pep flags at duke :D

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>hello dukies! excuse the lame title--i couldn't think of anything else. so basically at duke, there's cheer and dance. well at least in terms of pep squad. this is totally a southern california thing, but at my high school we have this thing called PEP FLAGS. it's not auxiliary guard--our flags aren't humongous. they're these little short flags (they come in pairs) and we twirl them. i've been on this squad for two years and pretty much anyone who does it has grown to love it. we compete at USA Nationals and stuff but only schools around our area have this program. most people continue to do it in college (like they go back to their own schools to help coach and stuff) but since i'm gonna be all the way across the country, and i know i'm going to miss it like CRAZY, i think i'm going to try to start the program at duke.</p>

<p>think about it--maybe if we're really good (and we will be :D) they'll let us perform at basketball games!!! =D haha okay i totally don't have evidence for that--but i made this thread for two reasons: 1. to see if anyone might be interested in learning how to twirl and helping start the new squad, and 2. to ask current duke students if they know the process for starting a new activity on campus. i emailed someone on the cheer squad but i haven't received a reply yet, probably because everyone just got out of school. so yeah if anyone can contribute anything, please let me know!!! i'd appreciate it a lot.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqGZECGvDuI%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqGZECGvDuI&lt;/a>
to give you guys an idea of what it is, here's a video on youtube of one of the best pep flag schools, channel islands. this is their competition routine. for competition, we use techno-y music and it's all very military/drillish. but for regular performances we use cute and happy music, so it's totally compatible with cheer/song/dance on pep squad. we cheer at football and basketball games just like the regular cheerleaders do. oh, and in case anyone is wondering, you don't need ANY experience at all. twirling isn't something most people learn how to do when they're five years old, so as long as it looks like something you'd like to do, that's all that matters. </p>

<p>anyway, i've blabbed on long enough. i have a TON more videos/footage of performances from stuff like Nationals and Regionals so just ask me if you wanna see more :D</p>

2

<p>I like the audience in that video.</p>

3

<p>That was an incredibly awesome performance. I'd never be able to do it, but I'd certainly come watch!</p>

4

<p>LOL yeah the audience is their little posse--alumni, coaches, supporters...pep flags at that school is HUMONGOUS...perhaps comparable to what basketball is like at duke. it's that big hahaha. and nooooo don't think you can't do it! :) it's hard but it's like riding a bike--once you get it, it's really cool and fun. yeah i can't emphasize HOW FUN it is once you really get to perform. it's incredible :P</p>

5

<p>wow that's amazing i wish my hs had it</p>

6

<p>oh and BY THE WAY!!! LOL hahaha sorry to keep saying so much BUT if any of you have seen the Gwen Stefani Hollaback Girl music video, the team dressed in black/blue twirling flags...that's Carson, and they're national champions every year. they. are. the. best. hahahah so yeah, i'm pretty sure a lot of people have seen that video, but yeah once again that's what flags is! join join join!!!</p>

7

<p>That is so cool. I actually sit on the committee that recommends or rejects proposals for new groups. To my knowledge (granted I interview for cultural groups and not athletic, common interest, or performance, which is where this would probably fit), this would be a "unique" new group on campus. Thus, you would have a pretty solid shot of gaining approval for the new group.</p>

<p>The committee that is in charge of the process is called the Student Organization Finance Committee (SOFC). Essentially, it serves two roles: 1) To allocate the $600,000 in student activity fees to student groups for their event via a programming fund (about 115K) and an annual budget (the rest of the money) 2) To recommend or reject new group proposals to Duke Student Government (DSG). A group can be recommended for charter or recognition. Recognition gives you access to the programming fund so for any event you hold on campus, you can come to SOFC and likely receive money. This also allows you to reserve room space through the Office of Student Activities (OSAF) among other things. Charter gives you all of the tenets of recognition, but also allows you access to the annual budget However, to gain this status, you must prove that you have regular, reoccuring expenses. </p>

<p>To become a new group, the process essentially works as follows:
1) Submit an interest form to the SOFC Chair (Alex Crable for 2006-07)
2) Then, you'll get an interview with an SOFC member who will help you through the process
3) You'll complete a formal club application with a constitution, the officers, etc. This application will be returned to the SOFC Chair
4) Then, you'll be scheduled for an SOFC hearing
5) The committee will recommend to recognize, charter, or reject your application
6) Finally, you will go before the Duke Student Government and will hear the recommendation and then choose whether to give you new group status or not. If you get new group status, you'll then receive a fund code and all the other stuff the comes with being a new group.</p>

<p>This may seem like an intimidating process, but it is really not that bad. The process is meant to ensure that the student groups on campus are unique and that they are serious about actually being an active group on campus.</p>

<p>If you want more information, you can look at SOFC's website (which still has the previous year's information up but the process will remain largely the same. However, some of the people will be different):</p>

<p><a href="http://www.duke.edu/web/SOFC/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.duke.edu/web/SOFC/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

8

<p>START THE PROGRAM! </p>

<p>D9 (how abbreviated is that?) - great post.</p>

9

<p>YAY! I WILL!!!! I love you guys!!! yeah seriously dukestudent...this is
AWESOME information. i printed it out and tacked it to my bulletin board LOL thank you sooo much! <3 makes me love duke even more :)</p>

10

<p>is alex the guy who lives in Southgate, dating the Indian girl? If so, he's really chill and I don't think it would be a problem to get it approved. tiff, remember when I left GA that night to go hang out with some people? it was in alex's room and they were actually talking about how he gets to grant money to groups and stuff. but apparently there's a proposal that you have to fill out and everything but I dont think it's that big of a deal.</p>

11

<p>Alex did live in Southgate though I don't know if he's dating anyone. Though whether Alex is chill or not has really nothing to do with the process. It's pretty standard, and after you've been on SOFC for a while, you pretty much know if a group will pass or about how much money a group will get for an event.</p>

12

<p>That looks awesome. I've always been a wannabe colorguard person though I never had the chance, and since I'm totally incapable of being in ROTC at Duke to do colorguard, this is perfect for me!</p>