ZTA has like 4 or 5 chapters where you live and yet there is no close alumnae chapter?

Nope.. nothing close.

I didn't mean YOU as in "blueangel"...it was a general YOU as in any PNAI.

As has been stated before your case was unique...yadda, yadda... I'm talking about the women with NO connections.

Yes, my story was unique.. as are everyone's. We all have different stories.

For the sake of argument... Let's zero in on women who DO have prior connections. Just because you had them in college, doesn't mean you would know how to reconnect later in life. People move. I went to school in an area where GLOs were huge. I now live in an areas where they're not.

Let's NOT zero in on women who have prior connections, because I clearly stated that was NOT who the question is directed at. If you HAVE prior connections, then I wouldn't HAVE to ask "Why a sorority?" because the answer is "Because I have a prior connection to Greek life". I'm talking about those who DON'T have a prior connection....and again I ask the "collective you of PNAI who decided OMG I NEED TO BE IN A SORORITY EVEN THOUGH I GOT REJECTED 80 TIMES BUT THERE'S STILL AI!!111!!eleventyone!!!!11"

That's a very easy question, because they work drastically different than any other women's organization that has national and international ties, and it's an organization for life.

I can't think of any other women's groups who are the same, and are ritual based...ritual is what makes the group special and bonds the entire organization.

Any other women's organization that I can think of are available any female who is sober enough to show up and pay dues and have members that constantly drop out and then pop back up. What is special about that? Nothing.

I'm starting to feel this is a moot point. Mainly because we all have very, very strong opinions on AI. I feel like we are trying to "convince" each other of why or why not the forum should stay open.

The thing that is starting to worry me know is how this thread could be perceived by greeks and non-greeks.

We are all so incredibly careful around recruitment season making sure that we aren't saying anything negative and we are "positive, positive, positive". But then I get the impression that as soon as we come to the AI forum, all rules are out the window and we say what we want to say (hey I've totally been guilty of this too).

This is what worries me about this forum. I don't want a PNAI or even a PNAM to come into this forum and be like "wow, these women are really bitching at each other. Do I even want to be greek if this is how they behave?"

I don't want that and I'm 100% sure none of you want that!

The PNAM recruitment forum is filled with encouragement and congratulations. The AI forum is mixed with encouragment, discouragment, squabbling and arguing. (Again, I've totally been guilty of behaving this way so I'm not in any way trying to say I'm immune from this type of behavior).

But I just don't want to see that anymore.

I really hope this makes sense. It's 7:17 am and I'm not quite awake yet.

You can find ritual in a church, in Masonic organizations, in non-collegiate service sororities. Ritual does not make an organization special - people and how much work they put into the organization do. While it is nice to share ritual, as an alumna (and this has been stated MANY times before) you may only experience ritual once a year, if that. It is not something that is talked about on a regular basis in the alumnae chapter.

What matters is finding a common interest and friends with which to share those interests. Not all my sisters are my friends - I think that is true for everyone here. I belong to many different organizations - some GLO, some not. I have close friends and meaningful bonds with all these groups, whether we share a ritual or not.

But the subject at hand is why this forum is important. It's important for the reasons I listed in my prior post. And that includes for people with prior connections to be able to find a place to discuss it, as I did.

And.. regarding your quote of "collective you of PNAI who decided OMG I NEED TO BE IN A SORORITY EVEN THOUGH I GOT REJECTED 80 TIMES BUT THERE'S STILL AI!" Do you not have enough faith in your GLO to be able to weed these women out? It's not for us to judge on the AI forum who is a good fit and who isn't... it is up to the individual headquarters and local alumnae groups.

But that's exactly what we're trying to tell PNAI's. Yes, ritual makes sororities special, but as an Alum, you MAY participate in ONE OR TWO rituals a year, if that, and that's if you happen to be in an active Alum chapter or are an active adviser.

And within sorority Alum chapters, you constantly have fluctuating membership. People show up or not all the time. There's not some special OMG I HAVE TO GO BECAUSE I'M A MEMBER FOR LIFE thing that keeps Alum chapters running.

If the AI subforum has done nothing else, it has shown us that you can't always trust your sisters to weed out the crazies.

WELL SAID.

Your argument could then be made against the chit chat forum and many others in which there is squabbling and arguing.. plus mean spirited and nasty parody threads.

In my opinion, the answer isn't shutting down these forums.. it's about universally enforcing the TOS throughout ALL the forums in Greek Chat. Please see my former post on this subject.

You can make that same argument about the recruitment forum.

OK, we get it, you're obsessed with the TOS and making sure that they are followed. You're not a mod, it's not your job. Get over it and get a hobby or something.