Fraternity Pledge Activity to break up cliques, any ideas?
 

i have read a few threads of ppl suggesting good books to read for ideas for events. but this has been the only time i can think of that we have had to actually add a new event for pledges clicking up in groups, any ideas on an exercise that might eliminate that problem and connect pledges that may not be as close to other ones?

Nope. Some people will be closer than others. Especially in large groups.

You could assign them hang out times, and rotate the groups each week or so. But, if your pledge class is big enough to have cliques, it will. If you don't like it, you can black ball some people, but I think that might be a bad idea, if you do it just to thin out the numbers, but still like the pledge as an individual.

essentially we need almost like a teamwork activity that my focus on that point. or do you have any ideas or experience with a good activity?

If it is just a problem with your new members, you may think of an activity to do like writing a new sorority chant or song and break the girls into different groups to accomplish this. This requires that you plan ahead of time to make sure that the cliques are all split up into separate groups. This will give the girls a chance to get to know other members of their class while working on a project that furthers their sorority knowledge (have them incorporate parts of your history or heritage!) At the end, you can vote on who has the best chant or song and start using it as a chapter.

Team building events that use groups. You could have them do something like a ropes course or philanthropy projects in groups.

But ditto to whomever said that there will be people who are closer than others.

Something we did in AXiD as pledges; we did "buddy day". Each week on a particular day, you were paired up with someone in your pledge class. You basically spent the day together, walking/escorting to class, eating meals together, studying/hanging out together, etc.

As most "mandatory" actitivities that were, in the past, part of many pledge programs can be considered hazing, this activity can either be voluntary, or done with active sisters. Since you are speaking of getting the members of the new member class, you will have to follow the voluntary route. And perhaps instead of doing "everything" together, it can be maybe a meal or a study session or even a movie. With a 6-8 week program, you can easily get to know 6-8 fellow new members, that you may not have necessarily spent one-on-one time with otherwise.

Have everyone go on "double dates". Have all of the actives with littles pair off. Those members, along with their littles, then have to go on a "date" together within the next couple weeks. They can go out to dinner, to the movies, study together... whatever it happens to be, for at least an hour or two. So it's not an activity that everyone has to do at one time, but something that those specific people can do together on their own time. Then, once those couple weeks are up, and everyone goes on their dates, have the actives pair off again with someone different, and give them another couple weeks to go on another date.

This way, the littles aren't picking and choosing who they go out with, and the littles will get to know other new members AND more actives at the same time.

And tell those members with littles that they are welcome to invite any members that don't have a little along with them on the date. But don't let them invite too many activess (maybe just 1 or 2) so that there aren't a whole bunch of actives, and only 2 littles.

So in effect, what you're saying is that there are separate factions/cliques within the pledge class?

Is it along any identifiable lines (i.e. all the guys from the same dorm, all the athletes, etc)? Is it maybe something that the actives are unintentionally fostering by doing a lot of "family" stuff together? (That can happen if there are really big extended families in a chapter)

There will always be people who are closer than others, but they should be able to get together and work as a unit.

we just did away the family stuff this year because it was causing too many problems and some people weren't feeling welcome, etc... so far it's been a bit better but as always there will be cliques in a large group but it's important that everyone can work together. we just do big and little now. Obviously I'm close to my big so my little will get to know her but all the aunts and such aren't as noticeable.

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