A Different Kind of Greek: Pledging a Service Fraternity

During college, many students want to participate in the rush experience for the social sororities and fraternities. The rush process can be extremely cutthroat, with more potential members than slots open. A lot of people end up heartbroken and rejected from joining a Greek organization for what may be considered shallow reasons for some.

What some students may not realize is that there is another form of a Greek organization out there. This past spring semester, I had a unique experience in becoming Greek. I pledged Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-ed service fraternity. When people heard I was pledging, they assumed I was going through the same process as social Greeks. However, this was not the case. There were differences in pledging Alpha Phi Omega.

Rush, for example, was not a cutthroat competition to be a part of a new pledge class. Anyone interested in pledging attended an information night where some of the brothers spoke about the fraternity. Rush at my school consisted of showing a video slideshow and playing icebreaker games. We were given an information sheet with information about pledging and important dates for our pledging period. At the end of the session, we were asked to write "yes", "maybe", or "no" on the back of our paper; indicating our interest in pledging.

A week or so later, initiation was held. We also met our "bigs" on initiation. Having a big is something other fraternities and sororities are familiar with. A big is an initiated member of an organization who supports a pledge throughout his or her pledging process. Our bigs presented us with a basket of gifts, which included the binders we would need throughout pledging.

One of the most significant differences was that we were not subjected to some of the treatment that social sororities and fraternities give their pledges. Our pledge manual said that brothers (all members of both genders are referred to as such) were not allowed to ask pledges to perform personal services for them. We did not have to run errands for the brothers or do any of their housework, especially since we are not allowed to provide housing for fraternity members. We were also not subject to any late nights or physical punishment.

Rather, we had to attend Sunday night pledge meetings and Monday night brother meetings. We were required to complete 15 hours of community service, a certain number of which had to be completed with active brothers. Other things we could do for service hours included collecting soda tabs, donating old clothes, or supporting brothers at athletic events or performances.

Another difference was the way we were treated outside of meetings. We never all had to wear the same thing or had set times that we had to spend with our pledge class. All we had to do was wear a pledge pin presented to us at initiation. If you lost the pin, it was very easy to get another one. Each week, we also had to have a visit with our big. Our visits could be anything we wanted to do: lunch or dinner on campus, visits to an apartment, or shopping together could be some examples. Once we completed the visit, our big had to sign our binder.

Besides having a big, we were like other Greeks in another way. Pledges had to learn the history of the fraternity as well as about our individual chapter. Every week we were given quizzes on certain parts of the fraternity history; these quizzes were known as "trials". During trials, a committee of brothers would check our binders to make sure we had all the requirements for the week. Aside from big visits, we also had to pass our trials and have the correct amount of advisor signatures. Our chapter also had a strike system in place. If we did not pass a trial, we were given a temporary strike and had to take the trial again next pledge meeting. As long as you passed the trial upon re-taking it, a temporary strike was erased. Missing a big/little visit or not having an advisor signature would earn you a permanent strike. Upon receiving three permanent strikes, you were removed from pledging. Fortunately, this did not happen to anyone in my pledge class.

Pledges were also split into committees: pledge social, brother social, skit, pledge class paddle, and pledge service project. For those of us that had to plan the socials, our events had to be non-alcoholic in nature. Since we are not social based, our chapter could lose our charter if we were ever caught drinking in letters. The national office of Alpha Phi Omega takes the no alcohol policy very seriously. As for other committees, the pledge service project would count towards our service hours and it had to be something that all the pledges could work on together or donate money towards.

The pledge class paddle was something that we worked on to present to the brotherhood. It had to have all our names on it and most classes included a picture of their class. The skit was something we worked on that was about our experience and the brotherhood. We were actually allowed to make fun of brothers in it! We were then required to present it to the brotherhood.

Our pledging process was eight weeks long and did require a significant time commitment. Although I and other members of my pledge class felt stressed out at times, we don't regret pledging. It was worth it to finally earn our letters and become brothers. Next semester, I will be able to take a little and support him or her during pledging. I only have one more year of school left, but being in Alpha Phi Omega has been a new experience and I am having a great time.