Interview Book help!
 

So my pledge class is in charge of designing our own version of an interview book (basically a book where the pledges can write stuff down and ask questions on actives).

We were throwing around some ideas for some fun/necessary questions, and our list is pretty small.

Have any of you guys, with experience of an interview book, come across a really cool idea or question?

Thanks a lot guys

Well, YOU should be doing the work. The purpose is to get to know the members of the chapter and the history of your chapter and organization, correct?

What would YOU like to know?

So many people don't get that the new member/pledge program is about LEARNING about the members and the chapter/organization. Sorry if that stresses me out...

Uh wouldn't this be the same thing as a pledge book and aren't pledge books considered hazing?

If so that's retarded. God forbid we make our pledges have to actually get to know the guys in the fraternity they want to join.

Dumb yes but in this day and age, the pledge book of old is typically considered hazing unless the entire chapter is involved in the project. So I guess that it is as important for the memebers of an organization to learn about the pledges just as much as it is for the pledges to learn about the members.

Why are we willing to be dumb "in this day and age"?

What makes this hazing is if an active makes you do something demeaning, perform personal services, or something before you get a signature. Getting to know your members is NOT hazing, despite what politically correct Greek unions want us to believe.

If only the pledges are required to do it, it is considered hazing.

It is really easy - just have the pledges and actives interview EACH OTHER. Then, everyone gets to know everyone else, and it isn't hazing. Do it for a chapter brotherhood event - at a retreat - something like that.

If the purpose is really to get to know each other better, it should be no problem. If the purpose is to require the pledges to fulfil a task in order to "earn" their letters - well, then you have a problem .

If only the pledges are required to do it, then the actives have already done it, right? They were pledges once.

This is not hazing!

The point is that you have new members - new members who do not know the actives, and actives who do not know the new members. Why would you want the new members to just know about the actives - shouldn't the actives also want to know the new members? The actives may have once upon a time interviewed the then-actives, but many of those guys are gone . . .
If the point of the activity is to foster closeness between the brothers, of course. And if it's not the point - then what is?

I thought pledge books were outlawed by NPC and considered hazing. To the OP: are you in an NPC group?
I remember m pledge book and didn't think anything of it but times have changed.

I'd recommend if you are going to continue to do this that you have every member of your chapter participate every year along with a new pledge class.

I was a collegiate in the 90's and agree that risk management and hazing issues have probably gone too far in eliminating lots of fun seemingly harmless traditions (signatures, scavanger hunts, etc.) but it only takes one incident of hazing to shut down a chapter or an entire campus. Please watch your self, especially with posting something like this on a public message board.