KSU, I was responding the SWTXBelle's question, it just got thrown down in the mix.

When I was in college, in the early/mid 70s, we too had a African American member. Since this was the time of Black Power SHE had a difficult time. When she was with her African American friends she would ignore us when she saw us on campus. She explained that it would be "too difficult" to explain membership in a predominately Jewish sorority. She remained a member and graduated as an AEPhi though, so her daughters are legacies.

..Wow. I would probably vote for disaffiliation on that one. That's ridiculous. I can't believe you put up with that!

This just bothers me, but I can't put it into words. Basically I'd want my sister to be proud and open about her membership, but I am white and upper class so I'm not even going to try and articulate what this woman's experience and viewpoint may have been at this time. Just having a conversation yesterday with a friend of a different ethnicity and religion reminded me of how privileged I really am that I am not the recipient of this type of scrutiny of my actions.

Did it bother me that my sister wouldn't/couldn't acknowledge me on campus? Yes. In historical context and in the context of being 18 and trying to grow up, it was a fact of life then. Please notice that I said THEN. But it was such a different world then. There was so much social segregation (note: social) and she caved into the pressure that she felt.

Despite the historical context, she was silly for joining a sorority that she had to hide her affiliation with. The historical context did not just sneak up on her. Maybe she overestimated her ability to handle it and underestimated how much social conditions impact our organizations (you all were 18-19, afterall). Also, if her chapter sisters were more or less oblivious to the racial conditions of the 70s under the bubble of "sisterhood knows no color" then I can see why she'd feel conflicted.

Does anyone know if she's still financial with the sorority?

FTR, society is still very segregated by social class and race. It is manifested in the darndest places like most of our social, service, political, and professional organizations.

It could have been that she came to college from growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood and honestly didn't think it would be a problem. Hell, that STILL goes on.

ORLY?

She wanted to feel special and recruited and chosen.

I'm glad that you are happy with your sorority and you should be. However your comments regarding the Diving 9 are offensive to me in many of the things that you stated.
In regards to the Divine 9, why would you say that it "mattered as to who you 'connect' (connected?) with the most and now 'who's' (whose?) skin color you 'match' (matched?) the most." What does skin color have to do with the Divine 9 in this matter? What makes you think that you WOULD have been selected to begin with? What makes you THINK that you HAVE/HAD what it takes to be a member?
This is what makes me mad as far as you saying that you "had several invites..." and it makes me see why you AREN'T a member of one of the Divine 9.

What libramunoz is trying to say is that we're happy with your choice, too. :)

Do I need to send you to the corner again? LOL.

LOL! No, not this time!

I just think this is one of those situations where your sister isn't really articulating what she means the way she wants it conveyed, and there's no way for an NPHC member to really address it in a way that won't somehow belittle her.

In my opinion, not everyone is cut out for an NPHC kind of selection process and it's completely okay to be seeking something different in your sisterhood.

Or, to put it another way, you sorta have to buy into the NPHC selection process before you start looking around to see which one is the best fit. If you haven't bought into it, it won't work out favorably.

Jocelyn, your mom's a DST, right? I remember reading that somewhere here years ago but I can't remember if it's true or if I'm just making that up, lol.

I thought it was AKA.

LOL.... as my mom would say "That's how lies get out!!!!" lol