Quote:
Originally Posted by HQWest
I think the truth is though in how Panhellenic sells recruitment. They were told as freshmen that its a great way to meet people and get involved. OK so they met people and decided they didnt really want to be THAT involved. They cant unmeet people?
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I understand that at a huge school, the idea of "if you pledge a sorority before you even step foot in a class, you have a group of friends" is very appealing. But wouldn't sororities be better off to wait a semester and bid the women who took the initiative ON THEIR OWN to get involved with their campus and community? If you have someone holding your hand from the jump, how do you learn to make friends from scratch? I'm thinking of the girl who lived in the same town all her life, grew up knowing everyone, and then pledged a sorority right away. She has never ever been "alone." We all know women who dated the same guy all through jr high & high school & college, married him, divorced 10 years later, and now has NO idea how to have a relationship with a man who hasn't known her since age 12. Are those really the women we want in our groups, or do we want self-starters? (Ugh, I can't believe I corporatespoke there) Plus, the schools themselves provide programs to get freshmen acclimated, and have for quite a while, so the concept of the froshie alone in the big scary university is largely a fiction of bygone days.
The original idea behind KROP was, I thought, to make sure that the pledges know they are appreciated when they're feeling overwhelmed - like when they're trying to get it together with managing class and all the new activities. It's NOT supposed to be a present-fest with no thought behind it.
As far as length of pledge periods, I think that honestly should go back to a chapter by chapter basis. 6 weeks was perfect for us, but I'm sure the ASAs at James Madison (a chapter 3-4 times our size) would love a full semester. It makes no sense to basically say to chapters that we understand and support that what is one chapter's ideal rushee may not be another chapter's ideal rushee, and then turn around and say that all pledges have to be educated in exactly the same way.