"Paddles"

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by valpogal99
Like a few of the other groups, ADPi doesn't have paddles. I agree that I don't see the harm in them. I haven't heard of too many incidents where sorority members used them on new members. Why is it that NPC tries to change terms but fraternities still use the traditional phrases without too many incidents.

I don't think I agree with you here -- NIC fraternities quite obviously have a lot more hazing/other risk management issues to deal with than the NPC sororities. Whether or not this is due to the strictness of the approach that the NPC has concerning hazing/drinking/risk management in general, I don't know -- but look at the hazing posts in the risk management section. Ninety out of every 100 involve a fraternity, not a sorority.

Whoever mentioned that non-Greeks would be "naive" to think that we hit each other with paddles -- I don't agree with that either. What's the main purpose of a paddle? What has it traditionally been used for -- besides rowing boats, of course? A paddle is a sign of violence and is traditionally associated with hazing. It's not that much of a jump to think that it still might be used that way, especially for those who are not very familiar with the greek system (although why we would bother to decorate them first, I don't know). Paddles are always going to be associated with violence -- but this goes for whether we call them "paddles" or "wood boards" or "plaques" or whatever, so that's why I don't think the NPC name-change will do anything whatsoever. If they really want to make a difference they'll have to do away with the paddles themselves, not the name.

I do think that "paddles" in the form of an important symbol to the sorority -- Phi Mu's quatrefoils, AST's anchor -- would be a good solution. Not only do they lessen the hazing connotation, but they have the added bonus of having an immediate connection to something related to your sorority, so they're more personal and more meaningful.

[MereMere21]

I think I'm going to find the PC person at NPC and wack them with my paddle, oh excuse me WOOD BOARD

*smack*

[DELTAQTE]

to me, it doesn't matter, a paddle is a paddle. It's like calling a duck a "animal with a bill" from now on. guess what, he still quacks!

And a question to the NPC. Is "paddling" really a big occurence with you guys? Cause from all the threads on here about chapters being suspended, most of them involved some sort of drinking activity




QTE

[AlphaFrog]

Another point is who is NPC trying to please??? These people who are "nieve" and think we hit people with paddles and so forth are usually the people who wouldn't join whether it's Rush or Recruitment, Pledge or New Memeber, Paddle or Wood Board, Greek or Italian!!!

Why are we trying to please those people out there who either make fun of Greeks, hate Greeks, or the classic "buying friends' people. Changing the names is NOT going to make these people want to go Greek. Honestly, how many people seriously go "Oh My, it's not called Rush anymore, it must be TOTALLY different, and there are no more pledges so there MUST be no more hazing, especially since those paddle shaped things hanging in their rooms AREN'T paddles!!!!" I wouldn't worry about pleasing these people either...they probably don't have the grade to join, seeing that you would have to be devoid of all thought to get to that conclusion.

NPC: National PanHelenic Council or National Political Correctness?

[ZTAngel]

I'm not sure if all ZTA chapters do this but, in ours, we cannot give an actual paddle to our big sis. We do wood carvings. For instance, you can get your big sis a paddle in the shape of five-point crown. You then paint it and put wooden letters on it along with your family number. They come out really cute. We've had strawberries, crowns, white tigers, dogs, cats, pigs, dollar bills, etc. We still call them paddles, though.

[ZTAMiami]

Originally posted by DELTAQTE
to me, it doesn't matter, a paddle is a paddle. It's like calling a duck a "animal with a bill" from now on. guess what, he still quacks!

And a question to the NPC. Is "paddling" really a big occurence with you guys? Cause from all the threads on here about chapters being suspended, most of them involved some sort of drinking activity




QTE

I've never actually heard of an NPC chapter using paddles to paddle. I suppose anything is possible, though. It's more of the whole negative conotation thing they are trying to get rid of.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by DELTAQTE

And a question to the NPC. Is "paddling" really a big occurence with you guys? Cause from all the threads on here about chapters being suspended, most of them involved some sort of drinking activity
QTE

Yeah, I don't think there is a big issue with paddling anymore, if there ever was. It's almost unheard of -- any cases of hazing I've heard of within the NPC sororities involve more emotional hazing or drinking, not physical hazing.

Originally posted by AlphaFrog

Why are we trying to please those people out there who either make fun of Greeks, hate Greeks, or the classic "buying friends' people. Changing the names is NOT going to make these people want to go Greek. Honestly, how many people seriously go "Oh My, it's not called Rush anymore, it must be TOTALLY different, and there are no more pledges so there MUST be no more hazing, especially since those paddle shaped things hanging in their rooms AREN'T paddles!!!!" I wouldn't worry about pleasing these people either...they probably don't have the grade to join, seeing that you would have to be devoid of all thought to get to that conclusion.

I think you're missing the point.

When people (outside of the Greek system) think of the word "pledge," they often think of it like -- as was said on "Fraternity Life" last night -- "being a pledge is just another word for being someone's b*tch." The term "new member" has no such connotations (yet) and hopefully it never will. While the name change doesn't change the amount of hazing that actually happens, it does lessen the chance that somebody outside the system will associate us with hazing because there is no immediate connection with the terms "new member" and "hazing."

Unfortunately, the majority of people who aren't involved in the Greek system or don't know someone in it think that all sororities haze, even though the majority of us don't anymore and many of us never did. This is at least true for where I'm from, and especially true outside of the South. Clearly the anti-Greek sentiment is a little weaker in the South than it is elsewhere.

And while you're right -- those who are anti-Greek will probably always be -- there are many many borderline cases of girls who are neither anti-Greek nor sure they want to rush. There are lots of girls who have posted on this board and said, "I'm a senior in high school and I think I want to rush next fall, but I'm afraid of the hazing -- should I do it or not?" I'll admit that I thought the same thing as a senior in high school. The less anti-Greek sentiment these girls are exposed to, the better -- and sadly, having paddles lying around the house is always going to fuel the popular impression that we still haze, and those who are vehemently anti-Greek will use that to their benefit to influence those who are undecided.

[sigmadiva]

Originally posted by jmbennett
Amen sistah! Calling a paddle a "wood board" or some other asinine phrase is about as dumb as calling a secretary an "executive assistent" or a prostitute a "sex care provider."

prostitue = "sex care provider" I'm still laughing!!!!!!!!

Hey, maybe that could be supported by an HMO/PPO.

Originally posted by AlphaFrog
Don't yell at me if I'm wrong, but I've heard a "rumor" that NPC in all of it's "PCness" is getting rid of the term "Paddles" (within the next year). From what I've heard Chi Omega has already done this....they now have "Owl Boards" and the offical NPC name will be "Wood Boards" (sounds a little redundant to me").

I remember this issue came up when our Leadership Consultant was with us last year. She was a collegian about ten years ago and according to her, AGD started 'outlawing' paddles while she was active, so it's been going on for a while now.

Paddle or no paddle, it doesn't bother me, and I really don't know what the big deal is. My chapter didn't have them anyway...we had pillows instead. To me, it's not the paddle or the pillow that's significant...it's the significance of having a pass down/pass up from one sister to another that's important.

[BSUPhiSig'92]

I have a hard time picturing NPC sorority members hitting anyone with a paddle. It would ruin the puffy paint!

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I gave my big sister a paddle with her name, my name, our letters, and our crest. My pledge class gave our pledge master (yes, I had a PLEDGE MASTER) a paddle and the chapter a paddle with the names of all our chapter founders. I have a paddle from my little sister. I think that it is a nice tradition to pass down through the family trees.

[Little E]

I see why NPC would want to change things. Whether we like it or not, Greek Organizations are businesses, and NPC is a business too. Outside people look in and see decades old stuff that has been changed in collegiate chapters. We don't balk at not drinking w/letters, or providing kegs, etc. They have been removed from soror culture and over time people's perceptions will change. I think NPC is looking to the future of its organizations and making sure that we as a group exemplify what we stand for. I think that this is an attempt to curtail the images of paddles. Honestly, can you say you never think of what they were first ment to do? And the idea of tradition. I'm with Sugar and Spice, make them a shape that has ritual meaning to you. If you don't use them to paddle with, what is the problem with having, crowns, anchors, quadrafoils...why not add you symbol, it just the same jigsaw that is gonna cut it out. The generations following us will be the one's whose perceptions will be changed the most by these types of changes. Perhaps changing the word is different but if no one bought paddle shaped paddles, the wouldn't need to. If we all bought other shapes, we could change their image ourselves, but we aren't, so NPC probably feels an obligation. (ok i'm idealistic , but hey, i live in a nice world! )

[starang21]

Originally posted by jmbennett
prostitute a "sex care provider."

i thought that was the official term

[starang21]

Originally posted by DELTAQTE
to me, it doesn't matter, a paddle is a paddle. It's like calling a duck a "animal with a bill" from now on. guess what, he still quacks!

And a question to the NPC. Is "paddling" really a big occurence with you guys? Cause from all the threads on here about chapters being suspended, most of them involved some sort of drinking activity




QTE

i think it's a safe bet that they dont throw.....

[33girl]

Every time I see something change, I just feel like we (we as in NPC) are going down a slippery slope of letting what other people think determine how we run our organizations, instead of determining it ourselves. Sorority membership is supposed to be about uplifting young women and encouraging them to make their own choices - with every dictate like this, a little bit more of that gets taken away, whether it be paddles, pledge programs or the way we socialize. I just hope in 30 years we aren't saying "selective membership was an old, outmoded tradition. It made non-Greeks think badly of us. It's a good thing we got rid of it."