Although this blog discusses the importance of having a fraternity website / sorority website, there are other important aspects of sorority/fraternity communication on which greek organization’s leaders should focus. One of these issues is ensuring that brothers/sisters of your chapter are enthusiastic members and remain very active through their senior year. How is a leader to achieve this? This entry will dicuss a few techniques greek organizations have used including the pledge model, point system, and development stages.
1. Pledge Model
The pledge model designates a period of time in which a member is on training wheels. The values of the organization, its principles and its way of operations are meant to be learned by the pledge until he/she is deemed suitable for full member status. For some chapters, this is effective by motivating the pledge to aspire to have full status so desperately that they value it for their remaining years as a full member.
The problem with the pledge model is that its traditionalism has carried over hazing practices in some circumstances. Unfortunately these methods have stigmatized the word “pledge” and induced negative connotations on greek life.
2. Point System
The point system uses a methodology to quantifying the activity and engagement of brothers/sisters in their fraternity/sorority. For example, in order for a sister to attend an upcoming social event, her sorority leaders may decide that all sisters must have a minimum of 10 points. These points can be earned through attendance at meetings, philanthropy events, intramurals, etc… This incentivizes participation in the chapter.
The problem with the point system is that by nature it prioritizes certain activities over others. Using the example above, a social event is seen as a reward whereas philanthropy is deemed as the “work” necessary to go to the social. For obvious reasons, this logic is backwards and counter-productive to the ideals of a sorority/fraternity.
Another issue with point system is keeping track of members' points. It’s not uncommon for disputes to surface regarding the amount of points members have. The system becomes complicated with taking attendance, keeping track, and having sisters keeping in-the-know on how many points they have. Fortunately there are services available that aid with organizing your point system and will be discussed in a future entry.
3. Development Stages
Some chapters have revolutionized the pledge model to make member development expand over the course of several years/levels. The idea is that member development should not be expected for only a period of pledgeship, but rather, it is a lifelong quest. Ha, okay.
The problem with using development stages is that you create a ranking system within your organization. Those brothers/sisters that commit to their organization 100% will excel and rank higher than older brothers/sisters who diversify their co-curriculars. Neither one of these personal choices is better than the other but the social hierarchy that develops can become a problem.