In medieval days, the path to knighthood had stages. First, you were a squire; you learned about the brotherhood, what to do when you were finally dubbed a knight. Actually, the process, itself, had little to do with the result; it merely provided servitude along the way, stuff that had to be done but knights didn’t want to do it. An internship for becoming a physician follows the same model. In a fraternity of the fifties, the process from initiation as a pledge to activation as a brother, took three months out of my college life, from the end of January to the end of April of my sophomore year. It began with the rite of initiation.
Thirteen of us gathered as pledges in the Chapter Room, a central site in the fraternity House, used for small meetings, conversations, quiet studying and, often enough, card playing. As we pledges gathered, the active brothers began to sing in the adjoining living-room. The panel doors separating the two rooms slid back. In the opening stood a table with a large candle with the Delta Upsilon insignia embossed on it. Chuck Miller, the DU President, faced us; the singing brothers were lined along the walls of the living-room, illuminated by that single candle.
Nervous and perspiring heavily, I did not really hear any of the words of the vows we read out loud to the assembly. Chuck called out our names and gave each of us a pledge pin, except me. Instead of giving me a pin, he returned my bid card! I was stunned. After the lights came on, I quickly exchanged the card with him for an actual pledge pin that one of the other brothers affixed to my shirt. After handshaking and welcoming, the “Actives” went downstairs to the large meeting-room in the basement, while we pledges met in the Chapter Room with Dan Patridge, our pledge-master, who instructed us on our duties as neophytes.
There were things we could not do. We could no longer enter the Chapter room unless given special permission; we could not step on the fraternity seal in the entrance hall. We had special information to learn for every meeting, at which time we would be tested on it. We had to obtain the signatures of all the Actives for our pocket-size pledge-books. We would have special work-details to do. We had house duties which must be finished before 3:30 p.m. every day and signed for by an Active in those pledge-books. As our turn came up, we had wake-up duty from 7:00 to 7:30 a.m. and errand duty from 8:00 p.m. until midnight. We were allowed two rings to answer the phone, if we were on the main floor, three rings anyplace else. For doing something wrong (really whatever an active didn’t like) we received demerits; for providing a service we’d get merits. They, too, were recorded in our pledge-books. If the demerits outweighed the merits, pushups might be called for. Our meetings were to be every Monday night at 7:30. Tonight’s meeting ended, and we pledges were off to Rocky’s for beers.
On Friday the Actives and pledges were scheduled to have a date party at the House, but the social card had not been submitted to the office of the Dean of Men in sufficient time to allow girls to be in the House for a party. Instead, there was a stag party. I went there about eight o’clock and had a good time doing nothing. I still felt a little out of place, but at least I was being accepted socially. However, in the long-run, I did enjoy myself, watching TV, talking, drinking 3.2 beer, and playing ping-pong.
The following week we had election of officers at our pledge meeting held, with permission, in the Chapter Room, at the same time that the Actives met downstairs. At tonight’s meeting, I was elected treasurer for our small group, without any idea of what expenses we might have or where the money would come from.
At the end of the meeting, we formed a circle with our arms crossed and with hands joined, while we sang “Hail Delta Upsilon,” a song we had to learn during that first week of being a pledge. There was a feeling of closeness I had never experienced before. This was, I finally realized, the reason I had to join this brotherhood. I couldn’t leave it now. Some six decades later, I still feel the warmth of that circle.