To Bid Or Not To Bid
Decision Time For Students and Societies
Bids open on November 19th and many students have already been participating in the annual ritual of open houses, various rushes, which are days where society members take interested students on an adventure, and other activities that help prospective members decide whether or not they want to join of of the 10 active societies at Whittier College. If a student’s bid is accepted by a society, he or she will begin the process of participating in New Member Education (NME) this spring.
New Member Education is when students whose bids have been reciprocated by the society of their choice spend a month learning the history and traditions of the society. The idea behind the initiation rite is to learn about the heritage and philosophy of the sisterhood or brotherhood — a crazy month for a lifetime membership.
Every society has its own vibe or flavor. New students get their first glimpse of this at the Student Activities Fair held every September on the North Lawn with other clubs and organizations. Societies have their own tables, provide gear, items and information that help represent their unique style and maybe a sign up sheet or a list of events for curious students. Members wandered around talking to students while with new and returning check out the different options to see if they are interested.
In order to become a society on campus, the group must have a specific niche. Some examples are the Athenians who highlight sisterhood, social events, community service, and scholarship, where as the Ionoians highlight sisterhood, community service, building leadership, and supporting the individual. Each society is different and when I went through this process just last year, I was encouraged to go to multiple open houses to get a feel for where I felt at home, which turned out to be the Thalian Society.
Following the Student Activities Fair, the Inter-Society Council holds an ice-cream mixer showcasing societies. Students have the opportunity to talk with active members over ice cream outside of Stauffer Hall — a more casual event that allows students to start to think about whether society life might be a good fit for them.
October is when societies host open houses in Villalobos, the Chapel, or on the roof of the SLC. The events are usually held on the designated days: Lancer Monday, Athenian Wednesday, and Thalian Thursday, for example. The open house areanother opportunity for students to meet active members in one-on-one settings. The open house times and locations are usually painted on The Rock.
Active society members also plan events at which they can get to know prospective members and vice versa, this could be going to get boba in Uptown Whittier or going to the beach. Society’s reserve the first few weekends of November for rush activities — the time when societies and prospective members decide whether or not they want to commit to a lifelong relationship with these people.
Rush is an event held by each society, sometimes off campus, at which students who are interested in a particular society can get to know that society and the active members even better. The locations and activities of any society’s rush events remain unknown until the day of the rush. Carly Stevens, the Thalian Society Pledge Mistress said, “It’s apart of our tradition to have rush be a fun surprise…thats how its always been done!”
“I was feeling homesick and I realized at the fair that societies here aren’t the stereotyped sororities. I like the energy and kindness I have received and thought it would be nice to be a part of that.”
This all may sound harmless on paper, but there is plenty of controversy surrounding societies here and their cousins nationwide. Whittier’s societies are somewhat akin to Greek sororities and fraternities at campus’s nationwide, though with key differences. Our societies are local, not part of huge national organizations and they are smaller. If you are Gamma Phi Beta member at Chico State University, for example, you have sister chapters around the world, and high dues payments, too. Greek life, however, is coming under increasing scrutiny. Schools such as Florida State University, West Virginia University, Clemson and others have banned or suspended fraternities and sororities in the wake of tragic incidents.
National debate over Greek life on a campus’s reached a fever pitch in the wake of Timothy Piazza’s death. Piazza, a Penn State student, fell down a flight of stairs after consuming 18 drinks in under two hours during a Beta Theta Pi event after he was accepted into the fraternity. In most cases the bans were lifted after the schools and organizations enacted reforms and Greek life these days is as popular as ever on college campuses, depsite the controversies.
Though societies at Whittier are intended to promote the concept of a sisterhood or brotherhood that is values-based, they are not Greek affiliated and have mostly steered clear of the issues that have marred some national fraternities and sororities. Things are different here, but not entirely drama free. The Lancer society was punished for actions during their NME process in 2011, then another incident in 2012 and did not return to campus until the NME process of 2016.
More recently, in 2017 the Metaphonian Society was found in violation of the student code of conduct and were supposed to be suspended until May of 2020, but were able to meet complete requirements in order to take a NME class this year. Similarly, the Penn society is currently under probation until May of 2019.
The college’s administration has become increasingly strict with the NME process. Every society must have its NME process approved. Alumni who are involved with their society’s NME process must go through training provided by the school in order to attend any events, though this process is still being ironed out. Some point ot a lack of consistency in the Office of Student Engagement which has seen a good bit of turnover recently. New staff often have a learning curve when it comes to the difference between Whittier’s societies and traditional sororities and fraternities.
Alumni and society member Elyse Sharp, class of 2012, said that the “Current admin is doing their best to help us navigate the line between maintaining true tradition and meaning behind our processes.”
The September activities fair sparked first-year Hally Chauvin’s interest. “I was feeling homesick and I realized at the fair that societies here aren’t the stereotyped sororities,” she says as we discuss her interest in the Thalian and Metaphonian societies and missing her family in her small town on the coast of Oregon over lunch in the Campus Inn. She wants to get involved on campus outside of her job at K-Poet. “I like the energy and kindness I have received and thought it would be nice to be a part of that.”
The society process isn’t so new to second-year students and Arturo Munoz says he is currently looking into societies after seeing his friends go through the process their first year. We were in sitting in the spot on Monday, talking with Lancers wearing their blue as Arturo does almost everyday, “I am interested in creating these similar bonds and becoming a brother to those I already hang out with.”
Not all students, though, are smitten with societies. Third-year Melissa Johnson does not agree with “the hierarchical system that is put in place” between the older and new members.
Maggie Keller participated in NME in the spring of 2018 and said, “I never had to do anything during pledging that I would not tell my mom about.”
“I never had to do anything during pledging that I would not tell my mom about.”
