FARMHOUSE
QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK
(From recent Inside FH newsletters)
New Member Education
- "Once our new guys accept their bids, what should they officially be called?"
QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- "Once our new guys accept their bids, what should they officially be called?"
* RESPONSE - The FarmHouse International bylaws don't specifically spell out the terminology of what candidates for membership should be listed as. However, our Ritual of Initiation handbook makes a few references to candidates for membership being "pledges."
In other areas we use the term "new member" or "prospective member" - for instance new member education, etc. We've transitioned to these terminologies over the past decade because it's more in keeping with what your universities are doing, represents the cultural trends we've seen in the fraternity world and and has a different connotation or typecast than the term "pledge" does.
However, a prospective member or candidate for membership isn't technically a new member according to our bylaws until he has been initiated. Really any of the three terms - pledges, prospective members or new members works within FarmHouse. Your greater concern might be the terminology your university, IFC and Dean of Students prefers.
Certainly, we're more concerned with how the young men are treated than which of the above terms is used for what they're called - JG
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