Big sister/little sister reveal week is a very busy week for Tulane University National Panhellenic Conference sororities. The period is often filled with anonymous messages and gifts from “bigs” to their “littles” while the excitement builds for the ultimate reveal.

One practice for surprising littles, however, will not be around for the next round of littles. Starting the next academic year, bed decorations for new littles will be prohibited across all Tulane sorority chapters.

According to Liz Schafer, the director of fraternity and sorority programs, the practice of bed decorating caused a lot of disruptions for Housing and Residence Life.

“Sorority members were taxing the resources of the Housing and Residence Life staff who had to provide access to the rooms of little sisters,” Schafer said. “This proved to be a security and logistical challenge, that required staff to ensure that both the residents and visiting students, who would come at various and multiple times during the day and night, were, in fact, members of the sorority.”

Last year, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Programs collaborated with sorority presidents to reduce the number of days allowed to decorate beds from one week to two days. This year, only one day was allowed leading to next year prohibition of the practice altogether. In addition to the alleviating stress on the HRL staff, Schafer says it also reduces the amount of money spent on little sisters.

Many students, like Tulane senior and Phi Mu member Cece Alder, believe the new policy is a difficult but necessary change.

“Greek life is already so financially prohibitive, and even once you’ve paid thousands of dollars of dues it can feel like decorating your little’s bed in the most extravagant way possible is an implicit requirement,” Alder said. “At a school like Tulane it’s so easy to get caught up in a culture of wealth that is so unlike the world that most Americans live in, and if Greek Life is genuinely committed to creating a more inclusive environment then this needs to happen.”

For more information about Tulane Greek Life, visit greek.tulane.edu.