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Originally Posted by PhisigWarner
SCAVENGER HUNTS ... that's hazing too? We are really taking all the fun out of pledging and that's what it is pleding. You are pledging yourself to an organization. And you should develop certain skills in this process so that youcan be an asset when you "cross" into the greek world. We are tyring to be so PC with everything we are turning our precious organizations into clubs and at the same time we are throwing away sacred traditions.
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How is a scavenger hunt a sacred tradition? Does that make kickball, Capture the Flag or Tug of War sacred, too? How does a scavenger hunt help you develop "certain skills" that will help you later on? I don't understand this line of reasoning.
If you look at when these organizations were founded, most will appear to have been founded on the ideals of "social, moral and mental improvement" of its membership. Paddles, scavenger hunts, "Big Brothers" and whatnot were frilly extras added later. Then people started swallowing goldfish, binge drinking as a condition of provisional membership and adopted Lord of the Flies governing mentalities. Then things went horribly awry.
That's the case here. Maybe the laws have gone too far and maybe young men and women need to learn to resist peer pressure more... but those things won't bring someone like Michael Carrington back. If someone acts like a child, his toys will be taken away, and it appears to me that the intern/national volunteers/officers are merely going back to basics.
At some point, as in politics, I have no doubt the pendulum will sway back in the other direction and this era of PC-ness will be behind us. Hopefully, the next generation of collegiate Greeks will have more common sense and committment to one another and there will be no more reports of pledges drinking themselves to death, being hit by cars in a game of chicken or the other myriad psychological and physical torture some of these fringe groups have put their members through-- things that have caused a PR nightmare for those of us who do follow the rules.