Clubs Can't Pressure Freshmen
Every fall, Georgetown sees a wave of new students who possess a potent combination of ambition, enthusiasm and almost total ignorance of the various clubs at Georgetown. This leads them to join, enroll and enlist in any and every organization that solicits their participation. Without a doubt, this influx of new members provides the very lifeblood of these organizations; unfortunately, the desire for advancement and inclusion that pushes a new student to pursue these opportunities may lead them to make ill-informed decisions that have lasting consequences.
Some of these incentives are innocuous enough — freshmen supporters of Barack suddenly have College Democrat T-shirts on their backs, and THE HOYA lures in aspiring journalists with free pizza. Some groups, however, including certain fraternities, are a bit more aggressive in their recruitment. Some even have freshmen performing certain initiation tasks by the second week of school or coerce them into running for leadership positions within their first month.
It is all well and fine for clubs to entice freshmen to their cause — increased membership and campus participation are always goals for any group — but the newness of his surroundings, the desire for true friendship and a need to fit in shouldn’t be used to pressure a new student into joining a club.
Eventually, freshmen will find their own niches, but this takes time, and they should not be forced to prematurely decide.
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This story is useless. I can't believe I just read this and it said/accomplished nothing. A minute of my life has been wasted.
Hoya Writer 1: It's 2:00 AM and we have to write another editorial to take up some space!
Hoya Write 2: I know! Lets write three paragraphs about "the lasting consequences" of freshman joining the wrong clubs!
Hoya Writer 1: Are there any consequences? I mean..can joining a the Peruvian Heritage Club for a free fun-sized snickers bar areally have "lasting consequences" ?
Hoya Writer 2: Who cares? we published an article about how Entourage reminds of the importance of America and the importance of being happy...
Hoya Writer 1: Do you think that anyone will take this seriously?
good question Hoya Writer 1
This is why sophomores don't belong on Ed Board.
I can safely say that each member of the Editorial Board can kiss away any hopes for a career in journalism, law, politics....pretty much any profession in which they have to state an opinion.
this piece was not only poorly written, but it communicated nothing whatsoever. it looks like aside from bashing sac and other organizations that hoya contributors have little involvement in, there is not much else to write about. a good editorial should have some sort of an opinion, not just allude to "certain clubs" and "certain bad things" that they make froshies do. the hoya is not a moral authority on campus that it can say what should and should not happen without any proper supporting arguments. there should undoubtedly be more thought invested into the planning of future editorials.
I'm really curious, what organizations are pressuring these students to join and "run for leadership positions in the first month"?
Clearly the Hoya editorial board staff had some specifics in mind when they wrote this, beyond clubs that participate in SAC fair or do flyering/info sessions. As written this is kind of useless. Are clubs going around campus and shanghaing the frosh into tutoring or appreciating French culture?
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