No, expansion is done on the organizational level. NALFO isn't notified at all (unlike the NPC where the presentations are done and the campus has to be open for expansion for an NPC).

Several people have pushed for NALFO to be more recognized on the university level because we usually get thrown into MGC councils that don't fully serve us. I'd like some kind of system like NPHC has (If X amount of organizations are on the campus, a NALFO council must be formed; something along those lines). That would definitely give us some more visibility. TPTB, however, seem to think otherwise.

Well, I'm sure L.O.C.K. has an opinion on that, which just may be my own.

Although I'm in favor of local NALFO councils, I do think there are certain schools in which an MGC is more favorable. At L.O.C.K.'s alma mater, for example, when the NPHC orgs withdrew, it practically crippled the MGC.

I've never experienced NPHC organizations on MGC councils before, so that's interesting.

On my campus, MGC was basically formed so the "leftover" organizations could be in a council. We have 6 NALFO organizations, 3 locals, and a (small, but growing national) south-Asian sorority. Obviously, all of these organizations are going to be going in different directions (as we all have a different focus), so at my school, I'd definitely be in favor of a local NALFO council. NALFO needs to get its stuff together first, though.

Why do you think MGCs don't properly support LGLOs? And if currently NALFO has a disparity in the strength of some member organizations on a national level that is causing somewhat of a strain, how much more (if any) strain would it be on university level NALFO councils?

Because of the makeup of our council, there are often several policies and procedures that are put in place that benefit the locals more. They try to regulate when and how we do recruitment, what types of events we can host, and plan programs that conflict with national/regional events. I know this isn't always the case, but it is on my campus.

And like I said at the end of my previous post, NALFO needs to get its stuff together to lessen the strain. Once that happens, then local NALFO councils will provide greater visibility and opportunities for member organizations.

I remember thinking the same thing.......

Speaking of umbrella orgs, is it just me or does it seem like the NMGC has gotten smaller and pruned out some orgs....:cool:

It does seem like the member list has gotten shorter since the last time I was on their website, but idk much more than that.

Keep watching. ;) Some of y'all may have observed my distaste for the NMGC in the past, but things are a-changing. I'll let NMGC members on GC go into detail if they want to, but this council is turning into something real and relevant. I look forward to seeing what develops.

^^^^ Is a council snob. lol :p

Haha, Rashid you know me so well!

When I was President of the MGC at my school, AKA (18 of them) and Zetas (2 of them) came back to GW. At this point in time, many of the members of the NPHC orgs felt that being on an MGC didn't fit them.

I argued that when Alphas have 1 person on campus, Zetas 3, Deltas 6, and AKAs 10 (8 graduated right away I believe), it wouldn't be sustainable because membership patterns go in waves. Moreover, managing one's own chapter AND a council with only a few people is incredibly difficult to do and isn't conducive to a strong academic experience in college.

My words fell on deaf ears, and sure enough an NPHC was started during the second half of my term (made life miserable lol).

The NPHC existed for about a year with it being co-chaired by a Delta and an AKA. AKAs and Deltas at my school did not/do not get along for the most part, so needless to say things didn't go well.

As I was about to graduate, the MGC and NPHC decided to combine again and work together. Sure enough, this put a lot less stress on members because work was spread more evenly.

The new MGC president did an amazing job of unifying people and MGC has really started to take off. People have realized that it is unrealistic to sustain multiple councils in the minority Greek community when your populations are so small on that campus.


As for NALFO, it's facing a lot of the same problems NAPA is facing. While local councils might work, the reality is there isn't enough communication and collaboration between the national organizations through NALFO and not through NALFO to make that happen.

Basically, everyone wants to create their own organization these days. There are over 60 Asian American fraternities and sororities and more are appearing each year. A lot of these smaller organizations are not helping the situation because of their lack of oversight by any sort of National Board and their tunnel vision when it comes to undergraduate activities.

This of course dilutes the current crop of existing organizations with smaller less developed organizations. The NIC and NPC had mergers - I don't think this will happen in the Latino/a and Asian Greek communities because of the competition and pride that exist between organizations on local, regional, and national levels.

So, you're stuck with some organizations who are soaring in growth (LTAs and aKDPhi for example) and others (I won't name names) who are gimping along, but don't die and expand just to expand.

If this is all to be solved, NALFO and NAPA organizations need paid staff, strategic plans, and a desire to get better. If they have these, it will be a lot easier to coalesce around the importance of having stronger councils. Right now organizations are too swamped with their own tasks because National Boards are most often volunteer-based (although SLB and SLG do have paid Executive Directors). This causes the councils to be put on the back burners.

One thing NAPA is currently doing is holding conference calls, in addition to our regular calls, that focus on a specific issue and how each organization has dealt with it.

We have partnered with the Association of Fraternity Advisors to target experts on each topic (expansion, advising, lessons learned, etc.) who help facilitate and provide advice about the respective topics. This has helped identify best practices, but it is still up to the individual organizations to put them into place.

I know this is a long post, but if you're interested in learning more about NAPA post here or PM me. As for more information on NALFO, PM me and I can give you the email of the current president (I think she's still president).

Take Care!
Nate

Yes indeed. I don't think I have the authority to let out the details just yet, but things are definitely in the works.

Well, I know the WHOLE story and I'm not afraid to share.

Alpha Phi Alpha will be the first of three BGLOs to leave the NPHC and defect to the NMGC. In order to be considered, we had to tweak a few of our primary goals, but in an overwhelming majority vote at last year's convention, we agreed to change our colors from black and gold to multicultural and gold.

I hate you. But, I really love you.

LOL