There is nothing wrong with merging.

The "problem" is basically what TheEpitome1920 was alluding to in her post. That ladies who founded a new sorority will not likely want to merge with another group for the fact that people don't want to have to "give up" all of their hard work. Founders are generally leaders and not joiners....that's why they founded. It's a hard pill to swallow to think that it would be better for their sisterhood to merge with a stronger group in order to be truly viable.

In some cases, a smaller MCGLO may truly feel they are not on the same page as a bigger name one and thus they just don't feel right about merging. Though, others mostly want to hold on to their GLOs because it's their baby.

Here's an example: Myself and a few other ladies founded a local special-interest sorority at my uni. Unfortunately we eventually had to go inactive due to unhelpful university administrators who did not want a new org on campus. We first considered colonizing an existing group as we didn't necessarily want to reinvent the wheel. I personally investigated all of the options out there via the internet to see how many other orgs with similar goals already existed. I noticed there were indeed a few. There was one which definitely had a national presence, but it simply wasn't our cup of tea. There were also a couple local groups with one chapter only which seemed strong enough, but didn't appear to have any interest in expansion.

Finally, there was another "semi-national" one which had chapters in my region and they seemed to have an expansion option. I contacted them and got a lot of run around. Sadly, they were too disorganized to get anything moving. The woman in charge told me that she had a family to take care of and that the sorority business would have to take a back seat. That is understandable, family should be first. However, I perceived their organization to be a sort of "oh....uh.....I guess you should call Jane Smith.....uhm.....but...she's kind of busy....so maybe you should call....." instead of one which was serious about running a national organization.

Having investigated all of our options, we felt we were best suited to founding our own organization.

There are LOADS of MCGLOs out there. I am certain that some of these can be merged into others to form some powerhouse sisterhoods. If groups like Theta Nu Xi play their cards right, they just might gain some great chapters.

.....Kelly :)

I don't mind at all. I'm glad you and Epitome brought up a topic I've been thinking about for a lonnnnng time.

I don't know much about merging. But based on what I've seen, it's not easy.

The reason I started this thread was to find out more about other multicultural sororities. :) I'm doing some heavy research to discover the history and determine the future of MCGLOs (sororities specifically).

Looking at the history of Greek Life in general, organizations come and go and there is always another organization in the wings trying to make a name for itself. As we all know, it's not an easy thing, so when an organization folds, we should all be sympathetic because we know our org could suffer.

I think one of the most serious problems with a lot of MCGLOs is a tremendous lack of organization. Unfortunately, founders are often leading with their hearts and not fully considering the outcomes. Though I am biased, I will say that Theta Nu Xi is a highly professional and organized being. I have a great deal of business experience from a lifetime of working with my father who was involved with a number of start-ups and recoveries.

In my own past, I had the experience of considering another organization, getting involved with that organization and finding to many inaccuracies and inadequacies. So, for my own sake, I left the organization. It, too, was a multicultural sorority (no I wasn't initiated!)

I take no offense at the comments you all have provided because I agree with you. No sense in crying over the truth! I believe mergers are in the future of many MCGLOs. Merging is the ultimate compromise keeping both organizations healthy with a few little tweaks here and there.

While I'm not at liberty to discuss Sorority business publicly, I can say that Theta Nu Xi has a number of proposals in the works (with regard to many issues) that will serve to strengthen our Sisterhood and the overall Theta Nu Xi corporation.

I did want to mention that posters in this thread have mentioned the large number of MCGLOs. Have you all taken notice of the growing numbers of Latino/a and Asian GLOs? We all have our opinions of which orgs are at the forefront, don't we? There are many flourishing, many struggling and some dissolving. Such is the case for all GLOs though.

ETA: Organizations have to stand on their own legs and be tested. Only then will be see who will come out on top.

I have done a lot of research on multicultural organizations too and it seems like half the people on that list are dead or are about to die. Like someone else posted, people have a little bit too much pride and don't want to let go of their organization even though it might mean it will die.

Think about it... most people who have created a sorority in the past 6 years (for some reason there seems like there is a boom of multicultural sororities in the last six years) they probably already heard about most of the larger organizations out there through the internet before they created their own. If they didn't want to affiliate themselves with them then, why would they want to do it now? I think it is about pride on both sides. If you merge, who's name do you take? Will the new members have to "Do something" to become a member? How would the members feel that a group of "outsiders" are coming in without putting in the "work" that they went through? How much of the other organization's traditions do you take as your own?

How would you feel if you pledged an organization and you spoke about how proud you are of the letters that are on your chest and the meaning behind it and then you have to face everyone on your campus with different letters and colors because your organization wasn't as great as you made it sound in the first place.... I think it would be really hard.

Those are all excellent and challenging questions -- questions that maybe I don't have the answer to, but that do indeed have answers. Mergers have worked before....they could work again.

It would be extremely hard....

IMO, I've never understood local MCGLOs. Before anyone gets defensive, here me out. First of all, all of us know it's hard being a Greek, but if you are a MCGLO sometimes its harder. So I can't even imagine how hard it is for local MCGLOs.

And perhaps that's why some are dying out. Maybe not all GLOs are meant to be local and stay that way. It seems that MCGLOs don't seem to work well that way.

ETA: This post is referring to locals that want to stay a local. :)

First, all organizations start out as local.
Second, if you treat your organization like a business, you may recognize that mergers are necessary sometimes. All the questions are important ones and I'm sure anyone who's ever gone through it has asked themselves.

I understand that everyone starts out as a local, but some of these organizations I just think come on. Even though merger can help a lot of smaller organizations, why would a strong organization want to take an organization under their wing that can't even get interest? The mergers that I have seen have all been in panhel or IFC and it seems like the organization that took in another organization was at least 30 years old and were WELL established. Can multicultural sororties that are really young right now be able to financially handle a merger? Has a NPHC organization ever had an organization merge with them?

Don't get me wrong, I really think that a merger between at least one of these organizations should happen but what price does each organization pay? It seems like both would have to loose a little bit of something that their organization was founded on. Some for the better and some for the worst.

I really think that people need to REALLY think about starting a new chapter of an existing organization before starting a new organization. There are over 30 multicultural organizations in the nation. The bad part is that it seems like all of them are trying to expand. I would have more respect for them if they just like being a local.

That's been debated...

I totally agree!!

I don't know about other NPHC organizations merging with entire organizations (I have heard of offers being extended), but APhiA indeed absorbed LOCALS in the way early days.

Often, the problem of numbers results not from a lack of interest but from the organization not really knowing what to do. National organizations have "been there, done that" with many chapters and will have answers to those problems.

I don't know that anyone is saying that MC sororities will start actively absorbing locals! It is something that could happen in the future.

Merging would be a huge compromise from both organizations. Absorbing would really leave the "burden" on the org trying to affiliate.

Of course people should do their research and really consider what they're attempting. However, these people for the most part are 18-22 year olds without a great deal of life experience. They cannot be blamed for youthful idealism!! Perhaps what they attempt does not succeed but that should be no obstacle for them to come to a more established organization and gain some wisdom.

From an earlier post:

You know, if you're dying and you can find another organization that mirrors your own ideals, would it not be better to reaffiliate? Is this all really about the organizations or about the ideals they promote? Of course, the decision would have to be made by all the members and certainly some members would not reaffiliate at all. If you are so proud that you wouldn't take the legacy of your organization and give it new life in another organization, perhaps you really are just Greek for the letters. (No flames please, it's just an observation. And, before you ask, I don't know what I would do if this ever happened to me, but I can say that I would do just about anything to preserve my organization even if it meant taking help from another org.)

All of this would be determined by the two orgs (in a merger) or by the absorbing org (in absorption).

No one ever said it wouldn't be! It's a really touchy subject and the answer really depends on what you're looking for and how you view yourself.

Regarding finding the right organization, I'll also add this. In the world of multicultural sororities, you have sororities that are pretty much founded as Asian/Latina/Indian/etc. Interest Orgs and call themselves multicultural because they ARE actually multicultural. If you look at any culture, there is a great deal of diversity within that culture, therefore, to that extent NPHC orgs are very multicultural. However, from another definition of multiculturalism in these sororities, women are looking for as near equal representations from all cultures as possible (if that sentence even makes sense!! Sorry - my brain is otherwise occupied.)

So, to sum, you have:

Multicultural: Focus of interests and activities is on one or two cultures, but multiculturalism comes in the fact that the cultures themselves are diverse

*The "1st Multicultural Sorority in the Nation," Mu Sigma Upsilon is part of the Upsilon Family, which consists of Mu Sigma Upsilon Multicultural Sorority, Inc. and Lambda Sigma Upsilon Latino Fraternity, Inc.

Multicultural: Focus of interests and activities is extremely broad and multiculturalism means every conceivable culture possible

These are the categories I've found and, if you separate them, there isn't nearly as much perceived homogeneity. In addition, the thrusts of the various orgs are different, not to mention the missions. One thing that really attracted me to Theta Nu Xi was the mission statement:

To promote leadership, multiculturalism, and self-improvement through academic excellence, involvement in and service to the campus and community, as well as being living examples of sisterhood across different races, cultures, religions, backgrounds, and lifestyles.

I bolded the interesting parts. I know that many mission statements cover races, cultures and religions, but I daresay that very few actually state backgrounds and lifestyles.

To say that multicultural organizations are all the same is exactly the same as saying all NPC orgs and all NPHC orgs and all NALFO orgs, etc, are the same.

Speak on it Soror! :D