If by "robed" you mean a position that has to do with ritual, then yes, you are correct. No new member could hold such a position as they have not yet been exposed to the ritual.

Oh okay. But the thing is, for some of us at least, that would include the exec board.

I should have just said that. If you have pledges on your exec, save everyone the trouble and just go and ahead and mail in your charter.

I think when you are a member of a small chapter (as opposed to a chapter of 200) you have to roll with the numbers. When low membership occurs it can be a huge relief to get the work more evenly divided. I know AST has had chapters whose numbers were quite small and they've made a fabulous recovery, a key part was the willingness of new members to get involved very early.

I think situation and the person in the position are what makes or brakes it.

:)
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That is an unqualified statement. Would you care to elaborate?

Everyone's exec board is different. And they've changed over the years. Some positions that used to be on our exec board no longer are, and vice versa.

No not really, but since you seem interested:

Basically, if you need pledges to be on exec board, you have more problems than you can fix and that's like admitting you need someone out side of your chapter to help you. Basically, you need them more than they need you, and that's not good. Things should have never gotten that bad, and if pledges were lead to believe things were actually ok, and built up like "you can even be president" then that's wrong. NOt only wrong for lying but wrong for making the new guys do all the work to save the chapter and then since they are the last exec board, you can blame them and not yourself. Having pledges on exec board is a cop out. If there is only one active brother, then that brother is president, and every other person on exec board, even if has 50 pledges. I doubt one guy would be able to reruit 50 by himself but this is just a for instance.

Plus, its not fair to the actives that have been there longer.

Plus, even if you're upfront with why you need pledges on the exec board to the pledges, its not really fair to have them join a dying brotherhood. ONe that could be rebuilt is one thing, but seriously, as much BS as there is with IHQ or whatever, if you ever needed their help, its when you had to have pledges on exec board. That's horrible.

Not to mention, most exec board positions have ritual duties beyond just being secretary or whatever.

Seriously, if you don't have enough brothers to initatte the pledges, then you shouldn't even have taken a pledge class, you should have spent that semester re-organizing yourself.

I don't know if this is the way it is for Phi Mu everywhere, but in our chapter, we get our new pledge class in January. The next chapter meeting is informal, so the pledges can come, but the next one is formal and that is when elections for 6 of our exec 9 posistions (Pres, VP, secretary, Treasurer, Membership Director, New Member Director) are held. The new members don't come to that meeting, so it would be impossible for them to run. The other three posistions (Panhel Delegate and 2 rotating Panhel posistions) are voted for in November, so theoretically someone who had been initiated just the semester before could be elected to one of those posistions. We install the pres, vp, secretary, treasurer, membership, and new member at the first meeting after the Phis are initiated, and then shortly thereafter, they can apply to be on Jr. Exec (posistions like philanthropy, family involvement, alumni relations, community service, intramurals, campus activities, pr, etc)
It works out well for us.

This wouldn't happen in my sorority simply because of how our quarters are set up. Pledges are initiated right before spring break (end of winter quarter). Officer elections are held in the middle/endish of Spring quarter...they've allready been active for some time before then. We have New Members (girls in their first year of initiation) as exec members, and I think they're going to do a wonderful job, they've allready taken huge initiative.