In the words of founder Julia Foster, "Five of the 10 founders married Sigma Nus. The other half of us failed."


Awesome :)

Is that a real quote?

Wow.

I don't get that from their materials. I may know a little about this since that particular part of their new member manual was excerpted, accompanied by a nice picture and frame and then hung on the wall at my Chapter's home.

As said before, while the historical ties are definitely known and mentioned, there is no official relationship either existing or encouraged.

She said it.

Where did she use the word "official," or say that it is an "official" relationship rather than a historical, informal one. I didn't see that, nor did I see anything about "mandating" a relationship.

My kids' "Aunt Fran" is coming to stay with them tonight so that my wife and I can have a night and day tomorrow to ourselves. She is not really their aunt, she's my wife's best friend. The kids know perfectly well that she is not their aunt -- my son will often greet her with "Hey, Aunt Fran-who's-not-really-our-aunt-but-we-call-you-that-anyway!"

No official relationship, just a sentimental one.

If Nationals has it written, anything written, it is assumed to be official.

I'm partial to Barnard Babes myself but I've never heard of a nickname like the others you mentioned. Although, I wouldn't rule out something in use.

^^^ I'm really not trying to be obstinate, but that makes no sense to me. Context is everything. I don't assume that everything my national publishes is telling me an "official fact." Sometimes they're telling what's official, sometimes they're telling what's traditional but unofficial lore, sometimes it's neither. Sometimes they make clear whether it's official or not, sometimes they rely on me to be able to figure it out from context.

Perhaps it's a matter of semantics, but if it's not in (1) the constitution, (2) by-laws or (3) a policy adopted by a body with constitutional authority to adopt such a policy, I wouldn't call it official. Even if it is in a new member manual.

In this particular case, I would take the reference given as a sign that Alpha Xi Delta wants to acknowledge and celebrate the historical relationship with Sigma Nu and doesn't see the need to censor use of the long-used term "brother fraternity" as the way that they have traditionally referred to that relationship. At the same time, Alpha Xi Delta does not officially designate Sigma Nu as it's "brother fraternity."

Apparently many members are not able to make the distinction between a historical, sentimental and/or official connection.

Again, to me that appears to be an assumption that I'm just not seeing that borne out in the comments here.

Do you honestly think that the people who wrote that book (who are probably better versed in NPC rules and regs than 99% of those posting on this board) would have willfully done something which they knew to be a violation? Or how about the organization's national officers who read and likely had to give some sort of approval (I know nothing about how AXiD works internally) for the literature?

I would have to say that countless AXiDs who are well aware of the rules have looked over this literature, read it, understood it, etc., and yet there is no movement within that organization (an assumption I make evidenced by the recent issue of The Quill) to remove mentions of the historical "brother" relationship that they recognize with Sigma Nu. Surely there would at least on some level be a discussion if anyone in that organization had a problem with the way this relationship has been treated.

What you and PM_Mama are suggesting really does seem to be an amazing stretch. Especially when you make that statement without a shred of even anecdotal evidence.

Well, we have 2 AXiDs saying different things - one says that the material from HQ says Sigma Nu's NOT their brother fraternity, and one says that the material says they ARE.

Apparently there is a disconnect somewhere. Both posters are undergrads, so even if the manual was updated in the last year, I wouldn't think something like this would have changed that much in that space of time.

I'm just going by what the sisters themselves are saying.

Kevin, I agree.

I don't know what NPC "rule" is being referenced. The only agreement I know of is the one discouraging auxilliary groups. Even in that case -- NPC has no power of enforcement.

These are historical connections. There's nothing wrong with that.

If y'all are so certain this is a violation, please explain to me how as much has escaped the ladies in charge of writing AXiD materials and approving them?

Both of us have been supporting the idea of Sigma Nu being our brother fraternity. The reason why i said that they "aren't" is because it isn't in the constitution, but we like to think of them as our "brother fraternity" any way.