"Tiers" Among Alumnae?
 

I put this in the Sorority Recruitment forum instead of Greek Life because it is aimed at a very specific group: Southern NPC Alumnae.

After having read for years about how cutthroat recruitment is in the South and how some girls have been known to pledge a "less selective" sorority at one school and then try to transfer to a school where the sorority is "good", it makes me wonder if this sort of thinking extends into the alumnae world?

Let's say, for example, there's an XYZ alumnae chapter in Sometown, Mississippi and most of the members are from nearby schools. What if the XYZ chapter at Big University was the bee's knees (not too often I get to use that term!), the XYZ chapter at Private College is middle of the road and the XYZ chapter at Huge School has no house and doesn't always make Quota.

Do the members of the alumnae chapter care about that for the most part? Are the chapters cliques within cliques?

I know it is impossible to generalize when there are hundreds of alumnae chapters, but I was just wondering if this sort of thing comes into play to your knowledge?

I'll bite...
 

If I read this correctly, you are asking if alums are judged by other alums (from their same group) based on which chapter they came from, right?

Nah, I don't think so. In my experience, it's exciting to meet Chi Omegas from all over. The average alumna has no true knowledge of the strength of individual active chapters across the country. That being said, one might have general knowledge of the region, like -- the Chi Os at Ole Miss are great; LSU Chi Os have a strong reputation, etc.

I agree with NutBrnHair. I came from a small chapter, but when I meet ZTAs from other chapters that I know are larger, it's exciting. I know that I probably wouldn't have even received a second glance from a larger chapter like University of Texas or one of the SEC schools. But, I'm grateful that worked out the way it did and I wouldn't trade it to have gone to a larger school. The foundations that were laid for us and that we continue to build upon are are the glue that holds the sisterhood together--regardless of our backgrounds, we share and cherish the ideals and the symbols of our sororities that drew us together in the first place. I'm sure that growing up a bit and becoming more mature (for some folks, anyway) has a great deal to do with it as well.

That is exactly what I was asking, you are just much more articulate in describing it! :)

I do think that it can be hard to break into an association heavily made up of XYZ Univ if you went somewhere else, but that's not the same as tiers.

No. All of the ADPis I know are happy to meet other ADPi's. It's like meeting distant family and knowing you share a bond.

The only outright rivalry is sports rivalries.

Hmmm.
I know of one chapter whose alums - some of them, not all - act like that. The rest of us just laugh at them.
One of the nicest things about working with sorority alumnae, and especially alumnae panhellenics, is that nobody cares about tiers. It really IS "all greek together."

As you can see from my screen name, I’m a Chi Omega. I currently live in North Carolina, but I’m originally from another part of the country, and at my school we were, unfortunately, the bottom of the pecking order, and closed at the end of my sophomore year. For many years, I was reluctant to get involved with my local alumnae chapter here, coming from a “bottom tier” and closed chapter.



But once I started going to events, I found out it’s more about who we are now than how popular our chapters were on campus. I mean, sure, there’s the occasional “I didn’t know we have a chapter there,” (my chapter has been dormant for 20+ years) followed by momentary awkwardness, but it’s not a big deal. I’ve met several other sisters from closed chapters and even a sister from my collegiate chapter.

I've joined many alumnae associations since graduation due to PCS moves. Some ass'ns were made up primarily of local chapter graduates (ie Louisville was all UK and IU alums with a smattering of others). Other associations (Boston, Northern VA) have alums from all over the country. All have been welcoming and inclusive.

Our Alumnae Chapter have several members who were in chapters that closed either right after they graduated or while they were still in school. No one cares that their chapters were not as strong as others. Remember, a chapter that is super strong today can fall on bad times and become a struggling chapter within a short time. We are all sisters, that is all that matters. We share our sisterhood, and work together.

DaffyKD

KR, in answer to your question, yes, I have witnessed some of this type of behavior during our younger years as an alumnae group. However, most of those alumns who perceived themselves as coming from superior chapters dropped out and stopped coming, so it made our group more cohesive.

Sounds about right :)

We recently started a second ADPi alumnae association in our area (due to commuter issues) and because we are such a transient area (Northern VA/D.C. metro) we have sisters that represent so many chapters! Off the top of my head we have alums from: Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, etc.

It certainly makes for an interesting group!

Not strictly related: I have met a handful of Alpha Gams in Ireland and the UK, who haven't seemed too concerned about it (and all of them are either studying abroad or have moved here in the past 5 years), and are always very interested to meet a Canadian sister. I kind of wish I had maple leaf pins on hand haha!

I've encountered alumnae tier behavior in our local Alumnae Panhellenic but not in our alumnae chapter.

I will admit that I have felt intimidated by one of the alumnae groups that I attended. I hasten to add that it was MY own fault, though. The women were welcoming and gracious. They were mostly from the same very prestigous chapter, had immense homes, and very high social profiles. I just didn't fit in there, which was absolutely no fault of theirs. I was able to find a smaller alumnae chapter with women closer to my own age & stage in life. I enjoy it very much. I am lucky that there are several to choose from around here :)

I remember going to a local APH meeting, seeing some of these women with full-length fur coats, and being SCARED. TO. DEATH. That all evaporated the night we got into a discussion of "what on earth is up with these Southern chapters." ;)

This...

Also, just to keep it real, I think the women who are in alum groups locatedin the SEC, will probably admit that there may be a moment where they think, " Oh, she was a xyz at big university. That chapter is very strong/struggles/etc". As a Greek woman in the south, you do know this stuff.

That said, that is also where it ends. I do not think individuals are treated differently because of the strengths or weaknesses of their chapters.

Everywhere I've ever met at ADPi in my 20 years of being an ADPi, it's always been like finding long lost family. I've met alumnae that have just graduated and alumnae that are older/very wealthy/intimidating and all have been very friendly and welcoming. It really is a unique experience that we have has sorority women!

I've also worked with women over the years from other sororities and finding out that we were both in sororities gives us an immediate bond and has made us automatic friends. Definitely no tiers as Alumnae!

Of course, I'm in Texas where everyone is pretty friendly in general :)

You know, that has always been my experience as well. I wish the PNMs and undergraduate sisters would realize that the time you spend as an active is by far the shortest phase in sorority membership. But I don't think I would have listened when I was that age!

Maybe they realized that they were too tacky for words and stopped coming?:D

This!!
 

Heehee! I hope so, although they were probably still too consumed with themselves to realize that! At any rate, we were just glad they quit!

I think that there can be more drama when it comes to picking advisory committees for collegiate chapters in areas with alumnae from a lot of different chapters. That's a tougher thing, because on one hand, you want alumnae who understand the chapter well, but on the other hand, fresh ideas can be helpful, too.

Ideally, you'd have a mix, and someone from a "weaker" chapter may start out in a smaller advisory role, but over time, obviously anyone can learn. I wouldn't tell someone that she could never be on house corp. because she comes from an unhoused chapter, but I think that's where the claws can come out.

I'm the only alumna from my chapter that is a member of our local alumnae chapter. On Founders Day I was able to give my chapter's submotto (they go through all the chapters represented and everyone from that chapter says the submotto). It was honestly a really neat feeling and I didn't feel "uncool" for being the only one there. I agree that pretty much the only rivalry is the sports kind.

As a recruitment adviser to a chapter (not where I was initiated) I was able to to go Leadership Academy a few weeks ago. Every single adviser I met was amazing. Everyone was giving advice or hints to each other, it didn't really matter what chapter they were from.