Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteDaisy128
I'm a little surprised this wasn't brought up already, but I'd guess that the length of the new member process also has some sort of affect on loyalty/retention. These days the new member program is a standard 6-8 weeks for most national groups. It's very structured (for example, week 2 is history: discuss pages 3-6 in the pledge manual, do XYZ ritual to honor founders, play "history jeopardy") and has the potential to really seem impersonal.
I'm TOTALLY not saying the going back to hazing is the right thing to do...but I think if a new member has a longer new member period and has more time to really learn about the sisterhood (both ideologically and socially) - and if she feels that she earned a place in the sisterhood (by putting time and effort into the pledging process), it would encourage long-term loyalty.
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Yes. But I was a spring pledge, so did not have a long pledge period. I still took initiation seriously. I will also say that those hours spent at the dining room table polishing silver made strong bonds.