Quote:
Originally posted by pledgemarasl
so, i have a question, as a sisterhood, how would you all address some of the behaviors seen on the show, by both pledges and sisters? how do you rebuild that trust once it it lost? just out of curiousity???
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Most sororities and fraternities have some kind of protocol or procedure in place to try to ensure that such (apparently) drastic behavioral situations just don't happen. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, because things DO happen. Of course they do. There's always someone somewhere who takes great pride in nabbing the one guy you're really hooked on, or maybe has an addiction problem. There are girls who are virtually flunking out of school, who's gotten herself in nasty financial problems, who takes great pride in and encourages all of the "drama" involved in everything the chapter does. Don't try to tell me it doesn't happen, because it happens with women in general, sorority member or not. The difference is that the overwhelming majority of the time it's a private thing, not splashed all over national television for anyone and everyone to see.
There's some type of officer position in every GLO I'm familiar with that handles these standards and sisterhood issues, both good and bad. This office may be named Chapter Standards, Member Relations, Vice President of whatever, Chapter Relations, Standards Chair, Standards Board, Member At Large...there's probably dozens of officer titles for that sister who is responsible to educate and moderate any "standards" issues. There usually is, however, a very clear communication of expectations and those standards to be maintained very very early in the New Member or Associate period. From what we saw on the show, it didn't appear as if the Sigma new members were educated on the sorority standards, expectations and beliefs.
How would I address some of the behaviors as portrayed on the show? If someone had slapped another, initiated or not, it would have been taken to my organization's equivalent of standards faster than you could have blinked. If it was a new member, she most likely would have been depledged. If someone had been hitting on a guy that another sister had confided an attraction to, ditto. I'm from the olden days, so when it comes to alcohol issues it would have been handled differently than a chapter would today. For the most part, there's no alcohol involved in chapter sponsored events anymore and if there is, the procedures must be followed to the letter or you run the risk of losing your charter.
As for building or rebuilding trust, it's not going to happen overnight. First, you must have the desire to go forward. If people don't want to resolve differences, clear the air and move on together it'll be extremely difficult to accomplish. Luckily, most of the time it happens. You just have to be willing to start over and not assume the worst. A GLO has those treasured rituals, histories, good common memories and more to help them remember why they are there and what can happen in the future.
I know, I'm rambling again. I wonder if things weren't as bad with Sigma as MTV portrayed it to be at times. I wonder if the new members really were truly interested in joining a sorority. I wonder why so many upperclasswomen were interested in joining a sorority with such a specific emphasis, such as Sigma. Why didn't they approach Sigma before their junior or senior year? I do wonder, honestly, if anyone pledged Sigma just to star on a MTV show and get free housing for a quarter. I think most GLOs have gotten far away from "Pledges" and "Members." No one should have to prove themselves worthy of a GLO, the fact that the GLO invited you to become a new member should indicate worthiness. Yes, I think that there has to be some kind of education process so that the new members are prepared, ready and committed to be initiated. But it shouldn't be (IMHO!) an "us" vs. "them" process. We saw an awful lot of "us" vs. "them" and very little of "Sigma" as a group on the show. I'm sure that can't be real, or Sigma probably would have never survived as long as they have.
Christin