how long is your pledge period?

[slamit93]

when I initiated ours was 10 weeks, but our IHQ is pushing a 4-1-4 program which means that our pledges initiate on the 5th week now... it is helpful, because we can initiate 2 or even 3 pledge classes a semester, but we don't even get to see mid-term grades before they are supposed to initiate... we've done it for a year now, and our grades haven't dropped off noticeably, but they have tapered slightly, because we have initiated a person or two each semester that ended up failing the majority of their classes.

[Little E]

We have a 4-6 week program for our new members. However, on our campus we can't pledge first semester first-year students, so we do get to see grades, that probably helps a bit.

[Senusret I]

slamit, the 4-1-4 sysem sounds really interesting, but i'm not quite sure I understand it.

Are you saying four weeks of pre-initiation education, then initiation week, the four weeks of post initiation education?

[Kevin]

Our candidate program lasts 1 semester and generally they are fully initated shortly after we get grades back (not fully initiated unless their GPA is above all-men's average).

[erica812]

The pledge period for Beta Sigma Phi is a minimum of 6 MONTHS. However, a pledge has complete membership privileges upon acceptance of the invitation, so although I am certainly anxious to earn "Ritual of Jewels" status, the long pledge period is bareable.

[slamit93]

the 4-1-4 is supposed to be 4 weeks of pre-initiation education, I-week, and then 4 more weeks of eductaion... the latter 4 rarely end up being a full four weeks though... at least for us so far, we are still working out the kinks... the thing is, is we have pretty much crammed the old 10 week program into 4 weeks, so that we don't have a whole lot left to teach them after initiation... Like I said, the drawbacks are that we initiate people before mid-terms, and then hope they make grades, we also don't have much time to get to know the guys.

[emb021]

Alpha Phi Omega's National Pledging Standards state that the pledge period should be 6 to 10 weeks long (its up to each chapter to determine how long their program is). It begins with the Pledge Ceremony and ends with the Induction Ceremony when the Pledges become Brothers.

The Chapter I work with has a 8 week program of pledge training sessions between the 2 ceremonies. I find that that works best for what we need to cover and gives the pledges the time to complete their requirements. Because our Rush is after Greek Rush, we start our pledge program shortly afterwards, and usually wrap up a few weeks before the semester is over.

Some schools dictate a shorter period. Because of that, those chapters have a shorter pledge period.

Hope this helps

[AOX81]

Alpha Theta Chi's pledge education program usually lasts 8 weeks. Sometimes it is shorter, sometimes it is longer. It all depends upon the number of pledges and their progress through the pledge period.

[shadokat]

Delta Phi Epsilon's new member program is to be no longer than 6 weeks, and honestly, it's plenty of time. As someone said earlier, it allows for a second NM class if need be too!

[krystle]

I dont think that we at BSC have a specific period..but I do know that ours lasted 9 weeks (even though it felt like SOOOOO much longer) and the longest I think, was my "Mom's" class. They had 14 weeks. Crazy I know.

[MysticCat]

According to our General Regulations for Chapters, '[t]he period of probationary membership shall not be less than four weeks, nor more than three calendar months, or in accordance with the policies of the sheltering institution in consultation with the national staff." Within those limits, each chapter can make its own decisions. In my experience, six-eight weeks is common.

[oceanphi01]

Our program is 8-10 weeks. It usually depends on what is going on that semester for initiation.

[MSSTCY1]

The school sets a certain date for pledges to be in by- but no one really pays attention to this rule. The longest pledge period that I know of to date was this semester- they pledged 12 weeks. The shortest was a few years ago- 4 weeks.

[polarpi]

I think for ADPi it's a 4-6 week Alpha period (other ADPi's, correct me if I'm wrong!...it's been a while ) At our university freshmen couldn't join a sorority until the second semster, so we had mid-terms AND final semester grades to look at when women were going through recruitment.

Ours is 10-27 weeks long. It depends on the pledge class.