As a senior club member, I took issue with some of the comments made in the “Pledging procedures
should change” letter to the editor published on August 28. I agreed with the title and I don’t have to
be a fan of the changes to recognize the need for constant evaluation and accountability in such a large
system. The issue came when the author reduced club relationships to merely “seeking approval” while
claiming that, “social clubs at ACU often fall short of what Christian community should really look like”.
Because being involved in a social club does not make me an expert, I cannot speak on behalf of all
social clubs and members. I can’t even speak on behalf of my own social club, because to generalize an
entire population of the ACU student body based on a single commonality is absurd. I can only speak for
me and my experience in club.
To be blunt: I did not join a social club to seek approval. I joined a social club because I sought belonging.
I can understand that from an outside perspective these two ideas appear similar in nature, but they are
fundamentally different. I did not join a social club to feel popular, worthy or adored. I joined where I
felt like I belonged, where I was loved and accepted for who I am. Is that not what the body of Christ is
designed to do? Club relationships go beyond the shallow, attention-seeking type the author seems to
think social club members are only capable of. Relationships in club, specifically during pledging, are
built with time together, encouragement, and vulnerability. We may have unconventional methods to
providing opportunities for members to engage in community, but that should not discount the
legitimacy of it.
Being in a social club means fierce intramural games and trivial pledging traditions in addition to weekly
community centered on Christ and fellowship. Why does doing both have to mean the community isn’t
genuine? It is time to end the stereotype that social clubs and “authentic Christian community” are
mutually exclusive.
As I enter my third year of being in club I am weary of defending my choice of on campus community to
outsiders. I concede that the rushing and pledging processes are flawed. But a broken system does not
mean broken community. So yes, change the pledging procedures to better protect ACU students, but
don’t assume that means community will disappear from clubs. I am confident that even in the event
pledging vanishes completely, social clubs on the ACU campus will remain pockets of Christian
community that point members toward Christ because that has always been, and always will be, the
superlative goal.
