If YOU were in charge

[MSKKG]

Originally Posted by imsohappythatiama

I would like to see KKG include a new ceremony in its ritual--a ceremony that would mark the movement of an active collegian into alumnae status. I think this would be a great way to celebrate the transition, get the new grad involved (if she wants to be involved) after college, and show the other active collegians what they have to look forward to.

There already is a ceremony for this. It's in the ritual book for Alumnae Associations.

[alum]

Originally Posted by MSKKG

There already is a ceremony for this. It's in the ritual book for Alumnae Associations.

Back in the dark ages, the Pittsburgh Alumnae Association had a joint ceremony for the Pitt and CMU chapters the year I graduated. I know my local AA currently does this ceremony for the chapter we oversee.

[gee_ess]

I am not aware of that ritual but what a great opportunity for alumnae associations to welcome recent grads. A nice gesture by the Pitt group and others. I am definitely going to check it out.

[LucyKKG]

I think the NM period goes by too quickly even with only 14 or 15 girls!

[gee_ess]

LucyKKG - That is interesting coming from an active. Usually it seems to be the oldies who think it was better back in the day...

Why did you think it was too fast?

[LucyKKG]

Originally Posted by gee_ess

LucyKKG - That is interesting coming from an active. Usually it seems to be the oldies who think it was better back in the day...

Why did you think it was too fast?

By the time we do COB, we are already a little behind schedule. We're on quarters (ohhhh that's why!) so we need to get the NM period done and have everyone initiated before finals. It's a big push every time.

[elleyk5187]

i definitely agree with the NM period going by so quickly. we didn't bond much (there were 38 girls in my pledge class!), besides the retreat we had. before we knew it, it was initiation time. i'm not complaining since i was able to move into the house as a pledge since i was a sophomore & it was nice to not feel that separation anymore from the initiated members.

it's crazy to think that my mom was given a bid in the spring & not initiated until october!

[MSKKG]

Originally Posted by elleyk5187

i definitely agree with the NM period going by so quickly. we didn't bond much (there were 38 girls in my pledge class!), besides the retreat we had. before we knew it, it was initiation time. i'm not complaining since i was able to move into the house as a pledge since i was a sophomore & it was nice to not feel that separation anymore from the initiated members.

it's crazy to think that my mom was given a bid in the spring & not initiated until october!

Ahhh, the olden days! I had to wait from August to February before I was initiated (had to make the grades, too). The wait certainly increased my anticipation and curiosity and maybe made "finding out the secrets" more significant since it was such a long-awaited and hard-won privilege.

[gee_ess]

I, too, had to wait until Feb for initiation. Ah the old days! I know it has its drawbacks - I have heard and read the arguments - but I really do think 6 weeks is too short for August pledges. Fall semester is insane on many campuses - football games, getting acclimated to college, etc. There is simply not enough time to schedule the myriad of activities pledges should be allowed to participate in. The new member period is a fun time but should also serve a purpose.

After watching my daughter go through the new member period within the past few years, I think this format really leaves a void in what the pledges know about the fraternity. There were no organized or structured ways for her to learn fraternity history, etc. Sure, she got the new member handouts, notebook, and was told to read them, but now that we no longer give pledge tests (hazing), or memorize the Greek alphabet, etc there is little incentive to learn what Kappa is all about. Thus, the focus becomes more social. (IMO)

[elleyk5187]

Originally Posted by gee_ess

After watching my daughter go through the new member period within the past few years, I think this format really leaves a void in what the pledges know about the fraternity. There were no organized or structured ways for her to learn fraternity history, etc. Sure, she got the new member handouts, notebook, and was told to read them, but now that we no longer give pledge tests (hazing), or memorize the Greek alphabet, etc there is little incentive to learn what Kappa is all about. Thus, the focus becomes more social. (IMO)

agreed. i still made the effort to learn the greek alphabet (i can rattle it off sometimes haha) & i wish we had to learn about the history. in a sense we did, our marshall would write questions on a poster for chapter...but i don't think we would know the answers if asked. i don't understand how a test is a form of hazing. i've talked to so many girls in my house & we wouldn't mind a lot of the stuff that they consider hazing. granted, we don't want the negative things but the positive ones (i.e. a test on our history).

[alum]

I had an full semester pledge period back in the 80s. We pledged in early-mid September and then initiated on the weekend following the first academic week of the spring semester. This ensured that the chapter could see pledges' fall grades. We didn't get tested on anything but I vaguely recall learning about our history with the pledge chair. We did not have to memorize the Greek alphabet. IIRC, National was really starting to change pledge requirements in this era and our actives were really worried about requiring activities that would be considered forced and nonvoluntary.

Although I am not a history buff, I actually liked learning about Kappa and read my pledge manual thoroughly during my pledge period. In fact this notebook still sits on a bookshelf that I can easily access if need be. Here's hoping I will be able to pass it down to one of my nieces someday.

[ISUKappa]

It's not the Fraternity who necessarily wanted to make the switch to the shorter new member program, it was the pressure from various universities and the fact most all NPC organizations had installed a shorter new member program. IIRC, Kappa was one of the last to change theirs.

I was the last pledge class in my chapter to go through the semester-long program. It did have its benefits - making sure everyone had grades, more one-on-one time with the NME, separate NM meetings - but I don't know that it necessarily made me learn more about the Fraternity or Greeks in general. A lot of that I did on my own out of personal curiosity.

I think the shorter program *can* work, but it's rarely utilized to its full potential. I think there needs to be better training for the NME and Chapter Council on how to make it more effective and fun for the new members and actives. I know officers are encouraged to come up with their own variations of the programs offered in the Leadership Guide to make them more fun, but so many of them just end up reading right off the page that it's boring and no one learns anything. Part of it depends on how good your NME is and how well her predecessor did. If you get one NME who doesn't want to put in any effort into the program and she just lets everything slide, then the next one will probably think that's how it's supposed to be done and the whole program goes out the window (this happened at the chapter I advised).

I think the new member program is something that is constantly scrutinized by the Fraternity and they're always trying to think of ways to make it more effective and let each chapter tailor it to their own specific needs.

[gee_ess]

Originally Posted by ISUKappa

I think the shorter program *can* work, but it's rarely utilized to its full potential. I think there needs to be better training for the NME and Chapter Council on how to make it more effective and fun for the new members and actives. I know officers are encouraged to come up with their own variations of the programs offered in the Leadership Guide to make them more fun, but so many of them just end up reading right off the page that it's boring and no one learns anything. Part of it depends on how good your NME is and how well her predecessor did. If you get one NME who doesn't want to put in any effort into the program and she just lets everything slide, then the next one will probably think that's how it's supposed to be done and the whole program goes out the window (this happened at the chapter I advised).

I think the new member program is something that is constantly scrutinized by the Fraternity and they're always trying to think of ways to make it more effective and let each chapter tailor it to their own specific needs.

I agree ISUKappa! I may be all wrong, but I think this program would improve if there were more interactive, learning activities, etc for the girls to draw from. (but, there may be this type of material already in place). I am thinking of the type of teaching guides and options for presenting material that are available to classroom teachers. These complete lessons, handouts, activities, etc could be such a help to young women. And, just like a classroom teacher, the individual chapters could take the materials and tweak them to meet their own individual needs.

[wildcatfan]

Originally Posted by onekeythatbindsus

Great topic!!
If I were in charge, I would bring back big/little. We had families, we still have the family trees that go all the way back to when our chapter was started, and it's so difficult to give it all up. I like the idea of having a family, and not switching the family.
Do you think they will ever bring big and little's back?
Casey

Originally Posted by kappagirl00

New Member: Bring back big/lil!! The Kore program has turned into absolute nightmare for some of our chapter members (myself included) I see nothing inheritly wrong with the old system and I don't understand why KKG felt the need to change it.

No one has commented on the lack of big/little and substitution of the KORE program for a few years. I have not seen anything positive with the switch. It seems to me that it looks good on paper, but the actives I've talked to don't any real ties to their KORE group. It's like another thing to check off the list of things to do, ie, "have dinner with my KORE family at least once a semester." What was the motivaton to change it and has it ever been reassessed? Do any other houses use this or are we the only ones?

Originally Posted by gee_ess

Does anyone else struggle with the shortened new member period like I do? It just seems to fly by SO quickly. I really feel it is a detriment to chapters with large pledge classes (75 for example) which can make it harder to form bonds in such a short time.

Originally Posted by LucyKKG

I think the NM period goes by too quickly even with only 14 or 15 girls!

Originally Posted by elleyk5187

i definitely agree with the NM period going by so quickly. we didn't bond much (there were 38 girls in my pledge class!), besides the retreat we had. before we knew it, it was initiation time.

Originally Posted by gee_ess

After watching my daughter go through the new member period within the past few years, I think this format really leaves a void in what the pledges know about the fraternity. There were no organized or structured ways for her to learn fraternity history, etc. Sure, she got the new member handouts, notebook, and was told to read them, but now that we no longer give pledge tests (hazing), or memorize the Greek alphabet, etc there is little incentive to learn what Kappa is all about. Thus, the focus becomes more social. (IMO)

Ditto all these posts!!!! I could write more, but the points are the same.

Originally Posted by ISUKappa

It's not the Fraternity who necessarily wanted to make the switch to the shorter new member program, it was the pressure from various universities and the fact most all NPC organizations had installed a shorter new member program. IIRC, Kappa was one of the last to change theirs.

Kansas State has fall rush, but the last I heard Chi Omega still initiates after Christmas (the only sorority on our campus that I'm aware of.) Does anyone know if that's their national policy, or are these Wildcat Chi-Os just a bunch of rebels?

I don't see us ever changing back on any of these issues, but I do think it's unfortunate. IMHO, we have lost much more than we have gained. With no big/littles, shortened pledge periods and many girls living in house only their sophomore year, I feel the ties to the fraternity are not formed as deeply as in years gone by. This makes me feel old. . . off soapbox.

[ISUKappa]

Originally Posted by wildcatfan

No one has commented on the lack of big/little and substitution of the KORE program for a few years. I have not seen anything positive with the switch. It seems to me that it looks good on paper, but the actives I've talked to don't any real ties to their KORE group. It's like another thing to check off the list of things to do, ie, "have dinner with my KORE family at least once a semester." What was the motivaton to change it and has it ever been reassessed? Do any other houses use this or are we the only ones?

ADPi uses Prides, which, to my understanding, are similar. I'm sure other orgs have similar groups, I don't know which ones.

I think the initial decision to move to Kore was to let the new member get to know more members - especially when they had Kore families switching every semester. A good idea in theory, but in realization not always feasible. It's really up to the NME and chapter to make the most of the Kore families. If anyone is interested, the entire Leadership Guide and each officer's supplement are on the Members Only side of the Kappa site. You can read through it to get an idea of what the program currently entails. Of course, having just had a Convention, some things might change slightly.

Kansas State has fall rush, but the last I heard Chi Omega still initiates after Christmas (the only sorority on our campus that I'm aware of.) Does anyone know if that's their national policy, or are these Wildcat Chi-Os just a bunch of rebels?

TMK, Chi Omega is the only NPC org that still maintains a longer new member program. Somewhere on GC Chi Os have mentioned how their NM program works on campuses that require a shorter NM period.