To the best of my knowledge, no.

area of study-related groups
 

I remember that about twos years ago at my school (university of pittsburgh), an engineering women's sorority wanted to affiliate with our panhellenic. They got turned down because they only accept engineering students, thus discriminating. I never really understood why they would want to join in the first place...... ? The couldn't really get people through our rush (very few engineering students rush at my school) and they're not organized in the same way.

I like what you had to say outtAKAntrol, because I know where you are coming from. My dad is an Omega Psi Phi from UCLA, my mom a Delta Sigma Theta from Pepperdine, and my sister a Delta from Tennessee State University. Yet, I joined a traditional IFC fraternity. Their participation in their organizations has not ended, ever though they are out of college, and especially since they live in the south, where there are ALWAYS events to help better minority high schoolers and college students. I hope that I feel the same way when I leave school about my fraternity, although it's the brothers that I have here that really matter, not so much brothers I don't know.

On my campus, we also have the Asian and Hispanic fraternities, and it's great! I feel that everyone should have a group that they feel comfortable in-there are plenty of all-white groups and no one cares about them being all white, so they should have their organization as well, and they should feel free to participate or not in campus activities if they choose.

With all due respect dzrose, I don't think the alumni level of NPC/IFC orgs and the NPHC is the same thing at all, or even particularly similar.

I have a number of friends who joined IFC and NPC orgs in college(I was actually a sweetheart and knew a lot of the NPC/IFC sorority members fairly well) , and when they hit graduation, they were gone. There was not even an expectation of them continuing their affiliation, and certainly no pressure on them to do so. The most contact they have with their respective orgs now is going back to school for a party now and then, or they might have lunch with fellow alumns every once in a while. One friend is in fact joining the grad chapter of his org, and about all it really involved was him buying a new hat and having lunch with people.

It does not IMHO even begin to compare with the level of activity that BGLO members who affiliate with grad chapters maintain. Biweekly meetings, weekly service, monthly events, it is just a whole different ball game. And affiliation is something that is really really expected, at least when you reach a certain level of income it is. I don't think I can even convey to someone not in our community what it means.

Even if you are NOT active, being in a BGLO means something. THere are so many IFC and NPC orgs that even keeping the names straight can be difficult (Chi O, A Chi O? Alpha Sig, ASA?) but we have nine (major), and EVERYONE in the black community knows them. Any African-American watching the Cosby show (for good example) knows this one's an AKA, this one's a Delta, he's an Omega, etc. because it's a part of the organization of our communities, at social and at community service levels and has been for years. NPHC orgs are a big part of black history. Damn near ALL prominent Black Americans (except for Clarence THomas and Condoleeza Rice) are members.

I am not trying to minimize the impact of your orgs at all, my perspective is probably a result of my community, but I grew up in a mostly white school, with a lot of white friends and never saw fraternity or sorority life as much of a part of their culture as it is of ours.

This is also not to say that in your area there is not something similar to the NPHC alumni level for NPC or IFC groups, but in my experience, and the experience of well..everyone that I know... there is no equivalent.

It All Depends On You!
 

I'm a member/founder of the only "Minority" based greek org on my campus, and let me tell you, it wasn't easy. Now, 2 years later, things are barely getting easier. I guess the fact that my campus has a very small greek system didn't make it any easier. To begin with, I didn't even know there were greeks on campus and when I found out, I had already started looking into my own interests.

There are only 2 fraternities (Chi Phi and TKE) and 4 Sororities, of which only 2 are national: Delta Phi Epsilon and my org, Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority, Inc. which is Latina based. The other 2 sororities are local (PXY and Phi Delta Psi). However, for rush, not only do we have our own events, but we also schedule events with the other orgs. The rush chairs always meet before rush to plan the events together. We also have, through tradition, an all greek picnic/bonfire and an all sorority event. Not only that, we continue to interact with each other throughout the school year as well.

The irony, to our advantage, is that my org (the most recent) has gotten the most recognition out of all the others due to our involvement in school events. Being Latina based, we focus on the Latino culture and promotion of cultural awareness. We've co-sponsored a High School Conference for Latino youth, we've also co-sponsored/founded our University's "Celebracion Latina:" which is a week-long event of workshops and presentations having to do with the Latino culture and countries, and we tutor ESL students at the local schools. Currently, we are planning a minority women's conference with help of the Multicultural Center. Also, when we first started having events on campus, people were coming up to us and asking us if WE were the only sorority on campus. Why, because none of the others orgs did anything except for their yearly philanthropic event.

I guess what I've been getting at is that it all depends on your campus and your organization. My org is non-NPC, but has more recognition than the other sororities on campus. To make this year even better, we received the award for Community Service and one of my sisters received this years award for sorority member with the Highest GPA at this years Greek Awards Night. So you see, it's all about your accomplishments. NPC or Non-NPC, IFC or Non-IFC, it varies with location and organization.

For me it wasn't about prestige or reputation, it was about what worked for me, where I felt comfortable, who would bring out the best in me. Be proud of who you are and always represent your organization the best way possible!

I forgot to add...
 

Although we may be Latina based, out membership is open to everybody! I know the fact that the majority of our members have a Latino heritage may make other feel like it's not the place for them, but we also have members who do not identify with being Latina. Also, although our focus is on Latino culture, we address the issues that need addressing on campus, and they don't have to deal with Latinos. However, they usually do tend to deal with minorities. Then again, I don't see any of the other orgs addressing the issues we do.

I think there IS more of an impact felt by the NPHC groups on the Black community, simply because the Black community is more of a community. (I feel like that's a huge oversimplification but I don't know how else to put it.)

It is true...some places in the country you can go and say "I'm an ASA"* and people are like, oh wow cool...if you go to California or Oregon and say you are an ASA, the response will probably be, "Is that a local?" Whereas you can go anywhere in the country and a lot of places around the world and say you are an AKA and everyone knows what you're talking about.

Would the NPC and NIC have a similar alum structure if we had fewer orgs? I don't know...it's kind of a which came first the chicken or the egg question.

*ASA = Alpha Sig. I am one. :D

It's true that there is more of an expectation that NPHC members _must_ remain involved after graduation than NPC or IFC members. Those who don't remain involved don't. However, those NPC and IFC members who _do_ remain involved are generally as involved as any NPHC graduate member.

But the focus of an NPHC grad member is different than of an NPC alumna. NPHC grad members do much of the same stuff undergrads do - service primarily - and don't focus on supporting the undergrads. But NPC alumnae spend most of their energy on supporting the collegiates, although they do philanthropy as well. And we initiate relatively few grads into our alum chapters vs. the NPHC graduate chapters. NPHC and NPC orgs are all for life (or are supposed to be), but NPC focuses on the college aspect more strongly than the NPHC does. That is why I suspect that many NPHC members view NPC membership as being college-only.

I belong to Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority. We don't belong to any certain council. At different schools we belong to different councils. We are not traditionally any culture/race/ethnicity and we like that about our organization. I think that IFC and NPC organizations have to be real and sya outright that they are traditionally white fraternities and sororities and they have to understand that minorities may not want to belong to a group where they may be of very few numbers on theit campus. To put down "local groups" because they have a majority of a certain ethnicity is wrong because people join social groups to 'social"ize with people that they would have something in common with. On my campus we have IFC NPC and NPHC and my sorority isn't under council now we even have auxiliary groups and we are able to come together at times to do activities but it would be wrong for anybody to trivialize the importance of any group because they mean a lot to the people that are in them. The comment made that certain groups will never be what other groups are was made by a narrow-minded person and any of those with those type of feelings should be ignored.

To answer the question of whether or not only black people pledge BGLO's (NPHC member), the answer is no. I'm filipino, full blooded, proud of my people, proud of their accomplishments, and i love all of them. Yet, i'm not in a asian organization, I'm a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc (Part of the NPHC). I have a ton of filipino friends, yet i joined a black fraternity. I didn't join it becuase "i wanted to join a black fraternity" i joined it becuase i believe in what it stands for. i've gotten crazy stares from other NPHC members, and from a lot of asian people, but i could care less what they think. the asian fraternity was cool, the white fraternities were ok, but like you said, i can't see myself associating with them. i've seen white, hispanic, and asian iotas, white deltas, white que's, white and asian sigmas, white kappas. It's not unheard of. if you're willing to stand up for what your founders believed in, then you deserve to be a part of that orgnaziation, regardless of what race you are.

are you kidding? then obviously you don't know any NPHC members.

what does being able to speak the native tounge have to do with be a socially conscious asian woman? i bet half of those kids can't even speak the language. people join these organizations to promote the particular culture. i know asian girls in white sororities who are part of the filipino group, the asian assoc. ect. you don't have to have asian friends to understand what it's like to be asian in america...and you don't have to join an asian sorority to have sense of self. but you should have an idea of what your culture is, and where you came from. if you don't know your roots, then i'm sorry for you.

Geez, I didn't mean the language issue was the whole thing. I just don't identify with my culture as much as other people might. I do not consider myself a socially conscious Asian woman, I just consider myself a socially conscious woman. Period. I have a sense of self that I do not need to prove to anyone else but myself. My idea of my culture and my roots is my family...but you know what? Thanks for judging me...I couldn't have lived without that. :rolleyes:

i'm not judging you, but being an asian woman, how do you forget your roots? i'm not saying i read jose rizal books or nothing (though, i'm going to make that move one day), but i at least do not forsake my culture. i'm sure your parents don't associate being filipino with just their family also. i don't speak the language either, but i don't close myself away from other people who share the same culture i do. you don't have to be an activist. why not open yourself up and join an asian or filipino group or something? you'll be surprised how much you'll fit in. they're all not ravers or racers like everyone thinks. they have fun parties, pot luck dinners with sinigang, adobo (pork and chicken), lumpia, and kari-kari (i'm sure you know what these are). there are a ton of "normal" people like yourself in them also.

In my organization, the fact that a couple of my sisters had never identified with being Latina, although their last name was "hispanic," is what made them join. They took it as an opportunity to learn more about the culture they didn't get the chance to know. Not only that, the "non-latinas" joined out of interest in the Latino culture.