Hey guys, I really didn't have time today to read all of your responses but later when I have time I will read all of them. I don't know if anyone thought of this but, what do you do y'all think their nationals are going to do about this and what about NPC. I was outraged at first b/c that is exactly the light I don't want to be seen in. Lets face it, whether you're greek or not when you are young you want to party. Before I joined a house I would party way more than when I was in a sorority. I am curious to see what the show is about exactly. But one has to admitt that this is going to be great PR for that house, whether it is negative or positive we have yet to see. I am also currious to see how this affects rush. :eek: :eek:

From what I understand, there is no national organization, it is a local group. Maybe that should be a disclaimer before the show that the group is not affiliated with any NPC group...and that not all groups are the same...local or national. And it should point out that it is one chapter of one group and expalin if there is or isn't any other chapter of that org.

The sorority featured in the documentary is not part of a national organization and it is not a member of the NPC.

there probably is no recourse anyone can do about a show like this, to be perfectly honest. Legally, there is no defamation of any group unless what they portray in the show is false. If they have written consent by the parties to (trust me they do:) then you cannot fight them just because it sends a distinct message about the greek system to others.

And since someone mentioned it is a local group, not a nationally recognized one, NPC or NIC can't get involved either because they are not associated with them. So what can you do? Well, for starters, don't give them a reason to continue the show. Don't watch it and give them ratings, write them letters explaining your position and why you feel this is a bad idea. Basically, there is nothing much else to do, sorry.

RUgreek

wow, dont know where to start, so we will just start here:
Hi, Im one of the founders of Sigma AEPI(and Im alumni), or Sigma as we like to call it. Im not telling you my name yet, because Im not comfy doing that just right now, and Im not going to be spending a lot of time responding right now to some of the comments becuase i'm supposed to be studying for the damn LSAT thats Monday.

However I am responding because I think Sigma is getting a bad rap, some justified and some not. And I am so nervous doing this because I love that sorority and I love the girls in that sorority and I dont want them to think poor of me, or others to think poor of them.

Let me highlight a couple things:
The girls dont have a national governing board. It was started as something jewish women on campus could belong to if they wanted to. The guys had AEPi, we had NOTHING. I am from LA , an area with a HUGE jewish population, where being jewish is just a part of life. At Davis, Im one of a handful of jews, and I felt a bit out of place since I was also the first jew some had met. The sorority enabled me to continue to have jewish friends and do stuff with them (shabbat dinners, etc) and form a different type of bond then I have with my non-jewish friends. Not an unequal bond, just a different one.

We have never been affiliated with AEPhi, AEPi or any other organization except the campus hillel. Many of the guys in AEPi are our friends though because it is such a small jewish community. The idea at least from my end was to get established and then see what national one we could join. thats because unlike fraternaties, Nationals wont even look at you unless you are already a well established sorority. Being comfortable with the way things are run, the girls (waaaay before MTV got in the picture) had started to branch out to other campuses in response to requests to start a chapter. What you are viewing is a sorority in the beginning stages. Are their going to be differences? Hell yeah. Are you going to disagree with them? Hell yeah? But what you have to remember is that this is a learning process for all of us and that in order to become better, stronger, organization, we are going to make some mistakes that we will need to learn from. Dont judge us for doing some things wrong, help us so the picture looks right.

Reading the replies, I at first was embrassed, but now Im just kinda angry. The show isnt going to portray us necissarily the way we are. Its going to portray us in the best way that sells! We need your support. We have been working hard for the last 4 years to be a member of the greek community, and at the first sign of conflict, I feel like we are being left to fend for ourselves. Lets act as a community, not judge each other, or the show until we know all the facts, ok? Dont like the show? Dont watch (I may not myself). But dont sell Sigma off either

Do you honestly believe that you'll gain the respect of Greeks on your campus once this show airs?

The previews that MTV has already aired leaves little to the imagination. PARTY PARTY PARTY! I don't know how Greek life is like at Davis, but how can you gain respect and recognition of the Greeks on your campus if you girls had known that MTV was going to portray you all in the "best way that sells"?

It's truly bad enough that Greeks are having a hard time trying to establish a positive name for themselves in their communities... I'm just afraid that their hard work will be for nothing once this show airs. I'm sorry, but that commercial left me with an ill feeling. But oh yes--I'll be watching it when it comes out.

I think some of us may be being too harsh... It's easy for all of us to say "we knew this would happen" about the distortion of Greek Life, but If NPC hadn't issued its letter, would you really not have considered it even for a moment? These women, according to their site, did get the advice of lawyers, and talked with their school's administration. They were hopeful that maybe Greek life and sorority women would actually be shown as they are for the most part, and not as the few who are in it only for the parties.
anyway, It's too late to do anything about the show. Just sit back, watch and learn something about Sigma AEPi

all i have to say is my parents and grandparents saw teh commercial and immediately started on me. They said that its terrible that i would subject myself to that, blah blah, and feel they have had their worst thoughts about my GLO confirmed..

the TRUTH is so far from that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Myth: The show will be another Real World only with a sorority instead of seven strangers.
Fact: MTV is not going to air two of the same show. This is a reality TV show, yes, but its focus is on the process of pledging a sorority and how each member is involved. The creator of the show is Greek himself and his goal is to portray a positive image of Greek life.

Source: http://www.hillelhouse.org/sigma/html/facts.html

So let's all stop making conclusions, which are exactly the sort of things we all complain about that other people do to the greek system.

If any of you bothered to look over the site of these women, you might be surprised to what you find.

Seen their site. Seen the producer's site which says they can't rule out showing alcohol, hazing, etc. Seen the promo on MTV where the women give a lot of good reasons to go Greek -- then the promo says, wrong, here's the real reason -- to Party!!. Seen the posts of some of the participants (above) in which they say the producers try to get them to say things which will help a pre-determined story line. Saw the post above from a participant of another MTV show that said all they used was the "drama," and not the everyday mundane stuff.

Been in TV for a long time. The chances for this thing to turn out well are not good.

Nothing would make me happier than to be wrong. But I think these women have made a huge mistake.

Just consider this: If they producer wanted to make a documentary about sororities, why would they choose a local, ethnic based (at least originally, as I understand this) group? Is this representative of the Greek System -- more importantly of the sorority system?

The answer, of course, is that none of the Nationals would allow their chapters to participate. Maybe they were as concerned about the outcome as most of us are.

There is no question in my mind that these women made a decision that they thought would be good for their organization and for the system as a whole. There is little question in my mind that they made a mistake.

By the way, your comment about MTV not doing "the same show" isn't right. When a show becomes a hit, every network in the world tries to copy it. The "reality" shows are ALL the same show. So are the SitComs, the Game Shows -- everything.

I hope that several months from now that I will have proven wrong and you can say, "I told you so."

Don't hold your breath, though. I won't either.

Okay I'm not speaking for any individual nationals, but I seriously think you narrowed your chances down to going national to almost 0%.

About being portrayed, you guys did it to yourselves, even if you had good intentions. What do you think MTV is? The Disney Channel? They aren't going to portray sororities as the way our founders meant, they'll portray it in the way to get ratings...everyone has seen MTV for the most part, you should know that by now. And as for acting on behalf of the greek system, I personally don't think you have a right to speak for me, my sisters, or anyone else who would not like to be represented by ya'lls actions. I'm not an angel but I don't air it on National TV. And yes, even though your organization is a local and mine is a National, you do represent all greeks, to people who are uneducated about the Greek system, a sorority is a sorority and they do not recognize the difference. And while I can't speak for locals, I don't think they would appreciate being represented in uncontrollable situations.

I know what it is to put in a lot of love, hard work and dedication in to a chapter but honestly, I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it. I wouldn't take the chance. But we will run our organizations the way we want and then we will have to take the repercussions - good or bad. I will be watching because I am curious to see what it's about and hopefully be prepared to refute possible negative images that Potential New Members, and just people in general have. Hopefully I won't have to do that and ya'lls goal to portray Greeks in a positive light will be attained. Hopefully. :rolleyes:

Okay-

First- Zuma, anything I am saying here is NOT going to be aimed at your org or your sisters- I give you gals ALOT of credit for going out there and making an org. (I saw your site WAY before all of this hubub)


#1 MTV fixed up the house. How can this show properly depict sorority house life once their house has been "MTVed"? I know our house is not all bright pinks and blues and lovely modern art all over and lights in the floor. Its a modest normal family house that happens to have an addition on it so we have 10 bedrooms. I know there are richer chapters out there, but c'mon is ANYONES house lookin anything like something from MTV?
(funny thought, I always thought MTV should do a special greek addition of CRIBS - or come tour my real house, it would fill OOOH 2 minutes!)

#2 The descriptions of the show say they will follow the sorority process, including pledging etc. Do we know if they girls from Sigma or anyone has told MTV to put a disclaimer or mention that these things that an org goes through are different from org to org, chapter to chapter?

I have a big prob with #2, EVERY ORG IS DIFFERENT, AND EVERY CHAPTER WITHIN AN ORG IS DIFFERENT! I *hate* going up to someone and saying "Im a Phi Sig!" and they groan because they think Im like the girls in their schools chapter. I dont want dumb people watching this and thinking "Oh, well this is what all sororities are like" good or bad- heres the two situatuons:

#1 they portray these women wonderfully and a pnm goes to another school, and joins an org blindly thinking theyre all the same and gets stuck somewhere totally wrong

#2 they portray these women terribly and it makes pnm's not rush and not want to join because of what they thought on TV

Think of how many people TOTALLY belive what they saw on TV.

Sorry this was long, its my two cents at 2am!

Luvnstuff
Alison

OI VEY!
 

This isnt on the Sigma AEPI thing but....

This was found on the MTV website under Casting Call: http://www.mtv.com/onair/castingcall/

Under Lifestyle Makeovers:

Need a totally new image when you pledge to an exclusive sorority or fraternity?



Oi! But other than that quote... sign me up! Give me money, make me cute!

:)

Im not going to sit here and defend every little action of Sigma's. There are just too many of you and only one of me, and I could do it til I'm blue in the face and it wont work. There are people on this board that are looking for an egg to fry, and Sigma gets to be that little egg. If it wasnt us, it would have been another sorority. And why should I if its because you're worried what will happen to your GLO (and I mean that with NO disrespect)? If any one judges YOUR org based on our actions in the show, then they pre-judged you (and probaly all Greeks) waaaaay before the show came about. I dont try to convert the un-convertable, and that goes for this thread too.

The best I can do is answer any constructive questions you have, and please go visit Dan's aforementioned site once he has stuff up, which will probably be after the show has started.

As far as people's concerns over how this is going to reflect on the greek system, do you think the show the "Real World" is a reflection of real life? or Queer as Folk is a reflection of gay life in america? If the show is on MTV, can it really be a documentary? People will come to their senses.

We dont want to join a national sorority at this point, and had been given the oportunity to start that process a year ago and declined. And after awhile, this whole thing will pass.

I dont believe the statement that MTV wouldnt want another "Real World" either because I know the industry first hand too. How else do you explain the explosion of reality shows out there? But I do believe that the girls did believe that the exec prod. intentions were real and genuine, otherwise a majority wouldnt have chosen to do it. And it wasnt something that came about easily either. I wasnt there to decide on it, but I dont think telling you what my choice would have been is constructive either.

When they say that MTV fixed up the house, let me tell you, they didnt do much! The house is old and small. All MTV did was slap on a paint job on the outside and a room on the inside and make it easy for cameras to film. We are not talking the ritz here. Same goes for the pledge house. Oh, and they are doing a Cribs version of sorority houses as I understand it, and if they are like the houses Ive seen, they will put our house to shame.

So a couple questions for you:
What did you think of Legally Blond and other media that perpetuate stereotypes of soroities? And if you dont know, that was based on a real sorority.

If you were filmed 24hrs/day, 7days/week, and only 22 minutes of that footage/week was allowed to show on a commercial network, how do you think you would be portrayed? I'm hoping that the strong, intellegent girls I know appear somewhere on that footage, even if its just for a moment. But knowing they probably wont is why Dan has created the site he has. We are trying to show the other side of the story that you can refer people too. The more people that know the site, the more it will become its own entity that stands on its own just like the show, and the less the controversy.

Why do you think I'm on here? (thats an independent question of the statement above, just in case you are wondering).

Final thing: Davis portrayed as a party school is a joke. Any one who has been there can attest to that!

From the sigma site:
 

I don't think that's too much to ask. I mean, some of us have to get off this "Holier than Locals" BS. Cut them some slack. It may not have been the wisest thing to do, but it's done. I think the focus should be how we can counteract the damage (if any) when the show airs.

This topic would make a great panel discussion come Fall for the new students on campus. I know many schools have a "Meet the Greeks" kinda thing during the fall semester. Use this as an oppurtunity to dispell sorority and fraternity stereotypes (esp. lack of UNITY) on campus instead of promoting stereotypes about our elitist attitudes.

Geesh, some of us have to get over ourselves. Really... :rolleyes:

Word. Word. And, by the way, WORD.

This isn't the first time I've seen an anti-local bias on this site and an assumption that all locals left the national org in disgrace, haze/drink like hell or will be gone in the next 2.5 seconds.

It's disgusting, wrong and I'm sick of it.

Maybe you have never been around locals, or the ones on your campus are not the best. Well guess what, that's just the same as assuming all ASA's or whoever are the same as the ones on your campus. It ain't happening.

Zuma, if you knew that your sorority was in it's beginning stages and that "the show isn't going to portray [you chapter] the way [you] are," why would you choose to expose your chapter on tv?

My guess: someone just wanted their fifteen minutes.

This may seem harsh to you, but obviously we are not members of your organization and we cannot understand you decision. Most of us on GC are very committed to Greek Unity and image issues. While some people may say "hey, who cares, do your own thing," we use this message board to discuss (and often debate) Greek Life and things that positively and negatively affect it. You ask us to "help [you] so the picture looks right," however, by opening your chapter up to MTV, "the picture" will be edited for drama and there's nothing that any of us can do to "help" that now.

People DO think Real World was an accurate reflection of what hapened on the show, and I can tell you most certainly it is not. No reality show is. The reason reality tv is booming? It is cheap and most non-proffessional actors will pretty much do/say whatever they want. I am ALSO in the entertainment industry, have been for over 10 years. I have no doubts that Sigma had the best of intentions, but let's face it, no matter how much even the creator of the show had great intentions, networks are sharks and care about ratings. The promo they are running proves that to me.
Think about why you watch shows? You watch to see if so and so will hook up. If so and so will fight. If so and so will make an ass out of themselves.
Don't overestimate the public. I know young men who were interested in greek life because of what they saw on Animal House and other movies.
I will be watching, if for no other reason than I want to know what the PNM's might think are accurate assumptions this fall.

TG

Just hopeing the girls didnt fu*k this up for the rest of us. if they do, I'm gonna be PISSED.

The other thing I dont think they figured, is that once this thing hits the air, their lives, as they know it ARE OVER. The whole world will think they know these girls. So the one girl who gets cut will always be pittied. The bitchy girl will always be treated like shit, and the girl who hooks up witha few guys will forever be the whore.

Think about it in the Real World viewpoint. Most of us think puck is a self centered jerk, Rachel is shallow and self absorbed, Beth is a bit treacherous, Irene is nuts, Kyle is a playah, Stephen has his gay issues and is a child, Coral can be a bitch; Sean, Syrus, Danny, Kelly and Sharon would be cool to hang out with. NONE of us have met any of these people. Think about some of the threads that have been posted here and the peopel on MTV - even the Real World thread. I would not for anything, be willing to give up my privacy and life and invite the entire country into my life...for any price. My privacy is worth way more than that. Some former castmates regret heir involvment with the show, Aaron from LA is a good example. Just something to consider, and my 2 cents.

33girl- Sorry if I did offend you, didnt meant to. That comment came after a long and hard frustrating week then I had to see the commercial and all h-e double hockey stix broke out in my silly and tired head and I take it back. That one thing that is.

Everyone-- Lets just watch it first, then see what happens.

Well, I was wondering if anyone had started a thread on this and man this is big. Well I didn't even know about the whole sorority life thing until my friend who works part-time as an editor for MTV called me up the other day to chat. Looks like from what she told me its going to be somewhat bad but they do have a couple scences of good stuff. The rush scences are the worst she said because they talk some trash about some of the rushee's during bidding and then show one of the girls later on crying cause she didn't get accepted. They do show a bar scene with oh yes of course...binge drinking. People in the editiing dept have already given some of the "sisters" nicknames and make fun of them during the editing process. So when i asked her what sorority it was and she said sigma alpha epsilon pi...i was like ummm 4 letters...im not sure its a real sorority. But after reading these posts i guess it kinda is. I asked her how she thought it was going to turn out and she said well the first couple episodes are pretty stereotypical cause some of the girls will come across as bitches and sleazy(they don't show them hooking up its more how they talk about guys), but thats to get people to keep watching and after awhile it will be more normal, but it definatly keeps the stereotypes. There are fraternities from time to time in it and they are drinking. So im like grrreeeaat!. She didn't even know its a local sorority(or what the difference btw nationals and local) is. So its depicted as a this is what every sorority house is like on campus's from what i got from her. So get ready for a rough couple of episodes.
After reading these posts though i think its pretty damn sad that you have to sell out the greek community to help boost chapter funds. They arent even giving an actual dipection of greek life if MTV comes in and pays for their furniture etc. It really pisses me off to be a sell-out just to improve the quality of your house and social activities. Not to knock a local sorority but go figure a local would screw this all up. This wannabe sorority is going to destroy years of all our hard work in a few hours just for 20 pieces of silver. And they want us to support them?!?!?! Were going to be doing damage control for the next few years for their selfishness. Its really gonna suck for you girls though because your going to have to correct so many stereotypes during fall rush ad nausium. Well I hope SAEPi enjoys making everyone angry and upset so they can have a few nice couches and tables in their house.

That's pretty harsh, I think. And uncalled for.

First, if you've read the thread, you know I'm not happy about this whole project, but I think what we have here is a bad decision on the chapters part -- not a sell out.

Second, I think it's unfair not to consider this group a sorority. The obviously are -- just not a national sorority. And, apparantely, they made the decision as a group. Let's let up a little on the name calling.

Third, I think that's part of the problem. If they were a national group, they would have had input from their Nationals, and, in fact, have been banned from participating. Had that ban not been the case, I think a lot of chapters would have affirimatively considered the MTV offer out of ignorance of the process -- and the result would have been the same. Awful.

Finally, the "pieces of silver" (I thought it was 30), analogy just doesn't fit here. Judas made a conscious, damaging decision to help execute a man. These women made a mistake working with a process they didn't understand and an organization which was ready to take advantage of them.

I certainly wish that these women had read previous threads about this topic. Or, if they did, I wish they had taken heed. But I do not believe that they decided to do something to hurt the Greek System in order to get a new paint job or new furniture. I believe they, in a misguided way, thought this might give them some exposure to help their local numbers, and help them expand their own sorority or become part of a national organization.

I would be surprized, as someone pointed out already, if any national group will allow them to affilliate after this.

If there is anyone to be PO'd at, it's the producers and the folks at MTV for going into a project with pre-conceived storylines and looking for the sensational -- and then branding it as the norm -- and painting the entire Greek world with that same brush.

But, come on, look at all of the similar programs on MTV. Do you really believe that they aren't sensationalized? Well, maybe you do. And that's the real problem here, isn't it?

That's reprehensable, but not uncommon in this genre of programming -- especially on cable.

To repeat, though, I'm a whole lot more upset with the MTV people (including your friend who is willing to stereotype this group in the editing process without understanding (or not caring about) the dynamics of the Greek system, than with the women of the sorority. Let's be a little gentle with our Greek sisters. OK?

Sorry, but you ARE knocking locals here and personally, I am rather offended. :mad:

I'm an alumni of a local sorority that has been around for 100 years now, and I KNOW that my local would not take part in this type of show. For those who are comparing all locals to this particular one, I personally think that is unfair. Although I'm part of a local, I know what we do is sacred and to be kept in private... that what we do is something only we sisters share.

SO my request is that people think before saying things like "Leave it to a local... " Although I and others are in a local, it doesn't mean we aren't Greek and play an important role in Greek life. Statements like the one above makes it seem like all locals would do this and I truly believe that is not the case.

Thanks!

Reading some of these threads, I hope I have not made any comments about locals. I would never say that a local is not a "real" greek. I give locals so much credit because those of us in national orgs were handed an organization and rituals and all kinds of things and had guidance, locals start from scratch. Also think that every national org was once a local!

I do agree that it will be MTV's fault in the portrayal of the women and I cant say that I agree with their choice in participating but Ive come to accept that if its what they want, its what they want. They get the rewards or concequecnes. But I just *hope* that the message that it is ONE chapter and ONE organization gets across.

I just wanted to let you all know that I am in a sorority at UC Davis. SAEPi came around and gave us all information about their appearance on MTV. From the beginning, it was definitely obvious that it was not such a good idea. It became really difficult for other National sorority members to stay off of camera. MTV was everywhere! They were at the bars, on campus, basically all over the place! We all knew how MTV was going to depict sorority women from the start, and tried to talk to the University about controlling this issue. Our attempts failed, so basically, I know that my entire house is definitely dreading June 24th. Being not only a member of the greek community, but also a student at UC Davis, I know that MTV will definitely put a damper on our reputation. Hopefully, it will not have an effect on the number of girls we get to Rush in the Fall.
Secondly, SAEPi does not represent the entire greek community here at Davis. Not that I have anything against these girls, I know that some of them are definitely great individuals, but I just think that they are labeling the rest of the sororities on campus. Basically, when you ask anyone about the sororities here at Davis, SAEPi will not be mentioned. I also think it says a lot that MTV had to basically refurnish SAEPi's house, and actually rented out an apartment for all of their new pledges to stay and live together! If the point is to show the "real" life of a sorority on campus, why do they need to glam everything up?I know that National sororities couldn't have taken part in this event, so it is awkward that we have to be tied into these stereotypes. If I know MTV, we can all expect the worst out of this show: :rolleyes:

K, I am not trying to be funny when I say this, but I seriously thought UNFSigmaChi was talking about a 20 pc. "silver"ware set when he said, "20 pieces of silver". Did anyone else? maybe its cua its freakin 3 am and Im up. Plus he said it after making references about MTV decking out the sorority's house.

Anywho... I hope for not only SAEPi's sake (90% their sake), but the Greek System as a whole, that most of us are wrong about this. But like I said before, I dont think its gonna be pretty. because in all honestly here's the thing...After June 24th and when everyone returns to campus in the Fall, SAEPi is going to find out just who their true friends and allies are. Not only in the Greek system, but on the UC Davis campus in general. And just from the general feeling of the previous post by a greek at Davis.. I dunno. If the girls of SAEpi feel that they went into this for all the right reasons, all I can say is keep your heads up.

Okay. I am a new member of a GLO, and I'm very proud of it. One of the reasons that I wanted to belong in a sorority was for the social part of it, but not to go party all the time. I wanted to join for the leadership experiences, and philanthropy events.

I know that GLOs often get bad names/reps, and I know this show on MTV isn't going to help us. I've had friends say things about GLOs, and I jump right in, telling them that it's so different from what they may see or hear. I too heard and saw things that portrayed Greek life in a negative way while growing up, but that never influenced my decision not to rush once I was in college. I had a lot of support from my family and friends that went Greek when they were in college, and they only assured me that this was something that I would never regret doing.

I will be watching June 24 to see how this goes. I can only pray that this won't be so bad in the end....Okay, I'm done with my 2 cents....

welcome to the board
 

good post...
don't be a stranger.
mmcat
:D

Good Lord! The radio station here just had a bit about the show on. Just a few comments: "One of the producers and a girl are having an affair and she gets preferential treatment", "The producers aimed to "Stack" the house with the right kind of girl for the show", "There will be steamy scenes, although the most steam comes from the off-screen relationship". GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok 4 things:

1. One of my sisters works for MTV as a production assistant and was a Panhellenic President for 2 years. She has already seen some of the episodes. She says that in the first couple of shows, these girls are portrayed really badly. She also mentioned the "binge drinking" and what NPC nationals would consider as hazing. (ie. having all of the "new members" (they refer to them as "pledges", live in one house together, and like yelling at them in stuff.)

2. She said the recruitment scenes are horrible and not a real refelction of how most NPC, and locals on campus's with NPC chapters do rush. And you will totally feel bad for the PNM's who got cut, and then watch this, and see all the trash talking there is about them. she said she would have been mortified.
(Not that most NPC organizations don't trash talk, but we would never ever air it on national tv!)

3. Many NPC organizations have been lobbying MTV to put a disclaimer on the show stating that this is not an accurate portrayal of a National Fraternity or Sorority, kinda like the disclaimer that Jackass has.

4. Living in West Chester, PA and knowing the guys from JACKASS, they will tell you first hand that MTV totally screws with everything that happens. Unless "sigma" has already seen and Ok'd the footage (like what the Osbournes do) they will have no idea what will be portrayed. Scenes will be cut and edited to the way MTV wants them to be.

I will be watching the show on the 24th to make up my own mind about it. I honestly, feel bad for the members of this organization who obviously have worked very hard to create and maintain their organization...however, i think this was a very bad idea and poor judegement was used to say "ok" to all of this stuff. I hope there are no bad reprocussions to the organization or the other organizations at UCDavis. And if there are, I am sure the national GLO's will survive and try to better the campus.

It depends. Are they sorry for the destruction and misrepresentation that they have done?

Card,

If the program portrays Greeks as badly as I'm afraid it will, and it sounds like it will from the "inside" MTV sources, I suspect that these women will feel badly.

But my feeling is that MTV is the culprit here -- not the members of the chapter.

Again, I don't think they understood what they were getting into. Most people wouldn't.

The misrepresentation is more likely to come in the editing and directing stage -- taking things out of context -- and moving forward in an alleged "documentary" style while all the time having a preconceived notion of what the storyline will be.

Of course the chapter and the Greek System as a whole will suffer for it while MTV goes on its merry way and sensationalizes something else.

An, by the way, guess who's ultimate "fault" it is that MTV does this kind of stuff? Yours, my kids, other college students, Greeks, GDI's -- everyone who watches Road Rule, Undressed, Real Life (sorry if I get some of the names wrong, MTV isn't a favorite of my generation -- we have our own stupidities that we watch) and their other "reality" programs.

If nobody watched them, the genre wouldn't survive would it? I'm not trying to dictate your taste in TV, just saying that ratings are what perpetuate programming. If no one watched this sensationalism, it wouldn't last.

Obviously, if the women of this chapter had read the other threads when MTV was first searching for a group to videotape, they might not have done this. There were an ample number of us who raised a warning flag. But, they either didn't read it, or didn't believe what we said.

In the long run, I feel badly for them. They made a serious mistake -- but who among us hasn't at one time or another.

I just don't want our anger to be misplaced. It should be toward the producer, not the victim(s).

Lifesaver: I love you, you are so funny!

MooseGirl: I wouldn't advise/allow my chapter to get invovled with a show of this sort weather NPC said anything or not. We all know that MTV isn't doing a documentary here and just like Spring Break Undercover I wouldn't do those either b/c they paint the peolpe in the worst possible light.

Zuma: I think the issues is: It was the group's choice ot do this and yes it sounds fun and exciting and yes it will make the group known, but I think we are all aware that MTV sells...they are not in it to educate their public on sorority life at all. They want to go long with the spring break type shows...not a good choice. It makes others mad, national GLO members, b/c a local group that isn't affiliated with 26 member groups with at least 100,000+ members in each are the ones that will catch most of the problems with bad PR.

i don't think its nationals vs. locals. I think it's more like:"this organization is representing an entire sect of people and hopefully they did it tastefully and with respect to themselves and all the other people out there that are greek as well." They will not only be the ones feeling the reprocussions if this doesn't go well. All of us will. and i think they were just thinking of the little picture, while we, who are on greek chat and are involved with national and international orgazations all over the world, realize how big the picture really is.

IMHO, time would be better spent planning ways to counteract the damage that will be done instead of harping on the fact that damge will/has been done. I find it hard to believe that this show is going to do more damage to the GLO image than greeks do themselves - every single day. I just don't see it. I think we need to start admitting that most of these stereotypes exist because a lot of members of GLO's play into them. If that weren't true MTV wouldn't be able to have a predetermined "script". We're also part of the problem. Let's not forget that. No organization is exempt - National or Local.

But say it does do more damage. So what? That just means we have to work that much harder to change the stereotypes. Maybe I'm just not worried that much about it because I know when most GDI's I know see this show, they're going to know it is not a reflection of all greeks. Even more, it's our responsibility to get that word out, not MTV's.

And, I think if it came down to who's going to be more negatively affected by this, I'd say locals. Especially since people on here keep saying IFC/NPC (any governing body) would never allow one of their orgs to do a show like this. Fine, but that doesn't mean that most local organizations would - governing body or not. I think that's the perception a lot of you are giving, whether you mean to or not. Locals may not have 100,000+ members, but that doesn't mean they don't see the big picture too.

Thank you Serenity !!!!!! There are some in here that are up in arms about this, but yet their own conduct often goes unquestioned, I guess because there are no cameras around.

Very well put.

I totally think MTV is trying to make greeks look bad.

Do you guys think this will last?? :confused:

I think it is going to get TONS of ratings. I know all of my friends and myself will be watching.

honestly, i think ratings are going to be great. and i think they will then do "life in a fraternity" after that it, will die out.