How should a pledge address senior brothers during the pledge process?

[rupert85]

Originally Posted by TSteven

Others should be able to explain it better, but generally speaking, what is often referred to as an "intake process" (different fraternities may call it different things) is similar to what you have described as what you are going though.

After consideration, a potential new member (PNM) is invited to an interview by the fraternity. If the PNM "passes" (my words) the interview, he may then be extended a bid. At that point, he begins his pledgeship or new member period. After that, there may be another vote by the fraternity to extend membership.

"IFC bidding" (again, for lack of a better way of putting it) is the process where after consideration, a bid is extended to the PNM - most likely without any official interview. If he accepts, then his pledging begins. Before initiation, some fraternities or chapters might have some sort of an interview. Also, some fraternities may require a membership vote at this time.

The "intake process" is most often associated with fraternities that are members of the National Asian Pacific Islander American Panhellenic Association (NAPA), the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO), the National Multicultural Greek Council (NMGC) and the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. (NPHC).

While the "IFC bidding" (again, my words), is most often associated with fraternities that are members of the campus Interfraternity Council (IFC) and/or the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC).

Note, a fraternity may belong to more than one conference, association and/or council.

And the way each fraternity "brings in" members may be different. So again, these are just generalizations.

Best of luck.

Thanks very much for this explanation. While I am looking forward to what lies ahead, I am quite anxious and nervous, and getting more so as the day approaches. I have been provided with so little information about the six week pledge period that I simply have no clue what to expect. I am used to being in control and seeing several steps ahead, so this is very new to me.