Eight Brothers Walk Into a Bar…

What a question…I mean, it’s so hard to answer that!

Some chapters don’t ever wear them except to the dressiest of events, because CofAs are supposed to be more formal than, say, recognition bars (nevermind the crown pearl badges, which are more formal still).

Some chapters wear their active pins to EVERYTHING (anyone remember the “S’s” that were the definite times NOT wear your pin? Suds, Sleeping, Sex, Swimming…I’m forgetting at least one…)

That’s a fairly strict standard! And what happens to you if (God forbid!) the back comes off and you lose your pin? Are you punished until the new one arrives? Or do you have to beg the chapter to loan you one until it gets there? draw it on your forehead?

In a lot of ways, I prefer the shirts, keychains, hats, etc for informal occasions. Much easier for band members to see and recognize, compared to an itty bitty pin (or even the newer, bigger, color pins – that are not the CofA, but I cannot recall what they’re officially called, and am currently too lazy to look up the national jewelry site and find out, since I’m not a great fan of those pins)

I personally don’t like the negative reinforcement idea for pins, but I hail from a chapter that wasn’t particularly caught up on them. People in the various bands knew who was in KKPsi and who wasn’t – and we usually didn’t NEED our letters or other paraphenalia to prove it.

I think maybe therein lies the solution for your family member…it could be as simple as a “KK – PSSSIIII!” after a rehearsal, or name tags for brothers during things like band camp, or matching chapter shirts at the last rehearsal before a performance – something that shows solidarity of purpose.

After all, what, exactly, are they wearing the pins FOR?

That, I think, needs to be the *real* question. The pins are a symbol of who and what we are. But in the grand scheme of things, we shouldn’t *need* to wear them to know that.

Regarding old pins (and please forgive my mild tangent) – the OLDEST life pins actually had your life # stamped into them. I vaguely recall hearing that at one point, CofAs might have been the same way, but I’ve never seen one that was old enough, to check for myself