You're welcome.

It doesn't matter to me what organizations NALFO consider to be its peers, but what NALFO orgs consider to be its peers.

The NPHC requirements are:

a. Be devoted to general fraternity or sorority ideals and be in conformity with the NPHC Constitution and Bylaws and the NPHC Mission Statement.

b. Have been in existence for at least fifteen (15) years and shall have been incorporated in the United States of America.

c. Be national in scope and consist of a total of no less than one hundred (100) undergraduate and alumni chapters, which have a current financial membership of at least five (5) persons. Of the aforesaid 100 undergraduate and alumni chapters, a total of no less than fifty (50) must have been a part of the fraternity or sorority for at least ten (10) years.

d. Have constitutional provisions for a national convention, with interim authority vested in trustees, a board of directors or the officers who supervise the affairs of the fraternity or sorority.

e. Have undergraduate chapters recognized by and be in good standing with accredited four-year colleges or universities which offer at least a baccalaureate degree.

Thanks....as far as I know SLB, SLG, Ltphi, and LTA fit those requirements the latter 2 of which are still NALFO but the other 2 are without coucils except for SLB who I think is a member of NIC. ...interesting stuff.. thanks for the info

IIRC, NPC hasn't had any additions since the 1950s or 1960s. I don't think it's as "easy" to join NPC as it is to join NIC.

ETA: Looks like the last groups were added in 1951.

Wow...

From the NPC Green Book:

Requirements for Membership
A women’s fraternity must have been established in its national character for
a minimum of 13 years; all of its collegiate chapters must be established in
senior colleges and universities authorized to confer bachelor degrees and
recognized by the appropriate regional association of colleges and
universities; and it must have at least 14 chapters, of which the latest
established is at least two years old.

I'm pretty sure there are quite a few sororities that meet those criteria and have never sought membership in NPC.

The NMGC appears to be pretty lax in terms of its definition of a multicultural Greek org. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Gamma Eta is a member of the NMGC. Given that fact, I would imagine that SLG and SLB could gain entrance if they removed all traces of "Latina/o" from their identities.

OK. Most of the sororities in NALFO would probably meet those requirements. I think the recruitment model would be a turn-off for many of them, though.

NPC member sororities are not required to participate in formal recruitment. For example, SDT is known for not doing so on some campuses, and just existing happily as a smaller and/or unhoused group. Being traditionally Jewish, they are able to attract new members in different ways. If a former NALFO group ended up in the NPC, I wouldn't be surprised to see them operate similarly.

I would imagine that some of the traditions (saluting, probating, neo shows, etc.) would not go over well in the NPC.

Interesting. This is different than what I would've expected, based on the previous threads on GC.

Learn something new every day :)

If they choose to participate in formal recruitment, they must follow all recruitment rules.

I don't know of anything in the Green Book that specifically prohibits the things you mention.

Do any of the NALFO orgs have city-wide chapters? I know that's something that would conflict with NPC. So would high school affiliates.

In general, I don't know enough about the former NALFO orgs to know if it's a good idea or not. I do know, however, that many of the NPC orgs had to make sacrifices (such as closing chapters) to gain NPC membership. So, obviously it's something for the individual organizations to decide, but I'm surprised that not even one has gone that route.

Sorry I don't know why allowing Gamma Eta being accepted would suggest SLB and SLG would not have issues getting in? :confused:

@ the bold - Yes, there are.

I only mean in terms of their former lives as Latino orgs. Gamma Eta was originally, "Gamma Eta Society for Hispanic Women." It was founded as a group for Latinas, but evolved into a "multicultural" sorority.

O I did not know that I read their website and didn't see anything like that...they just said it was "Gamma Eta Society" but I didn't exactly look deep. Thank for the info!

They've scrubbed their history of all references, but there are those of us who remember.

In the 2002/2003 UF yearbook, this was Gamma Eta's entry:

Source: http://www.e-yearbook.com/yearbooks/.../Page_129.html

There were still references to their Latina roots as of 2005 when Theta Nu Xi first established a chapter on the campus. Since then, however, Gamma Eta has made an intentional effort to be known as "multicultural."

I would be surprised if any Latina sororities or "Historically Latina sororities" (still don't know what that means) ever tried to join NPC. For many, if not most members, we would have joined a NPC sorority in the first place if that is the experience we wanted. Some Latina sororities were founded specifically to offer something very, very different than traditional NPC sororities. I think within any Latina/Historically Latina sorority, it would be very challenging to gain the support needed to make such a serious move, even if the intention was to continue to support the Latina/o community as a NPC org.

Expansion
 

The sororities would also need to consider expansion. Here are NPC expansion rules:

Here is the link to the thread: http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...4104#post24104

Joining NPC would kill any independent expansion. Most universities have NPC councils and a NALFO sorority member of NPC would need to be invited by the university and be approved by the local NPC council, which could choose to invite another sorority instead.

* BOLD: Most NPC orgs are not sororities but women fraternities.
** Thanks for the update Knight_Shadow.

Update to the above link: http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...4104#post24104

And that's a good point (re: expansion).

Back to the topic
 

Coming back to the topic at hand, I think that if the org is already a member of NALFO, unless NALFO really wants to cut down on member orgs, it should stay, if not for anything else than historical ties as NALFO is what is also in part to these orgs. The criteria of being a solely LGLO could be for new members.

As for the orgs that left, as a member of one, I doubt they'll look into NMGC. NMGC is even younger than NALFO and has many of the same issues. The orgs could find the many of the same conflicts they had in NALFO before, although NMGC does have less members, having even lost two member orgs since its founding. Also, I don't think a new council would be wise. There are too many umbrella councils already.

Finally, excluding the orgs that left NALFO up to 2006, the three fraternities that left NALFO are NIC members. SLG might have it more challenging, but it is currently stable enough to not being hurt by not being a member of a National council. Don't get me wrong, being a member of a National council is good, but is not ultimately necessary.

Yep.

Pretty much all of the organizations that would "qualify" for NMGC would be significantly larger and (presumably) more established, so they'd be back in the same situation they were in with NALFO.

Ehhh...yes and no. In terms of recruitment, colleges/universities are making their requirements more stringent by the year. There are many schools out there that will not allow any organization to be established that is not affiliated by a recognized council.

But who certifies the councils? :cool:

The schools commonly identify which councils are acceptable, but you and I have the same question.

IIRC, DPhiE was founded as a non-sectarian sorority, NOT a Jewish sorority, despite the founders (again, IIRC) all being Jewish woman.

Yes, as was Phi Sigma Sigma.

The bottom line, though, is that they were founded because the existing NPC groups were not "meeting their needs", so to speak.

So -- the first semester freshman rule was not regulatory in nature?

Thanks for coming with THE GREEK TRUTH.

I think he meant that the first semester freshmen rule was/is regulatory in nature.

Greektruth:
"it was the 1st semester freshman thing and a raising of the GPA these were the only 2 real regulations given."

I read this as "Even though Little Dragon will say otherwise, it's because of X and Y, not regulatory issues"

Either way, this person is dumb for creating an account to say something that's already been said and for flouncing on top of that.

Just listened to that pod-cast.

There is something to be said about putting the needs and best interest of your fellow students in front of the desires of your organization. I'd rather see Latinas/os (in this case) become well-acclimated to the college environment, and focus on establishing a strong GPA during their first semester/quarter than join my sorority, even if my chapter was low on numbers. If the majority of NALFO organizations saw fit to restrict the membership process to 2nd semester/quarter freshmen, they all can't be wrong (and some of these orgs. are hurting for numbers, too).

I see it this way too. As a current undergrad it's more important for me to see my fellow community members succeed than to have them pledge my org right away. I've seen way too many of my friends struggle with the transition to a university setting and class load. Many(not all) Latinos on my campus aren't even well-acclimated to a college environment until their second year. It's unfortunate, but that's part of our reality.

A few years back many NALFO member orgs at my school were getting a bad rep with Latino administrators because there were students pledging LGLO as freshmen and "suddenly" ending up on academic probation the semester they crossed. It kind of defeats the whole purpose of coming to a university. I'd say, without speculating on any induction process, that a lot of this had to do with those students needing more time to learn what it takes to succeed academically in a college environment.

Personally, I prefer that interested individuals are in their second year most of the time. This is a life time commitment that I'm not sure most(Not all) 17/18 year old first semester freshmen still learning the proper way to play Beer Pong can always comprehend. An entire semester can at least give the chapter and the individual more time before deciding if they are a good fit for each other. Just my opinion based on my campus...

Freshmen recruitment and GPA requirements.
 

Even though this is not the topic for the thread, on the 1st Semester Freshmen question, I would like to say a couple of things.

1. Don't NIC/NPC ors recruit freshmen? YES. Don't Greek student have better graduation rates than non-Greeks? YES. This being said, isn't the LGLO's critic for freshmen recruitment a critic on mainstream greek recruitment? It may appear so. That's my opinion and I admit I could be wrong. Still, how can this be so wrong? Wouldn't 100 years of college experience prove them a point? I know Latino students live a different reality, let's talk about it.

2. I will speak about my experience. I joined SLB as a 1st semester freshman (I was a 1st semester freshman when I joined the interest group that became the founders at my school), so I think this gives me the right to speak on the subject. When I joined as a freshman, coming from out-of-state, I barely knew anybody. In the fraternity, I found men who quickly became my friends, who help me, who taught me about time management, who gave me study tips, who guided me through my first years and help me become well-acclimated to the college environment. I would have had it very hard to becoming well-acclimated without them. Could I have done it alone? YES. Is that better? I say it depends on the person, for me, it was better my joining SLB. Did the fraternity take time? YES, but had it not been the fraternity, I would have found another extracurricular activity that would still take off my time. SLB did take a lot of my time, specially during the educational process (No, SLB founders are not skaters, we do pledge), but it gave me a lot more back. Everything I received, made me love my letters and love my fraternity. Today, I am a post-graduate alumni. I don't think there is anything wrong with freshmen recruitment, even 1st semester freshmen.

3. Even though SLB does allow freshmen to join, allowing is not the same as only recruiting freshmen. Most men who join SLB are not freshmen, some are, and none of them that I know of, ever regrets it. Freshmen can join, but they are but a part of the new members.

As an addendum, for the GPA requirement, read #2 again. In the fraternity, there is academic support, free tutors, second hand materials, etc. Again, can you find help to raise your GPA outside the fraternity? YES. Nevertheless, I was helped, and helped back many of our new members to bring their grades up. How do you help a Latino student more? Telling him to come back once his grades are better? Or, helping them raise them yourself? You could say we could help him before he joins. That's true, but as a member, he would get the whole experience I talked about in #2.

I know my experience will not convince everybody who is against the freshmen recruitment or will not change anybody's opinion on SLBs GPA requirement, but let's not demonize these two points.

Observations:

SLB seems more similar to an NIC fraternity than an NPHC fraternity based on Little Dragon's post.

I think the majority of the NALFO groups seem to be recognizing the lack of preparation which many minorities suffer from due to crumbling urban school systems in communities where Latinos may be the majority and institutional racism in school systems where Latinos may be the minority.

If SLB doesn't see things that way -- or address them differently -- then that's fine for SLB of course. But I really wish they had conceded that point to NALFO.

ETA: This is moreso in response to point #1 -- I don't think the comparison to NIC orgs is a reasonable one because white people don't (on the whole) have the same retention issues in higher education.

I know I said I wouldn't respond but ... I want to point out the GPA requirement for SLB is a HIGH SCHOOL GPA of 2.35 (Note this is flexible) this person barely got into college. The grand majority of mainstream Greeks have a much higher GPA requirement for 1st semester freshman. I disappear once again...

Are you a Beta?

If not, you don't need to be speaking so definitively about the organization. If so, you are stupid for putting your business on the street.

Senusret I hits the nail on the head.

I would also like to add that there is a growing number of college campuses that have moved to second semester recruitment for NPC and IFC organizations. Allowing 1st year students to join GLOs in their first term just isn't a best practice in the eyes of many higher education scholars and professionals.

There are many LGLOs (or orgs that started out as LGLOs) that place a high priority on academic excellence, but I realize that not everyone shares this focus. That's fine, but I do have a serious question:

How the HELL does a person get into ANY 4-year university with a 2.35 high school GPA? Is this a regional thing(?), because in CA, a 2.35 cumulative = straight to community college (with very limited exceptions).

It's on the website http://www.sigmalambdabeta.com/index2.html

Girrrrrlllll...... you'd be surprised at the number of schools which have open enrollment, confer bachelor's degrees, and have Greek systems. (At least NPHC orgs)