How should a pledge address senior brothers during the pledge process?
 

I was wondering if it is common to have pledges address senior brothers in a fraternity as "sir" during the pledge process. I am pledging this semester and the pledge period begins next week. My initial assumption is to automatically address the frat's president and members of the rush committee as "sir." Is this a good idea, and should I address all brothers in this way?

It really depends on the chapter/campus culture. They'll likely make it clear when you begin pledging though.

:D

Thanks, but my fraternity holds interviews before you formally start to pledge, so should I address the brothers interviewing me as "sir"? Also, would you recommend dressing up formally (shirt & tie) for the interview?

Interview = formal (or business casual, at the very least)

I don't remember being asked questions that required "sir" in the answer during my interview. Just be respectful and professional.

I actually prefer that my lesser members call me derogatory names. Maybe that's just my chapter, though.

So wait you've been given a bid,
and then you must interview before pledging?
Or once you pass the interview you get a bid?

In an interview I would never want a potential pledge to call me sir...

Wait I'm confused. Did you even get a bid yet?

To piggy back on this, part of your interview will be to evaluate how respectful and professional you are toward the fraternity and in general. As such, while you do not need to be stiff or overly formal in your replies, do not curse or use slang. Even if the members do so themselves.

Just a guess, but I think it is the bolded part. This sounds more like an "intake" process versus - for lack of a better way of putting it - an IFC "type" of bidding (bid extended, pledging, membership vote if applicable).

Agreed.

Thanks for the tips. A successful interview will lead to a bid and the pledge period starts immediately after that. I was told that if I'm offered a bid, I will be asked to accept or decline within an hour or so after the interview. If I accept, I would stay at the frat house for a bid ceremony and the start of the pledge period.

I don't mean to be pretentious, but I expect to pass the interview and be offered a bid, as the fraternity only had five potential pledges attend rush events. I think that only three of the five will actually go ahead with the interviews. The frat has 40 active members.

So, I guess that neat, business attire is acceptable for the interview stage, as well as a general level of respect. I asked one of the brothers whether I would have to address them as "sir" once I become a pledge. He just smiled and said sarcastically: "what do you think?"

TSteven: what do you mean by an "intake process" vs. IFC bidding?

Dude, it's not about numbers only. Just because you are one of five interviewed doesn't mean for sure you will get a bid. Also I would go with business attire since your pinning ritual would be right after.

I guess that's true, but can they really go ahead with a class of only 3 or 4 pledges? I will go in business attire (shirt, tie, suit), but I don't know what happens once the pinning ritual has been completed and the pledging begins. Both are happening on the same day/night and we were told to leave our schedule completely open that day. Is business attire appropriate if the actual pledging begins?

They can take as many or as few members as they want.

And attire questions really should be answered by members of the organization, not us.

In a word, yes.

Others should be able to explain it better, but generally speaking, what is often referred to as an "intake process" (different fraternities may call it different things) is similar to what you have described as what you are going though.

After consideration, a potential new member (PNM) is invited to an interview by the fraternity. If the PNM "passes" (my words) the interview, he may then be extended a bid. At that point, he begins his pledgeship or new member period. After that, there may be another vote by the fraternity to extend membership.

"IFC bidding" (again, for lack of a better way of putting it) is the process where after consideration, a bid is extended to the PNM - most likely without any official interview. If he accepts, then his pledging begins. Before initiation, some fraternities or chapters might have some sort of an interview. Also, some fraternities may require a membership vote at this time.

The "intake process" is most often associated with fraternities that are members of the National Asian Pacific Islander American Panhellenic Association (NAPA), the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO), the National Multicultural Greek Council (NMGC) and the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. (NPHC).

While the "IFC bidding" (again, my words), is most often associated with fraternities that are members of the campus Interfraternity Council (IFC) and/or the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC).

Note, a fraternity may belong to more than one conference, association and/or council.

And the way each fraternity "brings in" members may be different. So again, these are just generalizations.

Best of luck.

Double yes.

If a chapter is doing Interviews,
it's just a sign that they are being very selective and want to see where your head is at from minute 1.
This fraternity is obviously about quality over quantity or else they wouldn't hold an interview.

Of course there's also another scenario that if true I won't ruin for you.

Thanks very much for this explanation. While I am looking forward to what lies ahead, I am quite anxious and nervous, and getting more so as the day approaches. I have been provided with so little information about the six week pledge period that I simply have no clue what to expect. I am used to being in control and seeing several steps ahead, so this is very new to me.

Thanks, but is the somewhat cryptic second scenario what I am thinking--that the fraternity is maybe not so selective and even a little desperate for new members? I mean, they are holding the interviews, bidding ceremony and first day of pledging all on the same day. It seems to me that they want to get pledges started as soon as possible in order to integrate them quickly and decrease the chance that they will reject the bid or drop out at the start. Just an idea... but I'm basically clueless as to what they are thinking...and I find it frustrating.

No,
I wasn't quite thinking along that exact wave length,
but after this interview is done come back and let us know how it went down.

Also,
Am I right in assuming you are trying to pledge an IFC fraternity, and not the BGLO ones (pre-dominantly black)?

This is not a predominantly black fraternity. It is a local frat that was established 9 years ago, and as such is not part of a larger international organization.

I prefer the pledges to bow like Obama before they address.

When they do address me, it should be a long drawn out laudatory address which includes "greatest" about five times and some sort of insult regarding the other fraternities and then bow when he's done.