What are the elite sororities?

[ees125]

Excellent point, from my fellow Alpha Gam sister!

[AlphaGam1019]

Sarah, (ilovemyglo)

I totally agree! It's really an opinion. I liked your post :0)

LiEP

Can someone describe to me what makes one org stronger than another? I just dont get that, because each org is based on different ideals and concepts and you cant possibly compare them.
I think one reason that people are getting mad is because you get tired of hearing "my sorority is better than yours and etc." And all that people are going by is little petty jugdemental things. Who has the most girls, who is the prettiest, who is the snottiest. Thats kinda shallow and lots of people play into that crap when they rush
An org is an org. Chi-O is no better than DG, which is no better than Zeta or SDT and so on. At a time when Greek Rush is down (My old system went down from nearly 1000 girls rushing to just around 700) shouldnt we all be helping each other out instead of competing over materialistic and shallow honors?

[ADPi-EE]

I can understand why certain sororities would be considered "elite" in the sense that they started the NPC.

I think the word "elite" is a strange word to use..... but apparently that is what has stuck over the years.

I may be speaking from my own sorority pride but I think ADPi should be included in that list because we were the first. I know other sororities sometimes make that claim but...
-NPC recognizes us as the first (founding date: May 15, 1851 in Macon, Goergia)
-Our international motto is "First and Finest"
-We were the first sorority to celebrate our 150th birthday this past May

This is not to say that being the first makes us any better than anyone else.

On the other had, I can see why ADPi might not be included in the "elite" list..
-we didn't go national until around 1904
-we didn't join NPC until sometime around 1909 or later (I forget the exact year)

This may explain why although ADPi has chapters all over the US, we'll always be strongest in the deep south...but I hear we're pretty strong in the mid-west too?

The only sorority that I never heard of having a weak chapter is KKG so I'm sure they deserve the title of elite!

[A-PhiAngel]

I know people are going to hate me for this, but this thread is tiresome.

There is no way to be objective about this. There simply isn't unless one can come up with objective standards by which to measure "elite-ness" (I know, probably not a word).

I've read through the posts and the following comes to mind:

* We are all elite
* We are all special
* We all have things to be proud of
* We all have interesting and unique histories that should be celebrated

We can continue to make claims as to why XYZ is more elite than ABC, but, let's face it, there is no real way to prove these claims or prove that ABC is any better than XYZ.

I know you're probably thinking, "just don't read the thread anymore if you don't like it." That's just what I plan to do because I truly believe each and every organization has its own claim to the title "elite."

Flame me if you will, but those are just my thoughts (for what they're worth).

Angel(a)

[The1calledTKE]

HERE HERE!! You are right. Case closed. Thank you.

[LexiKD]

I still wonder why this bothers anyone.

I don't think it's a battle, I do think it is always a good thing to strive to be the best you can be and sometimes positions change from year to year and yes, I think that is good for the culture. It keeps everyone on their toes.

FOR EXAMPLE: I feel that when I was in college, Chi O was top dog, without a doubt. Many groups would disagree because they don't see sorority life like I do, but Chi O was always a model chapter in my eyes and helped many chapters strive to be better. If not by example by shear aggrevation of wanting to show that their chapter could acheive the best grades or best recruitment or anything as well as Chi O...I know my chapter benifited from that chapter and will hopefully soon be a thorn on Chi O's side as they were to us. I don't see that being a negative.

I am not a NPC spokesperson, I am one member of one group and that is what I feel.

[ErikaXO]

This whole thread amused me to no end...I can understand why some people get irritated by the idea of "elite" or not elite chapters, but let's get real, folks. Nobody goes into rush with the idea of joining the least prestigious chapter on campus. Nobody likes getting cut. It has been said that if you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. That works in reverse too. If you are part of a group that is thought of as the prettiest, or the smartest, or the richest, or the sweetest & coolest, the perception will be that you have that quality too. It is only natural for people to want to be a part of that. That said, it is also natural to go into the whole thing with the mind of making friends and being involved in your campus. You are going to gravitate towards the chapter you feel most comfortable in, whether it is the #1 chapter or not.

The bottom line is, it doesn't matter what a chapter's national "ranking" is, what matters is how that chapter is on your campus. Yes, there are a handful of chapters mentioned several times in this thread that are known for their strengths pretty much across the board. But the top three at one school are probably not the top three at the school nearby. I can tell you that although we were top 3 consistently at Kent, at Akron (which is a 10 minute drive) XO was the absolute bottom of the list!!! In fact, the XOs at Akron lost their charter just a few years back, which at Kent would be unthinkable. I dated an Akron U Sigma Nu (they were very strong at Akron but not at Kent) and I wore my Chi O letters with pride. People would say "YOU'RE a Chi O???!!!" incredulously...I am ashamed of myself to admit that I always answered that with "Yes.....at KENT."

[maggieaxid]

ok, so i just happened upon this thread today and it utterly annoys me. I am an Alpha Xi Delta, according to this, myself, and my national organization are not "elite"... what a positively rediculous thing to say. Number one, you join an organization for your own benefit, 2. not all colleges have the same organizations, of those that y'all have listed, there are only two at my school...therefore, you only have to chances to be in an "elite" organization??? how rude of anyone to say to anyone else who is greek!!!! And can you only imgaing what this looks like to PNM's, greeks listing organizations by "eliteness", it is horrible. No wonder why sorority women get labeled!!! sometimes i think we do it to ourselves!

[SoProud2BeAnAlphaXi]

I've been alternately annoyed and amused by this thread, too, and held back from involving my own GLO in it, but now that Maggie's chimed in, I think I'll say:

Alpha Xi Delta is definitely NOT one of the elite sororities. We aren't the oldest sorority or the first to have done much of anything, and don't claim to be. On some campuses our chapters are large and highly competitive; on some they're not. You don't need a pedigree to be an Alpha Xi Delta, and we don't require recommendations. We couldn't care less what your parents do for a living, or what kind of car you drive.

What we do care about is whether you are an interesting, fun person, respectful of yourself and others, and willing to commit time and talent to our sisterhood, and to learn more about life in return. We are all about "Inspiring Women to Realize Their Potential", and consider that, and having fun with one another, much more important than being on any List of Elites.

Given what others have written on this thread and others, that's pretty much how most people feel about their GLOs. So can we end this discussion already?!

[LexiKD]

I feel like the start of this was to identify the elite groups, but it ended up into if elite groups exsist/are groups more elite than others...

I agree that some groups are stronger than others, but I never was judging anyone else's group or experience.

I do agree with ErikaXO, many PNMs know what group is strong and what group is not. That doesn't mean there is a problem with being a member of a not so strong group.

I can agree to disagree and still be OK with it without becoming upset. All NPC groups are elite because there is a selection process so I guess the degree is what I was attempting to express, that's all.

[ADPi-EE]

I'm still confused about the traditional definition of "elite". I had thought that the word "elite" was used to describe the groups that started the NPC.....but actually I had never even heard of the term "elite" until I read these posts so I really have no idea.

If "elite" means having the strongest nationals, what is this based on? Is it number of total initiates?...number of living initiates?....number of total chapters?...number of active chapters? number of alumnae groups? sorority age? leadership in NPC?

For example, some sororites have billions of chapters but I wouldn't consider them strong nationally. And some sororites have lesser chapters but are VERY strong nationally like KKG and KAT.

Also, what is a PMN?

As for ADPi, I don't think we're considered one of the "elite", but here are our stats:
130-something active chapters
over 170,000 total initiated

My KKG/KAT friends gave me their stats and I'm pretty sure they are considered "elite":

KKG
over 186,000 total initiated
128 active chapters

KAT
over 170,000 total initiated
123 active chapters

[LexiKD]

PNM, Potential New Member, Rushee...

I think it all varies...I would not use elite, but strong, elite is too uptight for me.

[33girl]

Originally posted by ADPi-EE
I'm still confused about the traditional definition of "elite". I had thought that the word "elite" was used to describe the groups that started the NPC.....but actually I had never even heard of the term "elite" until I read these posts so I really have no idea.

If "elite" means having the strongest nationals, what is this based on? Is it number of total initiates?...number of living initiates?....number of total chapters?...number of active chapters? number of alumnae groups? sorority age? leadership in NPC?

The word "elite" has been stretched out more than Roseanne Barr's underwear at this point, so I would just say that the strongest national is the one that has the lowest percentage of closed chapters. If you open 100 and close 40, you are doing something wrong. But if you open 60 and close 10, even though you may have less chapters, you have less of a "failure" rate.

That's just my 2.5 cents.

[ErikaXO]

AdPi-EE, I would not say that "elite" refers to the age of an organization, although the so-called elite chapters tend to be the older ones. You are right about Kappa but wrong about your own GLO....I think ADPi is definitely one of the "elites."

Everyone else....this is not something to get all upset about....remember that this whole thread started with someone's innocent question. It seems to me that the people who got the most upset about this were the ones who felt that their chapters weren't being considered "elite." It is a basic fact of life that there are going to be groups and organizations that are better known than others or are considered a little more "prestigious" than others. So what? If you are happy where you are, that is what counts. The people who have said that all GLOs are elite are absolutely right. To be in the chapter you are in, you were chosen. That in itself means something....that people saw qualities in you that made them want to have you as a part of their group. If you aren't 100% proud to wear your letters, then that is a reflection on yourself, not the "eliteness" or not of the group you are aligned with.