Pledging

General Information

I. Fraternity and Brotherhood in Alpha Chi Sigma

When thinking about the pledging process, think of what brotherhood and fraternity means to you. Every Brother of Alpha Chi Sigma has their own ideas about fraternity. You will form your own opinions based on your experiences as a pledge and potentially as a Brother. Brotherhood, like fraternity, has many individual interpretations. Every Brother of Alpha Chi Sigma should have feelings of respect, close friendship and devotion towards their fellow Brothers. Think about the close friends that you have outside the Fraternity. How long did it take to form those bonds? The pledging process tries to create close personal friendships in a short amount of time.

The reasons you are here at Virginia Tech are to educate yourself and prepare for a career in chemistry or a related field. School work should always be your number one priority. All Brothers should understand that your education takes precedence over extracurricular activities. No pledge or Brother of a professional chemistry fraternity should do poorly in a chemistry class, or any class. The Brothers of Alpha Chi Sigma are there to help you. If you need help, call on them.

This does not mean you should not spend any time with the Fraternity. Like all things in life, the more you put into Alpha Chi Sigma, the more Alpha Chi Sigma will give you. This applies to more than just partying and having fun.

A fraternity can help you grow and develop as a person. You will find that your inter-personal skills will improve. You will have to learn to work with other people, even when there are differences of opinion. You will be forced to accept other people's shortcomings, but can benefit through your exposure to other people's talents and skills. Hopefully you will learn more about your own strengths and weaknesses, and will use this knowledge to improve yourself.

By its nature, the Fraternity you leave will be different from the Fraternity you joined. Alpha Chi Sigma is a dynamic entity that you must change to cope with constantly changing conditions. Try to make the changes positive so that the Fraternity you leave is better than the one you found.

Alpha Chi Sigma is the fraternity where the individuals make the difference. Historically, Gamma Iota chapter has had a diverse range of members, which has contributed to the strength of the Chapter. Each member contributes various skills, talents and qualities to the Chapter. The result has been a strong chapter, with a total value much greater then the sum of the individual parts.

Being a brother of Alpha Chi Sigma is supposed to be fun, but the Fraternity does not run itself. Every Brother must do his or her share to help the Fraternity run smoothly. Realize that being a Brother of Alpha Chi Sigma carries responsibilities as well as privileges.

As you learn to understand these ideas and apply them to yourself, you will be growing as a person and learning the true meaning of brotherhood.

II. Reasons to Pledge Alpha Chi Sigma

We are a national fraternity with chapters at colleges throughout the U.S. Tens of thousands of people have been initiated into brotherhood since its founding in 1902.
Our pledging process is a positive and enjoyable experience - we want you to want to be part of our great organization!
Because we consider ourselves a half-social, half-service fraternity, you get the best of both worlds when it comes to a Greek organization.
We engage in numerous community service activities, including Relay for Life, Highlands Seminar, Friday Night Friends, and many more!
You can forge lasting bonds with other people with similar interests and academic demands, so not only will you make great friendships, you'll also find a solid support system when it comes to study time.
We love science, so if you do, too, and are looking for others who understand your interests and passions, we're the right group of people.

III. Rush

The purpose of Rushing is to introduce possible new members to a social atmosphere of the Brothers that represent Alpha Chi Sigma of the Gamma Iota chapter of Virginia Tech.

At rush, the only thing that is expected of you is to hang out and introduce yourself to Brothers, talk about common interests etc.

Food will be provided along with refreshments. Depending on which rush date, we usually get sub sandwiches, plenty of chips, sodas, vegetable trays, desserts, ice cream sundaes, and all the pizza you could ever want.

The cost is absolutely nothing!

We guarantee you will meet people with a lot of the same interests that you have, and possibly some people you already know that you never knew were Brothers of Alpha Chi Sigma.