Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity Council unanimously voted to abolish Initiation Week at the July 2018 Richmond International Convention. PIKE chapters across the nation were given one year to implement what is known as ‘The True Pike Experience.”
The change focuses on an individualistic and comprehensive member development program that is implemented for members for all for years, according to Jesse Watson, University of Idaho chapter president.
This semester, one class of new members will go through an eight-week process, with four weeks focused on education and four focused on bonding, Watson said.
“Abolishing I-Week is a statement to the Greek Community that Pi Kappa Alpha wants to do better for its members,” he said. “Across the country, many hazing events happen during initiation week. By eliminating this practice, we make the Greek community a safer place.”
Jesse Watson | Courtesy
New member educator Kent Youngdahl said I-Week has traditionally been a period where new members are taught a series of values.
“These values impacted all of our lives and created a stronger brotherhood between our pledge classes and the rest of the fraternity,” Youngdahl said. “I learned countless lessons through my new member experience and I want to make sure that every new member gets that opportunity.”
However, Youngdahl does not think that the changes will sacrifice the quality experiences new members have received in the past at Pi Kappa Alpha.
“The structure of the new member process has been changed, but not the values we try to instill in their lives,” Youngdahl said.
Watson said two classes of new members will go through in the future are a new member education process as well as bonding activities, spread across four weeks for each class.
“We implemented the really big things first, like changing our executive board, changing I-week and everything else,” he said. “And now we’re fine tuning everything to get our new membership classes down to four weeks long.”
Watson said the UI PIKE chapter would like to see campus become a safer place for students and hopes other fraternities follow suit.
“If we want to solve this nationwide problem, it starts with every fraternity chapter making some changes at home,” Watson said. “Fraternities should be a place where men can gain personal and professional development in a safe environment while making lifelong friends.”
Neither the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life or the Interfraternity council played a role in the decision.
“Pi Kappa Alpha National Headquarters has been modernizing many of its membership affiliation processes to be more developmental and I applaud that modernization,” said Shawn Dowiak, director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at UI.
Watson said there was very little push back on the decision and questions centered on what the new member process will look like in the future. Watson said he believes the elimination of initiation week will help recruitment numbers.
“It may actually increase our overall recruitment numbers because potential new members will see that Pi Kappa Alpha is taking a stance against hazing on college campuses, and that we are dedicated to providing a safe environment,” Watson said.
Ellamae Burnell can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @EllamaeBurnell