First on scavanger hunts:
While things that the groups have to get sometimes get out of hand, most national groups consider this has much a risk management issue as a hazing issue. What do I mean by this?
Say you have to drive to several locations - if in your haste to get to the next point/prize etc., you have an accident, hit someone etc., it could be a liability for the national organization. If you are on foot and in you haste cross the street and get creamed by a car, fall and break something/injure yourself etc., it could be a liability for the national organization.
We all know what a lawsuit happy society we have now. While you may not sue (if you are the one injured) what is to stop your insurance company from doing so to recoup what they paid out for damages. As the judge/jury etc. will look at it - what where you doing? why where you doing it? would you have been doing it if you weren't in XYZ group?
Interviews/Signatures etc.
Many views on this have been stated and while I agree that for the most part interviews and even sigantures are harmless, most of the national groups frown upon it. We all know the one or two (or three or four) jacka@@es in our group who think that hazing should be legal and are ticked because they can't do what they want. These are the few bad ables that mess everything up for everyone.
If you want to do interviews or signatures (although what you learn about a person with one questions to get a signature is beyond me) then don't make it mandatory to get a certain amount to be initated.
Make it easy for them to get the interviews done. Have sisterhood/brotherhood events where the main thing to do during the event is to get the interviews. I agree with whoever talked about having the initiated members do interviews as well. Getting to know each other should be just that - so the interviews shouldn't be a onesided thing.
Something the chapter I advise for does is have everyone make a pic/info page. The initiated members do it during workweek and so that is the first thing that the new members get. Remember in most cases they have twice as many names to learn as the initiated members. The new member educator then has the new members do the same thing so that the initiated members can have info about them.
Just my two-cents - also, I'm typing this during lunch so no comments on the spelling that I didn't catch!
