Prettygrl:
I usually don't like to comment on hazing/pledging threads, as the topic has been done to death, AND I have concerns about why such things are posted in the first place, but I really wanted to comment on your statement:
"Because after all its not about how you obtain your letters(unless you obtain them under false pretenses) it is what you do with them once you have them!.............."
While it does matter most what you do with your letters once you receive them, there is a feeling I can't explain that comes with having earned them through a set of challenges, in short, the experience involved with getting the letters informs the sacredness of the letters once earned. Mind you, not an experience with beatings, not mental cruelty, but a set of challenges that my line sister and I had to work through. It's hard at times for me to understand why one would have that deep love for their letters/organization without such experiences to help burnish those feelings in one's heart.
The problem-solving and leadership skills I gained through that experience have stood me in good stead since then, and the bond formed between myself and my sands, whom I couldn't stand before we pledged together, has stood every test the past decade has brought us. I only hope that I imparted that same sense of "somethingness" to the young women I brought into our sisterhood when it was my turn to teach them. It's that "somethingness" that causes tears to well in my eyes whenever I sing our hymn, participate in rituals, or greet a new soror (and pick up my checkbook to help financially support the sisterhood, too!).
I hope and pray that we come up with a better solution so that more young women and men get to know that feeling, rather than the pain and anger that come with this whole hazing/underground/"paper" issue that has manifested itself since 1990.
DG
Spring, 1990
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
P.S. The term "paper" is a perjorative one, used to describe a member of a BGLO who has gone through a membership intake process in which they are initiated without participating in a pledge period or took part in an extremely short one, without enough time to learn the history, rituals, etc. of the organization.
[This message has been edited by Discogoddess (edited June 05, 2000).]
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