There’s nothing wrong with pledging in my eyes. I just think there is something wrong with the reason people pledge.
Be aware that you are committing yourself to a life-long organization. Whether you join a Greek, non-Greek, or even a club, know why you are doing so. Because the reason you agree to something like that is what’s going to drive your love and passion for that organization.
You should not pledge anything that will force you to change yourself or your lifestyle. Why join something that would prevent you from expressing your inner self, or being who you are?
After some people pledge, they start to put that organization in front of who really they are, when they should actually put who they are in front of the organization. If you pledge something, that should not make your name. Be who you are before anything else.
Another reason you should not pledge is if you are not going to put your full heart into it. Why would you join anything you will be in for the rest of your life with no emotional or spiritual tie to it?
Some of these processes are like classes; you learn “some info” get the letters and go about your life. Now you care about that organization just as much as you care about that biology 104 class you took last semester, when you just made a life-long decision.
Would you walk up to a random person and just marry them? No. You have to know someone, you have to spend time with them, go through things with them.
That’s what ties you together, that’s what creates the love, that’s what builds your drive. Right now, there are too many people who randomly “got married” and they don’t even know who they’re married to so why would they care for them?
Do not pledge anything if you are not going to follow what it was originally founded for! Most of these organizations were founded for a positive reason, such as to help the community, be an uplifting role model, be a scholar, and create unity.
We have more than 20 organizations on this campus that were founded for those reasons. If all these organizations were doing what they were founded for, would our campus be in the state it is now?
We have more than 100 people in these types of organizations, some are in more than one. If they are not all striving to better our community, what did they pledge for? To become popular? To stroll? To wear their favorite color?
Pledging is not wrong, it’s just not for everyone. What people seem to get confused with is going through a process and hazing. Hazing is the practice of playing unpleasant tricks on someone or forcing someone to do unpleasant things, mainly for entertainment. Don’t do anything stupid that you don’t think is going to better you.
Going through a process is a series of actions that produce something or that lead to a particular result. In this case, the result is an individual who is now part of an organization that most likely betters others. Do not pledge if you do not think you are doing otherwise.
An organization is a body of people working together; key word is “organ,” a part of a body with a particular function. So do not join anything if you will not be doing anything other than just being dead weight.
The reason you want to join a particular organization should reflect on whatever things they do, and how you think you can be involved in them. If you don’t see yourself functioning with them or any other organization, you should realize that there is nothing wrong with being who you are by yourself. You can make just as much of a change on your own.
So if someone ever asks you what you’re in there is nothing wrong with saying you are an INDIVIDUAL.