Ever since society allowed young people to see one another in a romantic setting, dating formalities have existed from gentlemen callers to today's less formal art of "hooking up."

Somewhere in between lie two levels of commitment familiar only to Greeks -- lavaliering and pinning.

Lavaliering is a Greek tradition born out of various dating rituals going back to a pre-Penn State era. An actual lavaliere is a necklace with the fraternity's letters on it.

The level of commitment varies from fraternity to fraternity and school to school. Some fraternities don't recognize lavaliering, and others don't allow members to pin the women they date.

But if a fraternity allows members to lavaliere their partners, it adds a more concrete commitment to the relationship than what existed in the past, said Rick Funk, Greek Life coordinator.

Some people say lavaliering commits the couple to a monogomous dating situation, while others view it as more of a pre-engagement.

That's how Kevin Coppins (senior-marketing) thought of it when he lavaliered his partner of about eight months during the winter semester break.

"We're were pretty serious, and I needed a good Christmas present . . . And I thought (the lavaliere) would show her how I felt," said Coppins, former president of Kappa Sigma fraternity, 255 Highland Ave.

Coppins' girlfriend, Krista Koshuta (senior-hotel, restaurant and institutional management) said she expected to be lavaliered, but not during Christmas. The couple became engaged last week.

"(The lavaliere) was basically a pre-engagement to me and her. We kind of skipped the pinning stage," Coppins said.

Koshuta said she expected to get engaged during the summer since the couple had planned to move to New Orleans together after graduation. Coppins said the engagement completely took her by surprise and she agreed.

"I couldn't open the box, I tried to open it backwards and upside down . . . And when he asked me to marry him, I said no. But it was just nervousness," she said.

Coppins asked Koshuta to marry her a second time. After laughing and then crying, she put the ring on the wrong hand --and said yes.

Although Coppins and Koshuta have a happy ending, other couples aren't as lucky.

"They always say it's the curse of the lavaliere . . . and I can speak from experience," said Kimberly Harris -- Panhellenic Council secretary and member of Delta Zeta sorority, 3 Hastings --who recently broke up with the man who lavaliered her almost a year ago.

Unlike Koshuta, who is an independent, Harris' sorority performed a ritualistic "candlelight" ceremony when her boyfriend lavaliered her. Harris told one other woman in the sorority that she had been lavaliered.

Traditionally, none of the sorority members other than the president or someone in charge of rituals knows about the lavaliering, pinning or engagement. And the ceremony serves to let the rest of the women know.

Usually, about 100 sorority women gather inside a dark meeting room after their weekly chapter meeting. They light a candle, gather in a circle and sing traditional sorority songs.

The candle is passed once around the circle for luck, and then a second time -- the deciding factor. Deciding because the final pass stops at the woman who was lavaliered.

The rest of the women don't know her identity until the candle stops and she blows it out -- then flowers and cheers fill the room.

But the ritualistic ceremony that follows for fraternity men varies greatly from sororities.

Traditionally, many fraternity members "pole" the man who has lavaliered, pinned or engaged his partner. Reasons for poling vary from fraternity to fraternity as does the ritual behind it.

Sometimes the men are tied to a pole, naked or clad only in underwear, and members throw various foods at them. An incident similar to that happened last week at Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, 409 E. Fairmount Ave.