The Green caldron - University Library

8 The Green Caldron
MANY
Freshman Pledging Is a
Scholastic Asset
Sara Crew
Rhetoric 102, Theme 6
PEOPLE ARE AGAINST FRESHMAN PLEDGING. A
common objection is that since freshman year is the transition year,
the year of orientation to a new way of life, pledging is an added and
unnecessary burden which interferes too much with studies. However, from
personal experience as a freshman pledge, I have seen many advantages to
this system which I will attempt to bring to light here. Since I am relatively
unfamiliar with fraternity pledging, I shall speak in terms of sorority pledg-
ing only.
Education is the primary purpose of our university, and no system is more
aware of this than the Panhellenic system. The rushee must be able to fulfil
certain scholastic qualifications before she may pledge. These vary slightly
from house to house, and there are some exceptions in which individuals not
possessing such qualifications have been pledged, but in the main they are
hard, fast, unbreakable rules. These rules require that the girl stand in the
upper half of her high-school graduating class. Many houses require a higher
standing. It is believed that her high school record is indicative of how she
will do in college.
The Panhellenic system urges scholastic achievement by offering trophies
to the house and the pledge class having the highest average. A banquet is
held at mid-term which is attended by the pledge with the highest average
from each pledge class. Scholarship banquets are held to honor the five-point
students. The individual houses also recognize outstanding scholastic achievement
with awards given to those with a 4.5 or better average. Pledges are en-
couraged to strive for membership in Alpha Lambda Delta, honorary society
for freshman women carrying sixteen credit hours with a 4.5 average. The
houses are ranked on the quartile system, and of course every girl works so that
her house may be in the first quartile. Her pride in her sorority and herself
makes the girl try harder to maintain a higher average than she might if she
were an independent and did not have these standards and goals set before her.
Last, but far from least, the pledge must have a 3.3 average to become activated.
If all else fails to make her study, the thought of that pin, and all that goes with
it, will spur her on.
Social life is kept at a minimum during the pledge year. Pledges are re-
quired to study from seven until ten on school nights. They are also expected
to study during the day from eight until three-thirty when they are not in class.
Independents, on the other hand, have no study rules, and the social whirl
sometimes tends to get the better of them. This is particularly true of freshmen,