Quote:
Originally Posted by Senusret I
I think I would be better at giving a hypothetical example than trying to explain it....it's based on some of the NIC/NPC programs such as The Blanced Man Program.
So imagine that there are four phases of membership:
Pledge
Neophyte
Prophyte
Alumni
And four ways/methods/approaches to learning:
Pledge: Learning (the essentials) by studying
Neophyte: Learning by doing (service, conducting meetings)
Prophyte: Learning by teaching
Alumni: Learning by living
The path to the next phase is accomplished through a combination of age and knowledge assessment:
Pledge to Neo: Initiation
Neo to Pro: Prophyte Ceremony (most orgs don't have this or it's informal)
Pro to Alum: Alumni Induction/Senior Sendoff
What I'd like to see is membership itself as a personal odyssey (unfortunately "A Personal Odyssey" is already an APO phrase lol).
Why is it called "values based?" Basically because it extrapolates ritualistic values (or values found in a public creed) and translates them to meaningful exercises and activities. Also, it ritualizes the transitions from one phase to another and allows the member to "earn" their way through the fraternity.
(I am a believer that the more something is made into a ritual or ceremony, the more seriously people will take the experience.)
Continuous because it doesn't stop after crossing
Values-based because it injects the core values of the org
Member development because it's not just about the process to get in, but the process to get in, stay in, and excel.
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For a more constructive response to your conception of a values-based incorporation process for Greek-letter organizations. I agree in spirit with everything you've laid out. In fact, in many ways there are "unofficial" prophyte ceremonies practiced. The problem is that they usually are not fully integrated into the values-based scheme you epsouse. And some sort of ceremony for those transitioning to graduate status may be helpful; but how that would be received by those being transitioned is "iffy". Some see graduate status as a diminution of the level of commitment and ardor for the organization. Maybe this is tied into the all-too-often stereotypical views about what the fraternity is and what social and personal transformations which occur as a result of becoming a member. It's on this deeply symbolic level, though, not so much the programmatic one--like all rites-of-passage processes--that young men and women are impacted. That a much better job could be done by shepherding neophytes to embrace fully the principles and precepts of thier organization is not even an issue.
I do have a real concern. I do think there needs to be more social, cultural and life skills remediation incorporated into these programs. Let's face it, the institutions which support fraternal social values--family, community, church and other support systems--are not as healthy as they should be in out society, esp, in the African American community. And the fact that young people are bombarded with consumeristic and individualistic messages in popular culture from the cradle means that there may be social deficits which have to be addressed. Much of this has to do with selection, which the new Lampados Program emphasizes; but it's not the '40s and '50s. The socialization of those with positive support systems now is not what it once was "back in the day" but many of our intake programs operate as if it was in a previous era.
I'm in agreement that we've got to do better; but with the constraints of incraesingly hostile college administrations and risk management issues on ther one hand and those who yearn for the halcyon days of old when they pledged for a whole year and did everything short of killing a pledge (Brothers made in the '30s and '40s have related these to me), solutions that will satisfy all won't be possible.