Originally posted by Lone Dog
2) When it comes to the topic of pledging/hazing: notice how the only folks who really bicker about how folks are made is the younger generation. My dad crossed Que in 1975. I crossed in 2000. And I have met dozens of bruhs with more than two decades of service. We both KNEW that I didn't go through what they went through for the exact same letters and membership. But there's no riff, there's no competition to see who is "more Que." But when I run up on someone made in the late nineties, they always ask about my process and whether I pledged grad or undergrad and assign immediate stereotypes. That, along with my record of service, activity, and lifestyle, will tell you whether I'm YOUR brother, regardless of whether my journey across the sands was harder, easier, or just different.
Good point, but not entirely accurate. I'm closer to your father's year than yours and plenty of Brothers from the 30's to now don't like the process. They don't beef as much because they are so far removed from collegiate life and most of their dealings with the frat is mostly based on either business or service, while undergrads and recent grads are still focused on fraternizing/brotherhood. Your peer group questions you based upon similar circumstances. When I speak with older financial Bruhs, I'll ask them how they chaired a committee or about service ideas along with "how were things back in the day?" The questions you ask were never asked in the 70's or 80's
3) The very folks who were catching hell in the 60's, 70's, and 80's are the folks in office who made the decisison, no matter how unpopular it was, to implement MIP. We should respect the elders of the organization and their decision. Remember, it was us, those of you who are financial and actively participate in voting, etc, that put these folks into office in the first place. These folks went through REAL pledging and hazing, but they knew that for the organization's survival, they had to change. If our organizations aren't dynamic and adaptable, they will surely die. This isn't to say that our core principles and idelas should be compromised, because they shouldn't. The beliefs should live on regardless of the environment in which they are to be fostered.
4) Some of the people who were hazed or pledged the most are now inactive. Some of the people who skated in are inactive. And you have people from both categories who are active. So the process of coming into the frat/sorority isn't the determining factor of your service in the org. So why the bickering?
Here is where you miss the point Lone Dog. Being a member of a fraternity is not all about service. First and foremost, we are a bonded brotherhood. The significance of the bond is frequently determined by how one became a member. If I or any aspirant for that matter, wants to do service, there are many avenues in which to do so. I have church brothers, Concerned Black Men brothers and Boy Scout of America brothers. I do service with them all, but I have only one set of Bruhs.
In my opinion, this is what it boils down to: we, as members, need to be a better judge of the character of the people we let into our organizations.
Before, we didn't "let" anybody in. You had to earn your membership through a lot of sweat and tears. We judged character through a process that weeded out a lot of fakers. Pledging not only tests character, it reveals it. No, alot of those who pledged are not financial, but at least they were committed to being a brother.
If we elect the proper people to membership, then the process becomes less of a factor. And it's because we have shown the light to those who truly seek it and have a burning desire to live it, and not to those who want Que because the ladies love us, we hop the best, or have a tendency to show quite a bit of enthusiasm.
Elect?, you might as well make them honorary. Choose the students with the best grades and most service? Is it that easy?My brothers weren't elected. They sought Omega, then pledged Omega, then through hard work, sweat, tears, some blood, EARNED Omega. Yeah, times are different, and I can move on from nostalgia, but our organizations will never be as strong or as relevant as they once were because we have sacrificed the ultimate lynchpin of frat/soror life, that is the bond of brother/sisterhood
Bruh, you definitely have good ideas. I wish all Bruhs thought as hard and tried to make a difference as you seem to want to make.
ROOOO
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