GreekChat.com Forums

GreekChat.com Forums (https://greekchat.com/gcforums/index.php)
-   Greek Life (https://greekchat.com/gcforums/forumdisplay.php?f=24)
-   -   Good VS Bad New Member Activity Ideas (https://greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=57781)

adpiucf 10-04-2004 04:11 PM

Good VS Bad New Member Activity Ideas
 
Inspired by a recent thread, I invite all sorority women to add their ideas onto this thread regarding good ideas for new member programs versus bad ideas you should avoid. I'll ask the guys to refrain from posting, as fraternities have a different view on new member education than sororities.

Thanks!

GOOD IDEAS
- Song Camp (initiated members come into new member each week to teach a new song)
- New Member Awards (each week, new members are nominated for simple spirit awards, putting a face to the name for the older sisters!)
- Getting all new member education planning and activities approved in writing by exec board and your national office.
- New Member Mailboxes (using a manila envelope, a recent photo and collage materials, the new members create a special "mailbox" that is hung in the chapter room. Members contribute notes each week and the new member checks her mailbox for these small inspirations!)
- Treat them like peers, not like cattle and not like 5 year olds. They are adults. So are you. Act like one.



BAD IDEAS
- Blindfolding or enforced silence
- Keeping dates of initiation or activities secret
- Calling new members in the middle of the night or forcing them to wear special attire that the other initiated members are not required to wear (obviously, new members wear a new member pin; initiated members have an initiated member badge. I'm more talking about requiring them to constantly wear their hair in a bow and wear all pink for a week, etc.)
ETA: Anything that could even be construed as a scavenger hunt, as it against NPC policy. (Yes, we used to be able to do them, but too many abused the privilige with sadistic motives and now, scavenger hunts or anything that looks like a scavenger hunt are not allowed in the national sororities).
Other ideas?

WCUgirl 10-04-2004 04:15 PM

Re: Good VS Bad New Member Activity Ideas
 
Quote:

Originally posted by adpiucf
New Member Mailboxes (using a manila envelope, a recent photo and collage materials, the new members create a special "mailbox" that is hung in the chapter room. Members contribute notes each week and the new member checks her mailbox for these small inspirations!)
Along these lines, at my alma mater we had "sister pockets" and "new member pockets." The sister pockets were a large quilt that we hung on the wall that had a pocket w/ a nametag for each sister. Inside these pockets we'd put candy, notes, important information, etc. The new member pockets were a smaller version of the sister pockets, but it was made from the same material. They were hung in their own corner so the new members had someplace of their own where they could go.

Unregistered- 10-04-2004 04:19 PM

Good
We had "secret sisters" in addition to our Sis-Moms. These secret sisters were responsible for sending good thoughts to the NMs via cards, poems, or notes during the NM period. For Initiation Day she was the one who made the keepsake box for the new initiate.

Bad
First of all, calling them pledges. I was a pledge as it was called "pledge" then, but it's not the same anymore. ;)

Requiring the NMs to address the initiated sisters by something other than her given name and being forced to address initiated members in a certain way should you come in contact with them. (for example, you see Suzy Sister across campus and you run up to her and you're required to greet her "Good morning, Miss Suzy Sister you're looking beautiful today") -- I see this done all the time

kappaloo 10-04-2004 04:38 PM

Good - NM Sleepovers!
- NM Surprise box - if it's tradition for all the NM to spend the night together before initiation - send them a surprise box! Fill it with goodies, letters, bracelets - anything. Then, at an appropriate time during night - have a group of sisters send it over. This is actually a lot of fun for both sides - the initated sisters get to create the box and the NM get to receive it.

PhoenixAzul 10-04-2004 04:41 PM

see, those things like wearing a specific shirt or a specific color on a certain day are things that initiates do anyways, so why not the pledges? We call them Pledges because we use the term "new members" to refer to first year actives. I think the difference in my GLO is that we CANNOT wear letters at any point during pledge period, unless it is pledge/active switch day, where you become "Active" for 1 day, get to give your big pledge duties and what have you, so earning the right to wear our letters is a HUGE deal, and we differentiate that. I think that some of the "duties" or activities are mostly just eccentric. They don't have any mean intention behind it, it's meant to be something that's fun. It's also, to me at least, demonstrates what our sorority means...it means that you will never be ashamed to tell the world that you are a Delta girl. (not tri delt, tau delta...we're the Deltas here, or Delta Kittens). Most of the switch day activities with fraternities are meant to be funny...like make them write a children's book with illustrations and it must include certain words or phrases. One fraternity switch day active made me ask tthei pledes for information and ask their adviser things too. It was like a scavenger hunt, very fun and I got to talk to a lot of the guys that I had never met before.

Bad Ideas:
-VERY inappropriate pledge names.
=alcohol as a pledge duty (this should be a no brainer, but some people need to be told outright)
-Unrealistic requirements. Don't make your pledges memorize the room and cell phone numbers, room address, hometown and major for every active and pledge, especially if you have 100 girls in your house. That's just not right, it's unrealistic. Plus, these girls already have so much stuff to study!
-Anything involving girls crossing their own personal moral lines (ie, unchristian if they are religious, forcing Jewish girls to do things on Shabbat, asking muslim women to remove their headscarves), that's just not right. Their moral identity is a huge part of who they are, and you accepted the whole member, so respect that.

Good Ideas:
- make certain distinctions, IE the "smartypants" award, if someone got an A that week, or the "Princess" award if someone went above and beyond for a sister that week...etc etc. Recognize these girls at chapter! Give them a sucker or something
- Random little notes and things. I saved all of mine from pledge and put them in my scrapbook!

kddani 10-04-2004 04:45 PM

bad:

using the phrase "Making" as in making them (the NMs) do something

Unregistered- 10-04-2004 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PhoenixAzul
It was like a scavenger hunt.
Scavenger hunts are considered risk management liabilities waiting to happen, and when IHQ found out that my chapter did them years ago, let's just say they were NOT pleased.

But that's the difference between locals and NPCs. What's okay for one group may not be the same way for the other.

PhoenixAzul 10-04-2004 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by OohTeenyWahine
Scavenger hunts are considered risk management liabilities waiting to happen, and when IHQ found out that my chapter did them years ago, let's just say they were NOT pleased.

But that's the difference between locals and NPCs. What's okay for one group may not be the same way for the other.

are you serious? Wow. It was just like...."find out why they call so and so this nickname and then find nickname", or "ask Joe Brother what this means". It was more of an introduction game.

IowaStatePhiPsi 10-04-2004 05:05 PM

I think 'scavenger hunt' by OohTeenyWahine was meant along the lines of traveling all over campus and town to find/purchase/steal items.

Unregistered- 10-04-2004 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PhoenixAzul
are you serious? Wow. It was just like...."find out why they call so and so this nickname and then find nickname", or "ask Joe Brother what this means". It was more of an introduction game.
Though I only know the official standpoint of my IHQ regarding scavenger hunts, I can only imagine that many of the other NPC orgs share the same views.

aephi alum 10-04-2004 05:48 PM

There are some great "good ideas" here - as well as some bad "bad ideas".

Another good idea: Participating in your own or other GLOs' charity fundraisers as a new member class. One sorority at my school did a lip sync contest every year, and another did Late Night; there was a third sorority that always entered two acts, a sister act and a NM act. Putting together an act was a great way for the NM class to bond.

A related bad idea: Actives telling the NMs that they WILL put together an act and that all NMs must participate or else!

tunatartare 10-04-2004 06:00 PM

Regarding scavenger hunts: I was under the impression from my school's Greek Life Office that they are only hazing if they are held off campus and didn't pertain to the GLO's history. If this weren't the case, then how come it would be ok to have scavenger hunts during Greek Week.

PhoenixAzul 10-04-2004 06:45 PM

I love scavenger hunts. They're super fun. I know a couple chapters do mixers of them...where bigs/littles from a fraternity and sorority are paired up (so teams of 4) and you have to do things like....take a picture with a Food Service staff, find out which house used to belong to ATO, take a picture of all 4 standing on the spirit rock, get your picture taken with the dog walking lady, use your body to spell out your greek letters, take a picture with Captain Crosswalk, find the greek collage in the library, etc etc, just randomness.

33girl 10-04-2004 06:51 PM

I don't believe in calling them New Members. It is misleading. Members are those who are initiated. Pledge is only hazing if it's used in a derogatory manner, and you can just as easily use any other term that way.

Good - activities that help the pledges get to know the sisters as individuals, like interviews or coke dates. Learning the history of the national and the chapter, not under duress - the sisters should show this is important to them so the NMs think it is important to them as well.

Bad - a program consisting of nothing but group activities that never allow pledges and sisters to spend one on one time. Forsaking teaching any history or other important info (like officer duties) for fear that it's hazing.

FSUZeta 10-04-2004 09:08 PM

good v. bad
 
bad-allowing new members to attend chapter. if someone needs to air dirty laundry, they can't do it because it could upset the new members(read harriet saying to ozzie, not in front of the children), so things just keep festering week after week instead of getting resolved.

having get to know you games between new members and members considered hazing. in my day, we pledges had to get each sister to sign the back of a wooden crown that our big sister would later take away and decorate as an initiation gift for us. we got to know every sister in and out of the house on a personal level, and all we ever had to do was go talk to them a little and ask them to sign our crown. there was nothing mean or derogatory about it. it is now considered hazing because the new members would be doing this and the sisters would not be also having crowns signed, as they already had done this when they were new members. political correctness sure does take the fun out of a lot of things.

tunatartare 10-04-2004 10:14 PM

Re: good v. bad
 
Quote:

Originally posted by FSUZeta
political correctness sure does take the fun out of a lot of things.
I agree

AGDee 10-04-2004 10:36 PM

Many of the things that ya'll have mentioned that are now considered hazing, but were once fun, have become hazing because some didn't keep it fun, and turned it into harassment. Some of them wrecked it for the rest. It's a shame, but it's what happened. As for having NMs attend chapter meetings, I think dirty laundry can be shared in front of NMs because they need to know what they're getting themselves into. Going along, thinking sorority life is a Cindarella story, then finding out, after initiation, that everything isn't rosy leads to a lot of disillusionment on the part of the newly initiated members. Perhaps it can lead to more mature levels of conflict resolution as well.

The "switch days" would not be allowed for AGD either. When GLOs first started cracking down on hazing, the groups started doing "switch days" so that others could haze their pledges and they could say "we didn't haze them!".

The "rules" didn't come out of nowhere.. they were created after "fun" activities were abused, sadly.

Scavenger hunts are also a risk management issue, beyond hazing. Even our alumnae club can't have road rallies anymore because of the risk of a car accident. If teams are rushing to get somewhere to be the first team done, to meet a deadline, etc, they are less likely to be cautious.

As for good activities, I just posted some of these in the AGD forum and I'll repeat them:

Divide the chapter into teams (intermixing NMs and Initiated Members). Give each team some ingredients and have a cook off. Award prizes for best tasting, most creative, etc.

Tee shirt making

Make overs: Get a reputable make up artist to come in and ask for volunteers (don't force anybody!) for an "extreme" makeover.

Trading Spaces, Scrapbook edition: Swap scrapbooks and make pages for each other

It is definitely sad when a small number ruin things for others, as we are seeing in the risk management forum often, with alcohol related deaths leading to huge slams to the whole greek system at a campus, etc.

Dee

tunatartare 10-04-2004 10:41 PM

Regarding New Members attending chapter meetings: in my sorority, the policy is that they attend the first formal meeting before initiation (usually it's like the week before or the week of initiation) so that they can see how our meetings are structured and can get a feel for them so that when they become actives they aren't going to feel overwhelmed in their first meeting. However, anything regarding "airing dirty laundry" during any meeting is saved for Open Forum. As they are not yet initiated, Open Forum is the one part of the meeting that they aren't allowed to be present at.

TigerLilly 10-04-2004 10:54 PM

Re: good v. bad
 
Quote:

Originally posted by FSUZeta
bad-allowing new members to attend chapter. if someone needs to air dirty laundry, they can't do it because it could upset the new members(read harriet saying to ozzie, not in front of the children), so things just keep festering week after week instead of getting resolved.
I disagree on this part. I think it's important that new members do attend chapter, so they know what's going on and how things run in the chapter. If there's something going on along the lines of "dirty laundry airing", send the new members out of the room with the new member educator during that time, but let them around for the rest. It's important to make them feel included and like they're a part of the chapter.

RUASTgrrl 10-04-2004 11:06 PM

We had new members present for the beginning of the meeting, and they left for their own meeting about half way.

tunatartare 10-04-2004 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RUASTgrrl
We had new members present for the beginning of the meeting, and they left for their own meeting about half way.
Was this at every meeting? Cuz wouldn't it mean that the New Member Mom also had to miss about half of meetings?

RUASTgrrl 10-04-2004 11:13 PM

The new members had 2 meetings a week, one with the new member directors, and usually one on their own. This was when they left chapter.

KSUViolet06 10-04-2004 11:17 PM

Re: Re: good v. bad
 
Quote:

Originally posted by TigerLilly
I disagree on this part. I think it's important that new members do attend chapter, so they know what's going on and how things run in the chapter. If there's something going on along the lines of "dirty laundry airing", send the new members out of the room with the new member educator during that time, but let them around for the rest. It's important to make them feel included and like they're a part of the chapter.
That's how we do it in my chapter. We have a section called "Member Talks" and we simply send the NM's out to meet with their educator for a bit until we're done.

Glitter650 10-04-2004 11:26 PM

We allow NMs in the middle part of the meeting, they come in late and leave early.

Good:
Call them, ask them to hang out randomly, that's probably one of the main reasons they joined, just have people around to hang out with and randomly go get ice cream, a drink, or have someone to meet up with during a long break between classes.

Family dinner: Get all the members of your family line together and have a pot luck, or cook a meal together.


Bad: Making the NMs all line up with actives across from them staring with cold faces as they grill the NMs with sorority questions and the greek alaphabet.

lyrica9 10-04-2004 11:38 PM

Re: good v. bad
 
Quote:

Originally posted by FSUZeta
bad-allowing new members to attend chapter.
our new members come to chapter meetings every week. they just aren't present during ritual. um... way for me to state the obvious:p

tunatartare 10-05-2004 12:08 AM

Another fun thing you could do would be go to a "Our Name is Mud" or a "Little Shop of Plaster" type place. You know those places where you buy a ceramic thing and paint it? I love doing things like that!

PhoenixAzul 10-05-2004 12:44 AM

wow, it really is a world apart between nationals and locals. By the way, we have to be there at every meeting during pledging.

adpiucf 10-05-2004 09:22 AM

ADPi new members attend weekly new member sessions and part of the regular chapter meeting.

It just depends on the sorority and their policies regarding new members at business meetings.

(In the Junior League, new members can't vote or hold office their first year. Coming from a collegiate sorority that allowed me to vote and hold office as a new member, I was all like, hmph! But I understand the merits to both systems: new members observing the first year and learning the ropes, or new members immediately being treated like involved and engaged members of the org.)

tunatartare 10-05-2004 09:30 AM

By us, newly initiated members aren't allowed to vote or hold office for a year unless there are special circumstances that make it necessary. I understand why we have this as a bylaw, but sometimes it can really suck. Like last year when during elections my entire pledge class was eligible for positions and one position that only the 5 of us were up for, and we weren't even able to vote.

adpiucf 10-05-2004 01:45 PM

The great thing about bylaws is that they are up for review and revision yearly, and chapter members must vote to approve them for the following year. Get a chapter dialogue going!


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:34 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.