But the definition of sorority shopping isn't the point at issue. The main point is that many here don't want there to be an AI Forum on GC. And some others do want an AI Forum.

I don't want an AI Forum b/c AI members are sisters and don't need to feel like they need a separate section. There isn't any such thing as a "road to AI"-- when you are offered membership, post in the appropriate NPC Forum to be welcomed as a new sister. We'll celebrate everything to come, including initiation, together. The disbanding of this forum would be helpful to dispell the myth that AI is something to seek out. When sororities want to start promoting AI as open recruitment, they will.

Our HQ's are not going to weigh in on this and our sororities are going to continue to conduct AI if and how they want to.

I'd be ok with the above as long as people don't get shut down immediately (As in threads closed) if they ask about AI. Verbally shoot them down, sure, but prohibitting the conversation won't help.

I'm just trying to get a handle on the term, because "sorority shopping" seems to be one of the main reasons people are objecting to the AI forum. But if "sorority shopping" means different things to different people, then it's difficult to know exactly why people object.

Torture means different things to different people...yet it's not hard to figure out why people object.

Why do we have to have a uniform definition for people to object to something??

I appreciate and understand your view, however, I personally found this subforum extremely helpful to me as I was going through the process.. even though I was offered membership and didn't seek it out. I think it has it's place and I hope it continues.

I do understand and appreciate some of the objections expressed here.. but I think it's something that can be solved through a simple polite post back to the PNAI that is seeking AI in an objectionable fashion.

You'd think.

But sometimes, not so much.

There have been people who signed on here with what I'll call "not in your best interest" usernames - things like "Imgonnabeadelta" or what have you. Sometimes they're just naive and overzealous and a gentle PM will set them straight.

But sometimes - it's the equivalent of a giant explosion in a poo factory.

The problem is, many recent PNAIs don't get it. Polite posting won't work, because even rude posting doesn't get through their thick skulls. And no, I don't think "well, if you were just nicer to them, they might have listened to you...".

If people don't get it, they won't get it until every sorority of their dreams tells them no. But, people make asses of themselves on message boards all the time. Crazy PNAIs don't really promote AI, if anything I think they're a discouragement to others.

Crazy PNAI even scare away the nice, normal, successful AI.

Well said! I couldn't agree more!

DRAT! If I didn't need so much room for my siggy (proclaiming that hair transplants ARE the wave of the future... did you know?) then I would SO post this there. I think that is a great way to sum up the definition :cool:

My signature says the same thing with just a simple link. :)

I just want to say "Thank You" to all of you. I have spent the WHOLE day reading this thread (well once I got to page 22, I just had to stop). But I think I now understand why my IHQ doesn't like this website.

I don't think that it is the website itself but we (I'm only speaking about my sisters) talk about stuff that we really don't need to. My sisters have expressed things, that if I were IHQ, I would have issues with... the thing is... must of it isn't noticable to the necked eye which is good but still.

Recruitment information should only be diseminated by VPRs (Undergrad) and VP-Alumnae Chapter (Alumnae) because they are the people in the know (outside of IHQ). THEY HAVE THE FACTS. I don't have any clue how to tell SuzyPNAI about what qualifies her for AI. I don't think that OTW or even GreekLawGirl have the qualifications to do this.

Also AI and Recruitment are Ritual... at least I know that before we started recruitment, from day one till Chapel Day, we were under ritual. I never thought about the what we dids or what we wore but now I see that if I have ever spoken to a non-AGD about this then I have broken ritual. This is an extreme interpretation of this but it is my interpretation.

I think that there are many WONDERFUL women who have been welcomed into my sisterhood after their college days have ended. These are the women that were asked to join because they were already involved with the fraternity. I also think that there are many women who haven't honored their alumnae status because we have never seen them again after the big day. These were the women that joined without being already involved with the fraternity.

I am against this forum. I am not against the Fraternity asking a woman, who is already invested in a local chapter, to AI. That makes AIing special, the fact that your hardwork was recognized by the group. There are a few fathers that I wished we could bestow this honor upon.

If you are wishing to join a group of women because you want to belong to a group then join the DAR or the Jr. League or even the Women's Club. Or join a church... there are many women's groups at some churches that function like a sorority (for us baptist this would be the WMU). But if you are set on joining a sorority, please don't think that once you join that you will be able to be a chapter advisor or even IPres.

I never participated in the Alumnae Involvement forum before because it was not about alumnae and the chapters. It was always bogged down with alumnae initiation and what was going on with it.

Wow, that is a problem I hadn't considered. It's very surprising that a sister would misrepresent to or even for any reason recommend to her sorority a woman who contacted her online about AI. Shady.

Also, thanks for your post AChiOSnap, it helped me understand your point of view quite a bit.

I can't find them presently, but I recall a few posts, I believe by ariesrising and a few other Alumnae Initiates, saying that they wanted to retain a forum to discuss their 'roads to membership' after the fact and share in the common experience of initating as a non-collegian. So I think that you saying now that AI members don't need to feel in favor of a separate section is kind of disrespecting these women and their feelings on the issue.

Obviously I'm not as well apprised of the history of this forum as most of the posters here, and I know this has been suggested in this thread many times, but it REALLY seems like following the same route as the NPHC forums (immediately quashing any threads requesting help with AI) would help to maintain a place where Alumnae Initiates (who have already been given an initiation date or been initiated) can discuss their common bond, but without the recruitment/sorority shopping/indiscreet trainwreck it's been in the past. There also seem to be a lot of people in this thread who are passionate enough about AI and active/well respected enough members of the forum that they would make excellent moderators of a forum that were run in this manner.

GDIfly, I think that is a wonderful solution.