Too Young to Rush/Pledge? (Not yet 18)
 

Are there rules in various fraternities/sororities that a person has to be a certain age in order to join? I initiated into Alpha Phi Omega on my 18th birthday, so I didn't have a problem, but if I had been even one day younger, I would have had to have a parent sign my brotherhood paperwork as well.

Does this requirement that the person has to be 18 to sign the paperwork for themselves exist in other groups?

While pledging 17 year olds who will turn 18 in November or December would, I expect, be common unless there are rules against it, is anyone familiar with anyone who was younger than 17 when they pledged/joined?

(I do know of one case where an Alpha Phi Omega chapter made a child of an advisor an honorary brother before she was High School age, but I'm looking for the standard entrance process)

We require a parent's signature if a prospect is under 18. Most of our chapters have gotten away from taking on minors, though.

We do the same thing.

I think you can be initiated if you're under 18. There are certain forms you probably need a parental signature on, but they wouldn't be related to ritual. Of course, as with all things, it depends on the org.

You know, I have no idea if Psi U has a policy on this or not.

Per an amendment to our General Regulations at National Assembly this past summer, "[a] man who is under 18 years of age may not hold any class of membership, including probationary." (Probationary members are what we call pledges, so in other words, you must be 18 to pledge.)

Did the effort to change this come from the active brothers or did it come from the National Legal Counsel (or whatever you call the Fraternity's official lawyer) through the National Board to a proposed amendment?

To be honest, I can't remember for sure and I can't put my hands on anything that would help me remember, but I think the proposal originated in the National Executive Committee based on legal advice.

My apologies in advance if I'm remembering incorrectly.

Well, I joined SigEp when I was 17 and there was no problem. The chapter saw my state ID before ritual and Nationals had to see my birth date to process my info.. So I guess we don't have an under 18 policy.

I was initiated at 17. My parents signed something for me to go through rush but that was it.

I went through NPC rush, rushed and joined a local, and was initiated into the local when I was 17. Of course, a local can set whatever policies it wants.

When my local joined AEPhi, we each had to fill out and sign a pile of forms, including a financial obligation note. The financial obligation note indicated that, if the new member was under 18, a parent had to co-sign. I think this allowed the chapter to pursue the parent for non-payment if the member didn't meet her financial obligations. (I was, of course, over 18 by then.)

So, unless something has changed in the past few years, you can be initiated if you're under 18 as long as at least one of your parents is ok with it.

I know that with our "financial obligation of membership" form, a parent has to sign regardless of a member being under eighteen or not, probably to ensure payment.

That's OK. It just seems like the perfect example of a change to bylaws based on legal advice.

I signed up for rush during summer orientation and I was 17. I was also 17 when I went through rush in the fall, although I had turned 18 by the time I was initiated. I don't remember my parents ever having to sign for anything.