making pledge program

SecretPsiOmega · #1 06-05-2003, 05:34 PM

As a new chapter, we are writing a pledge program, from scratch, for the first time. There are some major problems, however.

There are no "written" rules which the director of greek life wants us to follow, but there are unwritten rules which the director has pulled out of his ass.

He has to approve of your program before it is used. There are several rules I can think of right now.

Pledges should be at home, in bed, by 12 PM.
Pledging can't start until 9 PM.
Pledging can't be off campus (this campus is less then 1 square mile)
No hazing, hazing as interpreted by the director of greek life.
Everything must be optional, and no one is required to attend anything.

In any case, we did not know how to formulate an effective program based within these guidelines.

We talked to several of the older groups and were told that the programs everyone submits to the office of greek life are 100% fabrocated and are not the real programs.

This is because, the director basically wants new members to learn the pledge manual, and then be initiated. As you probably already know this is impossible... because the fraternity will not hold together without bonds... I know this, because I was in a colony, and without pledging, people come and go like water.

Bascally anything requiring a challenge, sacrifice, or effort is declared as hazing.

The real programs are extremely short here. The shortest of the fraternities is 9 days, the shortest of the sororities is 4 weeks.

Anyhow, we're deliberating how to structure the actual program at this point. Any opinions?

Kevin · #2 06-05-2003, 05:49 PM

Try your school library and its books on workshops and activities. You could also find a few good 'bonding' activities if you did a ropes coures.

CatStarESP4 · #3 06-05-2003, 07:58 PM

SecretPsiOmega, I am very baffled about the rules that the school's DOGL (Director of Greek Life) has imposed upon your organization. Do they apply to your chapter or all the chapters in the school? The guildline he imposed on you are utterly ridiculous at best.

As for activities, what's wrong with a scavenger hunt? Divide everyone into teams and give them a list of things to find. It could work even if the school is one square mile. Also, this sounds a little corny, but works. Sit in a circle. Get a roll or two of toilet paper, each member takes as much as they want. Each member tells a little bit about themselves and tear a sheet per statement. Once that member exhaust all the sheet they have, the next person goes.

Good Luck

SecretPsiOmega · #4 06-05-2003, 08:21 PM

Everyone has to follow them, but no one does, as I said earlier.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CatStarESP4
[B][COLOR=green]SecretPsiOmega, I am very baffled about the rules that the school's DOGL (Director of Greek Life) has imposed upon your organization. Do they apply to your chapter or all the chapters in the school? The guildline he imposed on you are utterly ridiculous at best.

James · #5 06-05-2003, 08:42 PM

Actually, I think those rules are pretty standard on most campuses. Maybe not written though. How many campuses have to submit pledge programs though?

XOMichelle · #6 06-05-2003, 09:38 PM

No "pledging" after 9pm? Like you don't pledge for weeks? Um, does he mean there can be no scheduled pledge activities before 9pm any day? So you can't have a meeting at 8? That's somewhat odd.
The best thing is to put together a program of meetings and bonding activites that will allow the pledge sisters to get to know eachother, the actives, and what the sorority is about. Getting to know you activities, siterhood stuff, and just hanging out are good things to do along with meetings.
Good luck!

Tom Earp · #7 06-05-2003, 10:19 PM

I did not know there was "pledgeing" anymore!

I have learned on G C that there is recruiment!

If you have Greek Systems in place, and "this sounds like a HS", then, you follow the rules. Period.

When s***t his the fan, never stand in front of it! DAH!

sugar and spice · #8 06-05-2003, 11:38 PM

Actually, I'd say those rules are pretty standard (with the exception of the one that says pledging activities can't start until after 9 PM). All of those (again, except for the one that says you can't start until 9 PM, and I think we had maybe one event off campus) were true for my new member period and the same goes for all of the sororities on my campus . . . so I'm sure you can put together something that works.

SecretPsiOmega · #9 06-06-2003, 01:35 AM

I see the tight bonds between the various groups.

Some are tighter then others and we see this.

I should be able to trust my life in the hands of any one of my brothers. I should be willing to give my life for any of my brothers.
If I do not feel this way, the pledge program was not effective.

We do not have this right now, but we see that some of the other groups might have something close to it, and we want it too. We do not want a half-assed fraternity. I am not implying that we should haze, if anyone is thinking that. I am merely stating a goal.

PSK480 · #10 06-06-2003, 02:27 AM

Ok, I understand no activities after midnight, but make you make sure they are in bed and trying to sleep at midnight is hazing according to what your DOGL says is.

State your activities as optional, but have it stated that most brothers don't look highly on people who flow in and out like water when it comes time to take the second vote.

I agree that not being allowed to start any activity before 9PM doesn't make much sense other than it gives you less than 3 hours a night with your pledges.

Like ktsnake said check out the library.

Tom: most of our orgs have changed the term from pledge and pledging to potential new member, associate member, candidate, and new member ed period, associate member duration, etc. I know KDR still calls them pledges officially, which is what my Greek Life Advisor told me, I figured he'd know being a KDR and former Director of Expansion and Executive Director. We still call them pledges and but we don't call it pledging, it's one of our big draws is that it's a no pledging process, it's education and bonding.

astroAPhi · #11 06-06-2003, 10:12 AM

Would they let you have a required number of hours?

According to our IHQ, new members must complete 6 hours of New Member Education before initiation. That doesn't mean they are required to attend everything, so if they're sick they can miss a week because our New Member period is 6-8 weeks, depending on what best fits our schedule. Also, we allow New Members to make up time with the New Member Educator. We had one girl make it through the New Member period in 2 weeks because she wanted so badly to join with that class but didn't get her bid until later.

And I would have to say that those rules are pretty standard on most campuses, except I don't understand the pledging until after 9 and making sure your pledges are in bed at 12 (maybe he meant that all your activities must end by 12?). I know we cannot hold initiation after 8 PM.

MoxieGrrl · #12 06-06-2003, 10:48 AM

I would get a very clear definition from him as to what he interprets as hazing. That sounds sketchy. This person may not be consistent with his definitions. Err on the side of caution and follow all state & campus hazing laws.

Also....nothing can be mandatory? That is kind of bunk. Yes, there should be optional events, but this could lead to a situation where you pledge someone and do not see them until initiation. You really couldn't punish them because all new member meetings were optional.

What kind of member is that?

I would sit down and have a loonngg chat with this guy and other orgs on your campus.

MysticCat · #13 06-06-2003, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tom Earp
I did not know there was "pledging" anymore!

I have learned on G C that there is recruiment!

While terms like "recruitment" and "new member" may be uniformly used by NPC groups, there are many fraternities that still use the terms "rush" and "pledge." Those that don't use "pledge" have a variety of terms: e.g., candidate, "new member," or Lambda Chi's "associate member." In Phi Mu Alpha, we still use "pledge" as a verb or adjective (as in "when I pledged Phi Mu Alpha" or "the pledging ceremony"), but we call someone who has pledged but not been initiated a "probationary member" ("PM" or "probate" for short).

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread.

shadokat · #14 06-06-2003, 02:28 PM

Most of these rules are pretty standard, as many have said. Here's a comparison to my campus and yours....

Pledges should be at home, in bed, by 12 PM. Any New Member events must be over and NMs out of the house by 11 pm on weeknights, 12 Midnight on Saturdays.

Pledging can't start until 9 PM. I would imagine this may be in place due to night classes. If you can't start until 9 PM, it forces the NMs to attend night classes. I would be willing to bet a problem has arisen in the past that dictated this one.

Pledging can't be off campus (this campus is less then 1 square mile) No idea on this one...unless you don't have houses. Helps campus to keep an eye on you though!

No hazing, hazing as interpreted by the director of greek life.
Everything must be optional, and no one is required to attend anything.
Again, pretty much the same, although our HQs also dictates these sorts of rules. If a campus rule is stricter than a HQ rule, you follow the stricter of the 2.

As someone else said, go to your Greek Life office and ask the director for written definitions of these guidelines, and make sure you document the meeting with an email. This way, you have proof if something were to come up, that you tried to utilize campus resources.

BSUPhiSig'92 · #15 06-06-2003, 04:22 PM

Is it possible your Greek Advisor meant 9AM instead of 9PM? I find it hard to believe that you couldn't have pledge meetings/events on weekends before 9pm.

Some of the things we always had our new member classes do were a fundraiser, house project and philanthropy/community service project. Their class was responsible for planning, logistics, etc. and it was a given that the actives would help out on the day of the event.

Also ropes courses are good as are other trust exercises. There may even be people on your campus who can help you with this (our campus recreation dept. has a ropes course).