl Pals and during NME, we have Guardian Angels. You don't know who they are until after pledging is over, but during it, they give you little gifts and notes of encouragement and support It's really neat to find out who it is in the end, and it gives younger women the opportunity to get a feeling for being a big before it happens.

[ZTAMich]

We have Berry Buddies before we are given an official Big Sister.

[ZTAngel]

I know that ADPi does not have a big/lil sisters. They are actually referred to as Diamond Sisters.

[jharb]

In my chapter of Pi Phi we start out with Bid Day Buddies and we hang out with them on bid day, mine was the girl who prefed me. Then we get Guardian Angels who leave us presents and notes each week at the pledge meetings. Each week we are paired with a different Phi Friend who we get to go hang out with. It's a nice way to meet a lot of the girls in the chapter. After the pledge retreat we get our Big Sisters. I'm so excited for the pledge retreat! It sounds like so much fun! :D

Jess

[SigkapAlumWSU]

Well, we start with Rush Crushes, which aren't given, it's just who rushed you and you liked them and it just happened a lot. After than, you get a Violet Sis ( a temp big sis to welcome you to the chapter, answer your questions, help you, and generally make you feel welcome!) Then, it used to be Mom-Dot (mother-daughter) but now it's Big sis/Lil sis. We had grand-big, and aunts, and twins and such, that grew into families (twins were two lil sis's to one big sis in a pledge class, my aunt would be my Bis sis' twin, and my cousins, my aunt's lils.) It sounds more complicated than it was. I don't think that they do families any more though, but as long as you have a special someone who cares, it doesn't matter what it's called.

[NeonPi]

In AOII, they are officially known as Big Sister / Little Sister. Some chapters also call then Panda Pals, Alpha Sisters, Rose Buddies etc.

[satellitegrl]

Our chapter gives the pledge a Rose sister at the pledging cermony...kinda like the temporary big....and halfway to the formal iniation we do the pick 3 for the matching up of Big/Lils. We are real big on keeping family trees and we informally get Big Bros too.

[hannahgirl]

I don't know if every DG chapter does this, but we give the new members on bid day bronze, pink, and blue buddies that give them different things or take them to lunch, etc. Then they get their bigs which we call many different things. Most of us stick with Big and Lil, while some go with Anchormate which was used before I joined in Fall '99. We pretty much stick with the traditional and just be creative with our shirts by putting whatever we want on them :)

Delta Gamma
Eta Chapter

[TriSigmaTX]

We just called our mom's and dot's that...mom's and dot's, they were given on bid day.

Our bigs we called "Sigma Bigma's". I have no idea why and other chapters thought it was funny. Little's were just called little's.

[Optimist Prime]

I want a big sister. Does anybody do that? Where they adopt clueless frat boys like me?

[PiPhiERDoc]

Clueless fraternity boy seeking big sis...LOL

When I was an active I was a princess of Phi Delta Theta, and we actually had big bros and little bro's...Pi Phi actually frowns on little sister organizations nationally, but I have to be honest, I loved having a big and little bro, they were both great guys and we had a lot of fun.

By the way, you're missing out on not having a big sis -- I spoiled my little bro rotten! Maybe you could put something in the want-ads?!? I'm sure some nice GLO lady would adopt you! I would but I'm just too darn old:)

[ADPiSweety]

In ADPi before we get our Diamond Sisters we are first given Lion Sisters to help us get into the transition of ADPi life.. Our Diamond Sisters however, well mine at least is soo awesome!! I can't wait to get my own new diamond sis so that I can spoil her rotten just like mine did =)

[GPhiBGirl]

Here at Gamma Phi Beta, we have moms, daughters, grandmas.....real families. Our new members are called moonbabies before they are initiated because our chapter's symbol is the crescent moon.

[SAEalumnus]

Omptimist Prime!: I call mine Chris too!

haha anyway, SAE doesn't have any formal name for the whole program - but there are some chapters who have particular traditions regarding families.

[LBN Nu sTyLeZ]

Well, I guess it's since we're a *minority* and we refer to slang. Our *families* I guess you can call them are reffered to as *Krew'z*, which go by nickname. (IE....my nickname iz J-Trip...and I'm a founding father, so my family name will be J-KrEw.....one of my bro'z nickname is J-Sin...and his family name will be SiNFULL-KrEw). We haven't started our pledge process yet, so I don't have my *Lil Bro* yet...so...yea...none of this has happened yet..but we already know what everything is.

As for sisters...we're gonna just call the whole sister program Nu Sister'z...if one become's a Nu Sister, she retains that title forever.

[deltaphi94]

Originally posted by PinkStar17
In Phi Mu we call them Carnation sisters, but here we call them big sis and lil sis. :D

Is that still true? They were big/ little when I was initiated, and changed to carnation sisters when mine was initiated. I heard they had gone back to big/little at some point, though. Was I misinformed? Just curious.

[PhiMuNursie]

At my chapter we call them Carnation sisters, but to make it shorter we stick with big/lil and in fact my family calls the older ones grandma and great grandma, etc. I guess mostly as a term of endearment, but also sarcasm, since compared to my 18 yr. old grandlittle, I seem ancient, but still have lots of Phi Mu wisdom to pass on...like our biological Grandmothers.

So to answer your question, technically they are called Carnation sisters.

tara :)
---to practice day by day
love, honor, truth---

[Indiglo256]

Actually... in ADPi we DO have big/little sisters. We refer to them as Diamond sisters... for example, my best friend Melissa is my Diamond sis, and I call her my Diamond big... she usually just calls me her diamond. Before we receive our official diamond sisters however, on Bid day we receive temporary Pi Pals.

-Lauren
Zeta '02
Southwestern University, TX

"Be beautiful if you can, wise if you want to...but be respected--that is essential."
--Anna Gould

[sweetie adpi]

a diamond is a girls best friend ;)
our chapter also has violet sisters, who our new members have until they receive their diamond sis, but technically we're not supposed to do that.... oops! we have prides (like lion prides) that are supposed to act as a 'family' and support our new members too...

[DGWannabe]

My friend who's a DZ has Turtle Buddies and Rose buddies-I always thought that was cute!But that is before initiation. After initiation they are called Big's & Little. My old roomie was an ADPi and she had a diamond sister. My sorority always called them Big Sis & little Sis.We had "anchor Angels" before initiation.

[sororitygirl2]

Originally posted by GPhiBGirl"
Our new members are called moonbabies before they are initiated because our chapter's symbol is the crescent moon.

"Moon Babies" -- THAT IS SO ADORABLE!!! Gamma Phi didn't do that at my school...

[sbhill2]

Originally posted by hannahgirl
I don't know if every DG chapter does this, but we give the new members on bid day bronze, pink, and blue buddies that give them different things or take them to lunch, etc. Then they get their bigs which we call many different things. Most of us stick with Big and Lil, while some go with Anchormate which was used before I joined in Fall '99. We pretty much stick with the traditional and just be creative with our shirts by putting whatever we want on them :)

Delta Gamma
Eta Chapter

Im a DG too and ours in pretty much the same although our pink/blue/bronze sisters are given to us one by one each week. They usually give us a little gift of DG stuff like a cup or a sticker or a picture frame. Then after the first three weeks we get our big sisters which is the same as everyone else and they give us a bunch of stuff and we have to figure otu who they are.

[emb021]

Originally posted by AGDAlum
Just curious -- does your GLO have a formal name for the big/little sister/brother program?

For example, in Alpha Gam we call 'em sister-mothers and sister-daughters. IIRC, in Alpha Chi the big is the "mystagogue," which I think means something like a guide to the mysteries.

Anyone else?

In APO, big/little programs are something left to each chapter. Most call them 'Big Brother/Little Brother', but as we are co-ed (yes, everyone is called "Brother"), many usually say 'Big' and 'Little'.

[aedea42]

In Alpha Sigma Alpha, on your new member ceremony you get a ruby sis who is like a big and then the little is the pearl sis... and then you get a real big sis later on... we used to do the mom-dot thing and big/lil but they changed it...

[axotiger]

At my school (ACW)... the new girls get a Mystogogue on Bid Night... this is one of the upper classmen (jr or sr) and she's there to guide them. . Then we have 3 weeks... and the new girls get a :
- Carnation Sis
- Lyre Sis
- Panda Pal
Then from those three they choose their big sis (well the big's also choose ths littles)... then you have big sis/ grand big/ great grand big .. etc etc.


[i]Originally posted by Optimist Prime
I want a big sister. Does anybody do that? Where they adopt clueless frat boys like me?
Depends, in some fraternities they do, some they dont. One fraternity at school has their big brothers choose a girl to be the guys big sis. And those girls are ALL considered Sweethearts (and don't have to be greek).
Then, there's another fraternity at school (that I'm a little sis for) where the Fall pledge class gets big sis's. Those girls are already little sisters for the fraternity, and y'all pick each other. Then in the spring these girls get Big Brothers (from upper classmen who choose them.. girls don't get to pick).

So I have a big family thus far:
Big sis - june
Lil sis - Lindsey
Grand Lil - Amanda
2 mystogogues (not really in the family) - Anna & Ashley

Lil bro - Stephen
Big Bro - Nick
(and I might get another lil bro cause this new pledge class is bigger than the new little sisters coming in)

- hope that helped in someway... but I guess i talk just to hear myself talk (or rather type)

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally posted by Optimist Prime
I want a big sister. Does anybody do that? Where they adopt clueless frat boys like me?

At my school, frat boys all have "pledge moms," chosen by their big bros. I actually have three pledge sons, and pretty much, you take them out and get them drunk, and give them something (shorts, hat, etc.) with your letters on it.

[PurdueGirlie]

That's really interesting about the Sigma Kappa chapters because I have never heard of a Sig-Mom or Violet Sis. At Purdue (Beta Sigma), new members get Heart Moms during their pledgeship and then during their I-Week, they get a Big Sis.

For the record, I have one heart daughter and 2 Littles! :)

[PearlGirl]

We just call them big and lil sis. People are really into their families here (grandbaby, grandma etc.) Each family has a set of letters that is passed down. If a older person in the sorority terminates its up to the family if they want to choose new letters. The t-shirt i got was getting kind of old and didnt fit - so i just made it into a pillow and started a running tab on the back of the fam. The new girls get their big sisters a few weeks into the new member program. Thus, the week before initiation they get a 'guardian angel' that leaves them little gifts every night. this person is revealed at initiation. the VP is in charge of the new member process and they are dubbed the pledge mom. we have sailboat buddies for the actives that change every semester and that is almost like a secret santa.

[Lindz928]

My chapter of ADPi has violet sisters that all take us out. From those we "pref" which one we want as our Diamond Sister, then the New Member Coordinator puts us together with our Diamond Sister. Lots of the girls in our chapter actually use the term Diamond Sister and Diamond Family, but my friends and I usually just say Big and Little. :)

Lindsey
Texas A&M University

[astroAPhi]

With my chapter, we just have big and little sisters. However, we enjoy charting our "geneology". For instance, this semester I got my first little sister as well as became a great-great aunt for the second time. :p

Translation: My big sister had another little sister who was my "twin". She had a little sister, who had a little sister, who had another little sister initiated this semester. Right now, I'm the family "matriarch" because I'm the oldest member of my family (both in terms of age and initiation date).

During the new member program, we assign everyone in the chapter Bear Buddies each week to set aside some special time to hang out with a sister to further strengthen our bonds of sisterhood. It's a great program!

[polarpi]

Originally posted by Lindz928
My chapter of ADPi has violet sisters that all take us out. From those we "pref" which one we want as our Diamond Sister, then the New Member Coordinator puts us together with our Diamond Sister. Lots of the girls in our chapter actually use the term Diamond Sister and Diamond Family, but my friends and I usually just say Big and Little. :)

Lindsey
Texas A&M University

I think each chapter is different on their diamond sisters and any additional sisters. My chapter this year started "bid day buddies" which was a mentoring sister until the Alphas received their diamond sisters within the first week or so. When I first joined, we got our diamond sister within 2 days of bid day, and then we had a violet sister, lion sister, and a pi sister all leading up to our initiation. It was a great way to meet some of the older members of the sorority that I wouldn't have gotten to know otherwise. the chapter has just started the "Alphas pref their diamond sister", and it seems to be working for them. We were assigned our <> sisters (I think), and I personally chose my "little" diamond sister. I've always added big or little in front of "diamond" in order to differentiate between the two of them. I also referred to my "diamond family" as well (I know, not exactly what the TME program advocates! :o )

[Buttonz]

We havebig/lil sis and unoffically we choose a big and a lil bro...the cool thing about that is that you get to choose your big bro and then accept a li lbro if your asked....I don't have a big bro yet...soon maybe :)

[sarahgrace]

On bid day in my chapter new members got "Guardian Angels" who were usually girls that will potentially become big sis's for the pledge class. The pledge's are the guardian angels' little devils. Then we had mixer/sisterhood things with all the potential big sis's (mostly sophomores or other sisters who didn't have little sis's yet). We wrote down a few sisters who we wanted as our big sis, and they wrote down who they wanted as little sis's, and then someone matched them all up. Then we had a super-complicated process (involving puzzles and the like) for our big/little revealing. It was lots of fun!

Sarah

[That1LoudChick]

Phi Gamma Pi:
On the night of pledge initiation Phi Gamma Pi gives their new members an "Emerald Buddy." That girl gives the new member a decorated pledge binder with their new member class on the cover of it. This person is from the pledge class before. As everyone has said, that person is their temporary or pseudo Big.

A week or 2 before initiation week the new member gets a Big. I was lucky enough to have my Emerald Buddy be my Big! I love her so much!

Kappa Phi:
In Kappa Phi we have Bigs and Littles. Usually a Big for a Kappa Phi pledge gets picked within 2 weeks of their pledge initiation and leaves them gifts at every meeting (once a week) until their active initiation where they reveal who they are and give their Littles a paddle. The Littles don't have to return the gift, though I gave my Kappa Phi Big her paddle as a Christmas present.

[ShaunaF01]

With my chapter of Alpha Phi, we used to get a "Rosebuddy" on our Bid Day, however, international made us change the name, so we now get "Ivy Linkers" and then we just have Big Sis/Lil Sis.

There is a fraternity on my campus, that is a regional fraternity. They originated at another school, and at that other school they helped to found a regional sorority, so the girls take Lil Bro's and the guys take Lil Sis' which I think is awesome. They have a really tight relationship!!

[AXOeva]

My chapter operates similar to axotiger's. Our new members receive a Carnation sister on Bid Day and then a Mystagogue at our 1st degree. The also have an Alpha, Chi, and Omega sis, one each week. After that four weeks they get their Big sister. The mystagogue is normally a junior or senior who acts as a "temporary big". They make sure that the NM understand the history and stuff and is there to answer questions about the sisterhood and to make sure that the Alpha, Chi, and Omega sisters are doing their jobs. (Sending them gifts, eating with them, taking them to social and sisterhood events, introducing them to other sisters, etc) My mystagee my junior year ended up becoming my little and my mystagee my senior year ended up being my grandlittle. Funny how things work out!

[ASTDD2002]

My last chapter, we called them Moms & Daughters, and my new chapter has Bigs & Littles.

[aephi alum]

When my chapter was setting up our big/little program, we were told we could use pretty much any terminology we wanted EXCEPT big and little or mom and daughter (because that would imply a superiority/inferiority relationship).

We did the following:

On bid day you got an Alpha sister. Usually, for formal recruitment, this was whoever preffed you.

About a week later, you got an Epsilon sister. Usually this was someone you didn't know as well, to mix things up a bit.

One or two weeks later, you got a Phi sister, alternatively called a Pearl sister. This was your big. New members and sisters each made lists of people they'd like to be paired with, and the new member educator paired them up as best she could.

Officially we used this terminology, but unofficially we sometimes used the terms "big" and "little".

[PhoenixAzul]

My chapter calls them Bigs/Littles or Active/pledge. Unlike some chapters, we get ours within the first week of pledging. During that week we get "hints" left in our little mailboxes at the house, and we're supposed to take a stab at who it is. Then there's a cute little activity to find out who your big is. Your big then presents you with all the stuff you'll need for pledging (hawaiian shirt, cute little gifts, family hand-me-downs). It's so cool. My big was awesome. I had to miss the big/little activity due to a rowing event. But I got to do a separate activity with the two other girls who didn't get theirs that night. We then have our bigs for all of pledging and they are our bigs forever. Our family trees are a HUGE source of pride, theres' a little rivalry about the biggest tree. But most of us are "related" because the trees branch out in crazy directions.

[KSUViolet06]

Your first week in the chapter, you receive a Pearl Pal. You have Pearl Pal week with little gifts (candy, picture frames). At the end of the week your Pearl Pal is revealed. Their job is to guide you and be your buddy until you get your big.

[Kallima]

My chapter of Sigma Kappa has heart sisters, pearl sisters and big/little sisters. On bid day each girl gets a heart sister (like a pre-big sister person) and a pearl sister (but this is kept secret until whenever the pearl sis feels like revealing herself- which in some cases was years later if ever :) ) and then half way through pledging the girls mutually select big/little pairs.
Sometimes girls have unofficial adopted big/little sisters. Me for example. My big sister stopped talking to me once she found out I was friends with a sister she was fighting with. Officially she is still my big, but I was adopted by the girl she didn't like. I think its sad when things happen that way, but sometimes you can't avoid it I guess.

[honeychile]

Our EO is really pushing hard for the usage of "Diamond Sisters" as opposed to Big/Little sisters. I never completely understood why until we did a form of that on GreekChat. It really is about being equals, with each Diamond bringing something new to the table. This has been a hard edict for some chapters to accept, but in the long run, I can now see the wisdom and purpose behind it.

When I was an active, we were given Pearl Pals (usually our Pref sponsor) prior to Big/Little sisters, Secret Sisters during Friendship Week, and Alumna Pi Pals during our pledging.

[Shima-Mizu]

We have key sisters for Kappa...

As for APO it's just big's and little's...

[RUASTgrrl]

We got a Secret Big on Bid Day, then out Big Sisters, I think we had an Anchor during out Second semester after pledging (we were pearls), and the semester you graduated you got a Rose Buddy (usually a younger sister to help keep you in the loop after grad). The Big Sis/Little sis was how we traced lines, and family trees.

[epi_girl]

What about when your group starts a colony? Do you still have a Big Sis or is she called by a different name? I'm assuming she'd be a local alum.

[Little E]

I have my little from my chapter, then AST nat'l asked alumnae who were willing to volunteer to be bigs for our colonies (we have like 6 or so) and so now i have a new little in Kansas. Its been fun. I feel bad I live so far away, but it is better than not having one.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally posted by epi_girl
What about when your group starts a colony? Do you still have a Big Sis or is she called by a different name? I'm assuming she'd be a local alum.

In Tri Sigma's newest colony, instead of bigs and littles, the girls are paired up as Twins. Each girl selects another girl they would want. They give each other anonmymous gifts and clues all week. At the end of the week their twin pairings are revealed. This is how all our colonies have done in the past.

[AXOeva]

I was a founding sister of my chapter and instead of Big/Littles, we took twins. The semester we were colonizing, the education committee put everyone's name in a hat and matched everyone randomly. I liked the randomness of it because it forced me to get closer to someone that I didn't know previously, but I was also paired with a senior (I was a sophomore), so it was a little awkward at times. But my twin and I got along great and now I have a niece, grandniece, and great-grandniece, as well as a little and grandlittle.