50+ Memorable Pledge Week Scavenger Hunt Ideas

If you want a fun way to welcome new fraternity or sorority pledges into your chapter, hosting a scavenger hunt is a great way for members to bond. While some scavenger hunts are notorious for being embarrassing and hazing new pledges, there are tons of funny challenges to include that are fun for everyone involved and even give back to the community. Just be sure to check with your fraternity or sorority rules to make sure you’re allowed to host one.

Best Pledge Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Take a picture with the school mascot.
Pick up trash in a public place until you fill a garbage bag.
Locate a hidden object on campus and bring it back to your chapter house.
Post a viral dance TikTok with a stranger.
Show up to class in a suit and a pair of shorts.
Take a group picture with a frat or sorority alumnus who lives in town.
Finish the largest meal at your local diner.

Section 1 of 7:

Pledge Scavenger Hunt Ideas on Campus

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Make your new pledges explore their new campus. Pledges usually haven’t been around campus a lot, so keeping the tasks on school grounds can help get them familiar with the area. A good mix of fun tasks can help them learn more about where they’re going to school and your fraternity or sorority history.
- Take a picture hugging the school mascot.
- Visit each fraternity and sorority house and get a picture with at least 2 members there.
- Find a specific book in the school library without using a computer or asking for help.
- Locate 3 buildings named after donors or alumni.
- Get an autograph from 10 students you’ve never met before.
- Access the roof or basement of an academic building.
- Snap a picture with the professor who’s worked on campus the longest.
- Sit in on a class that you aren’t enrolled in.
- Find and decode secret messages about past fraternity and sorority members.

Section 2 of 7:

Funny Pledge Scavenger Hunt Ideas

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Get a good laugh from pledges and members with these challenges. Scavenger hunts should be fun for the pledges and the active members of your chapter. Include a few silly challenges on pledge night to see who has a good sense of humor.
- Wear a suit with shorts to class.
- Raise your hand in class and ask to go to the bathroom.
- Start a funny group chant in the student section.
- Eat gross jelly bean flavors without making a face or spitting them out.
- Turn the clothes in another pledge’s dresser inside out.
- Give a PowerPoint presentation on a nonsense topic.
- Wear a temporary tattoo on your face or another visible spot.
- “Accidentally” play a song at full volume in the middle of class.
- Recreate the pose of a notable statue on campus.

Section 3 of 7:

Challenging Pledge Scavenger Hunt Ideas

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Up the ante to make pledges work a little harder. Including a few tougher tasks in your scavenger hunt keeps it from being too easy to complete. Make sure that the challenges are still legal and appropriate, or else they might be considered hazing.
- Earn $5 busking on the street without directly asking for money.
- Locate a heavy weight on campus and carry it back to the frat or sorority house.
- Order the largest meal at a local diner and finish the entire plate.
- Race across campus at night without being caught by a chapter member.
- Find a 4-leaf clover in under an hour.
- Try to purchase exactly $0.01 of gas at a gas station.
- Finish a jigsaw puzzle in 5 minutes or less.
- Get phone numbers from 10 different strangers.
- Answer trivia about the frat or sorority without hesitating or getting a question wrong.

Section 4 of 7:

Photo Pledge Scavenger Hunt Ideas

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Have pledges collect pictures to share with other members. Give the pledges a list of items and things you want photographic evidence on campus and around town. The pledges will have to work together to find the right things to photograph, so it will help build their bond and community.
- Take a picture of the next nearest chapter of your frat or sorority.
- Find a hidden object on campus and take a picture with it.
- Snap pics of 5 different items with fraternity or sorority letters on them.
- Locate a chapter member still living in town and take a selfie with them.
- Strike an unflattering pose in front of a campus monument.
- Visit a member’s nearby relative and get a pic together.
- Bring a cozy chair to campus and take a pic in the funniest place.
- Take a group picture with someone in a local government office.
- Find someone wearing school colors and post a pic of you fist-bumping.

Section 5 of 7:

Social Media Pledge Scavenger Hunt Ideas

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Post challenges online to share them publicly. If you want pledges to tell the world they’re part of a fraternity or sorority, give some tasks a digital component. Putting images or videos up on social media is a great way to spread the word about your chapter to other students
- Make up a viral dance and post a TikTok of you doing it with someone.
- Post a selfie with the fraternity or sorority president.
- Film a YouTube video explaining your chapter’s history to a stranger.
- Share an IG reel of you doing your chapter’s chant.
- Livestream yourself while completing another scavenger hunt challenge.
- Find an old member of your chapter on social media and send them a message.
- Post a status about your frat or sorority and get 25 likes from non-members.
- Do an Ice Bucket Challenge video and nominate 3 other pledges.
- Find an old pic of a current chapter member and share it on your feed.

Section 6 of 7:

Helpful Pledge Scavenger Hunt Ideas

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Help out the community with philanthropic challenges. If you want new pledges to learn how your frat or sorority gives back, then add in tasks that focus on community service and helping out people on and around campus. The pledges will feel productive when they accomplish a good deed and it will help give your chapter some good recognition in the community.^{[1]
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- Volunteer at a local food bank on a weekend morning.
- Clean up trash until you fill a large trash bag.
- Film yourself doing 5 random acts of kindness for strangers.
- Raise $100 for the charity of your choice.
- Donate an old outfit to a local shelter.
- Complete 2 hours of community service.
- Tutor another fraternity or sorority member in a subject they’re struggling with.
- Host a food drive to give canned goods to those in need.
- Spend an afternoon volunteering at an animal shelter.
- Donate blood or plasma.

Section 7 of 7:

Are pledge scavenger hunts considered hazing?

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It depends on your fraternity or sorority's rules. Always check the nationals for your fraternity or sorority to see if scavenger hunts are listed under examples of hazing. Scavenger hunts are usually fun and light-hearted activities for new and active members. However, if the challenges are intentionally made to embarrass or humiliate pledges, or made to get them in legal trouble, then it’s considered hazing.^{[2]
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- Examples of challenges that are hazing includes:
  - Obtaining inappropriate pictures of other people
  - Forcing someone to drink
  - Socially isolating someone
  - Making someone stay up all night
  - Forcing someone to run errands or clean up after you
- Many states and universities have anti-hazing laws, and you could be charged with a misdemeanor or felony depending on the severity.^{[3]
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- If you are doing a pledge scavenger hunt and believe you’re being hazed, talk to the head of your chapter or your university’s dean of students.

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Tips

If pledges are stuck and have trouble completing their scavenger hunts, have an older active member help them out or give them hints.

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Warnings

Avoid planning any illegal or embarrassing challenges for a scavenger hunt because they can be considered hazing, which could result in expulsion or legal issues.

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