What do you think about IHQ?
 

Ok, I love IHQ ( http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif ) and everything, but is it me or do they seem a little too strict and set in their ways? I know they want whats best but it seems alot of the regulations are old fashioned. I mean not all of us use paddles to haze. Its like a greek tradition to have them and we cant. All of ours that us eot be up in the house are hidden. I also think that it kind of stinks that we arent allowed to have formals on a boat or in some other city. I always heard about other frats and sororities doing this and it seems like itd be fun. What does everyone else think?

First things first...when revealing information about your chapter, please keep in mind that this is a public discussion board. Anyone has access to this site and can be informed of your chapter's actions without you knowing it. So, when posting info, remember that you never know who's watching...and DISCRETION is the key!

Second, up until I joined AGD I've never been good in dealing with authority. However, as I went through officer training and as I became informed of IHQ's policies, a lot of things made sense.

I think IHQ's policies are a reflection of our changing society. I actually appreciate the fact that they put our safety and well-being at the top of their priority list. In the past we've heard about accidents and deaths related to fraternities and sororities, so having events in unfamiliar and sometimes dangerous places is out of the question. It's just a risk that IHQ doesn't want to take, and I don't blame them for doing so. Believe it or not, many NPC sororities have adopted the same measures for their chapters. I've even heard of some NPC chapters going against their IHQ's rules about holding events with fraternities! This is something I never hope to hear about from an AGD chapter!

Though paddles may seem harmless, it DOES give reference to fraternity/sorority hazing. The society feeds on bad publicity for the Greeks, and many IHQs (not just ours) have made it clear that paddles are not to be associated with their GLOs.

Remember, just because it's tradition doesn't mean it's safe http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif.

Second on what OTW said. I am glad IHQ puts our safety as their top priority. Also, I've talked to people in other organizations, and some of their HQ's are not helpful to them at all. While at times, maybe IHQ can be difficult to deal with because of details, at least they WANT to know what's going on.
As far as not being able to have formals in other cities or on boats, I think it is a good idea. That would be a HUGE liability, and really, in my opinion, too expensive. If you want to go to formal out of town, go with a guy friend to his- I've done that, and as an officer, it's much more fun because I don't have to worry about things like risk forms, sisters who have had too much, or worrying about if everyone is safe in their individual hotel rooms. Too many variables to really ensure a safe evening for all, in my opinion.
I think that IHQ really does have our best interests at heart. We have to change with the times, or we won't be here at all. And the people who go behind IHQ's back won't be around for much longer, it won't take long before they are caught.
Just remember that everyone at IHQ was an undergrad at one time, and they like to have fun just as much as the next person. But, things have changed, and they have to protect the entire Fraternity, not just ensure that we can have fun at all times.
Just my opinion...

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"Keep your face towards the sun, but don't forget to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground."
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"The ties that bind me to my sisters are not bound around my wrists, but rather fastened to my heart."

uhhh just to let you know IHQ knows this about us. They are the ones who did it when they recolonized us. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Just wanted to add that the stuff isnt hidden, its just packed up and stored. But they still know.

My comments regarding discretion wasn't aimed solely to you, UMgirl. It's something that everyone (not only AlphaGams) should keep in mind when posting on GC.

I actually totally agree with UMGirl. As much as I love IHQ and I know they think they have our well being and the sororities well being at heart, I do think they are sometimes WAY too uptight and old fashioned. I think it's ridiculous that we can't have paddles and I don't even want any wood good other than a paddle, I plan on telling my sis-daughter to forget it and get me something that will mean something to me like a new bag w/letters or something custom made AGD. It's like the hazing thing, I don't care what IHQ says, sis-mom hunts and scavenger hunts aren't hazing!! I mean if you are scavenger hunting for a naked guy who will feed you shots and then have sex with you, ok but a plain old scavenger hunt is silly and so it the rule. I mean come on, it is 2001, not 1942! Sometimes it seems that, although they are really helpful and they do care, that they look at everything with this old fuddy duddy perspective. P.S> UMGirl, I like you, we should meet sometime!

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Katey, ZA chapter of AGD
"Could I have been anyone other than me?"-Dave Matthews

Maybe an update in their webpage is in order. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

First of all, I do agree that our IHQ is more helpful than most and that they care, however...

I don't know about everybody else's campus but at my campus almost all the other sororities do some kind of big/lil match up and things like gift week where they give their lil sisters clues to their identity. Now, I don't need a gift week to show my lil sis that I care, but I think things like this would be fun for new members. I am glad that IHQ is very concerned with our well being and I agree with their alcohol and risk management policies, but we ARE the strictest sorority where anti-hazing is concerned. Yes, this is good but I think it's getting to a point where anything you say or do is hazing!

And to bounce off of AlphaGam1019, I think we should have a "Sisters Only" section of our website like many other sororities do.

As far as the official website is concerned, it was my understanding that the new look was going to be unveiled this year. I'm not sure when, but I remember emailing them last year and I got a response that it would happen some time in 2001.

The Sisters-Only idea is a great one! I think there's going to be a page on the site that'll give officers the opportunity to get some chapter documents online. Once all the renovation's done IHQ mentioned that officers would also then be able to send their reports online instead of the old fashioned way.

Perhaps it's something to be discussed at Convention?

ohhh, EC reports online??!! How great would that be?? So much easier, not to mention more environmentally friendly!

OTW, that's cool about the the website!

SUIAGD, I totally understand where you are coming from! Especially the part about not telling new girls and they won't notice the difference.

I guess what agrivates me is that it doesn't seem like IHQ puts forth the same guidlines for each chapter in certain cases. For example: Our chapter was told that we cannot do date auctions or pledgemaster kidnappings etc, but at IRD other chapters told me that they have done them and IHQ didn't have a problem with it. What's up with that?

Bunches of thoughts running through my head:
Okay about the website, Kelly Berry, an LC told me that it will be done next year and that we will be able to submit our EC reports and other reports online. How awesome is that, but it is going to be awhile.

I agree that I think IHQ is a little too strict. Someone said something about 100% of that chapters not following the rules, or treating an event properly. Does that happen now? NO! Trust me on this one.
For instance, some chapters all get together before dances and everyone drinks alcoholic beverages (inlcuding members that aren't 21). That is breaking risk management right there, but they do it anyway, knowing that fully. Some chapters have bid day parties with fraternitites, some chapters put new members in fraternity pageants that they are really scared about being in (I know of an incident where a fraternity was having a pledge/active pageant and the active got the pledge plastered before hand and she puked on stage then was reprimanded by EC). I mean really anything, and I do mean ANYTHING can be changed into something awful. I wanted so badly to have newly initiated (not new members) do a scavenger hunt last year, but we couldn't. My chapter still gives paddles. I have four- on from my little sister, one from my big brother, one from my 21st birthday and one from my sis dot. I hang them in my room proudly. They represent something different about Greeks- not just AGD, but ALL GREEKS! What other orgs give paddles to each other? None. Although some of the older members maybe think they are associated with getting paddles as fraternities used to do, did any of you? I know I didn't. I didn't think that at all when I first met women in sororities. I thought they were just gifts until an LC pointed that out. And why did I think that? Because Greek Orgs in general don't use them that way. We were asked not to hang them in the house or give them to eack other, but they are a very old tradition that everyone loves, so why take that away from them? Sorry, new ladies, you don't get a paddle although we all have them because some people think it may be a reference to a 1940's hazing ritual in which new members (then called pledges) were paddled with them.

Sorry that is my 2 cents worth. I just think sometimes we could use some TRUST! We are ADULTS, so please treat us as such. Until I, or my chapter, does something that hurts our chapter IN ANYWAY- please allow us to continue as no one is hurt, emotionally or physically and we are happier, knowing that IHQ trusts us enough to do these things and be responsible.

LIEP
Sarah

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"...and love her for her womanhood."

Katey I wll be in A2 (Ann Arbor) until next Thursday. After that I am going back home to NY cuz i graduated. But it would be awesome if we oculd get together. I plan to come visit and intrude on my chapter alot http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif Leslie same for you. I havent seen you since IRD.

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"Its Great To Be A Mich-igan AGD! :)"

Tonya, I know! It's been too long! I have a story for you...I will e-mail you!

I could not agree with ilovemyglo more. We aren't little kids, we are adults and should be treated as such. It's like when parents are really strict on their children and the children not only don't learn anything that is going to stick, they don't listen to the parents and begin to resent the things they do, good and bad. I have heard of that sort of thing happen with IHQ in the past, where a chapter just gets fed up with so many ridiculous rules, so they stop telling IHQ things IHQ doesn't want to hear and sneak around behind their back. Sound like any friends you knew back in HS? It does to me. I also completely agree with the paddles, I mean really how many ppl see paddles and think "gee 60 yrs ago, greeks used to use those!" Nobody that I know. They are a piece of history that nobody uses to paddle anyone anymore and they sit on our walls and look nice and make us happy that we have something special to being greek, like a paddle. I am also more that a little annoyed that it is taken IHQ so long to update the website. I am really happy that it is being done, but a lot of it is not that hard to quickly update. There is no reason it should take 2 years to do from start to finish and there is no reason they can't update as they go and make these little rennovations as they go. I needed a number for someone specific at IHQ b/c I needed to deal with a specific issue and it wasn't even on there. Now that is something you can fix. Sorry, I am tired and crabby. UMGirl, I was 1/2 tempted to stop by today b/c I had like 3 hours free and I was already down in A2 for work, but I didn't know if you would be home. I'll try to stop by sometime this week tho!

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Katey, ZA chapter of AGD
"Could I have been anyone other than me?"-Dave Matthews

Okay, I know you guys are gonna hate me for this post. Scavenger hunts as a sisterhood may seem like a good idea. And while I have NO DOUBT that chapters like all of ours would handle them in a lady like way, how can we ensure that 100% of Alpha Gam chapters would? We can't. And that is why we can't have them. Somewhere along they way, some chapter messed it up for everyone.
And really, I'm sure other HQ's are just as strict on policies, but how would the 'average' undergrad know if the other chapters on campus didn't follow the rules? I can say that other chapters on our campus don't even follow school policy, so how can we know what is really their HQ policy?
Also, I believe(and I might be wrong, so don't quote me), that you may be able to do scavenger hunts INSIDE your house if your chapter wishes. And, I'm assumming that you girls would be clean and tasteful. Call IHQ, they might be willing to work with you a little more than you think. You might have to send in the clues or have an advisor present, but if you're not doing anything wrong, that shouldn't matter.
Also though, try to understand what it's like on their side-they are sisters too. They've got 98% of chapters who follow the rules, do what they're supposed to do. But then you have that scary two percent, who are the biggest legal liability ever imagined. Being on the other side makes you look at it differently. They probably think that we may be missing out on things too, but they have to look at it in a different way. It's like being EC or President, you look at things differently.
My chapter has been in trouble before with IHQ. And we worked are asses off to get ourselves back on track. This year, during I-Week, we, as an EC, decided to do away with something that had become "tradtion", with the rationalization that it had only been done for three years, and that it was unneeded and did not show our true spirit of Alpha Gam. People were pissed, but they only saw one side. We saw if from a liability issue. So we didn't do it, and people afterward came up to me and said, 'you know I'm glad we didn't do that. The evening went so much better. The girls going through never even knew that something was different.' If you don't tell younger girls that we can't have paddles, but we used to, they'll never know the difference.
Personally(and I told some of my sisters this when our issue came up), I would rather leave our charter up on our wall, than to let IHQ have it for a stupid mistake we could have prevented.
Once again, my opinion...

Just one little piece of info -

Two years ago at Convention, the IVP-Collegians sat down with a group of women and asked for their feedback on pledge programs and what was working in reality for our chapters and what was not. They DO care and they DO see our side of things. It's a huge, beaurcratic (sp?) organization and, unfortunatly, changes are slow coming. But they do get input from people who say the very same things you guys are saying...I know, because I said them! And they listened (and were understanding, believe it or not) and DIDN'T change our pledge program to include New Members in chapter meetings (I don't know if you guys knew about this, they tried it with a few chapters back around '98). Anyway, I had those same feelings that you do. I wanted to make things better...and to do that, it's easier to accomplish working WITH your organization rather than against it. I know it's hard and frustrating to be in your position. Just keep in mind that there are many people working hard to make things better for AGD's everywhere. And some of them actually feel the same way you do! But IHQ and the VST as a whole have to make decisions that are for the good of the whole - even if we don't understand why now.
Anyway, I just thought I'd give my 2 cents. :-)

Loyally,
Jenny

In regards to the website...can we please get a famous alum section!!!

I second that. I hear all this talk about "so and so's an AGD"...but you never really know for sure. So far, Chantal's Zeta Chi site has a good list...but it'd be great if we could get a good confirmation from IHQ!

I agree! I visited some HQs websites and was really impressed by them! I can't wait to see what our new one will look like. I'm sure it will be competitive with the others we've seen.

Jenny