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College 101: The Process of Joining a Greek OrganizationJan 05 '06 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Thinking about joining a Greek Organization? Read This! Many colleges and universities throughout the world have sororities and fraternities, better known as Greek Life. In order to join such an organization, one must go through an even called "Rush." Rush is where you visit all of the houses (another word for Greek Organizations), and decide if you would like to become a part of one of them. At the same time, the houses are looking at you to decide whether or not you would be a good fit for them. There are two types of Rush. The first is Formal Rush, which usually occurs during the fall. This is a school-sponsored event run by Panhellenic and Inter-Fraternity Council. There is usually a separate Rush for fraternities and sororities, so that the men and women don't mix. Rushees go through several rounds, where they meet and greet members of each house. After each round, each house invites back the rushees that they would like to see join their organization. At the end, houses give bids to rushees. The rushees accept, attending the house's Bid Day. At Bid Day, the rushees now become pledges of the organization. A lot of fraternities and sororities do not refer to their pledges as "pledges" at all. In my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, new members are called Alphas. In Phi Sigma Sigma, they are called Neophytes. You get the idea. New members spend their pre-initiation time learning about the organization. They are usually assigned a buddy from the organization, that is referred to as the "Big" sister or brother. In ADPi, they were called Diamond Sisters to keep everyone on the same level. The "older" member is supposed to teach the new member all of the ins and outs of the organization, including rules and history. Almost every Greek Organization gives a handbook to the new members. This is a supplement and a study guide to what the other members teach them about the organization. One of the offices held by someone in the organization is "New Member Educator." This person is often referred to as the "House Mother" in sororities and "Pledge Master" in fraternities. This person is the one that the new members can turn to for help with learning what they need to know in order to be initiated. Right before Initiation Day, the new members are usually given a written exam. This written exam consists of questions about the Greek Organization, and sometimes about PanHel and IFC. There may even be questions about the current members of the organizations. The new members must treat this like a real exam. If they fail, they will not be initiated. On Initiation Day, the new members are pinned by their Big Sister, Big Brother, Diamond Sister or whatever they may be called. Sometimes, a new member is a "legacy"-- a descendent of a member of that organization. I remember that one of my sisters was pinned by her mother on Initiation Day. That was awesome. (Truth be told, I hope that I have a daughter and she joins ADPi, or one of my younger cousins do!) My real sister was a legacy of ADPi, and I was able to pin her, even though I had a Diamond Sister of my own. I merely switched sisters to pin. After you are pinned, you are a full-fledged member of the Greek Organization. You have all of the rights and privileges that the other members do. You can even get your own "little" during the next round of pledging. You can attend the meetings in full. You can hold an office. DUES Don't forget about dues! It isn't free to join a fraternity or sorority. You have dues every semester, and must pay them on time. There are consequences if you don't, including probation, suspension and even expulsion from the organization. It stinks that people say that joining a house is "buying your friends." That's really not true. You pay dues for a variety of reasons: to rent a place to hold meetings, to pay for parties, to purchase materials that the chapter needs... the list goes on and on. It isn't as though the money is spread amongst the members. It goes toward paying the bills that the chapter has. SECRECY Being a member of a Greek Organization means that you know all of its secrets. You know the secret handshake and the secret sign to identify another member. You are allowed to wear the letters of the house. You know the Creed, which might not be public. You know the "Call and Answer." These are supposed to be secret. That is why you go through the pledge process. If you join a house, keep their secrets SECRET! HAZING Hazing is NOT tolerated on any campus in the United States. If you are being hazed, you should go directly to the president of the house or your pledge master or house mother. If they don't do anything, go directly to PanHel or IFC. If they don't do anything, go directly to the headquarters of the Organization. You probably will end up not becoming a member of the Organization, but at least you weren't humiliated. On a personal note, I was hazed during my freshman year in a sorority that I really wanted to join. I was humiliated, and had quite enough after two weeks. My pledge sisters and I went to the House Mother and told her that we didn't want to be hazed. She ignored us, so we went to PanHel, who took it all very seriously. We even wrote a letter to the headquarters of the sorority. The chapter lost its charter, then was founded again 4 years later after much re-organization. IN CONCLUSION Being a member of a sorority or fraternity is something that you keep with you for life. You can find sisters or brothers all over the world, and stay connected through your organization's website. You immediately have something in common with someone that you just met. You have a tradition to pass down to your children and your children's children. Greek Life doesn't end with college. Right now, I'm in the process of forming a Long Island Alumnae Association for Alpha Delta Pi. There are tons of Alumni Associations everywhere for virtually every Greek Organization. You can apply for scholarships to continue your education, or to help pay for the education of your children. you can even use it as a networking tool. I love my sorority. Granted, Greek Life might not be for everyone. You should research it before going through Rush so that you get the most out of the process, and so that you can make an educated decision as to whether or not you want to join. For those that do join, be sure that you make the most out of everything.  |
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