As the Bid Day season has officially closed, sororities across the nation are wrapping up their recruitment skills and putting them away until the following year. However, what happens to all of these new members that just got their bids? Are they just instantly thrown into Greek Life hoping they'll survive? Of course not. This is where the most important person of any new member's life comes in: The Pledge Mom.
I feel as if those who aren't involved in Greek Life have this initial perception of what a Pledge Mom is: an old lady, constantly making sure her children are fed, checking up on their homework.
Completely wrong idea. A Pledge Mom is a member of the sorority who teaches the new members what it is like to be a part of that particular sorority and helps them transition into the life of an initiated member. How do I know? Well I am the pledge mom.
In my chapter at the University of Nebraska Omaha, no one ever calls me the pledge mom. Instead, I am presented with the title of Vice President of New Member Education or VPNME for short. As elections role around, I know that many girls in my chapter are fighting to take my place for the following year. However, no one actually knows what my position actually entails.
1. BID DAY
Not many people know this but as the New Member Educator it is my job to be in charge of Bid Day. This includes: shirts, gifts, food, location (for those without houses) as well as decorations.
This isn't an event that you start planning a few weeks before. This is an event that starts EIGHT MONTHS before girls even open their bid day cards. There's a report I have to send to National Headquarters discusses my bid day plans in detail even when the event is not for another five months. I have to pick out my theme, design the shirts, know what food I am serving, where will it be at, etc etc. Locations are probably the hardest to find if you don't have houses on campus because bid day falls in the middle of wedding season. I booked our location seven months in advance and even then finding a location was tricky. Planning bid day is almost as stressful as planning a wedding but instead of going home being a newly wed you are going home knowing you are responsible for about 40+ girls to your new sisterhood. If you want to be a pledge mom, just know that you will be spending a majority of your life looking at Pinterest for ideas.
No matter how many hours you put or how much stress you have, you have to remember that Bid Day is a celebration of new members and after putting forth all this work, don't forget to celebrate too.
2. New Members
How could you be a mom without your new members running around?! Just like any other mom does, you are responsible for every single new member. For the first couple weeks, you are their only connection to the world of an initiated member. They have only met a few other girls are only starting to make those life-long friendships. As a mom:
-You have your phone on ringer 24/7 in case one of them needs someone to talk to
-You answer every question they have
-You help them through their first weeks transitioning into college (if they are just freshman)
-You teach them what it means to be a member of your organization
-You have them sign all of that paperwork, medical forms etc.
-You do your best to make them stay. Sorority life is only as great as you make it. You can only get what you put into it. You use every bone in your body to convince them to give the sisterhood a chance
-You remind them about paying their dues and remind them of any sorority events going on
You're going to be a mom which means you are going to give every individual the same amount of love and attention. The most important part about being a pledge mom:
Always put them first
3. Big Little Reveal
The most exciting part about a new member's journey is having that lifelong designated role model they can look up to. As much as you'd love them to be your little darlings forever, you can't maintain all 40+ of them. It's that time in the process where your new members are leaving your nest and starting to explore the world and create meaningful relationships with the other girls in the sorority. The person who now has your mom-ly duties is their big.
We just recently had our Big Little reveal and I can tell you right now: no one was disappointed. We did a fun and cute pair of sock reveal and when girls finally saw who their big was their screams were filled with excitement and their tears were full of joy. I know so many of the Bigs tricked their future Littles into thinking they couldn't take a Little on this semester. Boy did they have them fulled. The secret part of Big Little reveal that everyone forgets is the process in which they were paired. I don't know how anyone else does it, but here in my chapter we do our best to make sure its a mutual selection process. There isn't anyone calling dibs on one new member or just completely ignoring another. It's about two girls who have, what my sorority likes to call, the mystic bond. No no no. The Big Little pairing process isn't easy breezy. It takes about three to four hours depending on how many members you have. But again at the end of the day, it isn't who I wanted to be paired up or who the initiated members wanted. We:
Always put them first
And to my pledge mom that helped me and my pledge class grow within the chapter I just wanted to say, thank you.
