We Don't Pledge
by Kerry Gilliard, ZPBSTimes Webmaster

Catchy title, huh? :)
At the Collegiate Luncheon during the Eastern Regional Conference here in Baltimore, Brother Reverend Dr. David Blow mentioned (in the course of his EXCELLENT keynote address)-"Many of you have heard that the 'real pledging' begins after you cross over." Prior to this, I've had the motivation and desire to write this article come to me in various forms- correspondence from a brother, e-mail from a disappointed sista and a few other events going on that just sparked me to write.

Those of you who've been keeping up with all my previous articles as well as those of you who know me personally know of my stance on pledging, hazing and intake. If you don't, take a peep at a previous article-
Respect Your Founders - and you'll get a pretty good idea :)

Now, on to business. In all of my previous articles on this site, I've always dealt with problems which existed within all greek letter organizations and possible solutions. But the problem goes deeper. Specifically, in Sigma and Zeta, our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness- diversity. When you bring someone into Sigma and Zeta (whether they sign in or pledge), you also bring in a person's mentality. While it is possible to reshape someone's mentality to certain degree while they are going through their pledge process (assuming that one pledges instead going through 'intake'), for the most part, Sigmas and Zetas maintain their individuality after they cross over. They also maintain their attitudes (even with some adjustments) toward life and toward the organization.

Keeping this individuality in mind, remember that somewhere down the line, someone's personalities and attitudes are going to clash. A properly run pledge process was used as a means for individuals to learn how to properly work with each other, even in the face of personal disagreements and conflicts. Cool. But after many crossed over, they forgot these little 'lessons of life' which were supposed to be learned during their process.

Keeping this individuality in mind, remember that during a pledge process, the value of hard work, even at times when we didn't feel like it, was always stressed. So for 8, 12, 14, 16 weeks, one year, or however long your process was, you learned to do work even when you didn't feel like it. And you made sure it was your best work- or you knew there would be consequences to follow. But after many crossed over, they forgot these little 'life lessons' which were learned.

Keeping this individuality in mind, remember that during a pledge process, it was taught that the organization depended upon it's membership for survival- a line can't exist without people on it and contributing to it--- in like fashion, neither can our beloved organizations continue to exist if folks don't contribute their dues (which I do believe was part of your responsibility in your oath....no matter what you pledged). Yet many of these people want to reap the benefits of being in the organization, wear paraphernalia and take credit for work done by the small group of members who keep the organization afloat. If these same people would've done the same thing while going through their 'pledge' process, they'd have been considered SKATERS.

Keeping in mind this individuality, remember that our image as an organization is guarded by the moral uprightness of its' members and that one bad splotch of publicity brings the hammer down hard on ALL of us, some still insist on doin' iggnant and unnecessary actions which continuously place the organization at risk. I'm not just talking about those chapters who take things 'too far' - I'm also talking about members bringing litigation against the organization over frivolous matters, members continuing to bad-mouth and malign the reputation of others for political gain and our leaders ignoring the needs of their constituency.


Many people pop up today and wonder why we have so many of these and other problems in our organizations- why getting someone to attend a chapter meeting is like pulling teeth- why the same few hundred people show up for each national or regional convention while the remaining thousands don't even know the address of headquarters.

It's quite simple.

See, many complain about the intake process and the type of people we bring into the organization, but we don't do anything to keep those members that we have active and financial.

Many complain, but all they do is complain. In one breath they'll condemn 'pledging' and 'hazing', but in the very next they'll think that by paying dues and showing up at chapter meetings, they've done their duty to the organization. No service, just pay dues and show up.

Many complain about the barbaric nature of younger members in how they carry themselves, yet these same people show up in chapter meetings and have HATED each other for DECADES- 30....40 years....and bring chapter meetings to a grinding halt with their constant arguing.

As a community, many members of BGLO's have forgotten those hard lessons learned during those 8, 12, 14, 16...etc... weeks while going through your process. As a result, you've allowed the organization to fall by the wayside, forcing younger members and the few older members who are still active, to pick up YOUR slack.

Remember Bro. Blow's comments? The real pledging begins after you go over?

Well, if we were all engaged in some of that real pledging now, our dues would be lower, our organizations would not have such a negative image in the media and the stereotypes which exist about BGLO's would be minimized.


Plain and simple: We Don't Pledge.

For many, that pledging stopped once we stepped off line and put on our letters and began to reap the benefits of being in the organization.

If we were still engaged in that real pledging, Oprah would have a porkchop stuffed in her face and would be too busy eating to say anything negative about BGLOs. Okay, that was a little graphic :) But it's true. She'd be at home on her treadmill still wishing that DST or whatever organization that rejected her back in college had accepted her. Similarly, Sinbad wouldn't have KAPsi to make jokes about on his show. Instead, he'd be wishing they gave him honorary membership.

If we were still engaged in that real pledging, getting brothers/sorors to a service project, national/regional convention or even a chapter meeting would not be akin to pulling teeth. Even during those times when we didn't feel like doing it, we'd bust our tails because we knew we had a responsibility with that oath that we've taken.

If we were still engaged in that real pledging, we wouldn't be so tied up egotistically in the political system which has engrossed all of the NPHC organizations- we've spent so much time on politics, that we've forgotten how to be brothers/sorors--and more importantly, we've forgotten how to be about SERVICE.

The Keys To Reversing the Trend



Can this trend be reversed? Of course!!! Anything we love can be saved. Can it be done with some quick fix new process like they tried back in 1990 (1989)? Nope!!! It took DECADES for all of these things to develop. It's going to take at least HALF as long to get things even partially straightened out. Never the type to complain about something without bringing solutions, here's a few of the keys to reversing the trend that most greek letter organizations have been put into.

Publicity

Fight fire with fire, I always say- Bugs Bunny, 1952

So we've all been getting bad press in the media. How do we fix that? Simple- give them something GOOD to talk about. The site you are now visiting is a reminder to all of the critics of NPHC organizations (including your Malik Sigma Psi's, Groove Phi Grooves, Phi Omicron Psi's, etc....)- We have PLENTY positive things to say. Speaking for Sigma, my brothers at Gamma Upsilon Chapter (Delaware State University) participated successfully in a sleepout for the homeless (which is a National Program, so other frats don't bite!!) and had a few write-ups in the local newspapers- my brothers at Xi Alpha Chapter (Baruch College, NYC) for example- are kickin' it live in the area of business, do promotions, fliers and graphic design for local organizations. Entreprenuership! I know that more than a few of the chapters hitting this page and reading right now have mentorship programs in place. Why aren't you milking your local media for publicity about it? (P.S.-when you do document it, make sure you send copies to your local grad chapter, National Headquarters and to the editors of the Archon/Crescent).

When you participate in an event (e.g.- Million Man/Woman March, Walk-A-Thon, Fund Raiser, Feed the Homeless) WEAR PARAPHERNALIA!!! AWAY with that ignorant notion that wearing paraphernalia too frequently makes you look like a neo- that's why we have paraphernalia- so that folks can KNOW that you are a member of a certain organization and so that your org. can get good publicity from the good things you do!!!

By the way, with everyone screaming 'www.mywebsite.com', if you tell them you have a web page, more than likely, they'll visit.......

Back to Pledging

Back to Pledging doesn't just involve the intaking of new members- it also involves doing things for the members we have existing now. It means setting about correcting the JACKED UP mentalities of individuals we have as members and some of those in charge who aren't doing their job. It means going out and finding those brothers/sorors who haven't been financial in years and bringing them back into the fold and putting them to work. It means mending those broken bridges and old wounds which were inflicted so many years ago by people who went too far with someone's process or chapters who turned against an individual for 'political purposes'---brotherhood and sisterhood are BIGGER than that. Even some older members need to grow up.

It means putting on that precious PBS or ZPB (or insert your organization here) shirt and hat and heading into the community--not just a drive-by mentoring program, but something solid so that your kids' kids will have something to come to when they are growing up.

It means stepping down from your high and mighty title of leader of the organization and remembering that you're a regular person just like the rest of members. I can say without hesitation that Sigma's national officers have made efforts to reach out toward it's undergraduate members. Both at Conclave 97 and recently at Sigma's Eastern Regional Conference, the line between 'grad' and 'undergrad' was beginning to blur more and more as brothers of all age groups began to hang and chill together. It almost reminds me of when our 28th National President was STEPPING with us in the lobby of the hotel at Conclave 97 :)

It means heading out and finding those 'ghost' brothers who had the heart to pledge Sigma, but never had paperwork, but wanted to have it straight- they can still be an asset to us. I don't know of any grad chapter in their right mind that would reject a potential new member who would want to work for Sigma. I recall one story of a brother who was made 'ghost' back in Spring of 95, but had no paperwork- he hung on for the long run until finally, some chapter officers in his area grad chapter came thru and straightened out his situation, making his membership pro-active back to Spring of 1995. During the interim, this brother worked harder for Sigma than many members that I know of who have their paperwork legit.

I hate to sound like a National Officer, but some people are putting our organizations at risk with flat out stupid behavior. Brotherhood/Sisterhood means pulling your brother up or approaching him/her in a respectful manner when they are doing wrong. Am I my brother's keeper? DAMN RIGHT!!! I've had brothers pull me up when I was wrong (not very often..ha ha ha), but couldn't take the same level of scrutiny and criticism when it was measured back to them and they fell short (oooohh...do I feel a Matthew 7:1, 2 comin' on?). Happy and wise is the man who accepts correction and learns from it (and I speak from experience)- foolish is the one who rejects it.

I'll leave it at that.

Of course this is a lot of work!!!

 

That's why it's called pledging.