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I wouldn't say our education processes are secret. Our ritual, however, is.

How do you make sure your new members don't cry, "Hazing!" to administration? Don't haze them. Educate yourselves and your chapter on what is hazing, and eliminate/modify chapter traditions that are hazing. Your campus Greek Adviser can help you in this education and elimination/modification. Remember, the mark of a good leader is not just doing it as it has always been done. A good leader looks at the way things are done, recognizes what isn't working (in the eyes of the organization, the law, the campus) and makes things right, even in the face of adversity. This is a true mark of a leader.

Are you a local? One way to avoid university suspicion of misconduct is to appoint a faculty member to be your group's adviser. If you would like, make this person an honorary member of your organization. Or not. But this adviser will become an integral part of chapter operations.

Your new member coordinator should draft lesson plans for new member education. It should include in detail all activties for bid day, new member education sessions, retreat and initiation week . Be painstakingly specific in these lesson plans (obviously, you don't have to write down your ritual in these plans!). The bonus is that years from now, the new member educator will have piles of lesson plans to draw from for inspiration in her role!

By being specific in your lesson plans I mean, if you're playing the "M&M's" game as an activity, list full and complete directions in how you play it. (IE: Each person receives an M&M. If you receive a green one, it means that you say something nice about the person to your left, a brown one means....). Also, attach any handouts you might give the new members (supplements like a one-sheet about the history of the house, academic resources, a semester calendar of activities, etc.)

Submit these plans to your adviser for approval. He/She may recommend changes that ensure your new member program is in compliance with university/Panhellenic policies and that none of the activities are considered hazing. You might also want to be proactive and show your lesson plan to the campus Greek Adviser for approval, to ensure that none of the activities you have described are hazing activities in the eyes of the university, state or NPC.

Once it is approved, follow this outline to a T! If there are any changes to dates or activities within the lesson, plan make certain your Adviser and Greek Adviser are cc'd and approve the change! You are doing this to ensure your chapter is in compliance with the anti-hazing policies of the state, the university and NPC.

Meet regularly with the initated members who are sponsoring the new members through the pre-initiation program. Monitor the relationships between the new members and their sponsors. Recommend activities to the sponsors that they can hold with the new members. Make sure that all members have been through training on "what is hazing" (your greek adviser can make recommendations on how to do this workshop).

Great ways to promote respect and unity:
*Focus on all-chapter unity, rather than unity between the new member classes. You will have one group working for the greater good of the organization, rather than 4 dissident cliques trying to outdo one another. Investigate a team bonding activity like a ropes course.
* Bring alumnae and seniors into your new member sessions to talk about what it means to be a member of XYZ. They can talk about the importance of self-respect, respect for letters, and respect for one another, even show scrapbooks of what life was like when they were freshmen, etc, and what campus was like back then. They can start a dialogue with the new members about friendship, and what is means to be a good friend. You can incorporate some kind of craft activity that symbolizes your discussion on respect and friendship.
* Bring in a motivational speaker to talk to your chapter about the importance of team work and the imporatance of respect for one another.
* Include your new members in chapter goal setting. It will make them feel an integrated part of the chapter and allow them to see "the bigger picture."

Your new member period should not be a time of the new member having to prove themselves. That is what recruitment was for. Your new members are testing the waters to determine if this experience is right for them. You've worked very hard to recruit them. Don't risk alienating them. It costs time and money to recruit quality members. When your retention is low, you lose out-- bad publicity, you have to recruit more often, you have less members to choose from to fulfill leadership roles, and the members who are there get burned out and resentful. You don't need to have a chapter of 200 members to be sucessful, but you do need to stay out of the red and be respectful of all your members, new and initiated. Hold open dialogue within the chapter on the importance of respect and hold chapter education sessions that focus on membership enrichment-- instilling respect and friendship. When the entire chapter participates equally, you win.

Remember, just because you're doing things the way they've "always" been done doesn't mean that they're right. Challenge yourself and push yourself to do right. It will help your organization surivive and grow and succeed.