Attend Rush, even if an ex-interest for another org?

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

However, there were no pins or other outward manifestations of being in an interest group (at least there weren't supposed to be.) Initially they were really just a way for a group of like-minded young women to learn about their org of interest and support them. Somewhat like the Sigma's or Zeta's (sorry can't remember which one) official non-member group, but not as formalized.

Some HBCU yearbooks in the 1960s had photos of the "clubs" (Pyramid Club, Sphinx Club), etc. as if they were a campus organization.

This always confused me because 1) I don't know whether these were nationally recognized "pledges" and 2) some of the members of these clubs ended up becoming members and others dropped prior to initiation (some of them dropped not knowing the initiation was a few days away, which sucks).

If it's the first one (1) then I assume there were photos of these groups because, by the time the yearbook hit the press, they hadn't completed (I assume they had started) the intake process and couldn't be in the chapter photo.

[LatinaAlumna]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

Point of Clarification: T.I.A.R.A.s are interested women, not pledges. Mu pledges have a different name and I can't remember if it's private, so I'm not going to post it here. T.I.A.R.A.s (Mu Sigma Upsilon), W.I.L.D.s (Lambda Tau Omega), Lynxes (Omega Phi Chi), Irises (Omicron Lambda Pi), etc. are all interests. Pledges are selected from the interest group and, in all cases I'm aware of, have an entirely different title.

Oh, okay. I was told they were actual pledges.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Some HBCU yearbooks in the 1960s had photos of the "clubs" (Pyramid Club, Sphinx Club), etc. as if they were a campus organization.

This always confused me because 1) I don't know whether these were nationally recognized "pledges" and 2) some of the members of these clubs ended up becoming members and others dropped prior to initiation (some of them dropped not knowing the initiation was a few days away, which sucks).

If it's the first one (1) then I assume there were photos of these groups because, by the time the yearbook hit the press, they hadn't completed (I assume they had started) the intake process and couldn't be in the chapter photo.

Your assumptions are correct. Our pledge groups were called Clubs--Pyramid, Sphinxman, Lampado, Scroller, Ivy, Crescent, Aurora, ? (Zetas weren't on my campus yet, so I don't know what they were called, and Iotas didn't exist.) When yearbook pics were taken the end of year initiations hadn't happened.

And yes, people dropped or were dropped all the way up to initiation. Remember the pledge period was for determining if there was a fit on both sides. It was not a foregone conclusion that because you became a pledge you would become a member. And either side could make the decision to depledge, because voting could occur multiple times in the process up until Probation (Hell) week.