Congratulations, welcome, and good luck.

You may have heard many stories of old school pledge training and hazing. These terms belong to the past because they represent the teim when physical and mental punishment was considered necessary to force a pledge to transform himself from an adolescent into a man.

We believe that you, the pledge, has already achieved manhood, and therefore only need to be educated in the social, scholastic and historical standards that Phi Gamma Delta represents.

Your status is that of a probationer. We would like to think of each and every one of you as brothers-to-be, for we have chosen all of you; yet membership will not come automatically; it must be earned. You have whown a desire to be a part of the brotherhood of Phi Gamma Delta by your oath and acceptance of your pledge pin. From this point on the active brothers will be testing the sincerity and extent of that desire through your willingness to co-operate with the program we have designed and through your capacity to live up to the human potential which made us choose you as our future brothers.

We do not ask unquestioning submission; nor do we demand that you suspend your critical faculties; criticism is welcome and necessary for accommodating this or any institution to the changes inherent in modern life. We ask only that you channel your questions and criticisms through the pledge training staff; above all place your implicit trust in your pledge trainers; their sole function is to make your assimilation into the brotherhood as efficient and painless as possible. They are the liaison between the brotherhood and the pledge class; they are your staunch advocates at brotherhood meetings. They have voluntarily assumed this time-consuming and vital role because they want to help you.

To reiterate, pledging will not be arduous, but it will demand sacrifices on the part of the pledge; hopefully, the purpose of most of what you will undergo will become readily apparent to you, although some aspects of pledging can only be appreciated from the perspective of an initiated brother. If you are skeptical of what is happening (and remember, criticism is welcome), do not hesitate to make your doubts known to your pledge trainers. At all times bear in mind that we want to be your brothers, but we demand a consistent and tangible token of your desire to become a viable, contributing part of our closely-knit brotherhood; also remember that your opinions will help direct and reform an admittedly imperfect system.

Character and persistence will be your winning formula; understanding and forebearance will make your probationary period lighter and more worthwhile.