Pledge Manual, Public or Private?
 

Is the Pledge Manual for your GLO public or private?

For Alpha Phi Omega, it's public, to the point where the PDF of the pledge manual is available in the Publication and Forms section of the National website.

In the years before the National website, I ran into a few APO brothers who were horrified that the fraternity included a pledge manual in the packet that we sent to school administrators about the Fraternity...

public, nothing but general info with cool house pictures

Ours is public. I'm not sure I've ever heard of any group with a private one. These days, lots of groups have their pledge manuals online.

Ours is private. Many of the newer organizations tend to keep theirs private.

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

I know that with LGLOs, there's a LOT of overlap and instances of founderitis. If policies and manuals were available online, I think that we would have even more organizations being formed.

98% sure its private. I've searched our "deltas only" site and its not there so. Its part of our ritual book.

The materials given to men participating in the APhiA intake process are not available publicly.

They are not esoteric, just not necessary until you reach that point.

I guess our pledge manual is our "Bonds of Sisterhood" book. It's public!

ETA: I would have thought that most pledge manuals would be public too, just because you don't want to give something out that may contain private information to non-initiated members who still have the opportunity to depledge.

Most of the information in the Tablet can be found on the website and I know the Tablet itself is considered public knowledge.

Delta Zeta, right?

I know lots of groups wouldn't call it a "pledge" manual. I figure that naraht knew we would all know what he meant, and it's easier than "pledge/new member/probationary member/associate member/candidate/whatever-else-you-might-call-them manual." (Although these days, I think many groups just refer to them as "member handbooks" or the like.)

The sad thing is that I can *almost* see some fraternity or sorority calling them "whatever-else-you-might-call-them". :(

"Hey you"?

It brings to mind this thread: What do you call your pledges?

Our materials are private, too.

moe.ron already answered for our org.

And when my roommate was pledging Sigma Pi, he has a binder full of private info and a black book (which I guess was the pledge manual?) that didn't contain private info, but they weren't supposed to let other people get it.

That founderitis comment is so true knight_shadow, lol. I wonder how high that number would be if more information would've been readily available? (But that's a completely different convo in and of itself.)

Back to the question at hand; our manual is not for the general public.

Ours is the same as a lot, mostly public information that could be found on the website.

However, I was wondering if anyone's campus' have a tradition of rival chapter's pledges trying to steal each others manuals? A friend of mine is an RA at another university, and he told me that he broke up a fight of my fraternity's AMs and another group's that broke out over them trying to get each others manuals.

Ohhhh yeah. More between the fraternities than the sororities. No one starts fights but the pledges usually get in trouble.