Malia Obama's (possible) college choices
 

Rumor mill starting to churn.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/plenty...175147030.html

Do all the universities mentioned in the article have sororities?

I am also betting on Stanford. First, it's a gorgeous campus in Palo Alto. The climate is best in the nation. Stanford has always been an attractive choice for children of politicians (Chelsea Clinton), entertainers (Cary Grant's daughter, Sigourney Weaver, Reese Witherspoon, Fred Savage, Rob Lowe's son, etc etc etc), writers, media moguls, tech mogul kids (Katie Couric's daughter is there now)....etc..........

It is a magnificent university full of super smart, culturally diverse students and I think Malia would fit in perfectly! Great sports too! Not so sure about the film studies tho. How about engineering Malia? Come to Stanford--youll love it!

I think she'll choose Columbia, personally. But I am sure she will be happy wherever she goes.

Not sure about Greek life at any of those places, but I doubt she will join anything. Her parents did not join social GLOs while in college and it doesn't appear that her family's close friends are Greek either.

When she was in the Bay Area, she spent most of her time at Cal. I think that she will stay on the East Coast.

I'm rooting for Barnard personally. His sister went there and he spoke at their graduation two years ago.

But there has been a generational shift in JOINING. While I think she probably won't, it is not outside the realm of possibility. The problem as I see it is whether she would look at an NPC or NPHC and that question would keep her from joining either. Unfortunately politics would interfere.

Speaking of politics, wasn't one of Colin Powell's daughters a Kappa?

Why would you think politics would interfere?

I ask because it took Barack and Michelle a while to make inroads with NPHC groups--even during his 2008 campaign, there were articles about their reluctance to be associated with the NPHC groups. I think that's passed now, but neither of them have that in their backgrounds so they may be more supportive of having a daughter go NPC than if they were more in that world.

Also--what happens in Tuscaloosa aside--the "black girl joining an NPC" situation is not the big deal it was even when I was in school.

My recollection is that they were reluctant to be associated with any one group, as that necessarily meant a rejection of the other groups, rather than having an issue with NPHC groups generally.

As wonderful as all the east coast ivies are, I think that Stanford far and away has the best combination of uber-elite academics and campus athletics. Actually, I think the California schools in general do that pretty well (Cal, UCLA, and even USC).

Since Malia's heavily into sports, I guess that leaves the University of Chicago off her list.

Wasn't Michelle Obama inducted as an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha at some point? I remember reading that somewhere.

ETA: She was inducted at AKA's centennial convention in 2008.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2...ceptance/?_r=0

http://www.stlamerican.com/news/loca...4d44c3370.html

You're right. The NYT article says:

OH MY! Can you imagine if she were to join another NPHC organization now? Surely they would not tolerate that. :eek:

There could be quite an uproar. Though, I'm sure she knows that that'd a faux pas. ;)

I've wondered--do honorary members in NPHC groups have the same rights and privileges as members? By virtue of them being called honorary members instead of something closer to alumnae initiates, I assumed that that wasn't the case, but I have no idea if that's true. If we're not allowed to know, forget I ever asked. I hope the question doesn't offend anyone. :p

For SGRho, no they do not.



Mrs. Obama's membership is non-exclusive because she said she has respect for all 4 NPHC sororities.

Those articles are incorrect. Mrs. Obama was extended honorary membership but she ultimately did not accept and was not initiated.

If she had already been a member of any org it would not have been an issue at all. Doing this at beginning of first term would not have been smart. Wherever her heart lies, once POTUS is out of office she'll be free to pursue.

[\slides back into lane]

Stanford is already used to working with the Secret Service (Chelsea Clinton), they may have a leg up just for that reason alone. Some universities may not want the restrictions of having a former first daughter.

It wouldn't surprise me if she joined APO. :D

I agree.

I'm glad you said it because I couldn't find articles to reference though everyone in the D9 already knew/talked about it ad nauseam.

Where did the Bush girls go to college, and were they in sororities?

The Bush daughters are both Kappa Alpha Theta members, like their mother. Jenna went to Univ of Texas in Austin. Barbara graduated from Yale.

Only partially true. She did accept, but was never initiated.

In 2008, at the Centennial Boule Public Program, the International President Barbara McKenzie read a letter from Barack Obama which had a PS saying that Michelle was flattered and accepted their offer of honorary membership. (Source: I actually watched the live stream of the Public Program; the letter was also printed in the 2010 edition of the AKA history book.)

The crowd went wild and the media ran with the story as if she had already been initiated. Then the PR people for the campaign stepped in with this non-exclusive foolishness.

[Complete hijack].

UCLA and USC have been on the same exact tier academically for many years now. While UCLA has traditionally been the stronger, they draw the same exact students, have the same exact stats, and are often ranked together on all the important lists (both are at #23 this year on the US News rankings).

California is spoiled for choice when it comes to excellent universities and all four are very hard to get into, but it's clearly:
1. Stanford
2. Cal
3. UCLA/USC

I don't know if you are just omitting it because you were quoting the poster above you, but UC - Berkeley is generally considered the best public school in the nation.

"Cal" = UC Berkeley

Also up there in public school "rankings" but for different programs: UT-Austin, University of Michigan, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, UNC-Chapel Hill, UVA, Georgia Tech.

Cal = UC Berkeley. What people in California call it. I can see how that would be confusing if you're out of state / don't follow college football.

Duh, my brain made Cal into Cal Tech instead of Berkeley.

And this double talk is why incorrect information continues to be repeated as fact. A PS in an anniversary journal letter from her husband the President is not acceptance. You're a member you know what needs to be done to complete offer. Being offered the opportunity and actually going through with said opportunity are two different things.

That's not what it was. But I feel you.

Malia Obama Sends Acceptance Letter To Harvard

Bonus lulz in the comments: all the people who think that this is an attempted “fake” rather than satire. And extra-special bonus lulz- the one person who apparently thinks it’s real.

So my original question still stands: how would politics dictate a sorority choice when neither of her parents is involved with the NPHC world?

It's likely a moot point but I still would be interested in hearing how that works.

My shameless plug is for my alma maters, both of which she visited.

It most likely wouldn't. NPHC choices are often "felt" and pursued for a variety of reasons -- a person's affinity for what they know of what the org stands for, familial association, or others factors I won't discuss here.

But it's not overtly political in most instances.

It's an actual letter, confirmed by Abraham Lincoln the Vampire Hunter.

So, this was a topic of much excitement:

http://m.usmagazine.com/celebrity-ne...photo-20151710

Since the Brown early decision deadline is November 1, maybe she came back for another visit?

No matter where she decides to go, it will really disrupt the school on all levels!

"IF" the joins a GLO it will also disrupt them. This is not really fair to all parties involved is it?

You are kidding, right?

Who knows?

Did it disrupt Yale, UT, or Kappa Alpha Theta when the Bush twins went to college and joined their legacy sorority? Did Chelsea Clinton irreparably damage Stanford?

The answer is no. Our schools and organizations have been around for at least a century in most cases. High-profile students have always attended and gone through recruitment. Brown just celebrated its 250th anniversary; Stanford's 125th is this weekend. Most of the NPC and NPHC groups have had their centennial celebrations.

Also, by the time that Malia starts college, her dad will only have a few months left in his presidency.

I think that everyone involved will be fine.

I think Tom's comments have to do with something other than the topic at hand.

Here's a good one that I don't ever recall having seen on GreekChat: the Chinese President (Xi Jinping's) daughter attended Harvard, under a pseudonym, with 24 hour bodyguards - and she was a member of a GLO. She has since graduated. The earth kept rotating. Harvard functioned just fine. So did the GLO.

Oh, I'm sure the comments (less comments than drunken ramblings) probably are related to something else.

I think we are both saying the same things--the children of past and current heads of states have gone through college and sorority recruitment just fine!

On a similar topic, didn't Madonna's and Eminem's daughters go to Michigan and Mich. State, respectively, this fall? Did any of them rush?

Would Malia still have a secret service detail after her dad's out of office? Can't remember if Chelsea or the Bush twins did.