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January 26, 2012
Listen Up, Freshmen
Rush ended. Bids went out, and invitations were accepted. Now, chapter houses across campus are swarming with fresh, eager faces ready to dive into the pledging process. Aside from a couple stray parties they snuck into and the rush events, though, these newbies have yet to truly experience Greek life. For them, New Member Education can seem like a murky trek at first. Listen up, pledges – since every fraternity is different, I cannot speak for them all, but there are some general ground rules every freshman should realize about pledging. What New Member Education is NOT about: 1. Impressing the brothers. You freshmen, with delusional minds, sometimes make the unfortunate mistake of putting on an act in front of the rest of the fraternity in order to make yourselves look “more frat.” There are a couple problems with this method. First, while it may be easy to fool one or two people, it’s much harder to deceive dozens of older brothers. Putting on a persona takes you out of your comfort zone, which adds a whole new dimension of unnecessary difficulty to the pledging process. You can’t keep it up for long. Second, there is no need to fool or deceive anyone. The majority of fraternities offers bids only to freshmen who had received the unanimous vote of the brothers. Therefore, if you are pledging, every brother voted for you to do so. In other words, calm down. We’ve already been impressed. 2. Forgetting about school. Joining a fraternity is the most exciting thing in your collegiate life thus far. You are lifted from the drudges of freshmen dormitories and thrown into the exciting atmosphere of Greek camaraderie. Your minds fill up with the history and traditions of your fraternity, and you quickly become the focus of the entire group of men. It’s easy to get caught up in the spirit and forget about why you are attending college in the first place. New Member Education is not a schism from schoolwork, but instead it works in intimate conjunction with academics. The pledging process helps students develop strong time management skills that they may not have needed prior to their Greek involvement. Identify and kick bad habits, such as excessive video gaming and other time-wasting activities. If you set yourself up an effective schedule, balancing the pledging process and schoolwork will be a challenge you can easily overcome. By the time initiation rolls around, you’ll be a more efficient scholar.
What New Member Education is about: 1. Developing your talents. Whether sports, music or school, so many of us arrive to where we are in life by relying on our God-given abilities. Some things come more naturally to certain people, but skills only develop if they are tested. Therefore, treat New Member Education as an opportunity to improve yourself. Older brothers will trust you with responsibilities, ranging from understanding the history of the fraternity to assisting the organization of social events. Take these seriously, applying the talents you already have to the situation. With a constant and conscious effort, your mind and body will only grow stronger. 2. Forming bonds. Human beings are social animals, and through our natural instincts have formed various communities from churches to nations. You, even though a freshman, are part of the same genome, and you can’t go down this road alone. Luckily, now is the time to embrace the brotherhood found within your fraternity. During New Member Education, work with your fellow pledges in order to piece together your success. The entire point of the pledging process is to learn how to help each other for the betterment of the team. With a little help from your brothers, you’ll discover that even the hardest looking obstacles become much easier.
Leonard is a sophomore studying English. You may contact him at leov@sas.upenn.edu.
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