Theta! How Can I Resist Ya?
Sorority life at Tufts is not like sorority life that you see in the South on TikTok. We don’t have any chants or cheers, and only a small percentage…
BIG Fun: Kappa Alpha Theta Style
Last week was probably the most exciting week of my college experience so far. For those of you who religiously follow my blog (Hi, Mom!), you may remember that I rushed Kappa Alpha Theta (Theta for short) a few weeks ago. Last week was I-Week, the week leading up to Initiation. I-Week is also big/little week. What is a big/little? A “big” is an older girl, usually a junior, who gets paired with a “little,” a new member, who is usually a sophomore. In Theta, the bigs find out their littles one week before I-Week begins, and they have the whole week to prepare and make/buy fun gifts for their littles. Then, during I-Week, the bigs leave gifts for their littles, and the littles can try to guess who their big is.
On Sunday night, my big made an anonymous instagram account called “no_dilemma_i_got_emma.” Most of the bigs made accounts like these, with rhyming usernames that played on their little’s names. Then the bigs posted to let us know when our gifts were on the Theta house porch. They also dmed us to ask questions. For example, my one friend really loves Chick-fil-A, so her big dmed her to ask what her order is, and then she bought her Chick-fil-A. Also on Sunday, my friends and I made a group chat to try to figure out who our bigs were. On that first day, our only clues were from the way our bigs texted us/wrote their posts. Mine used “u” instead of “you,” and “ur” instead of “your,” so I was able to compare that to my texts from the juniors to narrow it down.
On Monday, I went to the Theta porch to collect my gifts. (You can see the table full of gifts above!) My bag contained three canvas paintings, two Theta shirts, and some candy. There was also a sweet handwritten note, but I didn't recognize the handwriting, so that didn’t clue me in. That night though, I happened to dm one of my junior Theta friends, Hannah. I had also dmed my big to thank her for the gifts, and that is when I realized that my big’s fake account and Hannah’s account were always active at the same time. Therefore, I knew that Hannah was my big!
On Tuesday, I got even more canvases, shirts, and candy, and along with them, more clues. My gifts came in a Hillel bag, and Hannah works at Hillel. That reinforced my belief that she must be my big. I also started leaving Hannah gifts on the porch too, to thank her for the work she was putting in to making my week special.
On Wednesday, Hannah and I got lunch together, and I had to work really hard not to let her know that I knew. (It felt like that episode of Friends when Monica and Chandler start dating, and they do the whole “they don’t know that we know they know” thing.) Hannah and I made it through the whole time without discussing big/little week. I also got even more canvases, shirts, and candy, and Hannah even walked to a French bakery to get me a pain au chocolat. Funny enough, my friend saw that Hannah went to the bakery, so she told me Hannah was my big, which was, of course, two days too late for detective Emma (can I call myself that?).
On Thursday, I planned to give Hannah hot chocolate, which I owed her, to let her know that I knew. She was thinking along the same lines, because she gave me hot chocolate socks, which she acknowledged in her card was a dead giveaway. I also got more canvases, t-shirts, candy, and a Theta pendant, which is now proudly hanging over my minifridge.
Friday was the big/little reveal, so all of the littles were instructed to go to Olin, the language building, at 7:15 pm. We were all assigned rooms with about two other pairs of bigs and littles. We entered the rooms at the same time, and found our big, who was wrapped in wrapping paper. Then, we tore off the wrapping paper, and viola, our big was revealed! While mine was no surprise, it was super exciting. I also got to meet my grandbig, Hannah’s big, which was very exciting! We took many pictures, and then we went to J.P Licks, a local ice cream shop, for some hot chocolate.
On Sunday, I got initiated, and I am now an official member of Theta. Like I said in my previous blog, I did not always intend to rush, and in fact, I specifically looked for a school where Greek life did not play a big role in the social scene. I think that Greek life sometimes gets a bad reputation, which made me hesitant to rush; nevertheless, I am really glad that I did, and my experience so far has been positive.
My Emma’s Advice for today is to keep an open mind—there is a pretty strong “Abolish Greek Life at Tufts” movement that stemmed from some problems with certain frats and sororities before my time here. Those organizations have been kicked off campus, or forced to reevaluate their systems, so all of the Greek life at Tufts is gender inclusive, financially feasible, and anti-hazing. Additionally, I did my research and I knew that Theta was one of the only sororities that did not get in trouble with Tufts when some other sororities did. There are also a lot of really good components to sororities, like philanthropy, academic mentoring, and discussions for social good, that get overshadowed by negative portrayals. If I had listened to the bad reputations that were formed a few years ago, I would have never joined Theta, but by keeping an open mind, I was able to join a family with my big and grandbig, and make new friendships that will last a lifetime.