Scavenger Hunts?

[Kevin]

What do y'all think about scavenger hunts? Most of our organizations RM policies specifically forbid them of course, are these a form of hazing? Are they particularly risky?

Do lawyers play too big a role in your organization's new member program?

[33girl]

Like many other things, they are what you make them. They can be perfectly innocent or really hard hazing. It's crappy that the groups who use them to the good (i.e. as a way of helping pledges learn the history of the GLO and/or the chapter) are punished with the a-holes who use them as a hazing tool.

Lawyers play WAY too big a part in everyone's NM program, IMO. If clearer guidelines were established by the HQs there would be no need for the amount of lawyering. "Uncomfortable" isn't a legal term, as far as I'm concerned.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Lawyers play WAY too big a part in everyone's NM program, IMO. If clearer guidelines were established by the HQs there would be no need for the amount of lawyering. "Uncomfortable" isn't a legal term, as far as I'm concerned.

No, it's a purposefully vague term used to give HQ broad discretion in punishing anything they think is bad juju.

[kddani]

Originally Posted by Kevin

What do y'all think about skavenger hunts?

Picturing lots of crazy people looking for ska music...

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by kddani

Picturing lots of crazy people looking for ska music...

I knew something didn't look right about it...

[Kevin]

Fixed. Oops.

No wonder my spell check kicked it out.

[susan314]

As 33girl said, it depends upon how they are conducted.

In general, I don't think that a scavenger hunt is terribly risky. And it certainly has the potential to be a fun activity.

But, as with anything, there are people who take it too far. There was a group of high school students not too long ago who were charged with felonies after being found with stolen property acquired during a scavenger hunt (street signs, etc.): http://www.courttv.com/people/2007/0...venger_ap.html

Eek...while trying to find a link to the story above, this one turned up on the Google search. Apparently one of the highest ranking items on this list was an "unrelated human baby" Talk about taking things too far...

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...52C1A960948260

Originally Posted by susan314

As 33girl said, it depends upon how they are conducted.

In general, I don't think that a scavenger hunt is terribly risky. And it certainly has the potential to be a fun activity.

I don't think they're risky, either...and it's a shame that others have spoiled it for the rest of us.

When I was a collegian, we wanted to do a scavenger hunt as a fun program for our new members. My then CA told us that the last time my chapter did a scavenger hunt (shortly after we were established in the early 90s when my CA was pledging), AGD IHQ immediately told them that they weren't allowed and we haven't done one since.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by OTW

I don't think they're risky, either...and it's a shame that others have spoiled it for the rest of us.

When I was a collegian, we wanted to do a scavenger hunt as a fun program for our new members. My then CA told us that the last time my chapter did a scavenger hunt (shortly after we were established in the early 90s when my CA was pledging), AGD IHQ immediately told them that they weren't allowed and we haven't done one since.

That's what they get for trying to procure unrelated human infants...

[AGDee]

Our liability insurance company forbids them. I've seen them get out of control and I've seen them be OK, but if the liability insurance company says no, then it's no. Also, it's not necessarily a hazing thing, but more a risk management thing (although I've seen it be a hazing thing too). We had an alumnae club that did an annual road rally and that was canned also, so it's not just collegians who can't do these things.

[SigmaNuHX766]

My chapter doesn't do a scavenger hunt, but some brothers offer a free lunch to the first Candidate that finds the bench on our campus that was dedicated in memory of our advisor, DK Marchand (Gamma Pi chapter initiate #461, and alumni advisor for Eta Chi chapter).

DK's bench is right in the middle of campus, in a well lit area at night, and many folks sit on it daily without reading the plaque... not a scavenger hunt really. It usually takes them a half hour or so after our Sunday meetings and is completely volluntary.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by Kevin

What do y'all think about scavenger hunts? Most of our organizations RM policies specifically forbid them of course, are these a form of hazing? Are they particularly risky?

yes, especially if the list was created by someone with no sense at all and one of the items is something like, "Take a digital photo of one of your pledge brothers flipping the bird to a Hells Angels member."

[fectin]

The biggest reason they give us at our yearly sessions is that scavenger hunts have a tendancy to escalate. The first year, it's find a bench (just as an example, not to pick on that chapter), two years later some brother steals the plaque to make it more interesting, then the new members have to guard the bench for the afternoon, then all night, etc.
That's kind of a ridiculous example, especially given that the "find the bench for free lunch" thing seems to have been going for a while, but it's that sort of escalation that gets IHQs a little leery of allowing scavenger hunts.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Agreed. The slipperly slope argument is a strong one when it comes to RM.