when to present bigs?
 

I'm a founder of a new sorority and we're having our first official rush in the spring, I was wondering if it would be better to present bigs when the new rushes get pinned to pledge, or to wait till the end at initiation, or sometime in the middle? I can see doing it when they get pinned to pledge because they would need the support and help of their bigs, but I heard some other orgs don't do it for awhile...??? Any suggestions would help, so that i could bring it up at our next meeting!:D

In AGD, we get our bigs when we get pinned. This gives us an instant link into the chapter.

Some sororities have something called "Discovery Week" where they get gifts all week and then find out who their big are at the end of the week. Someone who does this can explain it a lot better than I can.

I would wait until a few weeks into your new member education process. Until then, assign temporary 'bigs' each week, culminating in a final assignment at the end.

We're presenting our new members with their bigs the day before they are formally initiated. We'll have a week of gifts given to them by their bigs and then a sleepover where their bigs are revealed. By doing the revelation later, both initiated and new members get a chance to know each other and then they list their top 3 picks for big or lil sis.

Hey, I am a new member now, so I don't know much about how we are going to find out who are bigs are but last Thursday we started to get presents and posters from our bigs. I think we will find out our bigs on this Thursday. We are getting them pretty far in the semester, our initiation is on April 7th. I think it is good to do it this way so that you and the members can get to know eachother better so you can be put with a big that you really like.

Anne Marie

We have Beta Buddies, ie temporary big sisters, for the first 3-4 weeks, the first of which the pledges get on Bid Day. There are usually two beta buddies each week for the pledges, which is good in case you have one girl who really isn't a very active beta bud, and it gives the pledge a chance to get to know at least two actives well each week. After this time, the pledges give the pledge educator a list of girls whom they would like as their big sis, and the actives who are taking a little sister do likewise. The pledge educator matches up pairs, and then Big Sis Week begins. This is a week of giving gifts (and hints!) to the pledge about who there big sis is. Then at the end of the week we have big sis night, where the seniors write silly poems about each pair and the big sister is revealled to each little sis. The big sister usually gives the little traditional gifts like a picture frame, and "family" gifts that have been passed down from big to little (this would be a GREAT tradition to start now as a new chapter!). I think that it is nice to do the big sister matching a little later so the pledge ends up with a big sister whom she knows and has something in common with, but also a couple of weeks prior to initiation, so they get a chance to know each other better. I think this makes initiation a whole lot more meaningful for both. I have been out of college for 6 years and my big and I are still best friends!

we got our bigs like a month or so after pledging...until we get them though we have temporary ones....like a different one each week for like a month or so...its to get to know the members and all.


nichole