I just felt the need to interject with this:

This gets us into another important point:

Having "different types" of people in a chapter is a surface-level fix if people do not talk to each other about things that would matter on the outside world (i.e. the difference between Arabic and Arab).

This is why I don't like it when people say things like "whether you're black, white, purple, green, whatever...people are people" or "it doesn't matter what race you are" or "I don't see you as black, I see you as my friend." You don't have to ignore social attributes for someone to be in your social circle. Don't be afraid to civilly talk about things that go beyond the surface level because that's what INCLUSION and DIVERSITY really mean.

I know the feeling since I'm at a crossroads with a few NPC and NPHC orgs. I feel like I need to pick what's right for me but at the time have something in common with the group. If I joined a NPC I think I would feel out of place since there arent a lot of blacks usually in them but sometimes I feel like I wouldnt fit in a NPHC beacuse I've always been in mostly white organzations (beacuse I went to mostly white schools). I guess at the end of the day it just all boils down to which group you would feel the strongest bond with.

[quote=DSTCHAOS;1644681]This gets us into another important point:

Having "different types" of people in a chapter is a surface-level fix if people do not talk to each other about things that would matter on the outside world (i.e. the difference between Arabic and Arab).

This is why I don't like it when people say things like "whether you're black, white, purple, green, whatever...people are people" or "it doesn't matter what race you are" or "I don't see you as black, I see you as my friend." You don't have to ignore social attributes for someone to be in your social circle. Don't be afraid to civilly talk about things that go beyond the surface level because that's what INCLUSION and DIVERSITY really mean.[/quote]

True

At my school, there is at least one black girl in each NPC group. The black girl in AOII is one of my best friends in the whole world and we get along so great! (I'm surprised that she hasn't posted to this thread yet because she's a GC freak like me too)

I asked her once why she joined AOII and not an NPHC group and she said that she didn't want to deal with all the bullcrap involved with those groups in order to get in (I have no idea what that "crap" is because I know next-to-nothing about NPHC groups, sadly... apparently recruitment for them is a very secretive and drawn-out process, at least on my campus...). And that she felt that she needed to help AOII get on its feet as a chapter (we were a colony last year).

NPC or NPHC... it's whatever you want it to be, really. I don't think you should have a problem "fitting in" at all. And when you go through recruitment you'll have a good idea of the chapters that like you and the chapters that you like so it'll be easier to see which one is the right fit for you. :)

Oddly enough, there is one white girl in my school's Zeta chapter... she's so cute and really looks like she belongs there and is wanted by her sisters (she's in ALL their pictures looking like she is having the time of her life.) AND, there is one white guy who's a Sigma at my school. Go figure. :) They seem to be very happy.

You'll be happy too, whatever you choose! :D

Actually I hear the NPHC organzations are easier to get into since you decide which house you want and go from there? The NPCs I hear are the ones that pick and choose while YOU personally pick your NPHC house. Dont quote me on this I heard this somewhere else but maybe that's how it was at that school? That's pretty strange coming from NPHC?:confused:

a PNM can say "omg i'm going to be a Zeta Tau Alpha," an interest can say "omg i'm going to be a Zeta Phi Beta."

just because the approach differs between NPC and NPHC doesnt make one easier than the other.

Depending on the school you go to in the South, or the Midwest, you could be limiting yourself to the lowest tier groups on your campus. I'm not hating, I'm just saying.

Ok so it's just different titles for the people interested depending on the conference.

It all depends on where you go and if it's common there.

I believe there has been....one? or two? mixed rushees that went through sorority rush since I've been here. Went to the same house too. To my knowledge (which obviously isn't all-encompassing as there's over...700? girls who go through rush, but I don't think we've had a fully black girl go through in a little while. Alot of other ethnicities get bids, but they also tend to go through rush in greater numbers as well.

We had the same singular black guy go through two years in a row, who got cut two straight years in a row. He's now joining a fraternity that is recently coming on.

God honey, I know this is a confusing thing for you, but I think you're making it more complicated than it has to be. Do your research. Observe your campus culture and greek members and then decided what it is that you want. I didn't have to wrack my brain. Once I knew what I knew, I knew what to do. Make a list of pro/con if it will help, but don't go berserk. You will and can find the right place for you. And for me, race wasn't much of an issue, I just went with my heart.

I just want to be in a house where I'm gonna feel a true connection with the other girls but I cant help but feel akward when I'm the "only one of me" pledging. I know it's really outdated but it's how I feel which isnt fair to the number of houses that could be a perfect fit either NPHC or NPC.

The last president for my chapter was one of our black member. If you like the girls and they like you race should not be an issue.

thank you! that says it all.

go thru rush, meet the girls, learn about their chapters and see if you want to join.

Race doesn't seem to be an issue for NPC, but is it one for NPHC? I'm curious about this (not trying to start a controversial argument, I really would like to know) but for those of you in NPHC GLOs, are there any white women in your groups?

When I was a freshman in college in the mid-80s, I recall seeing one white woman who was in Delta Sigma Theta -- she was probably a junior or senior at the time.

Don't worry, we won't.

No because we still have a blacks-only clause.

Although I am not a member of a NPHC organization, I am puzzled as to why race may be an issue for NPHC organizations and not for NPC organizations. :confused: I'm sure you do not have to be black in order to be qualified to become a member of a NPHC org, and vice versa with a NPC org. You say you really would like to know, however, I think the answer is more obvious than you care to acknowledge.

I have pictures with my chapter where I am the only black person in the entire photo. But I didn't care because that was where I wanted to be and they wanted me to be there. Frankly, if that would bother you even if you cared about them and they cared about you...there you go you have your answer.

The NPHC and NPC have two completely different recruitment and intake processes so it's like comparing apples to oranges. And I don't know who told you that the NPHC selection process was easy but you should smack them because they lied to you. And there is no such thing as selecting an NPHC house since we don't use that term and most of our chapters don't have houses. We don't do the bid thing either or any of that so trying to compare NPHC and NPC will likely confuse you if you don't have much knowledge on this topic. And you can personally pick what NPHC group you want to pursue and you can pursue that org as hard as your little heart desires and still not get selected to go thru intake. In the end, the chapter members select who they want (which doesn't mean by the way that you shouldn't do what's necessary to try and get selected).

ALL of the NPHC organizations have White members. They also have Hispanic, Indian, Asian, etc. members; the same as with the NPC and other greek organizations. Now there may be certain members/chapters that take issue with this since our orgs are historically and predominently African American, founded at a time in which Blacks could not join White GLO's, but there are non-NPHC GLO members/chapters that have issues with non-White members also.

But to answer the question, yes, all NPHC orgs have non-Black members and we cannot discriminate based on race, religion, etc.

This is too funny.

And you're naive or oblivious to racism in our society if you don't know that there are indeed NPC members/chapters as well as other non-NPHC members/chapters that take issue with non-Whites joining their organizations.

Yes, the same way there are NPHC members/chapters who take issue with non-Blacks trying to join their GLO. Although it seems to be more acceptable than racism in the NPC is. If an NPC rejected or dropped a PNM because she was Black, that chapter would be in deep sh*t.

I doubt it could be proven whether an NPC sorority cut a girl due to her race. Even if they did, I doubt they'd say so (assuming a chapter has to list a reason why they cut someone and send it somewhere).

In the years I've participated in Membership Selection I've never had to list reasons why I wanted to cut a member. Without going into MS details, I do know that chapters do MS differently and some may/may not hold discussion when it comes to cutting girls...but as far as I know, everything stays within the chapter. At least that's how it's supposed to be.

right... and no one is going to fill out forms to their IHQ reading:

Patty PNM
membership status: denied
reason: race

maybe there's an unspoken catch-all phrase that, in disguise, alludes to such? Kind of like filing "irreconcilable differences" in divorce papers?

I just posed a scenario, people.

Assuming it could be proven that a PNM was cut for being Black, and it was found to be true, then that chapter would be in deep trouble.

The only way I think you could "prove" it is if from one day to another, it's discovered that the PNM is black and was "passing."

If someone is coming off really well in MS and getting all 6.0s (let's pretend it's ice skating) and then between one day and another, it's discovered the PNM is black (or gay, or poor, or what have you) and her scores go down to 0.5s, I think that's about the only time you could maybe prove they got cut for ____. But even then, things could have been found out (i.e. she was in an NPC at her old school, she's slept with the whole football team) that have nothing to do w/ race/orientation/status. The fact that it was discovered at the same time is a coincidence.

It may be easier to decide which NPHC you WANT to be in, solely due to mathematics - 4 vs 26, and even campuses who don't have all 26 usually have more NPCs than NPHCs - but the GETTING in definitely is not easier.

do you mean over the course of rush week, or during NME/pledge period? or after said PNM is initiated? I'd think the issue would be more the lying than the actual "being black" part.

Nah, not "the same way." But there is similiarity in that blacks rushing NPC and NIC orgs and whites pursuing NPHC orgs are both relatively rare phenomena, regardless of what we see on GC.

For the record, on many campuses, whites pursuing NPHC orgs is still viewed differently than other nonblacks pursuing NPHC orgs.

A dog with clothes on is still a dog. You can call it a little person with clothes on but only idiots buy that.

ETA: This has nothing to do with the "how would you prove it" discussion.

Maybe not exactly the same way, but rejection based on race is pretty much still rejection based on race- whether it's because of blatant racism or because the members are trying to keep the integrity of the organization (why it was founded, who it was founded for, the purpose of helping a particular community, and so on).

I never said otherwise.

Exactly.


I never said that you did. "You" was general.

Over the course of rush week.

I think she meant during rush week.

Edit: Nvm, she beat me to it.

see, in the scenario you described, it could always be explained as "oh, well maybe if Patty PNM was honest with us from the beginning... how can we ever trust her in the future???"

then the race issue is totally muddled in an argument that is far from the original action.

I think it is pretty safe to assume that there have been instances of minorities being released from chapters simply for being minorities. You'll never get an answer on any given case, because like everyone has said, membership selection is secret. I hope that these occurances have decreased, but I am not hopeful enough to think that they don't still occur! To the OP, no one will be able to tell you how you will be received. Go through recruitment. Be yourself, and see if you feel comfortable with the members of the NPC sororities. I wish you the best of luck in finding a sisterhood who accepts you for who you are regardless of your race!

Wow. Do some folks heerah need to read their histories!!!

Well, as a member of the first African American Sorority to celebrate her Centennial where there will be a huge display in DC, there should be very few questions about my Sorority after this shindig. I know, we will be paying for it for YEARS to come!!!

Yes, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is focused on community service in the African American community--generally entrepreneurship, economics and business. Yes, we have numerous women of various cultural groups, the most famous is first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.

If we cared about a way a person looks compared to the service they do then we would not have done our historical programs, Mississippi Health Project, Cleveland Job Corps and partnerships with Pillsbury, Daimler/Chrysler, Tyson Foods, L'oreal and numerous other organizations.

My question: Why must ANY NPHC Sorority continually be forced to prove these connections to people? It is what we do. The problems of the African American community are not solved by ignorance. And don't start me quoting stats because they are staggering.

Now join a different organization, I wish the best of luck for you. But, if you roll up in a jacket with a "line name" and "number" with letters folks are clueless about, you will get clowned in your locale.

Personally, I don't care--but, "I'd rather see a sermon that to hear one anyday..."