Joining two sororities?
 

Hello all,

I am interested in pledging an NPHC organization sometime in the future. A couple of my friends are in a greek community service fraternity where they call each other bruhs and have hand signs. I have seen on online sites that these organizations are sort of looked down upon because they are not actually a "greek" organization as most know it. Would it be wise to not join this greek community if I plan on joining an actual NPHC sorority?

-Anja-

It depends on the school/chapters in question.

I know one HBCU campus where the NPHC sorority pretty much won't allow anyone who has joined something with a pledge process, no matter how servicy it is.

On that very same campus, another NPHC sorority has no problems with that.

On a PWI campus across town where there are city-wide chapters, none of the NPHC orgs care if you pledged APO (for example).

But at a PWI I know in the midwest, it's very frowned upon to have pledged APO -- even though the chapter doesn't step, stroll, or have any traditions in common with the NPHC.

Look at your own campus and then decide what is right for you. You might decide to be a trailblazer. Or you might not want to take the risk.

NPHC organizations don't discuss membership intake processes here so you're not going to get the answers you're looking for.

Personally, I wouldn't join a service fraternity that emulated traditional NPHC communities because that just seems pretty phoney

I'll second SenI - it is entirely dependent on your campus, and only you can be the judge of that. Also, be sure you know why you want to join (for both orgs). Best of luck making the right decision for you!

Dude stay in your lane. You aren't in a NPHC and you said nothing to indicate that you are in a service organization. Leave it to those that are in both.

Joining two
 

Couple of comments to add to Senusret I.

I'm making the assumption that this is Alpha Phi Omega.* I'd talk to the brothers in the Alpha Phi Omega chapter to see if any of them are also in one of the NPHC sororities, if any of them are in the NPHC sorority that you want to join, and *which* order that they joined. In general, I find that Alpha Phi Omega chapters would be *much* more open about that. (And if they aren't, let me know)

Also, the term "pledged" can be tricky. While Alpha Phi Omega still generally uses the term pledging, the NPHC fraternities and sororities officially do *not*. (To the NPHCs, pledging=hazing)

As Senusret pointed out, the path will vary according to which school *and* which NPHC sorority, though my *guess* is that the younger the NPHC sorority, the less likely you are to get static. Also, there *may* be less of an issue for joining Alpha Phi Omega after joining the NPHC sorority, though again, a guess. The one thing that I have seen is that for the NPHCs, grad chapters don't care about other student organizations that you have joined unless it is another NPHC.

I'm glad that you asked the question, I hope that we can help.

*(It could *conceivably* be Kappa Kappa Psi, but most of the HBCUs have Tau Beta Sigma as well)

Especially since two people who are in both have answered the question.

O please explain...I would LOVE to hear this.

If I was on a campus where APO acted more like a social fraternity than a service fraternity, I wouldn't join APO because they're going against their purpose. That seems fake to me, as if the members couldn't get bids in IFC organizations so they joined something with greek letters. I can see feeling the same way if a service fraternity used a lot of the same symbolism in regards to signs, steps, strolls, etc as a NPHC organization

Luckily it's not up to you to decide how a service fraternity should act.

And lucky for that chapter you weren't interested in.

Ok...so how is any one organization is any more 'real' or 'fake' than the other, please?

Can you please stop engaging him? You're not in an NPHC or a service fraternity/sorority, either.

Ok and who are you to tell me who I can or cannot engage with?

I am interested in hearing the answer, if you aren't you can move right past it, sir.


Just because you are, doesn't make you the be all, end all 'god' to go to on GC.

Deaemon,

I think an organization that ignores their stated purpose is fake. A real organization is true to the core values established by their founders. If a service organization behaves in a manner that's not consistent to the ideals set forth by their founding mothers and fathers, I would consider it fake (to an extent)

For example, a service org putting more importance on socials than philanthropy

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/.../OprahUMad.gif

And, for example, a whites only clause for organizations founded before the 1960s. Any organization that's equal opportunity these days is fake.

Not even hardly.
http://www.meh.ro/original/2009_12/meh.ro1132.jpg

Well APO's cardinal principles are leadership, friendship and service, as well as having an open motto stating "be a friend, be a leader, be of service" so I don't see how taking up some of the mannerisms of an NPHC is violating that.

*goes back to own lane*

---flatline---
 

I just busted out laughing at this!!!!

Alpha Phi Omega's Cardinal Principles are Leadership, Friendship and Service. I don't see how any of the adopting any of the NPHC symbolism gets in the way of any of those. We had a Stepping demonstration at Alpha Phi Omega's last National Convention, we've had a hand sign more or less since founding in the 1920s (though I doubt it was "thrown"), there is no official nickname (like Fiji) for the fraternity, so using AyPhiQue rather than APO or APhiO isn't particularly odd. Yes, the chapters at HBCUs tend to order their pledge classes by height and call them lines, so? I've also been invited to Probate for the Alpha Phi Omega chapter at Howard University.

Note, by the time that our primary founder had passed (in the late 1960s) we had more than a dozen chapters at HBCUs and not long after that we had one of the founders of the chapter at Howard University as our National President.

Please let me know which of this is *fake*. :mad:

I've been involved in some way with extension for Alpha Phi Omega for close to 20 years, you match the campus to the expected model for the extension group. A chapter from an extension at Virginia State University (Public, HBCU)*will* look more like Howard University or Norfolk State University than it will look like the chapter at University of Richmond (Private, HWI).

To be fair, at least one of the NPHC fraternities had a negro-only clause for membership when it was first founded...

I didn't mean to single out APO, that was inappropriate. At my school, members of APO are fine, upstanding, individuals.

But in general, I feel a "fake" organization is one which goes against its values, thus thats my answer to Deamon

So this means you're a fake brother, right?

No, not at all. I feel that I embody all of those aspects and personal attacks do little to bring me down. Regardless, I do have some problems with Warren A. Cole but I put those aside for the good he did for the fraternity

This discussion has been pretty de-railed since its an AKA forum, if it were in Greek Life or somewhere else I would continue but I don't want to bring down the AKA's board.

haha good discussion though!

and thank you for thoughtfully answering the question.

Some people really do like to know what others are thinking!

The odd thing is in terms of swerving, that I completely missed which board it was on, which sort of answers one of the two questions I had, which was "Which NPHC sorority is under discussion?", the other is, of course, "Which school?"

That doesn't change the point I was making.

Which was? Are you indicating that all of the fraternities that had some variety of rules limiting membership based on race, ethnicity or religion became fake when they removed them?

I was mocking BemoreLXA. According to him, GLOs become 'fake' when they stray from the founders' original vision. I brought up an extreme to show how faulty that statement was.

You made a personal attack on any APO chapter that strolls or steps, without knowing whether they bust their butts doing service (which they also usually do). Practice what you preach.

lol no. You made an Ad hominem attack against me. I didn't exactly do that. I used APO as an example of a service fraternity, which I regret doing since I should of just used generalities or "XYZ fraternity".

sorry

WOW! How noble of you ... Now, how can we get this thread moved?

OK, missed the mock. :)

Seriously, I have no idea how many of the members of the NIC had *some* limitations to membership beyond gender at some point in their history. My guess is most of them.

Really?

So yeah, putting aside your regretted use of APO as an example, you basically said any service fraternity chapter that strolls or steps is, in your opinion, "phoney" and "fake," with members who probably joined just to get Greek letters.

In a word, that is what he is saying.

And many would agree, I believe we had plenty of threads that discussed that same issue. Not necessarily a service fraternity, but even NIC's founded on HBCU campuses have run into that issue.

And not just service and NIC fraternities. ;)

We have indeed had that discussion before, and I know that there are many who would agree, or at least have some problem with non-NPHC orgs "appropriating" NPHC traditions. I understand that.

What I don't understand is someone like BemoreLXA/Phi_Delta/408 saying it and then basically denying he disparaged other orgs.

Hmm. I know of NIC, APO & GSS (Service), KKY &TBS (Band), and various Latino groups (both male and female) and I *think* religious (Alpha Nu Omega Fraternity and Sorority). Haven't heard of any NPC sororities that do stepping, but the day is still young. :)

Agreed on BemoreLXA. :mad: