Every fall the College has its share of eccentrically clad or uncommon-looking sophomores -- be it fluorescent backpacks, students wearing red hats, heads shaved with strange designs or students with signs around their necks, it is not hard to tell who are the new fraternity members going through their pledge period.
Besides the secret pledge traditions that occur behind closed doors, many fraternities have traditions that display their new members as part of the house. Some traditions, such as the red hats of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity brothers, Chi Gamma Epsilon's pledge signs, or the quirky haircuts of new Theta Delta Chi brothers, are more obvious than others.
Alpha Chi's president Seth Kelly '99 said the tradition of having the new pledges wear baseball caps, called "the sirens," has changed considerably over the years. The caps have changed in color, going from white and blue to orange and purple and finally to their present red and black.
Wearing the hats is not required, but highly recommended for new house members, Kelly said. Their purpose is to express pride in being a member of the house and to increase house visibility on campus, he said.
New pledges of Chi Gam also display pride in their house by wearing signs bearing their names and the house's name, Chi Gam's president Andrew Cohen '99 said. The signs are optional, but he said he cannot remember the last time someone did not want to participate in the tradition.
"Most of the pledges love wearing them," he said.
Once a pledge decides to wear the sign, he has to commit to it and is monitored by older brothers of the house, Cohen said.
"It's not a fifty-fifty thing," he said.
Cohen said the tradition started as a whim a long time ago, when new pledges used to wear huge bulletin-board signs. Cumbersome and inconvenient, the signs became smaller over time.
Occasionally, a Chi Gam pledge will also have to wear outrageous clothing, such as a pink bunny suit, when he commits "minor impingements," or does something amusing, Cohen said.
"It's all in good fun," he said.
Another of Dartmouth's most prominently noticeable pledge traditions, the creative haircuts of new Theta Delt brothers, also started as a whim, said Eben Darling '99, a new member educator for Theta Delt.
In the early 1960s, Phil Rardano, a Theta Delt brother known for his leadership qualities and his enthusiasm for the house, came to house meetings "in a different fashion," Darling said. Ever since, pledges have gone to their initiation night with unusual haircuts or swirls, designs or words shaved into their hair.
"It's a completely voluntary thing," Darling said. "There's no problems with someone who doesn't cut their hair."
The tradition receives no encouragement from older brothers in the house, he said, and the pledges cut their own hair. "It's smiled upon and it's amusing," he said. "They do it to show unity of the class."
Sometimes pledges will also have to wear ridiculous clothing given to them by their older brother in the house, but this is not a regular tradition, Darling said.
Darren Quintenz '99, president of Bones Gate fraternity, said their pledge traditions are intended to facilitate friendships and loyalty among brothers, and to help new members get to know older brothers in the house.
Pledge traditions include making new house members wear pledge packs containing objects for older brothers to use, such as toothpicks or gum, Quintenz said.
Pledge-raids, when older brothers take pledges "somewhere fun," at any time of day are also a Bones Gate tradition he added. Pledge raids can involve simply taking the pledge out to lunch or taking him to Canada, he said.
"It's designed to get pledges and brothers to interact," he said.
In addition, pledges spend time cleaning the house and take on a "pledge project," something that will improve the house, Quintenz said.
President of Chi Heorot fraternity Chris Emond '99 said the blue shirts pledges wear, a tradition he said has existed for at least five years, are also supposed to strengthen a sense of unity in the house. While other houses may want to draw attention to an individual, Emond said Heorot believes in the idea of the house as one unified group.
Pledges only wear the blue Heorot shirts for the first week of the pledge period, and they are not required to wear them displayed, he said. Heorot has very few traditions in public, Emond said, as it does not try to draw attention to the house.
"We're pretty low-key when it comes to public displays of house affection," he said.
Similar to Heorot, Brandon Purcell '00, president of Phi Delta Alpha fraternity, said the strongest point of the house's pledge period lies in its secrecy.
"There's nothing we do that people can see," he said.
The house does not want to demean its pledges, he said, and the tradition of maintaining secrecy during the pledge period dates back a long time.
Members of Alpha Delta, Gamma Delta Chi, Psi Upsilon, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Nu and Zeta Psi could not be reached for comment.
Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, as part of its Balanced Man program, does not have a pledge period.
