Silly pledging rituals When pledge week ended, I was very glad it was over. However, many good experiences came from the week and now that it is over, I am already looking forward to next year's pledging. Last year, as a pledge, the week seemed long; yet fun. I was "allowed" to do activities such as sing 'You Are My Sunshine" to guys I did not know, acquire signatures of hundreds of people, and go on minor and major dates. On Thursday I was humbled more as I paraded around the campus in out-of-style clothing that clashed . All of this seemed very frivolous to me at the time, because I did not realize the full impact of what I was going through. As ·the year progressed, however, I began to see the valuable experiences I gained during that crazy week. I became very close to my fellow pledges because we were all going through the same difficulties. I also drew close to the club members. They made us do silly activities that seemed stupid and degrading at the time, but i!l the end , we were all friends. Pledge Week also gave me the opportunity to meet many new people. I had to meet guys for my minor and major dates, all the fellow pledges, and the guys that I sang to or 5jcu ~a.id it! Pledge week was fun because I had a chance to laugh at myself and laugh with others. I also had the chance to meet lots of people and become close to my future club members. It was great! f(Ja;nda 1lL. '1-fJUJr'JL 14 Pledge Week Student Life ·"The friendships I made during pledge week are the central strengths in which I have grown from." - Clay Harland received signatures from. Several of the people I met during the week are still some of my close friends. This year, I moved up a step to pledge mistress. Now I had my own pledge and was responsible for acting mean to her. I gave her assignments that enabled her to gain the experiences that I had gained. For example, on Silly Day I made her measure the circumference of 15 trees. Sound easy? There was one small catch: she could not walk on the grass. She had to ask people to go measure the circumference of the tree for her. Another thing my pledge, or "slug" as she was so fondly called, had to do was to fulfill her pledge book requirements. She received merits and demerits for her actions, attained signatures of volleyball and track stars, and interviewed her fellow pledges to name just a few requirements. All of this, profited my slug because she had the opportunity to meet people. Although I did enjoy pledge week more as a pledge mistress than as a pledge, I was still glad it was over. Nevertheless, it was a valuable week because of the opportunities that it presented. It enabled students to laugh at themselves and laugh with others. And that is what pledge week is all about: meeting people and laughing. Row, row, row...All Sig Phi Mu pledges had to paddle around the Lily Pool. Juniors Sharon Gordon from Vilonia , AR, and Leslie Sturm, from Washington , WV, fulfill their requirements on silly day. - photo by Danny Meeks. Morning laughs. During the early morning rituals of silly day, two Titan pledges sing to Shantih slug Christinia Dillman, from Conroe, TX, while Scott Adair, a sophomore from Phoenix , AZ, and Randy Williams , a sophomore from North Little Rock, AR, looks on . - photo by Leslie Downs.
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