Orthogonians propose to move pledging to Fall
Yasmin Khorram
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: News
The Orthogonian society has proposed to change their pledging from an intensive 17 day stint over JanTerm to six weeks in the fall and spring semesters. The Inter-Society Council has formed a task force committee comprised of the co-chairs junior Steve Addezio, sophomore Magaly Perez and society representatives to explore the idea.
"One of the main benefits for us changing to extended pledging is that it gives us more time to teach value and allow the young men to grow with us," President of the Orthogonians senior Ryan Combs said. In 1990 faculty expressing concerns over grades being jeopardized forced societies to hold pledging during JanTerm. "At the time, faculty members were upset and required that it be changed to JanTerm so it wouldn't affect a whole semester's worth of work," Professor of Psychology Chuck Hill said.
This will be the second time the idea has been explored. In Spring 2007, faculty were concerned about students' performance in class during JanTerm after GPA's had fallen. "Ultimately ISC, as a collective body, decided to keep it the way it currently is, making the societies require their pledges to perform better academically," Associate Dean of Students Andre Coleman said.
This year, societies understood the issue about grades and subsequently began raising the minimum GPA for new pledges from 2.0 to 2.25. Because of the emphasis of this change, the average GPA for new members rose to 3.04 for the fall semester and 2.94 during JanTerm.
Coleman believes that any intensive extra-curricular activity can be time consuming and affect grades. "I think when you look at athletes and their GPA's from in-season to out-of-season, you realize it's hard," he said. "It's difficult for student's to go through new member initiation without their grades being affected. This is a major commitment for them."
After this past January, the Orthogonians felt that pledging during JanTerm was not efficient for their organization. "As far as our numbers go, the Orthogonians would get much better opportunities if we could hold pledging at different times," senior Orthogonian George Jones said. "We want to run a pilot program for this fall and see if it will work." While the active members are in favor of the bid, it's the alumni, having experienced pledging during the two semesters, who are spearheading the plan.
The new committee plans to spend some time evaluating the logistics of their proposal. "Some groups do well and some are having a little more struggle," Coleman said. "We are wrestling with the question: Is it the timing of pledging or is it the organizations not representing themselves well?"
This plan however, will most likely not take effect until fall 2009. "This is a major campus-wide decision," Coleman said. "Everyone on campus is impacted [by] this. I applaud the Orthogonians for stepping up and proposing this, it will change everything."
"One of the main benefits for us changing to extended pledging is that it gives us more time to teach value and allow the young men to grow with us," President of the Orthogonians senior Ryan Combs said. In 1990 faculty expressing concerns over grades being jeopardized forced societies to hold pledging during JanTerm. "At the time, faculty members were upset and required that it be changed to JanTerm so it wouldn't affect a whole semester's worth of work," Professor of Psychology Chuck Hill said.
This will be the second time the idea has been explored. In Spring 2007, faculty were concerned about students' performance in class during JanTerm after GPA's had fallen. "Ultimately ISC, as a collective body, decided to keep it the way it currently is, making the societies require their pledges to perform better academically," Associate Dean of Students Andre Coleman said.
This year, societies understood the issue about grades and subsequently began raising the minimum GPA for new pledges from 2.0 to 2.25. Because of the emphasis of this change, the average GPA for new members rose to 3.04 for the fall semester and 2.94 during JanTerm.
Coleman believes that any intensive extra-curricular activity can be time consuming and affect grades. "I think when you look at athletes and their GPA's from in-season to out-of-season, you realize it's hard," he said. "It's difficult for student's to go through new member initiation without their grades being affected. This is a major commitment for them."
After this past January, the Orthogonians felt that pledging during JanTerm was not efficient for their organization. "As far as our numbers go, the Orthogonians would get much better opportunities if we could hold pledging at different times," senior Orthogonian George Jones said. "We want to run a pilot program for this fall and see if it will work." While the active members are in favor of the bid, it's the alumni, having experienced pledging during the two semesters, who are spearheading the plan.
The new committee plans to spend some time evaluating the logistics of their proposal. "Some groups do well and some are having a little more struggle," Coleman said. "We are wrestling with the question: Is it the timing of pledging or is it the organizations not representing themselves well?"
This plan however, will most likely not take effect until fall 2009. "This is a major campus-wide decision," Coleman said. "Everyone on campus is impacted [by] this. I applaud the Orthogonians for stepping up and proposing this, it will change everything."
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