It was no secret that club week was going to be different this year.
Speculations on what the new induction process would be like floated from meeting to meeting among club members since last semester.
For nearly a year club officers worked with the deans at Interclub Council meetings and with their own clubs to refocus the appearance and attitude of club week to match new regulations created by the administration.
With club week finished and new members fully inducted, the deans, club officers and club members have started to reflect on the altered club process.
“I was very pleased overall with club week this year,” said David Collins, dean for students and vice president for Student Life. “I commend Dean [Kara] Abston, club sponsors and especially club officers for the tremendous effort they put into making this such a positive and enjoyable week. I was impressed by the creativity several clubs showed in reshaping their existing traditions, even making them more meaningful than before.”
Club vice presidents are tasked with organizing the club week process and bear much of the responsibility for making sure everything runs smoothly.
“We had an amazing club week, and I think it went really well,” said junior LeAndra Grant, a vice president for Shantih. “The girls and the guys that were joining the clubs could definitely see or tell if you were going along with the reform and being excited about it, and they definitely get out of it what you put into it.”
However, many vice presidents said it was not an easy transition.
“I did not like the constant tension that was present during the week,” said senior Jarod Taylor, vice president for Titans. “It seemed as if every time I turned around some club leader was getting into trouble due to a club event. I understand that club week has been revised, but it could have been less strict.”
For many clubs, new members were not required to fill out pledge books with club signatures or fulfill assignments given by older members.
Rather than spending the majority of the day in between and after classes seeking signatures in the student center, new members were expected to join club-related activities only from 5 to 11 p.m. Some clubs regret the disappearance of the pledge book tradition.
“Our club always [required] pledge books for the new members,” said junior Lori Wilkinson, a Pi Theta Phi older member. “It’s an important part of our club because you have to meet everyone and actually get to know a little about the members, and this year we didn’t get to know everyone because [the books were not required].”
Wilkinson said a positive aspect of the changes was the fact that it made the old members be more thoughtful of how they treated the new members.
“One of the good things about the changes was that they made us be more aware of what we were doing and didn’t give the girls a bad impression of us or allow us to intimidate them,” Wilkinson said. “I know that I was intimidated by older girls the year I pledged.”
This year’s new club members were the first to go through the revamped process as the first step of their social club experience.
“[Club] week was really fun, but I didn’t know really what to expect because I knew they were changing a lot,” said freshman Carly Kendrick, a new Zeta Rho member. “I think all the changes turned out for the best though. I think taking away the mean stuff really helped because some of the older girls in my club still won’t talk to the girls that hazed them because they were so mean, and that’s really sad.”
But some of the new members said they still wanted to experience club week traditions of the past.
“I was disappointed with [club] week because we didn’t bond as much as I think we could have,” said freshman Brittany Gibson, a new member of Ju Go Ju. “We should be allowed to have pledge names because they’re fun and to be able to do stuff in the student center. I understand that the administration is trying to make a point, and they made their point loud and clear.”
Abston, the primary organizer behind the new club week process, said she was pleased overall with the results of the new club week.
“At this time we are continuing to assess the process and will make changes as needed, but overall the Office of Student Life was very pleased with the week,” Abston said.
