That's not a good reason. As a Greek, I am offended by Greek members who choose to haze, and I do consider it my responsibility inform non-Greeks that it is a negative stereotype and like most stereotypes, only applies to a small few. I think your "we don't care" attitude regardless of whether hazing is real/dangerous is probably more harmful than good. Many say stupid stereotypes should just be ignored, but for something that is illegal and potentially harmful, I disagree. Just my humble opinion

I don't think that's what she's saying.

It's not up to us to scream "NO NO NO! Hazing doesn't happen! Come ooonnnn, we neeeeed more members!" There are plenty of people in GLOs, so it doesn't really matter if Susie PNM is swayed by the negative stereotypes. PNMs/aspirants should be researching and using common sense.

All we can do is represent our organizations in a positive light. Those who are serious about Greek life will be able to break through the clutter.

I'm sure there's some of the NPHC/NPC differences coming across, but I don't see answering these questions as begging for members or desperately trying to convince someone.

We corrected the misconception and encouraged her to a) think for herself and b) go through recruitment and find out. PNMs aren't held to the same expectations that aspirants are and 17-18 year-olds can need reassurance. Far better that we correct the misconceptions than allow them to continue.

What actions would you consider hazing that would "scare" you? Did you know that scavenger hunts are considered hazing? What about requiring a certain shade of nail polish for initiation? That's hazing too. Do those things scare you? I doubt it...but they are considered hazing. Yes, there have been some bad incidents - dangerous ones. But there are also these types of things that happen that shouldn't "scare" you but are demeaning inother ways. The NPC groups have come down hard on hazing - even the scavenger hunts and the nail polish. Odds are you won't run across even this.

I don't believe that NPC "begs" for members either -- I think it really comes down to the bolded. Our organizations have plenty of information about hazing (definitions, what to do if you suspect it, etc) and PNMs/aspirants have access to that information. They can choose to acknowledge that info or to ignore it.

If, after researching, an aspirant STILL doesn't want to pledge, so be it. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

Co-sign.

I think the point is that no matter how much we, or our orgs, point out that we don't allow hazing, it can happen. But I really don't see how any of this is 'begging' or lowering ourselves.

She can go through recruitment and see, but she can also be aware that if she's faced with a hazing situation she has the ability to say no and not be pressured into it.

I don't think the fact that our laws tell us not to haze coupled with the fact we have enough members in our GLO's is enough to not do anything else. In theory, this is accurate, but in practice, no.

This is something that's communicated to PNMs/aspirants. Anything beyond that would be stepping into "spoonfeeding" territory (IMHO).

To each his/her own. If you want to go beyond that, that's your call. But it isn't necessarily "wrong" to expect prospective members to form conclusions on their own.

I agree, I just didn't see how anything here was related to us begging for members.

"We aren't hurting for members" =/= "Begging for members" (in my eyes)

I think the point is that none of our GLOs will cease to exist if a handful of PNMs/aspirants don't form their own conclusions. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of others that are more than willing to come to us.

Yeah I just don't get where that relates per se. Again perhaps it's the NPHC/NPC difference. Not responding to this thread, or anyone else's comments, wouldn't hurt our numbers, but why not respond with accurate information? I don't get that attitude of not providing simple, accurate answers when someone asks in good faith. Even if nothing else, it's just good PR in this situation and correcting one person's view can spread to her friends or classmates.

*shrug*

ETA: I do understand why questions regarding membership in D9 or other orgs are redirected elsewhere, I think that's a different issue.

(Only dragging this on because I don't want to continue working lol)

It's because most of the questions have already been answered by our I/HQs. If an interest doesn't take the time to try to find information on his/her own, it makes it seem as if the person will be a member that requires spoonfeeding at every turn.

Again, to each his/her own. I'd prefer to represent my organization by fulfilling my duties as a member rather than schooling interests on things that they can easily find the answers to.

(Yeah I'm dodging the kitchen.) I can understand why someone comes to ask 'people' rather than read the websites. Particularly since hazing happens despite what our websites say, so asking "what really happens" is pretty legit, IMO, and not spoonfeeding info about our individual orgs.

I figure if I can spend an evening snarking someone I can spare some time to answer a question. Obviously no one should be expected to, because we come here for our own reasons.