Page 14
Focus
Feb. 7, 2002
Brother shares about the “forbidden” fraternity
Michael Marlier
Reporter
The paddle only stings for a
moment. But I expected to feel
pain while pledging for an off-
campus organization during the
spring of my freshman year.
During my first week at
Elon, a friend brought me to the
clandestine house of the Order
of Young Men, and the mem
bers openly accepted me into
their nightly parties.
Rather than finding a die-
cast group of guys with uni
formly gelled bangs above their
foreheads and outfits mirroring
GAP mannequins, I met indi
viduals more diverse than Elton
John’s wardrobe.
Cracked drywall (deep as
battle scars), a linoleum floor
sapped with stale beer and
group composite pictures docu
menting 13 years of member
ship authenticated the OYM’s
dedication to partying and
brotherhood.
For a kid who despised the
idea of becoming a “frater,” for
both the stigma and cost, the
Order offered an affordable al
ternative, Eight weeks of pledg
ing for only $125 a semester?
Deal. I’ll take it.
While freshman and sopho
mores registered for rush,
toured the fraternity houses and
listened to the pitches of each
brotherhood, OYM conducted
rush and ignored the formalities
of Greek recruitment.
But I still swore I would
never rush, pledge or wear any
combination of Greek letters.
Instead, I opted for those of the
English alphabet.
I heard all the rumors before
I rushed, “They make you shag
a goat,” “The pledges have to
do knee drops off the roof,”
“You won’t get in unless you do
coke,”
Girls heard, “They’ll drug
you at the OYM house. Stay
away from there,” And the al
ways audible, “That place is
shady,”
I know it sounds about as re
alistic as Osama Bin Laden re
placing the Pope or a weekend
vacation to Soddom and
Gahmora, but lots of people be
lieved this jargon.
The only thing that mattered
to OYM was having a good time
without the administration loom
ing over their shoulders and con
ducting a rigorous pledge pro
cess to discourage weaker re
cruits from membership.
Perhaps rigorous is too
gentle a euphemism. It was as
hairy as a Marine on a moped
in Mogadishu, The details are
bloody, hilarious and wonder
ful, yet must remain undis
closed to preserve the years of
secrecy. The details separated
us from the others, and we
knew it.
By week three, my mind
whispered “quit” at any idle
moment, but I had already
forged a bond with my pledge
brothers and felt obligated to
persevere.
And as our final “Hell Week”
eventually approached, my
mental exhaustion numbed my
nerves and dissolved the pain.
As Robert Duvall says in
“Apocalypse Now,” “I could
smell victory, clear as ‘napalm
in the morning.’”
Once my two comrades and
I finished pledging, our doubts
and exhaustion galvanized into
strength and self-respect, know
ing we overcame the constant
yearning to give up.
Today OYM still exists, yet
refuses to accept pledges. The
newer students seem to prefer
running around the Loy Center
over self-discovering and bap
tism by fire.
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CAREER
FOCUS
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SENIOR CHECKLIST:
_ Upload Resume on the Elon Job Network
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