PKT25: The Associate Member Education Program
Ok, so the Fall 1996 pledge class (sorry, associate member class) had a class with seven members. What happened next?
The majority of each semester's schedule for the fraternity was set up around recruiting and the pledge program. The Associate Member Educator coordinated the schedule and ran the events. Zuck filled that role for my class. I won't describe some of the ritual events in detail because oaths of secrecy were taken, so you'll have to settle for the name.
1- Rush - The events varied from semester to semester, but the two weeks of fraternity rush always concluded with formal breakfast. The entire men's Greek system did rush the same two weeks. The sororities did a formal rush process that was completely different and which I barely understood when I was an undergrad, let alone now.
2- Bid night - This was pretty much always the Monday after rush ended.
3- At this point the formal associate member program would start, with one meeting a week. Pledges also came to chapter meetings on Sunday nights fairly early in the program, although they were asked to step out for certain parts of the meeting.
4- Induction - The first ritual event, where Pledges received their pledge pin and their Big Brothers were assigned.
5- Candling - Another ritual event. This was held twice a semester around the 1/3 and 2/3 mark of the program.
6- Paddling - Ok, so one fraternity stereotype was actually true, and Big Brothers and Little Brothers presented paddles to each other.
7- Pledge Party - The pledges would work with the Social chair to throw one of the two parties for the semester, not counting any rush party. I can say with complete honesty that our pledge party was the best one that ever happened in my five years, which is mostly because Neal S. took over and did it. I had absolutely nothing to do with it, and I think I actually missed most of it because of football. More on that in a future post.
8- Philanthropy Project - The fraternities at CWRU at required to do a certain amount of charitable work. There was usually a pledge philanthropy project on top of whatever the house was already planning.
9- Pledge Composite - The pledge class would make a picture of themselves, usually something entertaining. For instance, when I was the associate member educator in Spring 2001, the pledge class recreated the poster for The Usual Suspects. A classic was a drawing from a class that predated us of everybody's back. Based on a quick group text with 5 of my 7 pledge brothers last night, we appear not to have done anything that any of us can remember.
10- Pledge Gift - The pledge class would present a gift to the chapter. The same group text indicated that none of us can remember getting a pledge gift. Clearly our class was deficient in a bunch of ways.
11- The Long Walk - Another ritual. This would usually be right near the start of finals. This was usually preceded by a formal dinner out at a restaurant for the actives and pledges.
12- Initiation - Just what it sounds like, this would be shortly after The Long Walk.
In addition to these chapter events, there was usually a campus-wide education program that was mandatory for all members of the Greek system each semester. It was usually heavily oriented around alcohol awareness and safety, although it sometimes touched on other topics. This was usually early in the semester and we were required to have a certain percentage of our membership, including pledges, attend.
There were a few semester-specific events that weren't inherently tied to the pledge program.
- In both semesters we'd have chapter elections. Pledges could run for office on the assumption that they'd be initiated.
- In the spring semester we'd have Greek Week, which was a large competition between all the fraternities and sororities. It would be worked into the associate member education program as well.
- The other spring semester event was our fraternity's formal event dance, which would be held at some local venue.
- We also had an alumni ritual when brothers graduated, which I seem to recall was performed at the last chapter meeting of the semester if there were any brothers graduating. Pragmatically this meant "occasionally in December" and "always in May," although sometimes we forgot the actual ritual and went straight to the part where the new alumni drank a beer in the Red Room.
We wore coat & tie for ritual events, which often made for some hot nights in the Chapter Room. If I had to figure out how many times in my life I'd worn a tie, I'd start by adding up the five ritual events and bid night and multiplying it by the 9 semesters I was in the house (I was on co-op one semester). Throw in 8-9 formals (I went as an alumnus for several years), a whole bunch of fraternity weddings and several national fraternity events, and that's probably the majority of the times I wore a tie in my life. Note that I never actually learned to tie a tie, so for virtually all of those events some poor fraternity brother (usually Neal P.) tied it for me.
The precise details varied from semester to semester, but the general outline was always the same. Next time, we'll talk about what actually happened during the pledge program.
The Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta
The House Tour
Outside,
Main Floor Bedrooms,
Main Floor Public Rooms,
Basement Public Areas,
Basement Private Areas,
2nd Floor Big Bedrooms,
2nd Floor Small Bedrooms,
3rd Floor First Hallway,
3rd Floor Second Hallway,
Attic & Errata
The Pledge ProgramSchedule
Pledge Classes Fall 1996
Events Detour
Other Full Series, My Rush Experience, Chapter History
Addendum - Although it wasn't a formal part of the program, many semesters there was also a pledge prank. My pledge class didn't do one of those either, as far as I can recall. Thanks to Susan for pointing out that I'd missed that.
Addendum 2 - Shortly after Induction, the Big Brothers would present letters to their Littles.
Addendum 3 - There was also usually a Pledge Trip.
Addendum 4 - Pledge Challenge was a thing where the pledges would challenge their big brothers in some event.
The majority of each semester's schedule for the fraternity was set up around recruiting and the pledge program. The Associate Member Educator coordinated the schedule and ran the events. Zuck filled that role for my class. I won't describe some of the ritual events in detail because oaths of secrecy were taken, so you'll have to settle for the name.
1- Rush - The events varied from semester to semester, but the two weeks of fraternity rush always concluded with formal breakfast. The entire men's Greek system did rush the same two weeks. The sororities did a formal rush process that was completely different and which I barely understood when I was an undergrad, let alone now.
2- Bid night - This was pretty much always the Monday after rush ended.
3- At this point the formal associate member program would start, with one meeting a week. Pledges also came to chapter meetings on Sunday nights fairly early in the program, although they were asked to step out for certain parts of the meeting.
4- Induction - The first ritual event, where Pledges received their pledge pin and their Big Brothers were assigned.
5- Candling - Another ritual event. This was held twice a semester around the 1/3 and 2/3 mark of the program.
6- Paddling - Ok, so one fraternity stereotype was actually true, and Big Brothers and Little Brothers presented paddles to each other.
7- Pledge Party - The pledges would work with the Social chair to throw one of the two parties for the semester, not counting any rush party. I can say with complete honesty that our pledge party was the best one that ever happened in my five years, which is mostly because Neal S. took over and did it. I had absolutely nothing to do with it, and I think I actually missed most of it because of football. More on that in a future post.
8- Philanthropy Project - The fraternities at CWRU at required to do a certain amount of charitable work. There was usually a pledge philanthropy project on top of whatever the house was already planning.
9- Pledge Composite - The pledge class would make a picture of themselves, usually something entertaining. For instance, when I was the associate member educator in Spring 2001, the pledge class recreated the poster for The Usual Suspects. A classic was a drawing from a class that predated us of everybody's back. Based on a quick group text with 5 of my 7 pledge brothers last night, we appear not to have done anything that any of us can remember.
10- Pledge Gift - The pledge class would present a gift to the chapter. The same group text indicated that none of us can remember getting a pledge gift. Clearly our class was deficient in a bunch of ways.
11- The Long Walk - Another ritual. This would usually be right near the start of finals. This was usually preceded by a formal dinner out at a restaurant for the actives and pledges.
12- Initiation - Just what it sounds like, this would be shortly after The Long Walk.
In addition to these chapter events, there was usually a campus-wide education program that was mandatory for all members of the Greek system each semester. It was usually heavily oriented around alcohol awareness and safety, although it sometimes touched on other topics. This was usually early in the semester and we were required to have a certain percentage of our membership, including pledges, attend.
There were a few semester-specific events that weren't inherently tied to the pledge program.
- In both semesters we'd have chapter elections. Pledges could run for office on the assumption that they'd be initiated.
- In the spring semester we'd have Greek Week, which was a large competition between all the fraternities and sororities. It would be worked into the associate member education program as well.
- The other spring semester event was our fraternity's formal event dance, which would be held at some local venue.
- We also had an alumni ritual when brothers graduated, which I seem to recall was performed at the last chapter meeting of the semester if there were any brothers graduating. Pragmatically this meant "occasionally in December" and "always in May," although sometimes we forgot the actual ritual and went straight to the part where the new alumni drank a beer in the Red Room.
We wore coat & tie for ritual events, which often made for some hot nights in the Chapter Room. If I had to figure out how many times in my life I'd worn a tie, I'd start by adding up the five ritual events and bid night and multiplying it by the 9 semesters I was in the house (I was on co-op one semester). Throw in 8-9 formals (I went as an alumnus for several years), a whole bunch of fraternity weddings and several national fraternity events, and that's probably the majority of the times I wore a tie in my life. Note that I never actually learned to tie a tie, so for virtually all of those events some poor fraternity brother (usually Neal P.) tied it for me.
The precise details varied from semester to semester, but the general outline was always the same. Next time, we'll talk about what actually happened during the pledge program.
The Ohio Alpha Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta
The House Tour
Outside,
Main Floor Bedrooms,
Main Floor Public Rooms,
Basement Public Areas,
Basement Private Areas,
2nd Floor Big Bedrooms,
2nd Floor Small Bedrooms,
3rd Floor First Hallway,
3rd Floor Second Hallway,
Attic & Errata
The Pledge ProgramSchedule
Pledge Classes Fall 1996
Events Detour
Other Full Series, My Rush Experience, Chapter History
Addendum - Although it wasn't a formal part of the program, many semesters there was also a pledge prank. My pledge class didn't do one of those either, as far as I can recall. Thanks to Susan for pointing out that I'd missed that.
Addendum 2 - Shortly after Induction, the Big Brothers would present letters to their Littles.
Addendum 3 - There was also usually a Pledge Trip.
Addendum 4 - Pledge Challenge was a thing where the pledges would challenge their big brothers in some event.