Fraternity having problems with "cliques"

[TKESunDevil]

First of all, how many actives are in your fraternity? How many men are in a typical pledge class?

No matter where you are, whether it's your fraternity, work, etc. there will always be cliques. From my experience, these cliques start out during pledgeship; if the PC is large then cliques start to form. Your best bet would be to have your Pledge Educator setup brotherhood events to help everyone in the PC get to know each other better. This should help nip the problem in the beginning stages, as pledgeship sets the tone for how the fraternity will operate in the future. Having a large PC adds to the clique problem, as there will be a lot of guys who would only want to hang out with a few of their pledge brothers. Holding the pledge retreats will definitely help out.

Have y'all thought about setting up brotherhood events for the entire active class? These events can range from something small such as going bowling or as large as going on a weekend retreat/camping trip, as well as going over and practicing your ritual so that everyone can hang out with each other and reinforce the true meaning of brotherhood in a fraternity.

Hope this helps.

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by TKESunDevil

First of all, how many actives are in your fraternity? How many men are in a typical pledge class?

No matter where you are, whether it's your fraternity, work, etc. there will always be cliques. From my experience, these cliques start out during pledgeship; if the PC is large then cliques start to form. Your best bet would be to have your Pledge Educator setup brotherhood events to help everyone in the PC get to know each other better. This should help nip the problem in the beginning stages, as pledgeship sets the tone for how the fraternity will operate in the future. Having a large PC adds to the clique problem, as there will be a lot of guys who would only want to hang out with a few of their pledge brothers. Holding the pledge retreats will definitely help out.

Have y'all thought about setting up brotherhood events for the entire active class? These events can range from something small such as going bowling or as large as going on a weekend retreat/camping trip, as well as going over and practicing your ritual so that everyone can hang out with each other and reinforce the true meaning of brotherhood in a fraternity.

Hope this helps.

But doesn't building "pledge class unity" just exacerbate the clique problem?

All the initiated members have a brotherhood event without the pledges. The pledges then have their own brotherhood event where they have an awesome opportunity to form their own clique and complain about how the older members had a brotherhood event without them. Great...

Brotherhood events should include all members, both initiated and pledging.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

But doesn't building "pledge class unity" just exacerbate the clique problem?

All the initiated members have a brotherhood event without the pledges. The pledges then have their own brotherhood event where they have an awesome opportunity to form their own clique and complain about how the older members had a brotherhood event without them. Great...

Brotherhood events should include all members, both initiated and pledging.

I don't think so. If a group is very large, events that include all members can be intimidating. Many people come into a GLO having no idea how to work with 5 other people, let alone 50. The purpose of pledge class unity should be to help initiate people into working with a smaller group before they have to wrap their heads around calling everyone their "brother."

The only problem comes if the class stays an impenetrable unit after initiation. It shouldn't, if the bigs of the pledges are doing their job.

I think this is why we see so much, on the sorority side, women wanting to drop 2 weeks after bid day. You can't be BFFs with everyone instantly.

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I don't think so. If a group is very large, events that include all members can be intimidating. Many people come into a GLO having no idea how to work with 5 other people, let alone 50. The purpose of pledge class unity should be to help initiate people into working with a smaller group before they have to wrap their heads around calling everyone their "brother."

The only problem comes if the class stays an impenetrable unit after initiation. It shouldn't, if the bigs of the pledges are doing their job.

I think this is why we see so much, on the sorority side, women wanting to drop 2 weeks after bid day. You can't be BFFs with everyone instantly.

I understand what you're saying. Though in my experience large chapters don't often self diagnose a clique problem because they understand that large chapter brotherhood means you can't be close with everyone. (Of course a smaller chapter that has a big recruitment push and doubles in size might self diagnose a clique problem because they can compare.)

In Delta Chi we don't promote activities that encourage "pledge class unity." Of course our rhetoric on the international level isn't always what the chapters are promoting.