On Saturday, March 23rd sorority Alpha Phi at Cortland will celebrate their annual ‘Big Little’ event.
In sororities across the world, there are sisterly bonds formed all the time. But in each sorority, there is one step further in making bonds and that is the relationship of a family line. When a new member is initiated into the sorority, they then go through Big Little week.
This is when an older girl goes on ‘ivy dates’ with the new members. Ivy dates mean the first date that they go on for the week; it could be going out to lunch or just getting coffee at Corey Union. On these dates, they can see if they get along with the person they are on a date with and would be a good match for Big-Little.
A family or ‘fam’ line is a term used in sororities to show the relationship with each member. It starts from the G Big, which means Grandma, the Big, and the Little. It can also go all the way up to GGG Big, but we don’t really follow it that far. After the dates all happen, the new member educators send out a ranking list. This is for the new girls to rank who they liked the most when they went on these dates. When I was a Little and went on these dates, I was so nervous. I didn’t really know these girls, and I had to sit with them and talk about my life, but the girls made it so easy and made me feel at home already.
After the rankings, it is announced to the Bigs who their Littles will be. The Bigs then have to start making baskets for their Littles. These baskets include their favorite snacks and Alpha Phi merch that we have that gets passed down for this specific event. Going shopping and making these baskets is the best time. I went with all my best friends, which made it so much easier to get done. We took many trips to Syracuse and Ithaca, which was such a fun experience.
My Big left me 2 whole buckets worth of clothes to pass down when I get a Little, so I was able to give my girls a bunch of merch. I remember the first time I got all my merch and how excited I was to finally have merch to wear; the week after Big-Little, I wore all merch already. For Big-Little, we have to make 3 baskets for our Littles. Since this Spring, we have taken more girls, and a lot of people got to take twins. I was one of the people that took twins, so I made 6 baskets. I was very happy to have twins because it was just me left here out of my fam line because my Big and G Big both graduated. Now my fam is bigger than ever, and I could not be happier to have two Littles.
Throughout the Big-Little week, we give these baskets to our Littles through surprises. We make sure they do not know who their Big is until the reveal. We give them “hints” to throw them off. We text them off of a fake text app and tell them to answer 2 truths and a lie; usually, we just give all lies. At the end of the week, we have the reveal. Last year when I found out who my Big was, I had to unwrap her out of wrapping paper. This year we still have not come up with what we are going to do for the reveal, but I hope it’s fun. Getting my Big was the best thing when I joined Alpha Phi; I’m hoping to give my Littles that same experience.
Big-Little week is one of the most stressful weeks, but it always ends up being so much fun. I remember when I found out who my fam was, I was so excited and could not wait to have girls who felt like family. Even if girls do not get who they want, they still end up being so close to them. My Big Jess, who graduated, says “Having you as my Little was the best part of my college experience.” Having a Big was one of the best things that could have happened to me in Alpha Phi, and I couldn’t be happier to have someone like Jess that I get to call my best friend and feels like family.