I find it interesting that Asians are interested in joining "new" GLOs because where I come from, all most Asians (at least HK Chinese) care about is "tradition." Parents who can afford private school more often send their kids to century-plus prep schools than a post WWII school with an excellent academic reputation.

When making a statement like this I feel it is important to specify which Asian community, since the term Asian covers a lot of different groups.

Here in Minnesota the vast majority of Asians are Southeast Asians. And we have found that even with that geographical focus, there are many differences among the Hmong, Laotians, Cambodians, and Vietnamese communities.

OK, I should clarify. The majority of "Asians" in Toronto are of Chinese descent, mostly from Hong Kong (and I guess their British colonial upbringing is probably the reason why they are likely to send their children to old line prep schools...these schools are still relatively strong in UK heritage). Hong Kong and Taiwanese (despite their non-UK colonial past) make up a good proportion of Asian students in such schools, but there are some Korean students there too.

I think BGLO orgs sometimes bring segregation in when there isn't any. For example at my school we always ask several BGLOs to participate in Greek Week and they never do. That's so sad:( . At my school there is an NPHC fraternity that is the 1st BGLO to have a house on fraternity and sorority row. I see this as integration. If they separate themselves from NPC/IFC greeks then this is what causes segregation.

Here in Hawaii, the Japanese community is the majority, followed closely by the Chinese and Filipinos.

No such thing and people who actually pay attention know this.

Because? Do you know why not or do you assume why not?

I see it as nothing more than one BGLO fraternity happened to meet whatever criteria and not get voted down. In the racial/residential segregation literature this is considered a surface level integration because the fraternity and sorority row will strategically never go beyond the "tipping point" of 1 or at the most 2 BGLO organizations. This "tipping point" will shape the extent of all interracial and interorganizational interactions--since NPHC fraternity presence on fraternity row was the metric for integration in your mind.

[Butthead]

He said ethnic. Huh huh huh huh huh...

[/Butthead]

I see we're still on this topic that no one can agree on. :rolleyes:

I remember when I got called an "ethnic" by someone on GC.

The guy who called me that is no longer alive.

:(

RIP Erik P Conard

Wassup, homie. How ya livin'?!

^^^ "ethnic" speak that "ethnic" GLOs use with each other

No, I don't know why. You're NPHC, can you tell me? Or do you even know yourself?:rolleyes:

I haven't been nominated the voice for the NPHC or even black people yet. Those elections are coming up pretty soon. Stay tuned.

As for why MY chapter and other chapters that I personally know of, it has had to do with having 10 members versus the 50 to 100 members that the NPC and IFC organizations had. It's not fair to expect us to make the same 5 or so people whose schedules we can coordinate do Greek Week when other organizations have a long list of team members they could choose from and rotate.

That and some schools' events were perceived as being contrary to the NPHC orgs' practices. The only example I can think of was the Greek Week practice of wearing official pins across campus on certain days. Many NPHC chapters refused to, especially since the Greek Office tried to dictate how it should be worn so folks could see it. We'd rather wear unofficial pins or other letters.

Happy New Year DSTCHAOS. I was on vacation. I made it back Friday.

Exactly, the biggest NPHC group on my campus is the AKAs and they attempted to participate in greek week but it was too much for them. They have about 30 members but compared to the 50 and 60+ membership of the NPC sororities they simply couldn't compete with them in some of the events. So it is very understandable why they wouldn't compete.

Happy New Year. I hope you had a great vacation. :)

It was great. Thanks.

I think that's a poor excuse because on my campus the numbers are not that far off.

And where did you go? Must have been a Pretty Insacure place. :D

The point that people are trying to make is that maybe you should ask members of NPHC on your campus before assuming that they just want to stick to their own.

That's totally stupid. Everyone has different "pin attire" rules and for some people this would consist of sticking a pin on w/ your jeans, some would have had to wear dress clothing. It seems like it would have been much better to have a "Show Off Who You Are" day or something of the like and wear letters/pins/colors however each group saw fit.

I agree. That's what happens when you have Greek Advisors who aren't Greek or who come from Greek systems where they were exposed to only a few organizations.

Participation or not in 'Greek Week' has more to do with culture than race. I know that when I was in school, the NPHC orgs had their own 'week' (normally around their Founders Day) where open and closed service and social activities were performed each day. The activites performed during the NPC/IFC Greek Week did not appeal to the NPHC groups as a whole and often conflicted with calendars that include many off-campus obligations.

Which I found it really funny. In my school, we have a huge population of asians, but most of them don't have the need to join any of these AGLOs because we have different clubs and societies that fit their needs. As a matter of fact, they tend to be closer then those who are in AGLOs. Of course this doesn't speak for the rest of the colleges in US.

I don't really mean to offend anyone in these AGLO, but how I and other people see it, as AKA says, are for the sole purpose cohesiveness (like partying and such). I barely see them do anything else besides social. But mind you, that's only a few groups I've seen. I've seen this one particular AGLO which are huge on community service...since well, they do say they are a community service based sorority, and they did soup kitchens, blood drives, charity events to give back to the society.

Asian American Greeks differ VASTLY depending on where you are. Many of the organizations in California are much older local organizations, with no national infrastructure. Moreover, due to the high numbers of Asian Americans in California, you will have large chapters and a different focus.

When I was in California, I couldn't believe the difference between West Coast Asian Greeks and East Coast ones. It was like night and day.

Organizations established at schools with very small Asian American populations usually have a much stronger focus on giving back to the community and serving the APIA community. Moreover, the main way people find out about our organizations is through going to General Body Meetings for Asian Organizations on campus where they meet brothers or sisters of the respective organizations. So, there is MUCH more involvement from what I have seen on the East Coast (and I presume Midwest and South too) than in California.

Indeed, when I discusses this issue with the former director of Greek Life at one of the large state schools, she lamented how the Asian American Greeks were not involved with their Multicultural Center and Asian Orgs on campus. That is much different than what I have experienced on the EC.

As for populations...

There is a HUGE difference between Asian and Asian AMERICAN. Most people in the majority don't realize this. I can't tell you the amount of brothers/friends I have who have been told they have "excellent English" or something similar, when in fact they were born in the U.S.

Students from ASIA, have very low participation in AGLOs. Like VERY low. You might get one or two per school, but it's usually mostly Asian American (or people who immigrated when they were like 2).

Moreover, the economic situation is very different for Asian vs. Asian American. Asians who come here usually have more capital because they are International Students and the regulations required to get a visa in their countries. Asian Americans have as diverse an economic background as any other race in the country.

Additionally, it really depends on the school Private Schools with higher tuition draw a MUCH different crowd then a state school, all across the board.

I went to Minnesota, my home town.

CG I think your spelling is off again.:rolleyes:

I can only speak for my Sorority. In my city, my Sorority's undergraduate chapter is very closely tied to its alumnae chapter. Such as we are mandated to meet together and hold a joint meeting twice a year.

Activities at the schools and time spending with other GLO's is the LEAST of my Sorority's worries.

When most of the "average" African American female students have major personal issues usually connected to family and financial aid, you would be lucky with all the other activities we are required to do to participate in such a mundane greek-week school function that fails to perpetuate uplifting ALL students.

Why bother?

I am sorry, but I am unable to relate to chug-a-lugging goldfish or stilleto races; when things in my community and my personal life are crazy...

And the same kinds of stereotypes happen when the police see us at our parties.

As a former graduate advisor, it has to be about giving back to the community 100% of the time because given the "society" we live in, we are LUCKY to be at these kinds of "institutions". Bottomline, it is about graduating.

Now, if you are discussing a HBCU, then that is a totally different discussion. Yet, there are quite a few faculty who are greek and demand a level of sophistication. But ONLY at a HBCU you will see 60+-membered chapters that are capable of doing the kind of greek week that is envisioned.

That's the way it is at my school. It's not that any NPHC groups avoid the IFC/NPC greek week or the harcore homecoming/spring-jam competitions, it's just that more time and resources were spent for a full week for each individual organization. Most of the campus activities our groups hold are packed. We are able to be more flexible and creative with the activities we want to have as well. I mean, coming out for a game of flag football or kickball would be one thing, but to spend months preparing for a co-ed ultimate frisbee competition along with a gymnastics/dance/lip sync hybrid that only means something to a very small percentage of the student body just seems exhausting.

But that is just an account of my school. Other greeks at other schools do things a lot differently. Honestly, it's nothing personal. It's more like the planning of those "greek week" type activities is terrible on my campus. When a bunch of NPC/IFC members complain how they would rather be somewhere else than at some of those practices and functions, it's hard to really be inspired to make an obligation.

It's extremely exhausting.

Add that to being a student, employed, having to do chapter fundraisers, campus and citywide philanthropy, making sure your chapter is in compliance with NHQ and the school, and being a small chapter. :)

NPHC organizations are generally paired with NPC and NIC groups and our LGLO's for Greek Week, homecoming, etc. By paired, I mean that generally, a team will consist of an NIC, and NPC, and an NPHC or LGLO.

-- or at least that's what I think I saw at the homecoming parade.

Yes and it requires available members to be paired. :)

That's pretty cool. What school?

Ahh...the memories of Spring Jam....

I miss the U :(

Carry on people...

You're not going to get a straight answer for this simply b/c every GLO is viewed differently by everyone. Some orgs might see you guys in a positive light and others might have a different opinion.

Last year at greek week my sorority had 9 members. all but two were new that year and had no idea what to expect with greek week. but we still participated. not because we expected to win every event, in fact i think we only actually won one or two. we participated because it's a fun thing to do. if you think your group would have a fun time with it, they why not participate? just because you're smaller or you've never done it before is no good reason.

I'm laughing because this Greek Week thing comes up all the time as if that makes or breaks anything when it comes to organizational and racial integration on college campuses. On many campuses, Greek Week is a surface level integration that allows the school and organizations to say they provide opportunities for inclusion and participation. That's it.

You mean that groups separately working on floats, training for tug o' war matches, or doing whatever other random activity, then for a few hours or so per activity getting together to show each other what they've all been doing totally separate from one another, does not in fact build great and meaningful unity??? I'm shocked! :rolleyes:

He is my first e-person passing. Dang it felt just as sad as if I had known him personally.

I guess in spite of our differences we are all united in this e-world.

And you didn't call me???? LOL