Lavalier?

[lovespink88]

Sigh...I wish my school did these cute traditions. AFAIK, lavaliering is not done here any longer. Nor is pinning or anything like that. Heck, I haven't even heard of any chapter doing a candle pass!

I once asked my bf if he knew what it was. He didn't know so I explained it to him. When I was done, he pointed at the necklace he gave me and said "There's you're lavalier" in a "I could care less about this Greek tradition" kind of voice, lol

And I know for sure I would never get pinned, because the day after he was initiated he told me that they were told they could not pin a girl with their badge...too many instances of girls breaking up with the guy, and then the guy never getting his badge back, lol. But he doesn't even have a badge...and that's another story...

I believe his fraternity does have a "Sweetheart" pin for those purposes though. But, again, he's not into that kind of thing, and it's not done around here anyways. Oh well!

[KSUViolet06]

Lavaliering was more common. I participated in many a candle pass as an undergrad (sometimes 2 in one week). It was always a fraternity member giving his fraternity letters. I don't recall anyone being lavaliered with their own letters.

At my alma mater, there wasn't alot of pinning going on. I only knew one person who was pinned while I was in school.

Most people skipped from lavaliering to engagement.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by Zillini

Congrats!

Lavaliering and pinning were two of my favorite traditions when I was in school. It was always exciting to walk into the house and see the candle sitting on the table, the announcement there was a candlepass that night. Everyone started speculating on who could it be? It was the talk of the house for the whole day. It can't be Jane, she's only been dating her guy a month. It can't be Susie. She's been dating her boyfriend forever and if he hasn't given her his pin by now, he never will.

Then after dinner everyone would gather around and the pass would start. I loved the song we sang. The candle slowly moved around the room. Everybody watched the girls we thought it might be but they passed the candle on to the next. Wow, not her or her! I thought for sure it was one of those. One of the top "contenders" made a move to blow it out. Psyche! Nope not her either. The candle continued around the circle.

One time around and everyone clapped and cheered. A pinning! Wait, could it even be an engagement? (A real rarity when I was in school.) The singing started up again and the anticipation was even stronger. The field of potential candidates had significantly narrowed. All eyes were now on the girls we knew were already lavaliered. (Every once in a blue moon we'd have a shocker with someone who's boyfriend skipped lavaliering and went straight to pinning.)

Finally the candle got blown out and the room erupted with clapping, cheering and hugs. Not long afterwards the sounds of male singing could be heard outside. All the sisters would file outside to be seranaded by the guy's fraternity. They would sing hello and we would sing/answer back. Then the young man in question would be drug out to the front of the pack to sing to his lady love. The girl would shyly be pushed forward as well and the singing continued.

The whole thing was sweet and it's a lovely memory. (Especially if you don't think about everyone heading to the nearest bar afterwards for an impromptu mixer. Though those were always fun too. )

That's pretty much how I remember it, too - except the outside seranading. It's pretty hard to seranade someone on the tenth floor! The only other difference is that very few sisters got lavaliered, but pinning and engagements were rampant!

One way we could narrow down a pinning was if someone who rarely wore the shirt & pullover combination suddenly showed up at meeting in one. After she blew out the candle, there would be the stripping of the sweater!

I suppose that turning off the candle doesn't have the cachet of blowing it out, but when you did blow it out, sisters would hug you, and someone almost always got burned by the just-blown-out candle - but it was worth it!

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by lovespink88

Sigh...I wish my school did these cute traditions. AFAIK, lavaliering is not done here any longer. Nor is pinning or anything like that. Heck, I haven't even heard of any chapter doing a candle pass!

I once asked my bf if he knew what it was. He didn't know so I explained it to him. When I was done, he pointed at the necklace he gave me and said "There's you're lavalier" in a "I could care less about this Greek tradition" kind of voice, lol

And I know for sure I would never get pinned, because the day after he was initiated he told me that they were told they could not pin a girl with their badge...too many instances of girls breaking up with the guy, and then the guy never getting his badge back, lol. But he doesn't even have a badge...and that's another story...

I believe his fraternity does have a "Sweetheart" pin for those purposes though. But, again, he's not into that kind of thing, and it's not done around here anyways. Oh well!

I'm glad that I'm not the only person who never heard of this tradition, at lest before GC. Though my fraternity does have a sweetheart pin, I'm not sure how commonly it is used. Lovespink can you PM me if it turns out your BF is a Psi U, because I know we have a couple of chapters in Illinois.

I know at my boyfriend's chapter of Sigma Chi, Lavaliering a girl was a chapter decision. The brother may bring up the idea at chapter meeting, but it was a vote amongst the brotherhood whether or not they believed the girl was worthy of wearing their letters. Being allowed to wear the necklace and lettered shirts meant you were important to the brothers and they felt you represented the principles of the fraternity.
His chapter tradition usually included dinner with the brother and girlfriend, then going back to the chapter house and having the brothers circle around the couple and sing the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi song.

In contrast, from what I know, Pinning is something that is personal between a brother and his girlfriend only. A pre-cursor to engagement and whatnot. I was lavaliered at his chapter house, then became the chapter sweetheart a year later, and when I finally moved in with him after college he gave me his badge. I wear it with pride, not only knowing I am loved very much by a Sigma Chi, but also as a Sweeheart, by the whole fraternity.

I was never in a Sorority so I never participated in a candle pass but it sounds wonderful! <3

[littleowl33]

We just had a Candlepass at meeting tonight!! We haven't had one for almost a year! One of our seniors got engaged to her long-term boyfriend yesterday - they were out hiking and her proposed to her at the top of a mountain. At the Candlepass, she stood at the very end of the circle so the anticipation was crazy. When she blew it out there was a lot of cheering and clapping, then we did "Oh Pat!" (of course). Then an 80-person group hug, and everyone got to hear the story and see the ring. We also have a rule that whoever the candlepass is for has to bring enough chocolate for everyone so we had a lot of candy to eat!

[axond]

I love the idea of being lavaliered, pinned, etc. Unfortunately, our greek campus is rather small and it doesn't seem to be a widespread idea or even something that is commonly known. As a sorority girl myself, I have had to explain this to more than a handful of fraternity guys on this campus. Maybe there's hope it can catch on? Ha I guess we will see...congrats on all those who have been lavaliered though!

[saycheese]

I also love the idea of being lavaliered! Does anybody know if this is something they do at U Washington? That is most likely where I will be going to school next year. Thanks in advance!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by saycheese

I also love the idea of being lavaliered! Does anybody know if this is something they do at U Washington? That is most likely where I will be going to school next year. Thanks in advance!

whooooa, slow your roll.

You need to have a boyfriend - a very serious boyfriend - before you can be lavaliered, and it is not something that happens to the majority of people. It's NOT just a "fun thing to do in college."

[littleowl33]

I got lavaliered on my 21st birthday this week!!! I didn't post anything because a few of my chapter sisters are on GC, and I just had my candlepass tonight. My boyfriend and I have been together for nearly 3 years and have been living together for a year and a half, so I can't say I was surprised... but I was really excited! On the morning of my birthday, as I was getting ready to go to class, he came up behind me and told me to close my eyes. He put a necklace around my neck and when I opened my eyes, I saw his letters on a little gold chain. I wanted to tell everyone, but I had to settle for just telling my Littles, who notified the president that we needed to do a candlepass on Sunday. I think most sisters suspected it was me (the only other girl with a serious long-term boyfrind got engaged and had a candlepass a few weeks ago), but it was no less special. I've dreamed of having a candlepass since freshman year!

[Kappamd]

Awwwww congratulations!

[lovespink88]

Aw, how sweet!

[honeychile]

Congratulations, littleowl!

[LucyKKG]

Originally Posted by littleowl33

I got lavaliered on my 21st birthday this week!!!

Congrats (even though I already told you on FB)! What fraternity is he in? I feel like you've told me before, but I forgot.

[littleowl33]

Originally Posted by Kappamd

Awwwww congratulations!

Originally Posted by lovespink88

Aw, how sweet!

Originally Posted by honeychile

Congratulations, littleowl!

Originally Posted by LucyKKG

Congrats (even though I already told you on FB)! What fraternity is he in? I feel like you've told me before, but I forgot.

Thanks everyone! He's a Sigma Chi.