The War Whoop (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 11, Ed. 1, Friday, February 17, 1984 Page: 5 of 8
eight pages : illus. ; page 16 x 12 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Page 5
Pledging used to be real rough
Pranks humiliation- were name of the game in yesteryear
WAR WHOOP; February 17 1984
By JERRY JONAS
Pledging now is a bit different
than it once was. The women no
longer have personal pledging
and the men can't "haze" which
Includes "walks" and physical
abuse.
Arvalcc Chappell dean of wo-
men at McMurry from 1951-69
remembers personal plcding.
"The women pledges had to do
things for individual members"
she said "like doing their home-
work or carrying all the member's
trays that came Into the cafeteria.
One poor girl had to hem 4 or 5
iklrts for a member."
Men's plcding was a bit eff-
erent than the women's.
Ken Higdon an HEI alumni
cmembcrs that "we were out on
walk at 2 a.m. near Shep
'cxas. Wc approached a farm-
ousc and knocked on the door
'anting to use the phone. A man
'ith shotgun in hand came out.
Vc explained that wc were
ledges from McMurry on a
walk." He laughed saying that
bunch of pledges had knocked
n his door a couple of years
cforc wanting to use Ills phone.
'.e let us in."
A charter member of Ko Sari
. Nell Danlal said that "pledges
ack then had to wear tmv.tirk
nderwear and you were in
spected at school to make sure
you had them on. Pledges had to
relieve the waiters and waitresses
when dining out with members
bringing the members their
meals." He added that "pledges
also had to put on shows in front
of the Paramount doing imita-
tions of Hitler Mussolini or any
.aaaaaEranaaaaaaaaaaaaa
by Jerry Jonas
BBBBBEBGEEiEBGtBGBECiEiEQ
other national or International
figures."
A Kiva alumni who asked to
remain nameless had some pled-
ging stories to tell. "Klva pled-
ges." he said "had to sit in a tree
and say "I'm a Kiva bird" every
thirty seconds and "hoot hoot"
every minute. To protect the
pledges one year the members
put up a barbed-wire barricade.
They hooked a low-voltage source
to it but that didn't deter a rival
club. This club stormed the tree
and chopped It down Kiva birds
and all.
"In front of the Paramount
theatre" he continued "pledges
would have to play leapfrog and
have wheelbarrow races. The
$909 off any service
with this coupon
We now feature
10 Wet cuts!
10 discount with your
college I.D. any time.
We do perms colors and cuts
no appointments necessary.
Command Performance
For the looks that get die looks"
The Crossroads Weetgate Melt
692-0161 095-0821
4
WHtoHsB
SiwsV
arlJhM
lsr lUrm
W J&
2SSSK- ai
members would throw water bal-
loons at them. Finally 6 or 8
pledges would be lined up their
legs tied together and they'd
have to walk back to campus that
way."
XO pledges once got their
pledge master inebriated and put
him on a plane to Fort Worth. He
tried to convince the stewardess
that he didn't want to go but the
pledges had told her already that
he was out of his had and didn't
know what he was talking about.
They left the poor guy a dime so
he could call his parents when he
got there. His folks wired him
some money and he took the bus
back to Abilene.
Alpha Sigma Chi alumni Terry
Odom said "wc were taken to
White's Mine near View. The
members made us turn our pants
inside out and they poured mo-
lasses corn flakes and eggs down
them. We had to walk back to
town that way. Wc didn't have to
walk far though. We had some
information on a member con-
cerning a lady other than his
fiancee and he was kind enough
to give us a ride back to town."
IHR alumni contacted prefer-
red not to divulge any information
about their pledging days.
Dr. Paul Lack professor of
History at McMurry recalls that
in his club "the pledges could
kidnap members." He said
"Pledges took one gentleman to
Ballinger. They left him in a
hotel room without clothes only
a dime for a phone call."
Dr. Lack recalled several times
when "people were put in a box
and shipped somewhere by bus."
The shortest walk In history
HJsssflHtHwsikLsVsLLLLLLLLLLfl
ssHswfflHHPiilssssV
IsssssBm9t sBHHpfiBBw:.fcjHByTL'isssssM
IHsliec : HMHBmB1 . iLvSSH
llWTOS'TynCSSSlMHBWMBSMSwBlBBWiSyM?j
Hp.r8 HIiyB i rill
HXkJTvEf'V v." i SSSSSrBSSSSSBSSPSHilS?lli W;
tKuBssBHHHsv w
HOOT! HOOT!
It wasn't that long ago that plodgo3 of KIVA social club
were required to sit In the trees of Wah Wahtaysoe Park and
make bird noises. This pledge from the class of 1964
obviously hoped the sunglasses would help hide his Identity.
(TOTEM Photo)
occured he said when "after
dropping pledges off the club
president was driving by and hit
one of the pledges throwing him
10 feet in the air. The walk was
ended and the pledge rushed to
the hospital. He was all right."
Hazing Is now unlawful with up
to J250 fine andor three months
in jail for offenders. So pledges
"shouldn't" have anything to
worry about.
One former pledge looks back
P Questran
CORPORATION
America's nowost and fastost-orowing nation-
wide corporation Invltos you to oarn next yours tui-
tion boforo Juno.
If you nro onorgetic outgoing ambitious and
you enjoy mooting new people wo may Just have
the opportunity youVo always wanted.
Work part-time or full-time. .
Sot your own hours.
Wo neod Local Ropresontatlvos and Area
Coordinators.
For continuing studonts this expands Into a
highly-lucrative summer position which flexes
back In the fall to fit your academic schedule.
Many permanent positions aro available nation-
wide as well.
This is a rare and unique ground-floor opportuni-
ty which probably will not ropoet once tho
nocossary personnol havo been acquired.
To apply send a aelf-addrossed stamped
buslnoss-slze envelope Application form and In-
formation will reach you by return mall.
Quostron Corporation
Suite 204
2012 Grove Avenue
Richmond VA 23220
By NANCY PTTTARD
Arimlitloni C ahc
As pledge season rolls around
again a wave of nostalgia sweeps
over me and I reflect back on how
things used to be...
Long ago when most of this
year's pledge class were only In
elementary school I took the
plunge and set out to prove
myself as a worthy member of a
social club at McMurry College.
Of course pledging was much
tougher back in my day (it's funny
how everything is always tougher
when it happens to you I)
Signing my bid was one of the
hardest things I had done up to
that point In my life. It's amazing
how hard putting your name on a
sheet of paper can be when you
can only envision the unspeakable
torture that lurks ahead because
you've chosen to sign your life
away to a social club. I had been
told how much fun I would have
and how many lasting friendships
I would make; however that
seemed less appealing at that
moment. But I held my breath
signed and walked away with
the full realization tint there was
no turning back for this shy little
freshmanl
KGNZ RADIO PRESENTS
HARVEST
m CONCERT
FRIDAY FEB. 17
7:30 P.M.
Radford Auditorium
FREE ADMISSION LOVE OFFERING
KtllimlllllllllllllHIL'IIIIIIIMIHllJllllllllllllHmllllUllHlHHUHllHKlMim
And that's how it began...for
the entire nine week pledge
season I and my eight pledge
sisters proved ourselves to be the
best pledge class that ever passed
through the portals of McMurry
College. In fact if we had not
been so good as pledges we
might have become members
sooner (at least that's what we
kept telling ourselves)!
Out I remember well the ex-
treme excitement I felt when the
nine sea-weary gobbettes finally
became sailors. And the elation
did not fade even when two
police cars stopped us on McMur-
ry's campus that morning for
disturbing the peace. After ex-
plaining the cause of our excite-
ment to the nice policeman they
must have decided that we de-
served a break after what we had
been through and tey let us
continue our celebration with
only a slight reprimand.
After a short recuperation peri-
od I settled in as a new member
and began a meaningful affilia-
tion that did not end with my
graduation from McMurry but
has endured to the present. I did
make lasting friendships through
pledging but this cannot be fully
appreciated by this year's pledge
class until they have been out of
college several years like I have.
For this year's pledges those
friendships start now and the fun
is just beginning. Pledging may
have changed a little since the
"good old days" of 1976 but I
know it will be just as enjoyable
for the 1984 pledge class. I have
heard people say they would do It
all over again; I don't know if 1
would go that far but it was great
while it lasted!
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The War Whoop (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 11, Ed. 1, Friday, February 17, 1984, newspaper, February 17, 1984; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth104428/m1/5/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting McMurry University Library.