[9587] in APO-L
Pledges and Big Brothers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Packy Packy)
Mon Oct 3 13:13:27 1994
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 1994 13:11:38 -0400
Reply-To: anderpa@RPI.EDU
From: Packy Packy <anderpa@RPI.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L%PURCCVM.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
To: apo-l
Subj: Pledges and Big Brothers
I thought I posted this back when this was a current thread, but it got lost
somehow. Sorry for it being a thread or two behind, but I though it should get
seen by Actives...
<=========================== BEGIN LOST POST HERE ===========================>
Sigh. I was afraid that the list might start talking about Big Brother/Little
Brother stuff... In my experience, issues relating to BB/LB's are _almost_
as divisive as IntraChapter Dating.
OK, here's my two cents worth...
The concept of Big Brothers is something relatively new to the Fraternity:
if my information is correct, the practice of assigning a "Big" to a Pledge
started in the 50's or 60's. [PLEASE--can any older alums confirm this?]
Newer still is the concept of "Family Trees". Epsilon Zeta has records of
who was who's Big (hence, creating Family Trees) only as far back as the
Mid-60's.
However, the concepts of what Big Brothers are and what their responsibilities
are vary greatly from chapter to chapter. At many chapters, Bigs are assigned
to a person when they become a Pledge at the Induction Ceremony [note: this is
NOT giving out information about the ceremony, so no flames please]. At
Epsilon Zeta, they get Bigs about 2-3 weeks into Pledging at a ceremony
specially designed for the purpose.
Even the idea that Bigs are a 1-to-1 pairing of a Pledge with a Brother is
not universal. At Kappa chapter, each Pledge is given TWO Big Brothers--the
rationale is that the Pledge experiences the chapter in a broader sense with
two Bigs, and there is more oppourtunity for everyone to have a Little if
there are two Brothers assigned to each Pledge. [Can someone from Kappa
please elaborate on this? I think the list should get more info on this
practice firsthand...]
It is also not unheard of for a Brother to have more than one Little per
semester. If there are 50 Pledges and only 30 Brothers willing to have
Littles, then some of the Brothers can double up. IMHO, it's better than
turning away potential Pledges.
As for giving Little Brothers to Presidents, VPs of Membership, Executive
Officers, etc., opinions vary widly there, too. Some whould argue that the
officers of a Chapter have more to do than other Brothers, hence, they have
less time to devote to a Little Brother. This is true, but what if the
Chapter has 20 Pledges and 20 Brothers? Do they want to turn away a pledge
so they can not have to saddle the President with yet another duty? Or do they
want to double up one of the other Brothers? And who is to say that the
President can't handle the extra responsibility?
Even a Chapter's traditions and rules must be considered in light of the
current Chapter: Epsilon Zeta has traditions about the President not having
a Little Brother that were started when they had 70+ Brothers. Now they have
20 Brothers. What would you do in EZ's place?
A whole other issue is the idea of hurt Brothers: I have friends in lots of
chapters who have been deeply hurt because, for some reason or another, they
were not given a Little Brother. I, myself, have never had a Little Brother,
so I understand the pain it can cause. I'm not saying everybody should get a
Little--but how people will feel is something that should be taken into account
when a Chapter starts making policies about who should and who should not be
allowed to have Little Brothers.
All in all, I have found that the way Big Brothers and Little Brothers are
handled is one of the most widely varying aspects of the Fraternity. This is
probably because there is no "official" policy on it, so each Chapter has to
make it up as they go along. Go ahead. Make it up. Just remember that
Big Brothers is just a tool--a tool for educating Pledges and helping them
bond with the chapter so that, in time, they can become true Brothers in
Alpha Phi Omega.
OK, so my two cents turned out to be more like a buck and a half. Sue me. 8-)
Yours Fraternally,
In Leadership, Friendship and Service,
-packy
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| packy, "Cookie Monster" anderpa@rpi.edu |
| EZ alum, Nat#240135, Chap#797 1516 Jacob St., Troy, NY 12180 |
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