A sensitive question
 

Hello to you all my name is Xquisite...Please do not confuse the X as having any representation of Chi for it does not.

I have come to this forum in search of an answer I have not recieved anywhere else. I am extremely interested in Chi Omega. I have been doing my research about this Fraternity as well as done some independent work on my own with the Fraternitys Philantrophy. I will be entering a new college in the Fall which has an active Chi Omega chapter and I was considering rushing. My concern is that I am a student of color, black to be exact, and I was wondering if that would have any barring on my inclusion. I am aware that there are no Chi Omegas, that I know of, who are black. I know no one wants to say anything derogatory about their Fraternity and I do not expect you to. Regardless of if my race has barring or not I will not change my good opinion of Chi Omega. There are many organizations where race is an issue and I would just like to know if this is one of them so that I may seek out other organizations to become a part of. An honest answer would be appreciated. Thank You

Quisite

Ok I see so many people are looking and not responding thanks alot...you represent your fraternity quite well

I know that at my alma mater, there was at least one, if not more, women of color in Chi Omega.

I think it just varies from chapter to chapter and to be honest, if you are truly interested, that interest will show through during recruitment. Your skin color should not be a detriment and I wouldn't take the lack of responses to mean anything.

Race has nothing to do with the NPC selection process. Every sorority at my school has chapters comprised of people of various backgrounds.

Hope that helps to answer your question.

Women of Color
 

Hi! Thanks for asking, because really that IS an interesting if not "sensitive" question. To tell you the truth, it is an issue one of my very best friends had to consider when she went through recruitment last fall (she is a woman of color too). Unfortunately my school is not very racially diverse, so she is the only African American in my sorority at the current time, but there have been in the past ladies of all colors who have chosen to go Chi O here in the past.

POINT: YES! We are very much welcome to everyone :)

I was working on a big project for summer classes else I would have responded sooner... I certainly do value your inquiry!

greek love,
april

Give them a little more time to respond ... lots of people can't check this site every day. Everyone on Greekchat can read this question, including people like myself who are not Chi Os and do not want to set ourselves up as representing the organization. Most questions get a lot of "reads" before they get a response.

Thank you very much for your responses....that was my only concern. I have yet to decide if I will rush Chi Omega but I am interested.
I appreciate your responses and I wont take the time of response into consideration...lol

Unfortunately, I work during the day, so I am not on the board 24/7 and couldn't respond sooner!!!

But to answer your question, race isn't an issue. In fact, in my chapter, we've had sisters that are Asian, African American, and Hispanic.
I hope this helps. :)

"To be lovable rather than popular" ~ that's an indirect quote from the Chi Omega symphony. And to be honest I believe we uphold it. In my chapter there were a few girls of different ethnic backgrounds and it never posed a problem for us. I didn't look at any of them differently and didn't consider them any less of an asset when choosing them to be my sister.

I firmly believe that it's about what is on the inside that counts. Unfortunately during Recruitment people get overlooked and things just don't happen for whatever reasons (recruitment is a tough process filled with quotas and snap bidding...etc.).

So, knowing a lot about Chi Omega does put your foot in the door. I know I would have been impressed with any woman that went through recruitment having already known my sorority's background.
But to be honest Chi Omega does look for a few specific things and grades and involvement are two of them. So get involved, and keep the grades up!

Best of luck and keep us posted for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hootie

i am a chi omega and a woman of color...i am bi-racial...half caucasian half west indian....my chapter has other women of color...i think one of the issues here is there are sororities especially for women of color thus a line was drawn but that doesnt mean that it can be crossed :)

:)

11

Hi,
I am so sorry for not responding sooner -

Please take a look at other Chi O sites- you will see in the pixs tons of women of other nationalities in the pixs! Just type in Chi Omega in the search engine and you will get all the chapters. You will see that everyone is a Chi Omega- in California, for example, a lot of the chapters are Asian.

If you go thru rush and want to be a Chi O- all we ask is that you have a 3.0 and ... just be yourself! You will be an asset to any sorority if you follow that train of thought!

Good luck! We are here for you!
Sue

I've never met a Chi O who wasn't sweet, welcoming, and gracious.

I don't think you'll have any problems.

Xquisite~Please don't be discouraged by the time it took to get responses. I know many of us on this board are quite busy. But to answer your question, race has no barring on rushing Chi Omega. I attend a very racially diverse university and my chapter is very diverse. Each woman, no matter how different on the outside, brings something amazing to our chapter from the inside! Good luck with your decisions on rush and keep us updated:D

My chapter-at American Univ-was very diverse. We had the whole racial spectrum in our chapter-and we welcomed them all!! Like my sisters have said before, during rush, your grades and extracurricular activities are important. But good luck to you!! What school are you planning to rush at?

ChiOJenn~ I didn't know you were an active with American U. We met some of their chapter at the Eleusinian Luncheon we had up here. They were out in full force, the entire chapter. Very classy ladies...We're trying to have a social with our chapters this coming semester. Be proud, they represent our fraternity quite well:D


__________________
CW

Just wanted to let you know... at my school only three of the NPC chapters had African American women in them (mainly because the African American population at my school was very small). Chi Omega was one of them though.

I was asked that same question last semester from a girl who was thinking of rushing and it caught me off guard actually.I told her that it didn't matter...what does color have to do with the person who I enjoy their company and get along with. In high school I was with every crowd and it's b/c I love the differences in each and learning from eachother was the best benefit in my life. I am soo open-minded about other ethnicities, and that is with every Greek sorority.

I have sooo many friends who are minorities and being a minority(I am Puerto Rican) I see where you are comming from and unfortunatly we have only one african-american who happens to be my Grand-Lil and I love her dearly.I rushed her last spring and I knew this girl would bring something to our chapter.My sisters instantly fell in love with her and of course she is a sister now.

I do notice though that very very lil african -americans go through formal rush.I think it is concerns that you have,are concerns of other girls who don't want to take the chance of maybe getting rejected. It is sad that some ppl think that way and being the person I am. Heck I am going to go up to a girl with a good head on her shoulders,independent and someone with a great sense of humor.I know the same of my Chi-O sisters and other chapters around the country, who look for the same.

I wish you much luck with rush and just be yourself and the person you are and either way there should be no color issue.Sorry for the Novel.I get carried away,lol.

My chapter has quite a few girls with ethnically diverse backgrounds. Of 40 girls, I'd say about 15 are non-white. Most of the non-white girls are Asian since I live in California. Even though my chapter isn't bad in terms of diversity, I'd like to see more of it. Unfortunately, not that many Latina or Black girls go though rush at my school so their populations in our chapters are small.

Officially, Chi Omega does have a policy on this... "A potential member will recieve consideration without discrimination because of race, creed, color, age, national origin, disability or handicap."
(I got that from the RIF form, in case yall are wondering.)

There is also a bylaw in the constitution that prohibits any discrimination within a chapter. I don't remember the exact wording.

I hope that helps you! Good luck with rush!

In my experience, race has had no influence in my chapter's decision. My chapter is as diverse as any I have seen. I am Asian (Korean) and there are other Asians in my house as well as women of Indian (from India) descent and a recent alum who was Persian. There are no African Americans in my particular chapter at the moment in large part because there are two very active African American sororities on campus. The diversity varies from chapter to chapter but I know that Chi Omega does not discriminate based on color. I am sure that you will impress the Chi Os with your enthusiasm thoughtfulness. As previously stated, Grades and extra curricular activities are the most important factors not race. I am sure you will do fine. Good luck and keep us updated.

Just to add also,we have a good majority of hispanic women in our chapter.Our president actuallyis from spanish decent.We also have asians,a girl who is persian and a girl who practices the Judiasm.I am positive this fall we will get some more diverse girls comming through and I am very excitd.