Handsign
 

My husband is an Alpha Phi Omega and I have not had any MAJOR run ins with the Gamma Sigs that I have met. They seem to be nice enough.:) I looked at the pictures on their website and it does not look like they are doing our handsign. It does not matter anyway, I mean there are only so many handsigns you can come up with before they start to be duplicated.:rolleyes: A handsign is not what attracted me to this illustrious sorority anyway!! It was all about that GREATER SERVICE, GREATER PROGRESS!!!:D

I just wanted to add...

I noticed that someone made a comment about the white chapters of my sorority being all about service. That's totally not true at all...my chapter is small, only 6, and all black women. We did almost 300 hours of service this semester and averaged 45 hours per sister, and I'm very proud of that. In order to stay active in Gamma Sig each chapter member has to do a minimum of 15 hours per semester. No matter what the color, all Gamma Sigs are about serving our communities. And my chapter definitely does that.

Also on the duplication...to each his own in terms of opinion. I'm seeing the sign that is similiar to SGRho fading out, at least where I am. There is one that we all use, but again it's by region. The call...it doesn't have anything to do with either Alpha Kappa Alpha or Delta Sigma Theta at all. But it's all about perceptions. I have had sisters had thier letters torn off their person (at Ohio State, no less) by members of other sororities because the colors look to close to thiers, or the call, and other stuff. Gamma Sigs have gotten into verbal/physical confrontations with other greeks over little things like this...I know everybody has pride in their organizations, and that's cool. You should. But we shouldn't be getting to the point where we want to start fighting amongst each other. There's a big community out there-we should be focusing on what we can and should be doing for them rather than fight about calls, signs, and whatnot.

I admire all the sororities of the Nine for what they've done for black women and the community. Many Gamma Sigs go on to become members of AKA, of DST, of Zeta, and of SGRho and continue to excel in service and also stay active in Gamma Sig.

Sorry this got so long. Feel free to PM me if you have a question.

Always in Service....

Re: Other BGLO's
 

Like other sorors have said, there are only so many hand signs one can put up before there are duplicates. It is NOT serious enough to be getting angry. This organization is not even NPHC. Let it go, or calmly talk to a member, learn something about someone different from you, and move along. It will be okay.

Really.
TRSimon

Re: Re: Other BGLO's
 

hummm..this whole discussion leads me back to the pinky. we could have kept that since it doesn't really matter. it becomes confusing to the outside when we start duplicating hand signs and others things (look at the whole ashanti thing). next we'll be using the same colors and letters. it can end if nationallly we chose to NOT permit these things to flourish.
my 22 dollars

Re: Re: Re: Other BGLO's
 

1. I hope you take this discussion to the listserve where sorors could discuss this further. I think it would be a thought provoking debate. If this were an NPHC organization or something, I could see filing injunctions and the like in light of the pinky situation. Do we need to spend money we could be using to help youth at risk suing Murder Inc., who I doubt will be around or using the sign in five years? :rolleyes:

2. I hope you at least take part in the processes in place to change things. It is nice to let the words flow on internet bulletin boards, but it is even nicer to handle business through the proper channels.

:D
TRSimon

As far as Ashanti goes, I saw that discussion begin on the WR list serv. I think dialogue is a great place to start before you begin the writing process.

In terms of my doing my part, I have voiced my concerns about a few things [not always pleasant], sat on committees, and wrote recommendations. Oh yeah and paid dues :) I am not sure beyond that what I can do.

Lastly, some of the issues we are dealing with in 2002 are not necessarily issues we [BGLO's] have dealt with in the early 1900's. Therefore there may not be written protocol established so talking [or posting in this case] always helps because someone reading can point you in the right direction.

Hi Ladies,

I've been following this very interesting discussion and I never noticed how Ashanti/Murder Inc. use's the SGR hand sign until you ladies mentioned it. So I go to www.murderinc.com and sure enough there are pics...

http://www.defjam.com/murderinc/asha...5552_thumb.jpg

My questions is do you ladies think that labels like Murder Inc. (or Roc-a-fella-) are ran by fellow Greeks (or greek aspirants)who have decided to pattern their label like a fraternity/sorority (hence the hand signs)? Ok, maybe I am going out on a limb here, but I'm curious to know.

I can say that Greeks in general work in all industries. Now if they chose to model a label after their fraternity/sorority it would be quite interesting :)

Sounds good, but still a cop out. The majority of your orgs don't do handsigns, have calls, line #'s, step, etc, yet a few chapters do. They decide to do things very similar to established NPHC orgs and then ask that no one care. Ask 90% of the membership of Alpha Phi Omega what is an APhiQ? Q has nothing to do with APOmega. It is specific to Omega Psi Phi (with a fraternal significance) The same with the Omega brand. Why combine another sororities call when a call has nothing to do with your org? Why do a hand sign when most of your membership wouldn't recognize it? WHY? WHY? WHY?

A Phi Que
 

To my knowledge, when the Alpha Phi Omega first came to Historically Black Colleges, we were nicknamed A Phi Ques by the campuses, not ourselves. Think about it. . .if generations of black students had been conditioned to believe that the letter Omega was "Q" by 1947 (when APO first came to HBCU's) why should my brothers think any differently? Add to that the fact that Omegas are members of our Fraternity anyway, it makes a lot of sense.

Now today, in 2002, there are a lot of black people who had Alpha Phi Omega on their yards when they were in college. When I first crossed and wore my letters to a high school function, my teachers all said "Congrats! You're an A Phi Que!" Even though my chapter says APO, I had to respect the fact that A Phi Que is how most people would know my fraternity. I can't even order para from certain stores unless I say "A Phi Que."

My Fraternity has traditions. . .some are ritualistic in origin, others we picked up along the way. Our leaders encourage each chapter to have their own traditions, and on the yards where it makes sense, we adopt those traditions.

Re: A Phi Que
 

Thanks brother. I think that's what I was wanting to say on that.

Always In Service...

Sorhors and Fellow Greeks,

When I was an undergraduate at the University of Delaware we did have Gamma Sigma Sigma and, of course, they were an all caucasian sorority. However, I noticed that when I attended the Greek Picnic in Philly in the mid-80s that many of the gamma sigma sigmas were African American, but they didn't have a call, formally pledge, step, etc. however, they were about doing community service projects and many of them went on to be members of the big 8 at that time because Iota Phi Theta wasn't part of the NPHC.
Anyway the brothers of Alpha Phi Omega did have sweet hearts called foxes and they did step. However, on predominately white campuses they were all about the community service. It is very interesting that greeks in general are having such a hard time dealing with stepping on another organization's toes by maybe using a sign or call or steps from another organization. I commend the young lady that shared information about her organization and I agree with Sorhor Bluereign and others for saying that we really shouldn't get all bent out of shape because some service organziation is using the sign or a sign similar to Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. I didn't pledge my organziation and yes, I pledged in the spring of 82' just because we have a hand sign. I became a member of Sigma Gamma Rho because we really live up to the motto of "Greater Service, Greater Progress."

Stay blessed

Serioussigma22:cool:

Call, pledging and stepping
 

I just want to add that I became of member of Gamma Sigma Sigma in 1981 and we have always had the same call, we did have pledge lines and we did step. Maybe we didn't do these things at the greek picnic in Philly, but we did do them.

Your point is a good one SeriousSigma. I'm also a part of a NPHC sorority and I didn't pledge either organization because of the call or the handsign. It's all about what you're doing to help those less fortunate than you. Gamma Sig's all over do a lot to help the communities they are in. Let's focus on the good that all organizations do, whether they are historically black or white. That what's important.

And to Doggystyle, why don't you ask you frat brother, H. Patrick Swygert, president of Howard University, to answer your questions. Afterall, if I'm not mistaken, he is an A-Phi-Q, also.




njgamsig81

I know that it was not the intention of any Gamma Sig to imitate another sorority. I also think that NPHC Greeks fail to realize that many members of Gamma Sig are also your frat and sorors. Gamma Sig is an all together unique group we are so diverse in what we do on every campus that it is hard to label us anything. True, some of my sorors would not recognize a hand sign or a call but there are many that aren't black that would. The most important thing to me is service and I joined Gamma Sig in order to do it with others who feel the way i do. There are many social aspects that I miss out on as a Gamma Sig on my campus but at the same time if I want to do them I will join a social sorority. I appreciate the attitudes of many of you in this forum because I have literally had to fight other black women/men over what I am. I need y'all to know that I respect your organization and each of you as a person and that's all I ask back.[/COLOR]
Notorious #4
Spring 2000
GAMMA SIGMA SIGMA NATIONAL SERVICE SORORITY

Re: Call, pledging and stepping
 

I serious doubt that when I see Brother Swygert at the Conclave in July, that he will introduce himself as an APhiQ. I don't think that Bill Clinton has ever introduced himself as one either. When Brother Swygert and I were members of the same grad chapter, Mu Omega in Philly, I never heard him say, "after I leave this meeting with the Ques, I'm going to hang out with the APhiQues".

I understand your sentiment. Its what your used to and what you know. I respect that. I'm not sweatin' it, wouldn't fight over it, nor lose any sleep over it.