Pledges cause alot of internal problems! NEED HELP
 

My fraternity is having alot of trouble with our pledges. They dont listen to anything we say. They are never where they are suppose to be or where they say they are goin to be. They havent been learning anything about the brothers or about our history. They are most disrespectful pledges on our campus currently. And on top of that we havent recieved any of there pledge dues. Nothing we say or do has seemed to work so far. Due to the problem with the pledge, its causing internal conflicts among the brothers. If i could simply kick the out of pledging i would but, we are close to chartering and one of our requirement is to have a certain number of members and without the new pledges we would not have enough people to get chartered. . . What the hell do i do?????
Pleas, any suggestions would be really appreciated!

Put off getting your charter and kick them all out. They may help you make your numbers but they will cause more trouble than they're worth in the long run and will probably keep you from have successful rushes in the future. And if future pledges hear how you let this class get away with not paying their fees, showing up, learning frat ed, etc., how will you ever "control" them? One class can turn a whole chapter around for good or for bad (faster for bad than for good, unfortunately).

If the campus sees that you took a stand and were selective in who you thought was worthy to charter with you, they're more likely to take you seriously as a viable house in the future.

Give them an ultimatum: Dues are due in X Amount by X date. If they are not paid by X date, please turn in your pledge pin and any fraternity paraphernalia by X date. Anyone failing to do either of these things will be contacted by a collections agency to pay the amount owed.

Out of Control
 

The inmates are running the asylum! What will you guys do when you become parents? Your job as actives is to lead, to teach, to set standards and to enforce them. Failure to do so will result in disaster even if these out of control pledges help you receive your charter. I agree with setting a time limit for dues and also for making attendance mandatory. Unless you regain the control you should have had from the beginning, how can you succeed?

Where are your advisors? Time to call them in.

Paula M.
Sigma Delta Tau
ΣΔTPatriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People

Absolutely agree 110%. A group at my campus made the mistake of putting up w/ a lot of crap from substandard people so they could get their charter, and as a result they never became truly strong and are not there anymore.

If your headquarters questions your decision, tell them exactly what you just told us.

Haze the hell out of 'em.

1 simple word...DROPPED!

If they don't take it seriously, kick em out. its not worth it. if you activate them just to charter, you'll spend most of your time fighting to keep your charter and stay afloat rather than doing any real growth.

if they are not doing their "job"(attending meetings, learning the history, learning about the fraternity) as pledges, how can you depend on them to schedule a party, hold a fund raiser or get new members?

kick them out!

> Give them an ultimatum: Dues are due in X Amount by X date. If they are not paid by X date, please turn in your pledge pin ...

This is the way to go.

Are they all "united" in their behavior? Or are there a handful who are swayed by the masses, but really want to be responsible brothers? Since you are a new group, there may not be a lot of experience with big brother-little brother relationships?

Where are the alums (of other chapters) and the leadership consultants from national? Are they working closely with you?

I agree with the all the above who said make them pay up and shape up or kick them out. I've been down that road before of slapping pledge pins on random people simply to get numbers up. It's never a good idea. Believe me, if they are causing problems now it will only get worse after they are initiated. Plus there's the added headaches of bad members recruiting more bad members in the future.

Delay getting your charter until you're entire membership is worthy of receiving those GLO letters.

I've been in that exact situation. I was the L.C. of my colony (Sigma Nu's equivalent to maybe what would be the Executive V.P. in most other organizations). We had, on several occasions, men who were just bad news. They didn't pay dues or they did incredibly stupid things, were socially retarded, got into fights, etc. I learned over the years that the best thing to do with guys like that is to 'trim the fat' and move on.

Get together a committee of older members, including your president and standards officer, then meet with each pledge INDIVIDUALLY. It is amazing the false bravado that all people get due to group dynamics. Tell each one that he is not living up to the standards of the organization, has not paid dues and will be kicked out if he doesn't change his ways. Pledges can't assume you are talking to someone else in the pledge class if they hear your ultimatum individually. Let them know that they will individually be held to a standard as well as a pledge class. Then....follow up on your threats. Kick them out if they don't change. Apparently they think they are untouchable since you need them to get your charter.

I would also make sure that the person responsible for giving them due dates and letting them know when activities are is actually doing that. Colony or not, there are sometimes officers who aren't doing their full job (like a VP Operations who collects everybody's reports but never sends any of them out to their Headquarters!). Make sure that they know exactly when money is due and when/where activities are. Someone may be getting their signals crossed in that arena, especially if it's the whole pledge class doing the same thing.

I've heard people say things like "You'll need to pay your dues" but aren't specific on how much, when and to who... and then assume that they will all pay. I've also been part of organizations where everybody knew the basics about some traditional events so when they announce things like that, they don't give out details.

I like this idea!