Quote:
Originally Posted by robertearlkeen
First off, I cant believe that you dont have a dress code for your pledges. Do you really allow them to walk around in tshirts or whatever they want? Carrying cigarettes is to give to brothers when they need one. Pledges are not allowed to use any form of tobacco. As for "telling him how to dress, or any other sort of inane behavioral corrections to make him part of your fraternity," we are not making them dress in a way to conform to what we believe they should dress. To be honest they would never recieved a bid if we thought that they would not dress with class and in accordance to what a southern gentleman should look like. It dumbfounds me that some greek organizations make their "pledges" do hardly anything besides learn the organizations history. Im not saying you have to beat them, but I do not beleive in short 8 week pledgeships, non hazing, or not making them follow simple rules such as carrying smokes for brothers or dressing nicely. Also you should probably start wearing collared shirts, in the real world companies dont tend to hire people who show up in emo gear or american eagle tshirts.
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The only point you've made that I agree with is that I also do not believe in an 8 week pledge program - ours lasts the entire semester, and I absolutely feel it should. It's impossible to adequately communicate the nature of the organization in a shorter period. However, both before and after that, you failed to produce a single statement I agreed with beyond the tangential "real world companies dont tend to hire people who show up in emo gear or american eagle tshirts", which I will address after tackling the larger issue(s) at hand.
First, the issue of hazing. It's not who we are, or want to be. It goes against our fundamental principles to haze - if you're a Beta, I'll be more than happy to delve deeper into this with you, but if you're not, then trust me - it does. This also covers rules like carrying cigarettes for brothers. Aside from the obvious issue that none of us smoke, I absolutely fail to see the benefit that can come from having someone carry object x around with him. And again, we don't have a dress code for ourselves, so why would we have one for pledges? Clearly, there is one for chapter meetings and other events, but for day to day purposes, we're much too practical for that. Perhaps it's because we are (with only 1 exception), all science and engineering majors and value practicality, our founding principles, and logic over concerns of whether we are being sufficiently ostentatious; our reputation on campus and in the community speaks to the character of both our brothers and pledges in a light that is more than positive.
And now the collared shirt issue. I'm slightly bothered by the fact that you think I lack the class to dress appropriately for work-related activities. Clearly, if the situation warranted it, I would. Fortunately, it seldom will in my life, since I plan on spending most of my professional career in academia, where again, practicality trumps social convention.
Maybe I just lack an understanding and appreciation of why the idea of a "southern gentleman" is still around in 2006. Shouldn't you be more concerned with being a good global citizen? The world extends beyond the Mason-Dixon Line - in fact, it gets a lot better(well, politically, anyway).
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