Lots of minority students don't speak English outside of school and may not feel very comfortable joining clubs that are English speaking. This is from personal experience: In high school, the many of the Asian students (I would say the majority) are boarders from Hong Kong and Taiwan and would never interact with English speakers (including Asians) outside of class time/class projects. People who don't want to speak English outside of school/work are less likely to gravitate towards organizations that do.

At my non-Greek undergrad school, there were several cultural clubs aimed at Asians, including at least five or six for Chinese students (some Cantonese speaking, some Mandarin). Most of these clubs printed their ads in Chinese only. If you didn't read Chinese, but were still interested in joining an Asian interest club, there were other options for you.

1) There is a pretty large population of Nigerians in the Atlanta area. A number of women who joined our chapters there were Nigerian. They have mentioned that they get frustrated with people who don't understand them - which is why they joined Theta Nu Xi. We don't seem to have an issue recruiting people whose first language is not English.

How is this a problem for NPCs on your campus?

2) No one has yet answered the question I continue to ask. Why do some people on this board say that NPCs want to shed their "predominantly white" label? Why is it so bad? It's your HISTORY!

• A) With the number of white members these organizations have, it would take a huge effort to recruit enough non-white new members to make a dent in the population.

• B) If you know your organization has diversity, why do you feel the need to explain yourself to others outside your organization. You don't owe anyone anything.

3) Yes it's redundant but people will join what they want to join. I'll tell you this right now, if a woman came up to me and expressed interest in my organization - but gave me the impression that she just wanted the letters but not the commitment - she would NOT become a member. I can pretty much guarantee that any nonsense like that happening in my presence would end up with a very sad and rejected interest. I don't play.

This might be true for some segment of a college population, but here we are discussing minority women who are seeking sorority membership, and why they do or don't go NPC. However, to address your reply here, I think you are making a very broad generalization about people who speak other languages (your reference to the "fact" that people who don't like to speak English will be less likely to gravitate towards organizations that do). I knew of several Latinas at my university that joined Chi Omega, and according to them, they spoke Spanish all the time at the house. Apparently they did not prefer to speak English outside of school, but yet they still joined an "English speaking" organization because that is the sorority they wanted to be a part of. They didn't let this "language" thing that you are describing stop them.

Please don't make it seem like you speak for these campuses or the NPC, because you DON'T.

Yeah, I'm quoting myself. :o It's a little embarassing. LOL! Anyway, the reason NPCs don't attract the number of non-white you seem to wish for, TauAlumna, may not simply be because NPCs are considered predominantly white.

Have you thought about other differences? Perhaps people are looking for organizations that take smaller pledge classes/lines. Perhaps they want an organization that gets very involved in local hands-on service. Perhaps the history of the org appeals to them. Perhaps the mission of the org does too.

This argument makes it seem that there is little distinction among NPCs groups and people actually choose the org they want to join based on the people in the chapters. But, that would be crazy! You join the entire organization. Falling in like with the people in your chapter is just an added perk.

While you might see the language issue as a "broad generalization," it's actually based on my own personal experience. Growing up, the Asian students at school just didn't join clubs that required lots of speaking. You'd rarely find a Chinese girl in the debating or drama club at my high school. There were times when I was the token Asian in drama. Oddly enough, the choir was half Asian. Band was very Asian. Art was also very Asian, and Classics more white. I found that this pattern reflected when I was an undergraduate.

Thank you!

And Tau: If you are a "minority," please don't speak for all of "us" either, and if you are not a "minority", please don't tell "us" why we aren't joining NPC in record numbers. We're over here telling everyone why this isn't happening, but you keep coming back with your own theories (i.e., it's because of all the ethnic greeks, it's because of the language barrier).

Okay...but your personal experience still doesn't make it true for everyone.

I guess I just have issues....."jook sing mui" (hollow bamboo girl: Not Chinese, not "Western" either) as they say in Cantonese.....

Also known as "Banana" and "twinkie"......

now back to our regularly scheduled program

so you're looking for tokens.

so you admit that you're white-washed.

interesting.......

And you my dear are Black-washed *running out of the thread before Starang snatches me, yelling back*

and you know I lub you for it. :D

i'm not black??????


*goes to look in the mirror right quick*




:cool:


don't play, you know you've always wanted an asian son.

:D

Sorry but I have to step in and defend Taualumna....

Based on her perspective and greek experience language is most definately an issue when it comes to recruitment - in the enviroment that she is most familiar with.

Having been involved in both student politics and greek recruitment at the same campus I can attest to the difficulties in fully explaining aspects of student-life and greek-life to students that have English as a second or third language. I the case of our campus, a significant segment of students interested in getting involved in the university experience (basically any involvement in campus life other than studies) are first generation, or international students - and in many cases language does come up as not a barrier but rather a complication (terminology or even simple misunderstandings). It is significantly easier to recruit when you aren't struggling for words/terms to properly explain greek-life or educate someone about your chapter...

That all being said some of the more dedicated members of my chapter where Brothers that didn't have English as their native language - so I have been more than happy to take the extra time and effort invovled that may be needed with a PNM that is struggling with English.

I think this distinction is the cause for most of the miscommunication in this thread.