Disrespect and Fraternity Pledging

Pledging for a fraternity is a time honored tradition that a select group of people go through each semester to try to gain entry into a special group or organization. One of the worst things that a pledge can do is to disrespect a member. Disrespecting a member shows a lack of respect for a person that has gone through the pledging process and poured years of hard work and effort to make the fraternity into what it is today. For a member to get disrespected, especially by a pledge is very wrong because a pledge hasn’t even become an official member yet. They haven’t been in that member’s shoes and do not know what it feels like to be disrespected.

Being disrespected hurts a person very much whether it was done intentionally or not. The act of screaming at a member, talking down to a member or offending them in any shape, way or form is a very grievous offense. Every member who has pledged for this fraternity, cares deeply about this fraternity and it doesn’t matter what rank or pledge class they hold. Dictionary.com defines disrespect as showing a lack of appreciation and holding a person in a low esteem. To disrespect someone is to show a lack of honor courtesy towards a person.

One of the reasons why it is so bad to disrespect a member is because if you become a member, you would not want the next series of pledge classes to come after to me to disrespect me. If a pledge is allowed to disrespect members, then other pledges will follow in their disrespect and so will all of the following pledge classes. This will result in a total lack of tradition and honor and respect for all of the members who came before me who respected the members in the fraternity while they pledged.

No matter how much a pledge hates or dislikes someone or something that a member does at any given time, it is no excuse for disrespecting them. Pledges do not necessarily have to like the members of the fraternity that they might become a member of but they sure have to respect them. It is the pledge who is pledging for a member’s fraternity, not the other way around.

It is a privilege for an outsider to join an elite group of individuals who make up a fraternity; not something that is granted or guaranteed. It is a privilege for someone to wear the fraternity colors on a sweatshirt and the name of the fraternity on their chest. It is a privilege and form of respect towards every member of the fraternity and the fraternity as a whole to carry around a pledge book, wear a pledge shirt and pin.

A fraternity is a time honored tradition whose legacy is passed down from pledge class to pledge class every semester of every year. It is crucial that member disrespect not be allowed because if it is then the time honored traditions and the people who have passed down that legacy torch will not be represented by the next line of people to join the fraternity. Every pledge class represents the activities and people that the previous members went through. Every pledge class has done a banner, song, memorized member names, family lines, and everyone has gone through the difficult pledge process. All of these activities represent respect towards the fraternity and members in it. You should remember for the rest of pledging never to disrespect any member ever again.