What Pledging Really Is

SEVERAL Black men have been sighted around Harvard's campus in black berets and Army-style boots. The same men are seen in sections wearing button-down Oxford shirts and black ties.

These events are not a coincidence. Rho Nu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (AOA), has just pledged a group (or "line") of 10 men, four of them Harvard students.

Founded last September, the Rho Nu chapter is the newest in the 83-year-old fraternity. Representing Harvard, MIT and Tufts University, the chapter currently consists of 20 "brothers," 14 of whom are Harvard students.

There are many misconceptions about the pledge process, one of the most common being that it is used as a vehicle to define one's identity. But pledging, like AOA, involves much more than the casual observer might think at first. Its ultimate goal is "the better making of men," beginning with the line, and continuing throughout the life of AOA members.

THE formal dress of the pledges, or "Sphinxmen," as the fraternity calls them, is not intended as a military exercise, but to protect the pledges from unpredictable Boston weather. The apparel inspires Sphinxmen to take a serious attitude toward all of their activities. In fact, most of the Sphinxmen cite the desire to become more serious--more focused and mature--as their reason for pledging.

Pledging AOA is an intense process. During the pledge period, the Sphinxmen study and are tested on Alpha history. With such illustrious members as Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E.B. DuBois, Jesse Owens, football hall of famers Gene Upshaw and Art Shell, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Rep. William Gray III (D--Pa.), Assistant Professor of Neurology and Harvard Foundation director Allen Counter and Senior Admissions Officer David Evans, AOA is a rich and diverse organization. As any Alpha man will tell you, Alpha history is Black history.

DURING the pledge period, Sphinxmen are also taught about the meaning and responsibilities of brotherhood. They are encouraged to pursue such ideals as working together and being resourceful, as well as the fundamental notion of fraternal love for the other Sphinxmen and for AOA.

Of all the responsibilities Sphinxmen have as such, there is none as important as doing well academically. The doctrine of AOA is scholarship, as demonstrated by its distinguished membership. If Sphinxmen do not do well in school, then they will be of no good to themselves or to AOA. Thus, in addition to maintaining mandatory study hours every day, all members of the line are required to maintain very high grade point averages.

In fact, good grades are required of all members of Rho Nu Chapter of AOA. The first of all traditionally Black Greek-lettered fraternities, AOA has a long and distinguished history of public service. Despite its relative youth, Rho Nu Chapter has already begun a large-scale involvement with the Salvation Army, local churches and the Upward Bound programs of Harvard and MIT. The most recent line will continue AOA's commitment to serving the Cambridge community.

Timothy S. Gramling '91 has been a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., since the spring of 1989. He currently serves as the Chaplain of the Rho Nu chapter.