New Member Presentation/Bid Day Agreement

Fraternity and Sorority New Member Presentation/Bid Day Guidelines

All organizations advised through the CFSD must adhere to the following requirements when presenting new members (hereafter “presentation(s)”)  to the Storrs campus community or hosting Bid Day activities. The university recognizes national organizations’ policies and guidelines and expect all chapters to be in accordance with their national policies.

General Guidelines

  1. Presentations/Bid Day activities cannot be scheduled for the last week of classes or during Finals Week.
  2. CFSD will establish a deadline for bid day activities/new member presentations and publish this date on the CFSD calendar. Typically, the deadline will be the Sunday before the last day of class.
  3. No alcoholic beverages will be permitted by any person in attendance.
  4. In the event of a fight or other altercation during the event, those fighting will be removed from the event immediately and the event will be stopped.
  5. Organizations planning to host their event outdoors must have an inclement weather plan. Inclement weather for the purpose of this document is rain, snow or a weather forecast showing <50 degrees Fahrenheit, 3 days prior to the presentation. In the case of inclement weather, organizations must move the event into an indoor space on campus.

Bid Day Guidelines

  1. Bid Day activities must take place no more than one week (7 calendar days) after member selection has concluded.
  2. Only members and new members from the organization may be in attendance at the bid day event.

New Member Presentation Guidelines

  1. New Member Presentations must take place no more than two weeks (14 calendar days) after the newest members have been initiated into the organization. Holiday breaks will not be included in the timeline.
  2. New Member Presentations are not to be scheduled to take place at the same time as a previously planned presentation of another chapter within the same council. Please check with your council advisor for details.
  3. Props to be used in the presentation must be approved (i.e. shields, staffs, masks, etc.). In general, blindfolds, bricks, and other symbols of “pledging and hazing” are not allowed.
  4. Because of its public nature, all presentations should be considered family shows and should be done tastefully. Therefore, excessive vulgarity, profanity, and “dissing” of other organizations will not be tolerated.
  5. All attire should be appropriate. No revealing attire is permitted.
  6. Physical or suggestive abuse is prohibited. This includes but is not limited to: slapping, kicking, spitting, punching, pushing, poking, caning, etc. (Canes may be used as a part of the performance but may not be used as a weapon to harm or suggest harm to an individual.)

Failure to comply with the stated guidelines may result in the loss of future events and university privileges, disciplinary review from the respective governing council, CFSD, and possible referral to the Office of Community Standards. This Policy shall be reviewed and revised as necessary by CFSD to remain current with new standards of practice as recommended by the University, inter/national organization, and higher education best practices. Questions related to this policy should be directed to the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Development, greeklife@uconn.edu