Inquiry about new Latina-based local sororities
 

Dear members of local sororities:

My real name is Dr. Olivas. For the last 16 years I have been gathering information and writing about Latina-based Greek-letter sororities. I am now in the process of writing my book, which will be sent to the publisher come August 2009. If you are not part of an incorporated national sorority, but new to the Greek-system and began as a sorority for the advancement of Latinas on your campus, then I would like to hear from you so I can include you in my book. All I need is the following:

Your sorority name.
The year the Alpha Chapter was founded.
How many members founded the organization.
How many members you currently have in that founding chapter.
Whether your sorority has expanded to other campuses.
If so, how many women were/are in those interest groups/chapters.
How many alumni the organization as a whole has.

Once I have finished this book, I plan to start another one about sororities founded as multicultural sororities. So, if you have founded a local multicultural organization, feel free to provide the same information, just please be sure to let me know which type of organization you are.

Respectfully,

Researcher

Who is the publisher?

Kinko's doesn't count.

Won't.laugh.

This is for real
 

Ladies,

I am not joking or being a Troll; I am serious. The book is an extension of my dissertation study. I have been conducting interviews for this book project over the last three weeks; which is in addition to interviews conducted in 1993 and 1999, as well as 49 surveys and hundreds of pages of homepage data.

Although I have found a publisher that is interested, I plan to send out a proposal to other publishers in order to find a good "home" for my book. The publisher listed below has published a few books about Greek-letter organizations, including one Title: Black Greek 101... I have listed the name of the publisher, their online website and the name of the Director who stated he would accept my manuscript this coming summer. I am working very hard at getting this book done and have even found a Latina-based sorority member who has stated she is interested in being a co-author. We haven't talked in person yet in order to work out how this co-authorship might work since I've already done so much of the work. Nonetheless, I think it would be a good idea to have her as a co-author so that the book is a better representation of LaGLS.

My book will be called Latina Greek 101: Performing Latinidad. The interested publisher is listed below. If you want your organization to be listed, then please do send me your information. If you don't want to be listed in my book, that is okay as well. I think this book is going to be a very good seller and I anticipate it will be good publicity for Latina-based sororities, which are more and more leaning toward multiculturalism although they may have started as Latina-based.

On-line catalogue:
www.fdu.edu/newspubs/fdupress.html
Harry Keyishian, Director (M-GH2-02)
Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
285 Madison Avenue
Madison NJ 07940

ROFLMAO. :eek:

Also, so that you can see I'm serious, the list below are all the sororities represented in my book.

1. Alpha Beta Sigma*
2. Alpha Pi Sigma*
3. Alpha Rho Lambda*
4. Alpha Sigma Omega*
5. Gamma Alpha Omega*
6. Gamma Phi Omega*
7. Delta Tau Lambda*
8. Delta Phi Mu*
9. Zeta Phi Gamma*
10. Kappa Delta Chi*
11. Lambda Theta Alpha*
12. Lambda Theta Nu*
13. Lambda Pi Upsilon*
14. Lambda Pi Chi*
15. Lambda Phi Delta*
16. Pi Lambda Chi*
17. Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha*
18. Sigma Alpha Chi*
19. Sigma Delta Lambda*
20. Sigma Lambda Alpha*
21. Sigma Lambda Gamma*
22. Sigma Lambda Upsilon*
23. Sigma Pi Alpha*
24. Sigma Omega Nu*
25. Phi Theta Chi http://www.phithetachi.com/
26. Phi Lambda Rho*
27. Chi Upsilon Sigma*
28. Omega Phi Beta*

Excuse my ignorance, but what does: "ROFLMAO" mean? I don't text much and don't know all the shortcuts for words. Thank you.

You're a researcher. Go research it.

Researcher,

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and accept that you are relatively ignorant about Greek Life.

You may want to see the following thread to understand why true Latino/a-based organizations are not "leaning toward multiculturalism." They may be increasingly diverse in terms of their membership composition, but the same is true of ALL Greek organizations.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=49042

"Multicultural" Greek organizations are set apart by purpose and through programming. MCGLOs were founded on the concept of multiculturalism. A Greek organization cannot "become" multicultural. Latina sororities can be "Latina-based sorority with multicultural/diverse membership" but they cannot be inherently "multicultural." It is inappropriate and disrespectful when Latina sororities, and other Greek organizations, adopt the term "multicultural" to define themselves.

See the following thread for further information:

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=60191

Ladies, please, I am not trying to offend and their is no need to call names. I am not ignorant of Latina-based sorority efforts. I didn't mean to say all Latina-based sororities are leaning toward multiculturalism. What I mean to say is that many of them are open to diversity and are working to increase numbers through recruiting women from all backgrounds. All one has to do is go to the websites to see claims of being open to all women who are interested in upholding the principles of the sororities they seek to join. It seems I used the wrong term (multiculturalism), when I should have used the term "diversity." I'm sorry for offending you, it was not my intention. My work is meant to help Latina-based women become as successful as they can be. However, my efforts may not be wanted by some, so that is fine. Sorry for bringing this to this forum. I am only trying to help, not hurt.

Respectfully,

Dr. Olivas

OTW, why be rude? I am trying to research it, that is why I asked. No problem, I'll figure it out another way. Thanks anyway.

If you're referring to my post, I am trying to take you seriously and provide you with some additional information. While posts on Greek Chat aren't proper statistical surveys, you may gain knowledge and perspective from reading the posts in the threads I suggested.

Unless you are in a Latina sorority that diverged from its roots, there is no reason for you to take my comments personally. From what little you have posted in this thread, it is clear that you are relatively ignorant about the topic. You, yourself, said "It seems I used the wrong term (multiculturalism), when I should have used the term 'diversity.'" You did not offend me. What I said was that when the organizations you are researching erroneously call themselves "multicultural," it is inappropriate and offensive. I was attempting to provide you with information so that you do not write something unfortunate in your book.

Saying that you are "relatively ignorant" about a topic was in no way intended to be an insult. You're researching to learn more, right?

preciousjeni,

Thank you for your response. I had thought I had offended you, but now I see you also were only trying to help. I did go to the threads you recommended and I find the information rich. Whether inappropriate and offensive; the fact is that many Latina-based sorority websites utilize this term as a recruitment method. I am not saying they are claiming to be multicultural sororities; they continue to state they are Latina-based or Latina oriented, but open to women of diverse backgrounds--hence more multicultural via membership. I hope this clears up what I was attempting to communicate.

I better understand your perspective through reading your past postings. Thanks for linking me to them. Although I am still learning about Latina-based sororities, I learn more each time I interview sorority members. I have been collecting website data since 1993 and have seen the changes in the language, images, and symbols used by sororities (I am not talking about letters here, of course, they have stayed the same as have the principals upon which they were founded); for example, I have seen the development of new shields on cites that did not have them in earlier years. All this will be in my book. I am not as ignorant as one might think, although I must admit I am still learning and I plan to continue to learn until the day I die.

I love education and I love teaching, as much as I love researching. One reason I am considering a co-author who is a sorority alumni is because I want my data as accurate as it can be. If you would like to review my book when I'm done with it, I welcome your input. You sound very knowledgeable about multicultural sororities; thus, I also welcome your insights about them. I have not yet engaged in research about them; I have been concentrating my efforts on Latina-based sororities.

My reason for posting my original message was to provide an opportunity for any Latina-based sororities not incorporated and/or on the list I posted to be listed in my book.

Thank you once again for your feedback and the links. They are greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Dr. Olivas

What aspect of these organizations are you researching? What is your thesis?

Xidelt, the first chapter of my book is a broad historical overview, in the context of U.S. (post-colonial) race relations, of the development of Latina-based (or Latina-oriented) Greek-letter organizations (LaGLO). Over the years, I have researched/analyzed the national homepages of the sororities on the list I provided in a previous posting. Some of these were local sororities when I first found their websites. In the chapters that follow, I am examining the sororities from a communication perspective. I am a critical scholar, however, that does not mean I am negative. I highlight the communicative practices of LaGLO utilizing homepages, interviews, Youtube videos, discussion boards, and surveys that may both assist and/or hinder academic, social, and career success.

I'm just curious what made you choose only sororities as opposed to all LGLOs?

knight_shadow, there is so much data that I would never finish a book if I tried to do all. However, my book does also include some history about Latino-based (or Latino-oriented) Greek-letter fraternity (LGLF) development, a must when considering the close link between the founding of some Latina-based (or Latina-oriented) Greek-letter LGLS and LGLF. After finishing this book, I want to move to exploring other Greek-letter organizations, possibly LGLF. I am willing to co-author future work with any graduate student, as long as s/he understands what it means to write from a communication perspective.

Are you making an effort to create new terminology? Generally, Latina/o Greek orgs are abbreviated to "LGLO." I believe this is the first time I've ever heard of an "LaGLO," an "LGLF" or an "LGLS."

Your audience, if any, is most likely going to be Greeks interested in history. If you intend to cater to them, perhaps you should use their language.

I figured as much. I know it would be a tedious task to try to cover them all. It would be interesting, though, to hear something about the fraternity side, as Lambda Theta Phi is the only LGLO that I know of that has a published history.

ETA: Ditto what PJ said. This is the first time I've seen the acronyms "LaGLS" and "LGLF." LGLOs or Latino/a fraternities/sororities works just fine.

One or both of Greg Parks' books uses BGLS and BGLF when appropriate, so it's not really a new term.

Researcher, which university are you affiliated with?

Perhaps, but BGLO is certainly predominant. The author is certainly going to explain what the acronyms are, but it seems silly to me for authors to rely on acronyms unnecessarily. Especially when, as I mentioned, the base readership of these books will be members of the Greek system.

ETA: Have you ever seen "BlGLO"??

Preciousjeni,

My hope is that this book will also be utilized by communication studies, ethnic studies, sociology, anthropology, and women studies professors. Please know this is a work in progress, thus nothing unchangeable. The dissertation study I can do nothing about since it was published in 2006. The book will be different from the dissertation study in that I am working to make it as accurate as I can. I was relatively "green" when writing the dissertation, so I'm looking forward to getting this book done now that I have a bit more experience writing.

As to the use of acronyms, I use LaGLO (singular) or LaGLOs (plural) when referring to Latina-based (female) Greek-letter organizations and LoGLO or LoGLOs when refering to Latino-based (male) Greek-letter organizations when wanting to use the term organizations instead of sororities or fraternities. However, if it is very objectionable to all of you then I could easily change this practice to read: Latina GLO or Latino GLO.

Some might argue it best to use LGLO all the time, but to do so can be confusing when referring specifically to females or males. It seems to me that LGLO would be used when generalizing about all Latino/a GLOs, as is done when talking about the Latino community for instance.

I don't recall using "LaGLS." If I did, I did so in error. The use of LGLS doesn't need the "La" because the "S" stands for sorority or sororities whereas the "F" would stand for fraternity or fraternities, depending on the context in which the acronyms are used. It would be very tedious and would take up type space (which one needs to think of when writing a book) to write out, and possibly to read, Latina-based Greek-letter sorority, Latina sorority, Latino fraternity, or whatever over and over again. As "Senusret I" noted, BLGS and BLGF are used by Parks, which is were I got the idea to use LGLS and LGLF.

I am currently teaching at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. There are no LGLOs here, although there are some at other UW system universities.

Dear AOEforme,

Thank you for your suggestion :-). I have sent letters to several national boards asking if I can conduct interviews with their sororities. I have received two affirmative responses and have already traveled out-of-state to conduct interviews. The most recent interviews were conducted a week ago. I will be conducting interviews with at least two more sororities in the next month.

Let me elaborate a little. In order to interview Latina/o GLO members I must have permission from their national boards. Additionally, in order to engage in interviews I have to also have clearance from the potential interviewee's university human subjects or IRB department. Additionally, the sororities that have participated in my study so far have asked that I not make their identities known, which I am honoring.

Researcher

Hello Fiyah98,

I'm sorry I had not responded sooner. I've been traveling throughout the northwest and southwest conducting interviews.

To answer you questions, yes, I am collecting data via face-to-face interviews and through questionnaires and surveys sent via e-mail to active Latina-based/oriented sororities and alumni. I have engaged in collecting oral or written questionnaire responses from about 100 active and alumni of LGLS. Not all national LGLS are engaging in interviews and when they do, only a chapter from this region or that region are interviewed. I will not say which sororities as I have promised to keep that secret.

Beginning in 1993 I began to engage in participation/observation and have been collecting homepage data since then, thus I have hundreds of pages from all the national LGLS I have been able to find since then. So far, I have researcher 32 national LGLS websites.

I am analyzing and reporting on all aspects of LGLS, including such things as the historical development of LGLS, cultural/organizational practices, verbal and nonverbal expression, and identity negotiation.

I and my co-author are asking all national LGLS to send us their shields/crests to print next to their organizational titles, if they so which them to be included. We are also requesting pictures of founding mothers, along with their names if they so desire to have them listed, and pictures of women engaging in strollling, stepping, saluting, and using handsigns; again names are optional.

The asterisk doesn't mean anything important; no need to worry yourself about that. If I can answer any more questions, please feel free to ask them. You can also e-mail me personally.

Researcher

What happened?
 

Whatever happened to this book? Was it ever published?