PKT25: Big Brothers and Pledge Pins
Now that we had our black books, it was time for Induction. The Induction ceremony itself was another secret ritual, but the end result was that each pledge came out with a Big Brother and a pledge pin.
Your Big Brother was an active member of the fraternity who acted as a mentor and supporter for you as you went through the pledge program. If you had questions, your Big Brother was there to answer them. If you managed to lose your Black Book, your Big Brother would probably intercede to keep it from being destroyed. The Big Brother was supposed to be heavily involved as a line of defense to make sure that if their Little was having problems (which was not uncommon for freshmen in their first year of college) they got some help.
Big Brothers were assigned by the Associate Member Educator. Pledges were allowed to state a preference, but this preference was not in any way binding, in part because this tended to privilege the really extroverted members of the fraternity who were most effective at rush and who therefore were more likely to have met all the pledges by this early point of the program. Other factors that may or may not have played a factor included:
- Age of the pledge vs age of the brother. Pledges who were sophomore or juniors were more likely to draw older actives as their Big Brother. Freshman were more likely to draw sophomores, on the theory that you were better off being paired with someone who was likely to be at the house for most of the time you were.
- Involvement level of the brother. Actives who were holding office and were super involved in different activities were more likely to draw a Little Brother than actives who didn't do much of anything.
None of this was written down, so Associate Member Educators were allowed to pretty much do what they want. When I filled that role I also considered which people I thought would click personality-wise, with pretty minimal success, honestly.
I myself hit the jackpot and got Phil as my Big Brother. He did a fabulous job both while I was a pledge and for the 25 years since. This was not a guarantee. As you'd expect when two people who usually didn't know each other well were paired up, sometimes they didn't click long term. This was even more common when you consider how many Case students were raging introverts. Occasionally there were even pairs who ended up disliking each other. With that said, it was far more common for Bigs and Littles to be closer with each other than with other members of the house. I've been to plenty of Phi Kap weddings where Bigs and Littles were in each other's wedding parties and seen many more who are in close contact to this day.
I myself had two Littles, both during my sophomore year. Pat was my little in the Fall 1997 semester, and Vic in the Spring 98 semester. Pat had a Little along the way in Amitai (making him my LLB), but my family tree ended there, as somehow Pat, Vic and Amitai all ended up leaving CWRU before graduation and going elsewhere. Despite being heavily involved for my subsequent years in the house and holding various offices such as President, Rush Chair and Associate Member Educator, I never had another, which I was angry about then and is a mild regret now. Given that my entire family tree dropped out, maybe not assigning any more to me was a good call!
Phil himself had two more Littles, Jackal in the Fall 1997 semester and Brandon in Spring 1998. In Black Book terms, that meant I am Phil's LB1, Jackal is LB2 and Brandon LB3. Phil's Big was Zuck, which makes him my BBB. At one point I remembered the chain of Bigs quite a few years back, but now I'd have to dig out my Black Book to look it up further. I also remember surprisingly few of the other BB/LB combinations of the other actives from my time, which given how big of a deal then is kind of surprising now.
At Induction, your Big Brother would give you your pledge pin. You were expected to wear your pledge pin all the time unless it was covered by what Zuck called the 4S's: Sleep, Shower, Sex, Sports.
I actually seem to recall that there was a fifth S, but I'm drawing a blank so maybe I'm imagining it. Anyway, I wore my pledge pin all the time as expected. This was really the only way a pledge of visually identifying themselves as a member of Phi Kappa Theta, because pledges were not allowed to wear letters, which was the term for any piece of clothing with the Phi Kappa Theta letters on them.
A Big Brother did have two formal duties as part of the Pledge Program.
- First, he was supposed to create letters for his Little Brother to hang up wherever they were living. For me, Phil kept the Detour theme going by acquiring an actual detour sign and putting Phi Kappa Theta letters on it. It was in my dorm window for the rest of my freshman year and moved to the house with me. I think it ended up in my parents garage before finally being pitched out.
- Second, he would create a paddle to present to his Little Brother for the Paddling ceremony. We'll talk about that next time.
The Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta
The House Tour Outside,
Main Floor Bedrooms,
Main Floor Public Rooms,
Basement Public Areas,
Basement Private Areas,
2nd Floor Big Bedrooms,
2nd Floor Small Bedrooms,
3rd Floor First Hallway,
3rd Floor Second Hallway,
Attic & Errata,
House Tour Commentary: Joe & Laura & Astrid,
House Tour Commentary: Jackal,
House Tour Commentary: Susan,
House Tour Commentary: Assorted
The Pledge Program Schedule, Curriculum & Black Books, Big Brothers & Pledge Pins
Semesters Fall 1996
Events Detour
Other Full Series, My Rush Experience, Chapter History
Your Big Brother was an active member of the fraternity who acted as a mentor and supporter for you as you went through the pledge program. If you had questions, your Big Brother was there to answer them. If you managed to lose your Black Book, your Big Brother would probably intercede to keep it from being destroyed. The Big Brother was supposed to be heavily involved as a line of defense to make sure that if their Little was having problems (which was not uncommon for freshmen in their first year of college) they got some help.
Big Brothers were assigned by the Associate Member Educator. Pledges were allowed to state a preference, but this preference was not in any way binding, in part because this tended to privilege the really extroverted members of the fraternity who were most effective at rush and who therefore were more likely to have met all the pledges by this early point of the program. Other factors that may or may not have played a factor included:
- Age of the pledge vs age of the brother. Pledges who were sophomore or juniors were more likely to draw older actives as their Big Brother. Freshman were more likely to draw sophomores, on the theory that you were better off being paired with someone who was likely to be at the house for most of the time you were.
- Involvement level of the brother. Actives who were holding office and were super involved in different activities were more likely to draw a Little Brother than actives who didn't do much of anything.
None of this was written down, so Associate Member Educators were allowed to pretty much do what they want. When I filled that role I also considered which people I thought would click personality-wise, with pretty minimal success, honestly.
I myself hit the jackpot and got Phil as my Big Brother. He did a fabulous job both while I was a pledge and for the 25 years since. This was not a guarantee. As you'd expect when two people who usually didn't know each other well were paired up, sometimes they didn't click long term. This was even more common when you consider how many Case students were raging introverts. Occasionally there were even pairs who ended up disliking each other. With that said, it was far more common for Bigs and Littles to be closer with each other than with other members of the house. I've been to plenty of Phi Kap weddings where Bigs and Littles were in each other's wedding parties and seen many more who are in close contact to this day.
I myself had two Littles, both during my sophomore year. Pat was my little in the Fall 1997 semester, and Vic in the Spring 98 semester. Pat had a Little along the way in Amitai (making him my LLB), but my family tree ended there, as somehow Pat, Vic and Amitai all ended up leaving CWRU before graduation and going elsewhere. Despite being heavily involved for my subsequent years in the house and holding various offices such as President, Rush Chair and Associate Member Educator, I never had another, which I was angry about then and is a mild regret now. Given that my entire family tree dropped out, maybe not assigning any more to me was a good call!
Phil himself had two more Littles, Jackal in the Fall 1997 semester and Brandon in Spring 1998. In Black Book terms, that meant I am Phil's LB1, Jackal is LB2 and Brandon LB3. Phil's Big was Zuck, which makes him my BBB. At one point I remembered the chain of Bigs quite a few years back, but now I'd have to dig out my Black Book to look it up further. I also remember surprisingly few of the other BB/LB combinations of the other actives from my time, which given how big of a deal then is kind of surprising now.
At Induction, your Big Brother would give you your pledge pin. You were expected to wear your pledge pin all the time unless it was covered by what Zuck called the 4S's: Sleep, Shower, Sex, Sports.
I actually seem to recall that there was a fifth S, but I'm drawing a blank so maybe I'm imagining it. Anyway, I wore my pledge pin all the time as expected. This was really the only way a pledge of visually identifying themselves as a member of Phi Kappa Theta, because pledges were not allowed to wear letters, which was the term for any piece of clothing with the Phi Kappa Theta letters on them.
A Big Brother did have two formal duties as part of the Pledge Program.
- First, he was supposed to create letters for his Little Brother to hang up wherever they were living. For me, Phil kept the Detour theme going by acquiring an actual detour sign and putting Phi Kappa Theta letters on it. It was in my dorm window for the rest of my freshman year and moved to the house with me. I think it ended up in my parents garage before finally being pitched out.
- Second, he would create a paddle to present to his Little Brother for the Paddling ceremony. We'll talk about that next time.
The Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta
The House Tour Outside,
Main Floor Bedrooms,
Main Floor Public Rooms,
Basement Public Areas,
Basement Private Areas,
2nd Floor Big Bedrooms,
2nd Floor Small Bedrooms,
3rd Floor First Hallway,
3rd Floor Second Hallway,
Attic & Errata,
House Tour Commentary: Joe & Laura & Astrid,
House Tour Commentary: Jackal,
House Tour Commentary: Susan,
House Tour Commentary: Assorted
The Pledge Program Schedule, Curriculum & Black Books, Big Brothers & Pledge Pins
Semesters Fall 1996
Events Detour
Other Full Series, My Rush Experience, Chapter History