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I am raising this question because my GLO has recently started considering an AI program and I want to get a better understanding of what has worked (and not) for the groups that have a program like this. It seems like old GC threads may have provided an overly supportive viewpoint that didn't reflect reality, and more recent threads reflect an overly pessimistic attitude. Quote:
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I think my own group does a better job with this now, but I think the idea that the sorority involved a lifelong commitment to involvement and service is something that maybe 10% of NPCers took to heart but that 90% of NPHCers did. I think most NPC members think alumnae status is about rec. writing and legacies. |
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Your answer is to live your life, be involved in the community, maybe meet women who are in the sorority. You can't make it happen. Even if a sorority takes inquiries from PNAMs, you still can't "make it happen?" Who's to say that just because you can contact them means that your initiative is going to "make it happen?" |
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I also joined my sorority late-ish in college so it was just a natural next step. I didn't have the "4 year burnout" that people get. |
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Of course that will be right after I get the Alpha Gam Arctic Junior Circle going, and buy a house. |
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eta - maybe the op would be interested in the "If you could design an AI program" thread. I think rec writing is more of an APH thing - at least, in my experience. The APH members get the information from APH, and then follow their GLO's procedure to procure recs. While of course individual alumnae write recs for girls they know, the vast majority of recs (which are so important down here) probably come through APHs. |
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I didn't mean that alumnae are all concerned with those two issues, but I think they pretty much only think about their memberships as alumnae when they know a PNM or when they have kids. I think that most graduates think about their own memberships in a backwards kind of memories-of-college kind of way. I'm not saying this is the way they should think, but I don't think NPC alumnae membership is typically comparable to NPHC alumnae membership. You could work with an NPC alumna for years and suddenly find out she was greek. You're probably going to know of NPHC membership pretty early on, even if the signs are subtle. What's up with the African Violets or all the Ivy? |
Oh, I think NPCs are doing a better job of informing new members about the concept of lifetime membership, but we still have a fair amount of work to do. I don't know that a more open AI program is the answer.
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I may have made my point about the rec writing poorly. I think that for most of the greeks I've known since I graduated as an undergraduate, unless I met them in the context of APH, writing recs for girls might be the only activity they perform in a given year for their groups, and I don't even think that most alumnae write them every year. But you may be correct that the majority of recs written in a given year come through APH. I'm certainly not disputing that. ETA: I'm not in the people-ought-to-be-able-to-put-themselves-up-for-AI camp at all. My point about limited involvement for most NPC alumnae members is part of the reason why I think people pursuing membership at this level is suspect. And I really do mean pursuing as in the sense of chasing it, not merely completing the process that they've been invited to. |
It also bears mentioning that all NPC alumnae groups are not the same - some are more social, some more philanthropic, those near collegiate chapters are far more active in a different way than those who aren't. It depends on the group dynamic and the individual members.
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I suspect that the percentage of active undergraduates who remain active alumnae is pretty small. Does anyone know any general figures? It seems like something that would be frequently discussed at the national or international level. Maybe even studied by the NPC. |
For the most part, AI is still a fairly new phenomenom. Talk to fifty NPC alumnas and you'll probably get at least 40 different answers. I can only speak for Alpha Delta Pi, and wouldn't begin to comment on other NPC sororities.
For us, we had an Honorary Initiate catagory for decades. It was for Housemothers, Deans, and Super-ADPi-Women. My chapter tried to sponsor someone for Honorary Initiation, but it was a no-go - but our Housemother was initiated without a snag. That said, the biggest problem I see is that there just isn't the necessary information about how each GLO participates - or does not participate - in Alumnae Initiation. Even with an article in our Adelphean, there is still an air of confusion about AI, and until it's made clear to every alumnae association, and the alumnae accept each AI on her own accreditation & not by her college experience, I don't see it becoming the "wave of the future" that some would like to see. Finally, I'm personally old school about this: any woman who is an ADPi is a sister of mine, whether she pledged at a top chapter as a freshman, or was initiated by an alumnae association at the age of sixty. I love our ideals, and if our EO deems a woman respectable enough to wear our pin, I will respect her as a sister. |
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