Colonies and intiation
 

Do NPC/NPHC organizations initiate colony members, or does that not occur until a colony is granted a charter, becoming a chapter? I've heard about colonies that never became chapters, and I'm curious if these colony members were still initiated.

Thanks!

Depends on the sorority, of course, but in our case the initiation and charter happen together. If for some (very rare) reason a colony does not become a chapter, the members are released from their pledge and may join other NPC sororities because they were never initiated.
I can only speak for our organization. I can't tell you about others.

Ditto.

I was just talking about this last week!

NPHC organizations typically don't have colonies (at least not anymore). We get permission to organize from the school, the local graduate/alumni/ae chapter may (or may not) have a few public evens to get to know prospective members, an official rush/smoker/informational is held, and the selection process continues like it would for any regular chapter intake. The only difference is that the local alumni/ae are implementing it.

When they are initiated, the chapter is chartered.

Another Ditto.

We had a colonization about 3 years ago that never took off. The other NPC colony who tried before also failed, and the one afterwards, too.

I would hazard to guess that all NPC sororities are the same or very similar. Since we have the same rule about not joining another NPC sorority, it would be pretty douchy of us to initiate before they're made a chapter since the vast majority of NPC sorority women associate membership only with the college experience.

Same for us.

I believe (almost 100% sure) at least one NPC has had colonies that go on for several years, and members are initiated during those years before the charter is granted.

Wow. What school was that? Tough campus for Greek life.

Some schools are like that. A similar thing happened at Clayton State University in Atlanta a few years ago. ASA and Theta Phi Alpha both had colonies there. Theta Phi Alpha chartered, but the chapter closed a couple of years later. The ASA colony never chartered, but I feel like I read somewhere that the women were given the option of being initiated at a different chapter if they chose. The school is a commuter campus with many non-traditional students. NPHC greek life is very strong on campus, but NIC and NPC groups have never really taken hold.

I think I'm thinking the same think you're thinking. ;)

We have some wonderful alumnae in the Atlanta area that really tried with Clayton - as in if anyone could get it cooking they could - but the interest simply wasn't there.

You're not wrong. AEPhi initiates new members when they complete their NM requirements. I was a member of a local sorority that became an AEPhi chapter, but we did not have enough members to be chartered immediately. Although we were a colony, we were still initiated. We then recruited enough NMs to be chartered, and when they were initiated, the chapter was chartered.

Ditto to everyone. Alpha Sigma Tau initiates and charters in the same first semester.

It wasn't always that way though, But has been standard practice for the past 5 years and 10 colonizations.

You busted me. :) Yes it was AEPhi to which I was referring. I also wonder about Theta Phi Alpha. I don't know what they do, but they seem to have a lot of hold-over colonies. It seems unfair if they didn't initiate women during that time.

I can't speak for TPA, but I know back when Noah was building the ark and I was pledging, we stopped labeling the colonies with what would be the next chapter name because some weren't coming to fruition and we didn't want to have a gap. At a lot of smaller schools, it takes more time to see if the colony - or Greek life as a whole - is going to pan out, and better to not install and the members not initiate rather than to have them hanging on by their fingernails their whole college career. That's my personal opinion, anyway.

If there are colony members who still want to initiate, then I'm sure they can do so as an AI.

As far as AEPhi is concerned, I think it's probably a little different because many of their colonies specifically want a historically Jewish sorority.

- LOL @ "when Noah was building the ark" - I don't think the greek system has been around quite that long :p

- AEPhi doesn't give Greek-letter chapter designations until the chapter is chartered (unless, of course, it's a recolonization, in which case the chapter gets its original designation back). My initiation certificate reads "MIT Colony" where a chapter designation would go.

- Your point about AEPhi initiating colony members is probably correct. An up side is that, even if the colony is never chartered, its members can enjoy all the privileges of alumnae, such as their sisters/daughters/granddaughters being considered legacies.

OPA does the chartering and member initiation in one ceremony, too. Since the chartering part comes first, we technically have a new chapter with zero members... for a few minutes.
:)

Alpha Phi Omega.
 

(Noting that APO, GSS and OPA are not NPC/NPHC)...

I've seen charterings where the initiation is 2 in the afternoon and the actual charter presentation is after an evening banquet at say 7:30 or 8.

We did have a "lost chapter" name. Even though the chapter name is assigned by the National Office *after* the National Board has decided to grant the charter, Phi Omicron chapter at Ferrum College went wierd.

When an extension effort in the late 1990s started at Ferrum, it was noted that there had previously been a chapter there: Phi Omicron. However the more that the poeple at rechartering effort investigated, the more confused they got. Eventually they discovered that even though the board had granted the charter, the chapter had never had actually had the chartering ceremony.

So the National Fraternity changed things so that when the group was ready, they *chartered* rather than *rechartered*. The 2001 group got the charter with their names on it rather than a charter with the 1970 group names on it and a rechartering document with the 2001 group's names.

They did track down some of the 1970s group and make them honorary members, I believe...