I would like to apologize to anyone who might get offended. The views expressed in this blog are strictly those of my own and do not in any way reflect the general consensus of whatever organizations I might be attached to at a given moment in my life.
It's no surprise that I know my fair share of people who are involved in Greek Life. It can even be seen that a decent amount of people know me. I wasn't Super-Pledge by ANY measure of the phrase (ask my LBs, lol), but people who know me and see my work on campus and interact with me can tell that I was, for lack of a better phrase, "made right."
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I would like to give a shout-out to all my prophytes who made me; whether they saw me one night or were there for all of them. You, gentlemen, have my eternal respect
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Nothing compares, however, to the words of older chapter brothers who actually say that they are proud of the work being done on the yard; a feeling which I experienced after what was probably the toughest year I went through both mentally and emotionally.
Concurrently, from my own experiences, I know that you don't need to be on line for 15 weeks, in the dead heat of the summer, in the kut till the wee-hours of the morning, slapped like a slave and treated like a demi-human in order to be a contributing member of the Greek-Letter World.
I know that the true measure of the efficiency of a process lies in the composure of the resulting member: A person that is dedicated to their organization and works hard in spite of the glitz and the glamor, not for it.
I have seen the goodness and the darkness in many corners of Greek Life, and as I wrap up my work on the yard to transition between Collegiate and Alumni levels of involvement, I am fully expecting to learn an infinite amount more.
In spite of the recent resurgence of Greek Life involvement on my yard in the past months, I cannot help but feel that Greek Life is in trouble.
This has probably happened to everyone, and it starts with something simple - as catastrophes are normally prone to do.
It could be a conversation about anything, but as soon as someone hits you with, "Excuses!", the switch in your head moves from "tolerant" to "annoyed"
It's almost as if it's an automated response. Clearly, someone not being able to appease the other merely cannot have the benefit of the doubt, right? On the contrary, they must be using excuses!
You might overhear the chatter at a mixer about how Invictus was their favorite poem during their pledge process, or how they "caught hell" if they "let the train run off the track".
I've always wondered why people share parts of their process with people not in their organizations.
The answer to this statement is simple: Reputation
And as some people seek to etch out a reputation on their yard and beyond, I've always wondered the repercussions of such actions.
Let's be honest here; I am an apathetic, cynical and a slightly self-centered individual. I call things like I see them, so I will like to thank you in advance for blowing off. These are my opinions and if you want to express your own, leave a comment or get your own blog.
Why is "reputation" my answer to my self-proposed statement? I feel that it starts with the individual. The individual seeks glory. The individual seeks recognition. The individual wants the pat on the back. The individual wants to stand out and be special.
As it pertains to the advancement of society, the individual is destructive in nature.
That's not teamwork. Teamwork is the ability to work together towards a common vision. It is the ability to direct individual accomplishments towards organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to obtain uncommon results.
The main thing that aggravates me is that many of my fellow Greeks absolutely love talking about pledging. They love talking about when they were on-line. They love talking about how terrible things were. They love talking about how much they hated their DP.
What the shit? Why are you reflecting on something that was traumatic? You almost never hear recollections on those aspects such as soul searching, bond building and general thinking outside the box. It's all the "glory" of pledging without the grime. What about the bond between pledges? What about the educational aspects taught by older members? What about living your ritual? What about respect for the vision of your founders?
You only hear horror stories. And they're regaled in a manner that is befitting of anecdotal repetition, as if the storyteller wishes to establish a certain image.
A Reputation, so to speak.
Of course people want to talk about the terrible things and stand in marvel as onlookers gape and guffaw at the trials and tribulations. As I said, the individual wants to feel special. What better way to feel special than to do something that about 1% of people get to do?
I personally know more than my fair share of people who were a certain way while they were pledging, but didn't amount to 5 cents worth of shit when they were done.
I don't like it. Everyone knows "Invictus". Everyone knows Excuses. Everyone knows about "apples". Everyone knows about "Be Strong". Just by being associated with those things doesn't mean you actually really pledged.
I know plenty of people that know a plethora of "pledge-related information and protocol", but clearly carry themselves in a way that shows that their process was lackluster, and that they either skated or had neglectful prophytes.
And it's a shame because, we are living in a world where someone could skate by and listen in on enough Greek Life-related conversations so that they can pass off as having pledged.
That is why I believe that the talks of pledging and everything must stop. Immediately.
We are rapidly approaching a precipice of a loss of attenuation. The only things that remain are the jagged rocks at the bottom, their teeth littered around a cavernous maw of redundant nomenclature. Soon, the only differences between us will be the colors of our jackets.
I begrudgingly request that every Greek please stop talking about pledging unless it's with someone in your org or axillary.
Pledging is more than just an ass whoopin. Anyone can get their ass whooped; that shit isn't an accomplishment. Neither is talking about how long you were on for; that shit is circumstance.
The real people who love their org can party on Friday night, get in at 4am, and still get up at 7am to drive to a cluster meeting a state over.
The real people who love their org make sure the chapter is on the same page and not bickering over petty shit.
The real people who love their org make a conscious attempt at servicing their community.
I honestly believe that many people revert back to the hay-day of pledging because their current body-of-work stinks, and they have almost nothing to show for it.
I realized a long time ago that the people who really got down didn't need to talk about it, because you could see in their perseverance and pride in their work.
Actions speak louder than words, so just observe how some of my fellow Greeks carry themselves on the yard.
A lot of the things in Greek Life are irresponsible, and we must trim the cancerous cells if we wish to prolong our lives.
I will digress and admit that it is a beautiful thing for Black Greek-Letter organizations to have so many things in common. Being able to discuss things like your own organization's version of an "apple" might be entertaining at first, but it's really destructive.
As Black Greek-Letter organizations, yes, we all pay tribute to Africa by crossing over. And there are a certain amount of "rites of passage" that pledges are subjected to.
But we're treading the sludge and barely keeping our heads above the surface in this melting pot of matriculation. We're unknowingly revealing to people not within our own esoteric circles many intimate aspects of our processes. We're damn near giving the authenticity away.
All for a Reputation?
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