Since I have seen many women of great achievement cry during their ceremony, and deliver heartfelt speeches of what it means to them, I am glad we initiate honorary members. I will say though, that I do prefer it when the initiate is not a "celebrity", but rather a woman of great achievement in other fields other than entertainment that positively impact people's lives.

Both Sheryl Lee Ralph and Suzanne Douglas were invited, not because they are actors, but because of the personal work they have been doing for years for the disenfranchised.

For my Fraternity, honorary membership was the desire and policy of the undergaduate founders from the very start. In fact, Founder, Dr. Ernest E. Just was an honorary member! The problem I have is that sometimes, in the contemporary context, people confuse celebrity with the true stature gained by lifelong achievement which would merit someone being accorded honorary membership.

Well,

IDK if anyone else has seen Sheryl Underwood's comedy special for Starz..

She does a whole thing towards teh end of her show where she gives a shout-out to all the BGLO's and makes a point that she is a MADE "ZPhi" and not an honorary. I think that her views on it are more evident.

Personally, I think that honoraries are a good thing for a very small and very select membership. I know that one more recent initiate is the author of "Why I wore Lipstick to my Mastectomy". In her case, I encourage it. The org had been working with her for years and she was already treated that way without being official. As far as I have heard, they still have to pass the same things that the college members do. Its really just a situation of making it official in most cases as far as I know.

I think it depends on the organization also and how they feel about it. In my org for example, we see honoraries as simply sorors like everyone else and the only time their honorary status is mentioned, is when we are talking about how the person came into the organization; undergrad, alumni, or honorary. But we don't normally refer to these members as honoraries to make any distinction between them and us. I also know that our honorary members are encouraged to get involved and stay involved just like the rest of us. So when we ask them to join, we actually expect them to join their nearest alumni chapter and get involved. The nearest alumni chapter or chapters in their residential area are also usually present at their induction.

With Delta, honorary membership was present at the inception of the organization as well in the person of Mary Church Terrell.

We specifically recognize honorary members and accord them special honor as such. However, there are certain priviledges and rights that they do not have.

Well, it's easier to get an autograph if your Honorary Member is famous and ask for it right after initiation:D:D:D

(thanks Soror Nichele!)

Exactly! In the beginning they had a different title, which was later changed to honorary. But the concept was the same.

The only thing I don't like about honoary membership is I don't feel that participation in the org helped to become the great person they are today.

I'd like to think that if I see a famous person of a D9 org that something about joining the org in undergrad or grad played a part in their success.

Would love to hear why someone thought Hillary Clinton was worthy of Honorary Membership.

That's a membership question and I don't feel it's appropriate to question why membership of any kind was or was not extended to anyone, honorary or not. That's for the members of that organization to discuss.

Which org initiatied Clinton as an honorary member?

Yes, you do need people who is going to be resourceful financially. Most people after they graduate and especially the ones who so called "pledged" do not participate financially after they graduate. There are some that continue to pay dues to nationals or enter into a graduate chapter, but majority just walk around with a license plate or a t-shirt of their org and haven't given any money for years. So who do you think keep these orgs running? People who are wealthy and donate a lot of money yearly. Such as the "honorary" people, who put their money where their mouth is. So don't get all big headed and think you don't need those types of people, because those who might have pledged years ago undergrad are not doing a thang (yes, not a thang) for their org but sit around with a t-shirt on.

AKA asked her to become an honorary member, but she declined it because she didn't want to join an organization that she couldn't have the freedom to join another one when asked. She probably declined it for political reasons. Which was wise because she probably wants votes from AKA, DELTAS, ZETAS, etc... and not have a label put on her.

wow, at you responding to a post that is seven years old.