balanced man vs traditional

[sfebop]

Hey Bros,
I want to start off by saying I'm from a traditional chapter. I went to conclave last summer and CLA's this fall (Pittsburgh). A lot of the guys at my chapter HATE and I mean HATE the Balanced Man Program, and I'll admit before conclave I was in full agreement. But the truth is every chapter is going to be different regardless. I met BM guys at both Conclave and CLA's that could hang longer then I could, and had great personalities. The problem seems to be that there are a lot of chapters that don't really care who they let in, which can be both a good and bad thing. If a irresponsible chapter lets in irresponsible brothers, well, they loose their charter. However, if BM chapters let in guys that are only doing it for their resume and "Fuck It, I didn't have to pledge" (it's in quotations because some at Conclave actually said that to me); they get rewarded for having high numbers.

From a personal standpoint though, I really like being a pledging chapter; here’s why. Over the 8 weeks that I pledged I got really close with my pledge brothers, we got to know each other and constantly had to depend on one another. There wasn't a moment that we weren't together, not by force, but because after 2 weeks, we genuinely really liked each other. Now that we're in we are always functioning as "one" unit. To me, that is truly amazing, especially considering none of us knew each other beforehand. I can't see how this type of bonding can be re-created through the BMP. Really "hazing" is such a harsh word. I never once felt like I was "hazed", everything I did was done not because I liked the brothers, but rather because I loved my pledge brothers, and once we all shared a common trust, we realized how the guys already in felt. I don’t know, sounds a bit gay, whatever, that’s my only gripe with the BMP.

Fraternally.
Tom