Pledging two different Sororities?
 

Greetings sorhors and sister friends:

I have a question, I was told years ago that it was acceptable during the time period ( pre-90's) for women to join multiple organizations of their choice i.e., aka, dst, zpb, sgrho. I was wondering how this came about and if this still is in existence. Based on information from different forums, it appears that this practice happens from time to time without the knowledge of the sororities in hand. How can this dilima be addressed. It has always been my belief that if you join a particular sorority that you did so out of a conviction of loyalty. So how can someone be loyal to two organizations?


Sisterly

Tinese
#1 pikachu
Zeta Nu Sigma Alumnae Chapter Boston, MA

I haven't seen you on the Greekchat before so I say welcome to you soRHOr Tinese! :)

*****
1. Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., & Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. individually DO NOT ALLOW THIS.
2. NPHC does not allow this.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to perp like that? It's very disrespectful to all orgs involved, the NPHC and very EMBARASSING to the person who does it when they GET cauught!:o It's NEVER been acceptable to do this.

I have never heard of such a thing. I really don't think it is true at all.

BTW, Tinese is not new :D

pre-1990
 

Trying to pledge two different orgs WAS NOT the norm; this practice was prohibited then and now. In fact, it was probably harder back then because everything was above ground and everyone in your tri-state area knew who was online!

There were some instances but they were few and far between normally occuring when distance and time seperated the two applications.

Pledging two different Sororities
 

I have never heard of this either. And I agree that you would get caught eventually. I think most people do not realize that it does not take much for someone to find out about you and what chapter you come from, once you let them know what org., you belong to.(No matter where you are in the world) I remember that my advisor once told us about this young lady who said she was an SGRho. She was a transfer student. They noticed that all of her para was homemade and they thought that was odd. Well to make a long story short, when they started to investigate they found out that she was denied membership into SGRho at her former university. So it pays to just be on the up and up. And why would you want to be in multiple orgs., or claim to be something you are not is beyond me.

Just my 22 cents !:)

unfortunately, the only way i can see us (four) addressing/stopping this from happening is if we had a database of all our member that was accessible to everyone!

it doesnt happen often, but i have heard of stories where someone pledged one organization wasnt happy.... moved clear across the country and pledged something else.

Sticking my two cents in - I know this sort of thing did happen a long, long time ago, like later 1800s/early 1900s. Frequently someone would transfer to another school and be eligible to join a different group there. But I think most of this stopped before the NPHC sororities were formed.

Pledging two different Sororities
 

That is an excellent idea soror prettypoodle6!!:)

Sorhor Tinese,

That is really new to me and I pledged spring 83' it would really be hard for a person to get away with pledging more than one sorority because as an Aurora you stood out and every knew that you were going through the process because of the way you were dressed, physically walked in line, greeted your big sisters, etc.

I noticed that the undergrads complained post - 90s that some girls were trying to submit applications for more than one organization because it was easier to get away with doing such deviant acts because pledging had ended!
The other organization would find out about it after the girl(s) came out (Coming out show) as a member of another greek organization.

Serioussigma22 :cool:

u know something like this happened...
 

in my undergrad chapter, there was a young lady who transferred from another school and she expressed an interest.

we got in contact with one of our lovely sorors from that school and she basically told us the deal. so here is my question.

What if the person was actually going through the process and for whatever reason the process was dropped or the person was dropped? how would u feel if that person suddenly expressed interest in your org?

believe it or not, but this is common at the college i went to (mostly with the males)

this same young lady, needless to say, is not a soror today, but she is a member(finally) of another BGLO. (i think that is all she wanted any way is just to belong.

Soror I can truly feel you on this one. Just recently I went to a stepshow and saw a young lady I knew from school and she was now a member of another sorority. But me and my LS remembered when SGRho was so in her heart. And when I was in school we had an interest, who we rejected and next semester saw her in different colors. I also knew of some who were rejected from the other BGLOs (cause they told us) and then tried to step to us. And my answer was a STRONG HELL NO!!! I think if a line is dropped that is very unfortunate and you should perhaps wait until grad. And if the person was dropped it was probably for a good reason. I feel very strongly about this, because time and time again I saw young ladies kiss some serious a$# to get into my sorority. And time and time again, some fell for it knowing that the person just wanted to be Greek or was just plain TROUBLE! Now if a person just goes to an informational for another sorority I am cool with that. But if they started going through the process and were dropped or were rejected...then I better not have seen them knocking on my RHOyal-Blue and Gold door...cause it was locked!! :) And I am not trying to be mean but, that is what makes chapters weak, when you feel as if you have to let anybody in...regardless if they are in it for the long haul. Eventually if you were to keep this up in no-time your chapter will be on deaths door. When I was an undergrad, I was President and I was SERIOUS about who I wanted to call my soror. And between that year and the next we had the most interests come out in chapter history...cause they knew we had our stuff TOGETHER. And they had to come correct or not at all. Ladies do not want to become a part of anything they think that "JUST ANYBODY", can get into and that is my 22 cents!!! :)

EE-YIP
Tenacious

True. I don't know why somebody would want to do it. I heard this happened about 10 years ago with a woman who turned out to be a member of two NPHC sororities. She ended up getting found out after she moved and lost membership in both organizations.

Sorhor Tenacious1922,

Girl, I feel you on that very topic! I don't want a person to step to me once they have been rejected by another organization. That's just keeping it real! Too many ladies out there think that it's okay to play games! Well I don't play and the young lady will get played if she thinks that she can just be a member of my sorority because she has shown some interest! And like you I just don't want to call anybody my sorhor!


Serioussigma22:cool:

Hey SoRHOrSisterFriends,
First time posting.....:) To add to the comments on the board, you will be surprised at how many people are in other orgs after attempting to pledge something else. I know people personally who started with one and ended up with another. I also had a personal experience with a girl who actually pledged thru my chapter and when she went home that summer, her Aunt and her mother, who are AKA's convienced her she had made a mistake...:eek:..so she ended up transferring to a school down south where she pledged AKA...:confused:...so I would say never say never. It happened alot more times that people want to admit...and I have been a Sigma since 1986.

-Gina-

Technically, it can be done...
 

Any member of a sorority/fraternity can request to be removed from the rolls. It just depends upon who does the research where intake is involved. The fraternities to a better job of blackballing so this does not happen as often as in sororities.

I never knew anybody who did it, though, because in the part of the south where I went to school, they had a tendency to blackball people who had submitted applications to other sororities.

I think anyone who would leave one NPHC sorority to pledge another does the organization she leaves much more good than the organization she goes on to pledge.

TRSimon :D

Greetings Sorors and Sisterfriends!

This is a good discussion because interests need to clearly understand the seriousness of dedicating yourself to a lifetime in the sorority of their interest. It's just out and out disrespectful to the organization and the pledge you took if you join another organization. Once you pledge XYZ, you are an XYZ for life. Period. I completely understand that Sigma is a lifetime commitment . If you are so unhappy with it, make some evaluations of the situation and your role in it and take some action to make improvements. RHOyal Silence, if you pledged in the city that's listed as your residence, then I know the exact situation you're talking about, and it's pitiful because she just wanted to be Greek, bless her heart.

jojapeach :)

I was having lunch with a prophyte from my chapter a few years back...She pledged in Spr 81....she told me she ran into a woman who pledged SGRho when she was undergrad and the woman had become a Delta. She said the woman pretended not to know here.

I was told of a story of a guy who pledged both Que and Alpha. Whenever he was around his Que bruhs, he put away all of his Alpha para and vice versa. Then as the story went, one day someone recognized him as a Alpha and told the Ques....well...you can imagine the rest...but I don't know the veracity of this tale...so it could be true or it could be an urban legend...

It sucks that this kind of stuff happens...and I wish the National Headquarters of the NPHC did more to prevent it...but the reality is, it happens. I even know of some instances where people were found out and either beat or stripped of their letters.


What can u do?

Oh My!!!!!

I have been sitting up here reading all of these replies and all I can say is :eek: I also attended school in the south and everybody in that area knew WHO was in what NPHC. Some people fail to realize that the greek world is "small." It is a scary thought that someone out there knows ALL of my history and another orgs too. I knew a girl pledged AKA and she transferred to another school and tried to pledge SGRHO. The AKAs from that school she transfred from told the SGRHOs and Let's just say she will run from anything that has RHOyal blue&gold, and pink and green in it... ;)

Sorhors and Sisterfriends,

That just blows my mind! Very, very, very bizarre!

Serioussigma22:eek:

http://www.plauder-smilies.de/rough/twak.gif

SoRhor Ninja Poodle,

Girl, where do get those creative little icons??? (smile)

Serioussigma22;)

Sorhors and Sisterfriends,

I believe that a young intelligent college student or graduate woman would know from the start what the organization is all about before she tries to become a member of that particular organization. There comes a time in ones life when a person has to make decisions that will effect (end result) the rest of her life. Every female needs to carefully do her homework before she decides to take those steps into that particular organization. Most of these young ladies believe that they will have a backup sorority just in case they are rejected by their first choice. I really believe that these young women have confused BGLOs with the caucasian sororities because this is what these young ladies do on traditonally white campuses. They (Caucasian females) attend several sororities' rush events during rush week and they put in bids to the different sororities that spark their interest. I hate to burst a person's bubble but BGLOs do not operate from that paradigm. When I attended the University of Delaware I thought that was the strangest process and it will never fly with Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. or any other BGLO sorority. It also seems that it's much easier to get away with this process because traditional pledging is no longer allowed. Yes, different chapters of the four historically African American sororities know that they are looking for women that represent, reflect, respect and will uphold the by laws of their organization. That's not to much to ask from decent young ladies that say they have the same high standards. Just my observations from all of the different post!:cool:

Serioussigma22:cool:

Pledging two different Sororities?
 

Hey Reiki,

No I do not take offense to your opinion! :)
But I do not feel as if SGRho should be a second choice. And I am sure that you will find that most Greeks feel exactly the same about their individual orgs. So that is where the research comes in. Before you "put yourself out there, so to speak", you really have to know what you want! And that might mean waiting a month, two months or even a year. Now I believe in changing of one's mind, but I can tell you from experience that there are alot of young ladies who want to be Greek for all of the wrong reasons!!! :( And when I was an undergrad I encountered several individuals who would fall into this category. You know when someone just wants to be Greek by their behavior. The easiest way to tell is, that they are not willing to work for it. Now that does not mean doing things for you and all of that crazyness. It simply means even having the grades, getting your info together etc. Coming to an interview totally unprepared...knowing nothing about your orgs. history,(which can be found at the National Website) not even being able to answer why they want to be apart of your org. This is why you need to have pledged yourself to the org. of your choice in the sense that this is really what you want. We are not like the white sororites and Frats. once you are a member of ABC...THAT IS IT!!! :) You do not have the choice of searching on. That is why it is very important to know what it is you want and go for it. People want instant gratification and usually that does not happen when going on your quest for a BGLO. Just like you need to impress someone on a job interview, I would need to be impressed by what you could offer my chapter and SGRho as a whole. It is not that I think non-greeks have no opinion, but as a former non-greek alot of what I thought was wrong, because there is a sense of mystery or secrecy. This is a journey that a person really needs to experience to really know what it is all about. As a non-greek I observed all of the sororities on my campus. I found out the requirements and most importantly...I FOUND OUT WHICH EACH OF THEM STOOD FOR. I did my research
worked on my grades, and when I KNEW WHAT I WANTED, that is when I spoke more of my interest. But when I did that I was ready!! :) Basically I knew not to come half stepping. You sound as if you know about Greek life, but I also feel that you may have been having a hard time deciding which way to go, or having trouble trying to get there. I tell you that every Greek does not think that a prospective is shallow or rude or etc. But you need to know that the experience will humble you (not degrade) and really make you look at yourself. You will learn your strenghts and weaknesses no matter how you become a member (undergrad or grad). But it is something that should be taken seriously, and if one has not made up their mind, they need to keep searching then, not after the choice has been made...and that is that!! :)

I forgot to add: when the time comes for a person to become a member of a BGLO they will know it.(the process of beginning to becoming a member) And it won't come from looking or just talking to a member!! :)

Tenacious1922

Sorhor Tenacious1922,

That is exactly my point Sigma Gamma Rho or any other BGLO organization are not going to put up with a person that is just plan shopping to join any old organization. She or He must do their homework and be able to tell the organization why the really want to be a part of that particular organization. Well stated Sorhor!:)


Serioussigma22;)

whew!!
 

My goodness!!!

All of this is just too much goin' on!! I've heard of such situations, but I've never known any personal stories of this matter. It DOES disgust me that some females think of SGRho as some sort of "last resort." And I often have people come up to me and ask "What's that?" or "Is that a high school sorority?" or my favorite... "Why didn't you pledge AKA or DST?" Since I live in the south, AKA and DST are the larger organizations here, and when you're in high school, you are brought up to believe there are only 2 choices. I'm glad that I took the time to research ALL of my options, both BGLOs AND WGLOs. I didn't want to leave any stone unturned... b/c it's true, you have to find what's right for you and nobody else will be "married" to the decision except for you. So, after much digging, I am EXTREMELY proud to be a member of the Sexy, Sensational, Sultry Sorority of SIGMA GAMMA RHO!!!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-YIP!!!!!:D

Sorors, let's keep it on topic.
 

Well, I am not greek, but I definitely think pledging two BGLOs is wrong simply because they are of the same nature or even two NPC orgs. But what if you pledge say SGRho and joined a band fraternity or a coed fraternity, something that a traditional black sorrority couldn't give you. Would that be considered not disloyal to your org, or just wanting to be greek? Or what if you pledge a multicultural sorrority that is probably local and later decided that that sisterhood no longer met your needs and you needed a stronger org to carry out whatever it is you wish to achieve or recieve in that stronger organization. Would that be considered wrong on disloyal? Would you want a sister who had ties to an organization thats not affiliate with yours? This is definitely a good topic. I do feel that its wrong to pledge two different sorroties but then again its again its okay it seems if the organization is not in the Divine Nine. For example, some greeks are masons and oes and I would think that has to infringe on some loyalties or at least be very time consuming. I dont know, does anyone have anything to add???

In response to NewBee:

I am a member of a band sorority and Sigma Gamma Rho. Of that band sorority, I am also the Vice-President, which does lead to some time dispersment issues sometimes. However, I told my Sorors this before the process began and before I was even interested in joining. They knew that I was responsible for membership candidates in Tau Beta Sigma other business affairs, but that I was willing to make time for both organizations. I get my work done in both. Neither goes lacking. During my intake process, my TBS Sorors were 146% supportive and my MCs were super-excited at my probate. My Sigma SoRHOrs are also understanding of TBS undergoing Spring 2002 intake. It's a balance. It's not easy, but it's not impossible.
I wear paro. for both organizations. Both sororities are on my keychain. I love them both and I could never put down one organization for the other. Both are deep within my heart. Disloyalty is not an option.

Another Response to NewBee,

My sorhor is very correct - a lot of us are or were members of national honor sororities, band fraternities, eastern stars, links, etc. Usually there aren't any real conflicts and it just means that you are well rounded and have a lot to offer to your school and greater community. I hope this helps!

Serioussigma22;)

Pledging two different Sororities
 

I remember when I first became a soror, I knew a young lady who was an Eastern Star. I had thought about persuing it (my great-grandmother was an Eastern Star) but I knew at the time, I just had too much going on. But I have known of many Greeks who are Eastern Stars or Masons and especially in the different band and honor societies. It was really neat to see the different sorority and Frat. members wearing the same letters! :)

Re: Pledging two different Sororities
 

I am an Eastern Star and have interest in Sigma Gamma Rho! I know you didn't mean it in this way, but Eastern Stars do not pledge. Also, we are not a sorority, we are technically a fraternity. I too think it is interesting to see band frats be also members of a NPHC! However, I think this is more geared toward being a member of ABC and then doing everything in your power to get removed from it and trying to join XYZ!!!

Well that was my cents worth.

Pledging two different Sororities?
 

Oh yes I know this! :)I was definitley not trying to imply that Eastern Stars pledge or are a sorority!
I was responding to Soror SeriousSigma22's mention of Eastern Star. In response to a new twist on the question, that was asked by Newbee! :) And when I mentioned the band and honor societies, I was refering to the Greeks who belong (not Eastern Stars or Masons)as was mentioned by Soror Fine RHOyalty. :)


Have a Great Day!
Tenacious1922

Tenacious1922!

I understood your point sweetie, you didn't have to clarify. I was just placing my opinion in society.;)

You Too Have a Great Day and Stay Blessed!!

Sorhors and sisterfriends,

And now that we've cleared up all of the concerns about band fraternities, honor organizations, masons, and eastern stars I believe that we are still addressing the issue at hand. Ladies please don't try to pull a fast one on members of the BGLOs by trying to work both organizations because you will only get caught and its not worth it. Do your homework, take your time seeking membership in the organization that rights for you and have patients things usually work out in the end.

Serioussigma22:cool:

Thank you to all that respnded. It did help me put things in perspective. The reason why I asked is because I am interested in joining a BGLO but I also feel the incredible need to be a trailblazer for Christ. LOL. But seriously, I have done my research on sorrorities in general and I have noticed that a lot of Christian based sorrorities are springing up which intrigues me. I want to be a charter member for one of this orgs., so that more people have an alternitive way to enjoy family at the campus. (We all know the religious argument about pledging so lets not go there.) I would love to do both but from what some people tell me being in active in a sorrority is very time consuming let alone two. But it seems that it can me done and that you dont have to be disloyal to either, you just have more sisters!

In response to NewBee:
 

Good Luck in whatever you decide! :)

Tenacious1922

Pledging two different Sororities?
 

:)

NewBee,

Good luck to you in your quest for sisterhood!

Serioussigma22:cool:

To NewBee:
 

I also have interest in Christian-based sororites/sisterhoods that have been formed and are forming. You're doing the right thing by asking questions are keeping an open mind. Best wishes!

pledging two orgs
 

If one of the orgs is not a BGLO, but a professional greek society, ie accounting frat or pre-law/ legal frat, it's ok