[FuzzieAlum]

I think sugar and spice hit the nail right on the head. Obviously making someone a paddle for decorative purposes is not the same as drinking someone to death. But if your image is tainted, as ours has been, you need to look cleaner than clean to repair it.

What I don't get is how "not hazing" equates to "not working." Even the strictest hazing laws don't say new members can't be required to do things. They just aren't required to do things that initiated members aren't (or that don't have a very close equivalent).

Do you require sisters to wear their badges on Wednesdays? Then you can require the new members to wear their pins then too. Do sisters have to attend weekly chapter meetings? Then new members can be required to attend weekly class meetings. Does everyone have to go to philanthropy events? That includes the new members too.

Now maybe these things don't make as strong a bond within the pledge class. I believe it de-emphasizes the class bond and strengthens the overall chapter bond, because it's not you against them to accomplish something. But is that a bad thing? At my school, people weren't necessarily closest to their pledge class. But the retention of members was so much better than what I've seen at most other schools since I've graduated.