Paddles
 

I had a quick question. We had our MCs do paddles this semester for the first time. They had to interview each sister and then have them sign the paddle. I also gave extra credit to the girls if they could get alumni to sign it. My question deals with the dean of our Ag College signing the paddle. We had originally wanted him to sign the paddle, but I was unsure of whether I as the MC educator should take all of the paddles to him and have him sign them at once or if the MCs should go indivually to meet with him and get him to sign it.

Also, I noticed in some of the pictures that other girls have posted of their paddles, they are very traditional with all of the sisters signing the paddle on straight lines one underneath the other. Are these paddles usually prepared for the MCs before they get them with the lines for the sisters' signatures already on them or are the MCs just given guidelines on how the paddle should look?

Any response would be greatly appreciated!

Good questions.

Has the dean signed paddles before? I think it's great that the sisters meet with him and introduce themselves to him, but I'm not sure I'd have the dean sign the paddles. I would keep the paddle signing to the chapter level- with sisters and maybe advisors signing them only. Then the interaction with the dean can be more "professional".

That's my opinion. Best of luck.

Robin

in my experience...
 

We didn't use the paddles for teh sorority when I was there, but we did use them for the leadership honor society. With that organization, the new initiates are given a list of things that must be on the paddle ... the university logo, the symbol for the honor society, the year, your name, etc. You're also given a list of signatures you must obtain: each officer, at least "x" alumni (3? they're all over campus, and you're given a list of them), a couple of current members, and the three deans from the colleges represented in the honor society.

To be honest, a secretary took one paddle in to be signed, and in another case the secretary actually signed it. But the CAES dean would invite each of us in to his office, talk with us for a few minutes, and sign the paddle.

So I guess it would depend on how many new women you have each semester, and what kind of dean you have, to decide whether it would be a valuable experience or a waste of time.

Terri

Alpha has always had the paddles signed by the FAES Dean. Additionally each girl had to get the signature of thier dept head, the president of the 3 ag frats.

If you wish to see pictures of my paddle I can send them to you. Email me at photokitty13 at yahoo (dot) com.