Well it is true that *most* African American (and most other minority) families have a strong sense of family... it comes from necessity... I mean if you were being ridiculed/unfairly judged wouldn't you stick to your family... who have always been there for you and are most likely like you ? Even though that "necessity" isn't as needed... (not AS much blatant racism going on now adays) the tradition remains. I can see it in my own life... I am Black and white... my African American relatives I feel have a stronger sense of family ( or at least togetherness) I mean my grandparents are divorced and my grandpa moved 2 blocks away. My European relatives are all scattered about the country.. (as far as different coasts) not that my white family cares any less about each other... they it's just a different sense of what it means to be in a family I think. Personally, being a member of an NPC org. I can't really say what makes the devotion to an NPHC org seem stronger except to say that I don't feel it has anything to do with family devotion.

I think more it has to do with the intake process they use to join. I don't know much about it... but I know it's alot tougher than register and go through a week of parties. I believe they have to feel a connection to the group/its ideals before.. NPC bases more on the people, it's devotion to the ORG that makes people continue... if you join for the people.. (as many I think do with NPC orgs) once you graduate you just keep in touch on your own with those people that you want to and the days/events of the org are a nice memory. Now I don't know how NPC can go about creating that bond to the actual org, nor do I believe it is COMPLETELY lacking in most NPC members... but if we could find a way to strengthen it I think we'd see a lot more alumni involvement. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that there are only 9 NPHC orgs. as well... their chapters I think tend to be larger as well...and most of them have more chapters than the NPC groups... more alumni means more alumini that are more likely to be involved as alumni.

To the Group –

I’d like to approach this from another angle. I think that the primary reasons that NPHC groups have more alumni participation are:
1) The very structure of the groups provide for it, and;
2) The expectation that one is a “member for life” is ingrained from day one of your membership.

1) Each of the NPHC groups has Alumni (or Graduate) Chapters. In most of the 9, these chapters have Greek-letter names AND all conduct membership Intake. My mother is a retired banking executive and she just joined Alpha Kappa Alpha last year! Moreover, she is a proud AKA and identifies strongly with her chapter. Believe it or not, she and her line-sisters even participated in a step show (!) the week after they were initiated. As a matter of fact, Graduate chapters of NPHC organizations are the financial backbone of the organization. Grad chapters tend to be larger, with higher chapter dues and they definitely raise more money for philanthropy.

As I understand it, while there are some NPC/NIC groups that have alumni chapters, they don’t conduct intake at the alumni level. Further, my understanding is that Alumni chapters in those orgs are primarily a place to reminisce, network, and have fun – not necessarily a place to do the “work” of the organization. I also understand that when NPC/NIC alums want to “give back” to the organizations, they tend to make donations to the housing funds of the chapters into which they were initiated. NPHC Alums “give back” by joining a local grad chapter and becoming active in that chapter’s events.

2) In NPHC groups, the whole notion of “A lifetime of membership” is a key component. Once you join an NPHC group, there is an identification with that group that follows you forever. If you ask a 60 year-old member of Delta Sigma Theta about her affiliation, she will probably say, “I AM a Delta.” If you ask a member of an NPC/NIC org the same question, you are as likely as not to get an answer like, “I WAS an Alpha Gam (or Phi Sig or Teke or Pike, etc.) back in college.”

A good indicator of this is the organizational national convention attendance. A few years ago, the AKA’s had their Boule (National Convention) in Chicago. They had about 20,000 members in attendance – each of whom paid in the neighborhood of $250-400 for conference registration fees. These were obviously women who feel a strong affinity for the sorority and based on those numbers, you can bet that the majority of them were Grad members!

To answer the question originally posed, I think that they key to a construct that provides for this type of membership retention is the notion of the organization as a vehicle for community service. I don’t mean to imply that NPC/NIC groups don’t value community service but in the NPHC groups, it the prime driver. The woman who sponsored my mother for membership in AKA told her point blank: “AKA is not about socializing, parties, or having fun. Your prime reason for joining AKA should be to have an opportunity to serve.”

Strong words – but words that have kept the NPHC world going strong for almost 100 years.

I don't know about the guys, but many NPC groups do initiate non-collegian women. I'm one of these people! I was initiated into AGD just this past December. There are actually many of us AIs here at Greek Chat. There is actually an entire subsection just for alumni/alumnae initiation in the "alumni" section.

good stuff, bruh

OW OW!!!!!

leave it up to an old school grad bruh to always drop some knowledge on the youngin's.

Great posts, IotaNet!

However.... I believe this is a more recent devolopment if I'm not mistaken...

Yes, you're right, it is recent.

Agreed! Well said! You know I'm always lovin' what you say!

I think the main thing about what makes the conferences different is the impact on their respective communities. When I was in HS, it wasn't Tri-Delta or Kappa Sig that was giving out scholarships, hosting debutante balls, or sponsoring SAT study sessions. It was the local AKA, Delta, Que, Alpha, and Zeta chapters that were out there, prominently working to uplift their communities. Generations of black children have seen the work that each of the Divine Nine has done...and frankly, a much smaller percentage of white youth have seen similar with the NPC groups, and the sense that it is a lifelong commitment is much more obvious within the NPHC.

The importance each conference (and its member groups) holds within its constituent community impacts everything it does, from recruitment to alumnae/i participation.

This is a lot of what I was going to say. NPC and NIC groups will never have the amount of alum commitment the NPHC groups have unless we change the way we select collegiate members.

How many rush threads have there been where people have said (completely random examples) "Well I like Theta best, but Theta has been unfriendly and Kappa is really nice" and everyone said "go for Kappa!" You would pretty much NEVER see that among NPHC members. If someone said "I did not get chosen for Delta" the response would not be "look at Z Phi B" it would be "work and wait until it is your time for Delta."

When you work for years to achieve something, naturally you value it more.

co sign to this

Can someone please give an example of events that NPHC alumni/ grads participate in? Do you continue with the philanthropic and service events from your undergrad years? I ask because my alumnae chapter is relatively new and we are trying to figure out how to give back through community service events. Thanks. :)

ETA: Thank you Iota Net for starting this thread. I know it was in 2000, but I didn't discover it until today. :)

My sister's chapter has sponsored a debutante ball (with scholarships), works with a mentoring program for at-risk youth, and sponsors a scholarship for an outstanding local student. Larger chapters are instrumental in organizing events for MLK's birthday, SAT prep courses in the local high schools, college fairs, and other things.

Here's an example of a national program that we recently launched. All of our Alumni chapters will participate:

BusinessKids

Thanks Munchkin & IotaNet!

For Psych Tau:

From what I've seen on these boards (& correct me if I am wrong) many alumnae chapters for NIC/NPC groups are connected directly to the undergrad chapter of initiation. I think that adjusting that set up would be a start for encouraging membership past college years.

Members of NPHC alumnae/alumni chapters are not all from one undergrad chapter. So if you pledged at XYZ college when you graduate and move to anytown, USA, you are expected to affiliate with the local alumnae chapter which will be made up of women from age 24-80+ who have all joined at different colleges and are in different stages of life. You may maintain a special bond with those from your undergrad (or grad) initiating chapter (and still support them), but you are expected to continue your individual membership and service for life where ever you are nationwide. When you think about it, you are a member in undergrad for 2-3 years (say 18-21). If you live to be 61 thats 50 years of service through your grad chapter. Much longer than your undergrad years (I hope). This is why its not unheard of for members to be initiated through alumnae/grad chapters...even if one is invited to membership at age 40-you have plenty of years to work hard for your organization.

As for events... there are national initiatives for all NPHC groups but it really depends on the area-what one chapter focuses on may not be a pressing need in another community. The beauty is you are always learning and when one group has a successful event/initiative there is no harm in putting the program in affect somewhere else. Who cares who set up the mentoring program first? If it works, just do it!!

To clarify, I'm not a member, but I have lots of friends who are active on the alumnae level.