Why do LGLO/MCGLOs follow NPHC practices?
 

There have been several threads that have asked why LGLOs and MCGLOs use certain NPHC practices (ex. "incorporated," pledge lines, crossing jackets, etc). ElephantWalk brought up a good question with a little bit of a different angle.

Why do these GLOs use NPHC practices rather than NIC/NPC ones? Why were NPHC organizations more attractive than the NIC/NPC counterparts?

Good stuff! Here's a link to the post that started it all:

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...4&postcount=53

I am totally going to cheat and just repost what I posted to get it started.

There are many LGLOs/AGLOs/MCGLOs/etc. that use a more structured NPC-style formal recruitment as well as those that do things other ways. And, there are some that pledge in classes and some that pledge in lines, with all the differences that those words imply.

Within multicultural sororities, some, like Delta Xi Phi, are much more NPC-style oriented than orgs like Theta Nu Xi. And, others, like Zeta Sigma Chi, do things similarly to LGLOs. But, in all cases, it's not purely one way or another. Each org has its own uniqueness, so it's too simple to say they have NPC characteristics vs. NPHC characteristics.

I would also say that people don't allow for the possibility that newer orgs are creating a different category altogether that borrows from many different traditions. I believe it's in the "Incorporated" thread where an NPHCer stated that newer orgs emphasize innnnnncorporated because the founders thought it was cool when NPHC orgs did it.

However, that's not entirely the case. OF COURSE, newer orgs borrow from older orgs, but it is not simply copycatting. The newer orgs may adopt some traditions, but they make them their own...similar to the way older organizations borrowed traditions from even older organizations and made them their own. And, honestly, some of the traditions that Greeks consider "theirs" today were a) not developed or instituted at the founding and, worse, b) frowned upon by the founders when they were still living. What's more, some of the newer organizations have officially incorporated these traditions into their functioning and they have become nationally sanctioned which is often not the case with the originating orgs.

I can only speak for my own organization (LGLO), but my Founding Mothers received a great deal of advice and support from one of the NPHC sororities when they were establishing our organization. Further, some of my Founding Mothers were rejected by the NPC when they tried to register for recruitment, so I'm figuring this factored into the decision to refrain from using very many traditions that originated with the NPC sororities.

I totally understand this but what gets me is when those who are rejected from NPHC orgs or who simply wish to hate on us end up adopting our traditions when they create their new org. Then they want to preach about how they're so anti-NPHC and they are the alternative and yadda yadda yadda. Huh??? Sorry to crash...just venting.

I've usually only seen this from non-NPHC BGLOs. Have you seen it with LGLOs or MCGLOs?

I've seen it, too. But moreso from those who decided to not pursue membership or were denied membership.

i didnt get the gist from LatinaAlumna's post that her Founding Mothers were of the sort. of course there are those who are in line with what you are saying... but really, dont bite the hand that feeds you. or at the very least the hand that cooked the meal.

on a somewhat related note, i knew black dudes that would pledge some of the LGLO fraternities as "the next best thing" (their words), and similarly of NIC/IFCs that attempted to mimic NPHC traditions (off the top of my head, Phi Iota Alpha, Lambda Upsilon Lambda and TKE/SigEp, respectively). These guys always stuck out, not because they were black and their chapters often didnt look like them, but because they tended to reek of wanna-be-down-itis.

which as you all know, is the true source of wanna-jacket-itis and on a larger scale, founder-itis.

TKE/SigEp mimic NPHC traditions? I'm have friends in both and am confused by this statement.

She may be referring to local chapters of those fraternities.

exactly. and mimic is too strong a word. they werent going out and getting line jackets and what not, but ive seen made-up hand signs/calls, and wanting to participate in step shows. not often, but enough to get a rise out of the (few) NPHC greeks when i was in school.

now if theyd only mimic community services...

Picturing my TKE and Sig Ep friends with hand signs/calls and being in step shows makes me laugh really hard. Makes me think of Malibu's Most Wanted.

There are some TKE chapters that "throw up" equilateral triangles with their hands, since the triangle is the main symbol of our fraternity. Some doing it with their index and middle fingers, some with their thumb and index finger (similar to the Delta's handsign).

I can't say ALL chapters do this, but my chapter does the first variation and I know other chapters, like UCF, have variation of the triangle hand sign.

But there a lot of other IFC/NPC groups that have hand signs. Off the type of my head I can recall seeing Phi Sigma Sigma, AOPi, AXiD, Phi Mu, and other orgs that have some kind of hang sign although none of them are official and widespread throughout ALL chapters.

We (TKE) don't have any kind of "call" though and I don't think any other chapter does.

And can I ask whats wrong with that? If I'm not mistaken, hand signs weren't around at the founding of ANY org, NPHC or other, so what's the big deal? And weren't ALL hand signs "made up" at one point? I can understand getting upset over stepping, but hand signs aren't a big deal unless they imitate one that an NPHC org has.

:rolleyes:

Hmm...

Seriously, though. I don't think there's a problem with organizations using hand signs, etc (most of the members have acknowledged that these are small aspects of the NPHC experience). There are issues when people say "I don't like what the NPHC stands for" or "The NPHC is not for me" then turn around and use these NPHC "traditions" (for lack of a better word).

Apparently the ones at her school did.

We've had threads on this topic already. Beyond duplicate handsigns and calls, it depends on the dynamics on that campus that create the perception that orgs are being copied and even mocked.

What? She's saying that if you're going to mimick something, mimick the community service emphasis that the NPHC chapters on that campus had, too.

True. There are some campuses where if IFC/NPC groups throw up hand signs it isn't seen as a form of mocking or being disrespectful, but apparently at her campus it was.

It just sounded like when non-IFC/NPC Greeks say that all the IFC/NPC groups do is party and they don't do any service for the community, which isn't the case.