The times, they are a-changin'

by Ashley Nichols, ΔΨ

For former Vice President Jessi Reddick and the 2008-2009 brothers of Alpha Zeta, “good enough” was no longer good enough. That was why beginning with the EA class Reddick and the brothers revamped the Prospective Member Process to take not just one semester, but instead one full school year.

For years, AZ had used the same PM Process to recruit, meet and initiate new brothers into the chapter. Announcements would be the Marching Hundred and the All Campus Band and interested students would attend one or two meet and greet events. Before the semester came to an end a new class of brothers was welcomed into the chapter. The problem, Reddick says, was that it all moved too quickly.

“We always had large class in the fall, but a lot of the time we didn't know them that well to start,” she says. “Most of the time that turned out fine, but on occasion we misjudged a person or the level of their interest.”

This resulted in a number of issues: PMs would drop out in the middle of the process and on occasion other PMs who became brothers quickly lost interest in the chapter, or were not well educated in the history and tradition of KKPsi.

“When a PM class learns and does everything in a month or less, it's hard for them to really engage with what they learn during the process.” Reddick says, “If they don't engage with it, and they don't understand how multiple years in the fraternity can be both useful to the bands and useful to them personally, they will be gone as soon as their initial "new brother" enthusiasm fades. If you don't know why something is important or useful, you won't retain it, and eventually you won't care.”

Another reason that new initiates lost interest was that new Brothers did not feel as though they had enough time to bond with their dads and their bigs or form other relationships within the chapter.

With double the time to educate her new members, Reddick worked to make sure that the class of EA understood KKPsi history and traditions while also encouraging the initiates to apply the teachings of the fraternity to daily life.

“You should join because you love band,” Reddick says. “However, once you're in, there is nothing wrong with contributing things to the chapter in your unique set of skills that can also end up on your resume and portfolio. If our brothers can apply themselves to Psi in a way that benefits their life after college, they will stay committed. Event planning, teaching and journalism/constructing newsletters etc. help the chapter, and help its members.”

Once the class of EA was welcomed into the Brotherhood, its members showed signs of being better educated on the ideas and values of KKPsi than previous classes and of being more comfortable with older brothers.

Though the process has been successful thus far, there are a few issues to work out. “I'm not confident in our extended fall recruitment yet,” Reddick says. “I think we can do a better job with timing of events, the kind of events we choose, and our overall enthusiasm.”

During the Fall 2009 semester, the PM class Eβ became the second class to begin the extended PM Process. Six new PMs were invited to pledge as members of the chapter on Dec. 4^th, 2009. Throughout the course of the school year, the PMs will be educated by the new AZ VP, Dylan Suehiro. The new recruits have all shown dedication to KKPsi by attending numerous events and getting to know current Brothers.

While only time will tell whether the new process will be successful, the first class to go through the process seemed more educated, more acclimated with the Brothers, and more enthusiastic about being brothers in AZ.