If Hazing is Wrong, what's a better alternative?

[msl2008]

i think in both instances whether you haze or do not haze you will get good members and you will get bad members. i just think that something more difficult then learning history or doing philanthropies should be incorporated into a pledging process. i guess it's with the fact that i always saw greeks as being beyond the fact of who you are or who you know or what your gpa is but it could be something where people from various backgrounds can all start with a clean slate and go thru the same process and not have it matter who you were before pledging. picking and choosing members is good and all but i think then you will tend to choose people like yourself. i believe that everyone should be given a fair chance and the only way for that is to have them all go through the same process.

maybe that's what gets at me is the fact that i look at a lot of greek organizations with the same types of people and think, "oh, these guys or girls got in b/c of who they knew or how high their gpa was." giving an equal chance by going thru a physical and psychological pledge process would be fair imo. people will say that's a disadvantage to fat people or whatnot but in those cases you would structure the program to meet their needs. the whole point is pushing people to a higher level that they previously thought was impossible and in that regard, i think physical pledging would be beneficial as a confidence booster.

[Kansas City]

Originally Posted by msl2008

i think in both instances whether you haze or do not haze you will get good members and you will get bad members. i just think that something more difficult then learning history or doing philanthropies should be incorporated into a pledging process. i guess it's with the fact that i always saw greeks as being beyond the fact of who you are or who you know or what your gpa is but it could be something where people from various backgrounds can all start with a clean slate and go thru the same process and not have it matter who you were before pledging. picking and choosing members is good and all but i think then you will tend to choose people like yourself. i believe that everyone should be given a fair chance and the only way for that is to have them all go through the same process.

maybe that's what gets at me is the fact that i look at a lot of greek organizations with the same types of people and think, "oh, these guys or girls got in b/c of who they knew or how high their gpa was." giving an equal chance by going thru a physical and psychological pledge process would be fair imo. people will say that's a disadvantage to fat people or whatnot but in those cases you would structure the program to meet their needs. the whole point is pushing people to a higher level that they previously thought was impossible and in that regard, i think physical pledging would be beneficial as a confidence booster.

I totally agree that membership should be based on the merits of the individual and not who they know/who their parents are/how much money they have, etc. ... BUT ... proving someone's worth during pledgeship through physical and mental anguish only encourages an organization to retain the tough members that can take punishment and abuse instead of the members that have the ability to elevate the entire chapter in philanthropic activities/GPA/etc. I've contended all along that it is the military and football teams that need these tough guys while fraternities need brothers who are more than just muscles (sorry to any jocks - I do not intend to offend ). Fraternities should seek complete individuals (muscles or not) who respect and actively contribute to a lifelong brotherhood.