1) Where would we put said mural? If we want it to be secret and wilg-only, we could put it in Cafe Blaise. If we want it to be on display, perhaps one wall of the TV room would be better. Personally I like the idea of it being a wilg-exclusive thing. What if each pledge class added to it together? Being not-so-artistic myself, I would love to collaborate on something cool but would be scared if I had to create some artwork that will be in wilg FOREVER!
2) What if our "pledge training" was a series of dinners or study breaks put on by different groups in the house? There could be brunch w/ exec, ice cream with the 4th floor, cookie baking with the juniors, etc. We'd have to think about how we wanted to divide ourselves up, and whether we wanted to have these at the house or on campus. These could occur over the course of the semester, so pledges would have one to go to every week or two. We could even have them at the dorms of the pledges. At each event we could discuss one or two things about the house.
3) If you read the Constitution (which I highly recommend), it says that each spring wilg does a community service project with some charity. The community service chair picks the project and then people pledge to complete some number of hours over the semester. Each person chooses how many hours she wants to pledge. But we should try it, since it is in the Constitution after all. It might be hard to schedule a barefoot run because who knows then the first warm day will actually be? On the other hand, if we combined it with a picnic it would be even awesomer. But I kinda like the idea of an ongoing thing, something you could do once or twice a month for the whole semester, as opposed to a single event that takes away one whole weekend. I know some people already volunteer at different groups around Cambridge, maybe we could adopt one of those groups?
1) I am more of a fan of the tv room wall, it looks so lonely and empty. We should probably put this to a house vote :)Having each new pledge class contribute to the mural is a great way to incorporate WILG history into art! We could probably make a really simple theme, like the solar system (Inspired by Caroline's dream door) and each class could add a comet, a planet, etc.
2)Having more dinners and study breaks to incorporate new members is a great idea, but in addition to this remedy for de-pledging, maybe we need to take a more personal stance to keep new members. Is it possible to have new members select Old Wise One's ASAP, (Within one week of pledging? It would kind of make any new member go to the house to get to know everyone) that way during the first few weeks, the girls could have a liaison and a constant reminder to come to the house. If not, maybe we could assign each girl to a "Wilg buddy" who would check in with their new pledges weekly, reminding them of events, etc.
3)Community Service is a great way to not only serve the community, but to also get our name out on campus (Not as a publicity stunt, but let's face it our numbers are dwindling) The barefoot race would be awesome! Here is another idea: Maybe we could become a sister house to a women's shelter in Boston: Landscaping, baking cookies with the kids,etc? I know Mit is already connected to a few in Jamaica Plain, because of City Days, and maybe we could pair up with other women's groups on campus: BWA, Las Mujeres, SWE?
I think one thing we could easily improve is helping pledges to meet house members. I remember at the new members sleepover, we went through the poster, and a lot of frosh didn't know who anyone was. I think this could definitely be helped by Fiona's suggestion to have study breaks by different groups in the house every couple of weeks (maybe every week right after they pledge in Feb/March, so that people feel incorporated into the house). Low-key stuff that happened often enough at varying times so that even if they missed some, it wouldn't be a massive problem. Lots of the early events required a whole weekend, like retreat, which is much harder to commit to.
Having the new members sleepover a little earlier in the year would be really good too -- maybe 2 weekends after rush is over or something?
Keep up a social calendar that anyone can add to, in a visible place downstairs somewhere that lots of people go. We could add MITSO concerts or Acappela things -- or anything like that that people could go to together.
Hack another living group! We used to have pranking traditions with ADP, but they're losers so we could hack someone awesomer like pika or TeP.
Other event ideas: Karaoke is awesome. I think it could be a good bonding event. :)
Learn-stuff-from-each-other-together -- knitting? Some kind of dancing? making something cool and electronic for our rooms (doorbells? lights?) Any kind of craft or sport?
Let's go hiking! But not now cause it's cold.
OK I'm going back to grading psets now. I'm getting all excited about planning events though :)
1) Where would we put said mural? If we want it to be secret and wilg-only, we could put it in Cafe Blaise. If we want it to be on display, perhaps one wall of the TV room would be better. Personally I like the idea of it being a wilg-exclusive thing. What if each pledge class added to it together? Being not-so-artistic myself, I would love to collaborate on something cool but would be scared if I had to create some artwork that will be in wilg FOREVER!
ReplyDelete2) What if our "pledge training" was a series of dinners or study breaks put on by different groups in the house? There could be brunch w/ exec, ice cream with the 4th floor, cookie baking with the juniors, etc. We'd have to think about how we wanted to divide ourselves up, and whether we wanted to have these at the house or on campus. These could occur over the course of the semester, so pledges would have one to go to every week or two. We could even have them at the dorms of the pledges. At each event we could discuss one or two things about the house.
3) If you read the Constitution (which I highly recommend), it says that each spring wilg does a community service project with some charity. The community service chair picks the project and then people pledge to complete some number of hours over the semester. Each person chooses how many hours she wants to pledge. But we should try it, since it is in the Constitution after all. It might be hard to schedule a barefoot run because who knows then the first warm day will actually be? On the other hand, if we combined it with a picnic it would be even awesomer.
But I kinda like the idea of an ongoing thing, something you could do once or twice a month for the whole semester, as opposed to a single event that takes away one whole weekend. I know some people already volunteer at different groups around Cambridge, maybe we could adopt one of those groups?
- Fiona
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1) I am more of a fan of the tv room wall, it looks so lonely and empty. We should probably put this to a house vote :)Having each new pledge class contribute to the mural is a great way to incorporate WILG history into art! We could probably make a really simple theme, like the solar system (Inspired by Caroline's dream door) and each class could add a comet, a planet, etc.
ReplyDelete2)Having more dinners and study breaks to incorporate new members is a great idea, but in addition to this remedy for de-pledging, maybe we need to take a more personal stance to keep new members. Is it possible to have new members select Old Wise One's ASAP, (Within one week of pledging? It would kind of make any new member go to the house to get to know everyone) that way during the first few weeks, the girls could have a liaison and a constant reminder to come to the house. If not, maybe we could assign each girl to a "Wilg buddy" who would check in with their new pledges weekly, reminding them of events, etc.
3)Community Service is a great way to not only serve the community, but to also get our name out on campus (Not as a publicity stunt, but let's face it our numbers are dwindling) The barefoot race would be awesome! Here is another idea: Maybe we could become a sister house to a women's shelter in Boston: Landscaping, baking cookies with the kids,etc? I know Mit is already connected to a few in Jamaica Plain, because of City Days, and maybe we could pair up with other women's groups on campus: BWA, Las Mujeres, SWE?
Lyndz
Wow, this posting thing is wierd. But maybe I am just really tired :)
ReplyDeleteI think one thing we could easily improve is helping pledges to meet house members. I remember at the new members sleepover, we went through the poster, and a lot of frosh didn't know who anyone was. I think this could definitely be helped by Fiona's suggestion to have study breaks by different groups in the house every couple of weeks (maybe every week right after they pledge in Feb/March, so that people feel incorporated into the house). Low-key stuff that happened often enough at varying times so that even if they missed some, it wouldn't be a massive problem. Lots of the early events required a whole weekend, like retreat, which is much harder to commit to.
ReplyDeleteHaving the new members sleepover a little earlier in the year would be really good too -- maybe 2 weekends after rush is over or something?
Keep up a social calendar that anyone can add to, in a visible place downstairs somewhere that lots of people go. We could add MITSO concerts or Acappela things -- or anything like that that people could go to together.
Hack another living group! We used to have pranking traditions with ADP, but they're losers so we could hack someone awesomer like pika or TeP.
Other event ideas:
Karaoke is awesome. I think it could be a good bonding event. :)
Spontaneous lets-go-watch-a-movie-in-10-250-on-the-big-screen.
A Trivia night! With prizes.
Learn-stuff-from-each-other-together -- knitting? Some kind of dancing? making something cool and electronic for our rooms (doorbells? lights?) Any kind of craft or sport?
Let's go hiking! But not now cause it's cold.
OK I'm going back to grading psets now. I'm getting all excited about planning events though :)