6 Tips For Pledging That Will Get You Initiated

Be prepared for judgement.
 Be prepared for judgement.
 Tyler Haslem  

So you’ve now made it through rush and the start of pledging. You’ve done your homework, studied fraternity or sorority manuals, and met most of the members. Now comes the most important part: initiation. Here are some tips to get you there successfully
:

 
1. Don’t pull any shenanigans – This is not the time to take any risks with your behavior. Be friendly to all members. If you do something wrong apologize immediately and squash the situation. Don’t be a drunken fool at parties, don’t get in fights with other pledges, and don’t be rude to other Greek organizations. All dumb pledge shenanigans are brought up in meetings and one wrong move could end up with you being blackballed (kicked out). Put your ego on hold, you can get it back once you’re initiated.

2. Attend all meetings/events – Be seen at all events and be sociable. Members will remember where you helped out, what you did, and how you came across when they talked to you. Check your pledge calendar or call members to see what events are going on and attend them. Now’s not the time to be shy.

3. Show that you can mix with both sororities and fraternities – If you are pledging a fraternity, do nice things for sorority members, help them move, get involved, and be friends with some of the brothers’ girlfriends. If you are pledging a sorority, be classy and nice with the fraternity members, plan parties with them, and go out to lunch with them. When a member sees you positively interacting with both fraternities and sororities they know you will do a great job at improving their Greek organization’s reputation. This is a big plus.

4. Don’t be a try hard – When I say to be sociable with the members I don’t mean smother them into submission. I remember a pledge who constantly called all of the brothers and had to be included in every single event. Soon enough people started ignoring his calls and avoiding him. He was eventually excluded and blackballed.

5. Show your added value – Now is the time to show what you can contribute. Show your interest in certain positions in your organization. If you are very sociable, show and express your desire to be social chair. If you are a great leader and are confident, casually mention to members that you would like to be president of their organization one day. If you are great in sports, talk to members about how you won an intramural championship or played a certain sport in high school. Also, what is your personality like? If you are genuinely funny make sure everyone knows it. Are you an outgoing party animal? Show members that parties will be fun as long as you’re there. Make sure you are remembered for something positive.

6. Become best friends with a few members – Are some of the members from where you grew up? Do they play the same sports as you? Do they have a similar personality as you? It will be easiest to bond and become close friends with them. If you’re at one of their houses be the last one to leave and strike up a meaningful conversation. Obviously making new friends is valuable on its own, but these will also be the ones to defend you in case you mess up along the way.

Members usually vote on each pledge at the end of the semester. If you follow the above you will have no problem getting all the votes you need. Leave a comment below and let me know whether you agree with these tips or you have more.

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