Sororities for adults
 

Not that we aren't adults here in the NPC, but I don't know what else to call orgs like Tri-Kappa and Beta Sigma Phi.

How many sororities are there for adult women, and where are they prevalent?

Beta Sigma Phi seems to be the biggest and nationwide. Tri-Kappa is Indiana-only. I can't remember the names of any more ... but I know they are more. Are they most prevalent in one part of the country? Because out here (West Coast) I've never heard of any except Beta Sigma Phi.

Is there any website that provides a comprehensive list of these orgs? Do they have an umbrella org? Does membership in one conflict with membership in an NPC/NPHC/NALFO org?

I realize these are a lot of questions ... if anyone can direct me to more info I'd appreciate it! (I'm not looking for membership myself, if anyone is wondering.)

Um, I don't think I could join an org. that was known as TriKappa (KKK)???

There is a reason they go by Tri-Kappa rather than KKK ... ;)

Here's what I've found out thus far:

Beta Sigma Phi is the biggest and most nationally well-known of the sororities for adult women. It was founded by a man in 1931 and has chapters in every US state and Canadian province plus some overseas. It is non-secret. It is notable for having "levels" of membership one works up to.

Tri-Kappa (Kappa Kappa Kappa) is found only within the state of Indiana. It was founded in 1901 as a high school sorority but is now for adults. It has 148 active chapters. Don't call it KKK for short.

Epsilon Sigma Alpha was founded in 1929 and has about 1000 chapters today, including some on college campuses. Membership appears to be open (ie, not by invitation) to all women, and the organization seems to be all over the U.S.

Psi Iota Xi was also founded in Indiana - by a groups of schoolteachers and their students in 1897. Today it has approximately 150 chapters in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois and Tennessee.

Phi Beta Psi was founded in Ohio in 1904. It currently has 2,082 members in chapters in 14 states. Alpha Phi members will REALLY want to check out their site at www.phibetapsi.org.

Is this for real??? Those are Alpha Phis pictured on their website -- and I've only looked at the first page -- I know three of those women. Not to mention that it's practically a total copy of www.alphaphi.org -- what's going on with this?

OMG!! Is it live, or is it Memorex??!

PBP is a real organization, I know, because I've found references to it elsewhere, so it's not a hoax on A Phi. If they were so ignorant of copyright to think they could blatantly copy it, however, wouldn't they at least use their own photos?

Just playing Devil's advocate, but maybe they have the same web designer, who just made some mistake? :confused:

I've always heard BSPhi referred to as a "non-Panhellenic" or "non-collegiate" sorority, which might be a little elitist on our part.

There are chapters of Tri-Kappa and Psi Iota Xi in my town. I got a scholarship from Psi-otes my senior year of HS.

:eek: :confused: :eek:

On their home page, they descibe themselves as, "Beta Sigma Phi International is a non-academic sorority with 200,000 members in chapters around the world." So I don't think it's a label we stuck onto them. It's "non-collegiate," I think, because when the average person thinks of a sorority, they think of college, not adult women, so they need to distinguish themselves. BSP does not care if a members went to college or not, and most members are not currently college women (there are exceptions). "Non-Panhellenic" is a little less useful, because that also describes the sororities of the NPHC, the MCGLOs, and the locals ... which are all "collegiate."

But if I any member of BSP tells me that they don't like "non-collegiate" or "non-academic," I'll drop the term like a hot potato.

There is a Thread known as LLL on this thread! Do That Sound Familiar?

Revenge Of the Nerds?

I cannot call the Tri Sigs, Tri sigs any more as there is a lesbian Soroity by that name so they are now Tri Sigmas!

!!!!! Damn, What do I an Oldster call Ya All?;)

Order of the Eastern Star. Order of the Eastern Temple, or Ordo Templi Orientis, is co-ed.

Re: Sororities for adults
 

Not that we aren't adults here in the NPC, but I don't know what else to call orgs like Tri-Kappa and Beta Sigma Phi.

I think the word you are looking for is "Non-Collegiate Women"?

How many sororities are there for adult women, and where are they prevalent?

Fuzzie,
There is Tri Psi, which is a sorority for any mother of a Tri Delta .
http://www.tridelta.org/parents/tripsi.htm

Thanks for the info, guys. To clarify: I'm only looking at groups that describe themselves as sororities and are not affiliated with any other group. This means no groups where you have to be related to a member of any other organization, whether by blood or by marriage, or any fraternal organization that is not a sorority. I'm also not looking at groups that aren't general, such as sororities for teachers, military women, etc.

OTO then unless you want just women. Sexist!

Beta Sigma Phi does have collegiate chapters...here is an example of one at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan.

http://www2.kettering.edu/~betasigb/

I know a lot of these girls and they are awesome! They participate in all Greek functions, they belong to the local Panhel council on their campus, and I believe that they even hold Rush with the NPC sororities on campus.

I e-mailed Alpha Phi regarding that site..
 

And got this response today:

Hi Barbara,

Thank you so much for notifying us! We contacted our lawyer this morning to resolve this.

I appreciate your help,
Christine Spiegel
Program Manager-Marketing & Communications
Alpha Phi International

Would examples of fraternities/sororities for adults include freemasonry and organizations such as the Knights of Columbus?

They are fraternal organizations, as are fraternities are sororites ... it's like they're all rectangles, and squares are a subset of that, squares being fraternities and sororities. OK, bad metaphor.

All fraternal organizations have *most* of the following characteristics, although individual orgs may not have them all:
1) Selective membership (voted on by current membership)
2) Secrets
3) A social purpose
4) A philanthropic cause
5) Local chapters, groups, aeries, etc. within a larger organization
6) Frequently single-sex

From there, you can break fraternal orgs down into other types:

Obviously, college fraternities are those where the vast majority of membership induction takes place in college, and where membership after college is generally only open to those with degrees. (NPHC groups rely less heavily on college induction.) Induction is different for collegiates vs. graduates.

Fraternities, whether collegiate or not, tend to have the following characteristics - and of course there are exceptions here too:
1) Greek-letter names
2) Badge, flower, crest, pin
3) They call themselves a fraternity or sorority
4) Few auxillery groups attached to them
5) Membership generally limited to one of a type. IE, you can join one NPC group, and I *think* it would be looked on funny if you wanted to join, say, Tri-Kappa AND Psi-Ote.

Benevolent orgs are those that in addition to providing social benefits for their members frequently provide pensions, insurance for the family, etc. Many of these started off being for a particular career - the Eagles were founded right here in Seattle by men of the theater. The Foresters, for example, aren't necessarily all foresters today. These groups are generally men-only and have a ladies' auxillery.

Fraternal orgs that claim a long and illustrious history, such as the Masons and KoC. Their origins are disputed, but they developed separately from the fraternity movement, which if anything borrowed from them. These groups have more auxilleries that anything else - if you ever want to confuse yourself, try to memorize all the degrees of Masonry plus all the auxilleries. Your head will spin with the effort.

Then there are groups that don't really fit into any catergory - Junior League is strongly service oriented but is very socially important in certain regions. Rotary is straightforwardly business. Then there are ethnic heritage groups (Sons of Norway) and orgs like DAR where lineage is important. Then there are the various veterans orgs, which are a category of their own.

---

Now that I've bored everyone silly, I'm going to shut up and go see the doctor!

Re: I e-mailed Alpha Phi regarding that site..
 

Barb your email must have prompted them to take action b/c i checked the www.phibetapsi.org webpage today and it is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

I think there is another "adult" sorority out there. There is a chapter in my hometown, and when I go home this weekend, I'll check it out. I believe it has a Lambda in it..... hmmmm...

Just an update for the A Phis out there ... I checked Phi Beta Psi's website and it has been totally redesigned, and under "What's New," it says, "10.01.02 Version 2.0 of PhiBetaPsi.org goes Live!"

Lots of women in P.E.O.

I thought I'd bump this because it seeems we have a lot of PNAMs and non-traditional PNMs here who might be interested.

(I posted this to the "History of Sororities" thread several days ago. It is relevant here.)

To add to this is the P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded in 1869 at Iowa Wesleyan College.

Of its seven founders, some had been asked to join the I.C. Sorosis at IWC but some had not. They wanted to stay together so they founded "a society of [their] own." P.E.O. chose to retain English letters and to become a community, rather than a collegiate, organization in the early 1900's. Chapter Original A at IWC is Alpha Xi Delta; the I.C. chapter (Pi Phi for lo these many years--Iowa Alpha?) is still there.

P.E.O. is larger than any one NPC group in terms of initiated members and chapters. Probably also larger in terms of assets in the charitable foundation which funds P.E.O.'s projects. Many, many NPC members are also P.E.O.s. (www.peointernational.org will tell you more.)

AGDAlum (who is also a P.E.O.)

Just a little hint. You can get some info if you substitute the term "sisterhood" for sorority in your quest.

Remove the "." after org and it will work.

www.phibetapsi.org

P.E.O.
 

How does one find out about joining P.E.O.?
Silver

Here's another one to add to the list.

Sigma Phi Gamma - http://www.sigmaphigamma.org

Yikes! And they're in Indiana, too!
From the website you certainly can't tell very much--"call anyone in Alpha chapter" but no contact info is given!

Re: P.E.O.
 

I think that P.E.O. is an awesome organization nationally! I love that they own a college for women. www.cottey.edu

I don't know how it works in other areas but in my town, they hold an interest tea. You have to be known by at least one member before you receive an invitation. After that, you have to attend two more "open" events before receiving an invitation to join. P.E.O. here is a closed group. Someone that I know in it said that they have not invited a new member to join in two years.

Edited because I can't spell.

Bump
 

I just wanted to bump this thread in case there are any ladies out there interested in joining a sorority like BSPhi, ESA, Psi Iota Xi, Delta Tau Delta, or P.E.O.

That's too bad, because I'd be interested in PEO, too.

PM AGDAlum! She's in P.E.O.!

I would love to know more about PEO too ;)

PLEASE, PLEASE, DO NOT let my experience deter anyone from researching P.E.O. It was just with one chapter out of thousands! www.peointernational.org Good luck!

AGDAlum's mailbox is full. :(

I'm in PEO too. I think many chapters handle their recruitment in different ways.

We have two chapters here and are starting another. It is possibly the nicest group of women I have had the privilege to know.
The ladies in our chapters take the meaning of sisterhood more seriously than any group I've ever associated with-PERIOD.

If you have an interest, (AND ADGAlum doesn't CLEAR HER BOX!;) ) I would suggest you QUIETLY inquire around. Volunteering and church events are good places to start. You really never know who is in the sisterhood, it could be your friend's grandmother, aunt or sister-in-law.

Just like a sorority, most organization like PEO have ideals they were founded on and adhere to. The main difference is, we do not have a quota to meet.

What is the Signicance of P. O. E. ?? Is it just letters only. Checked the web site and showed no full name per se.

Am Familiar with Cottey College, as just North of Lamar Mo. in Nevada, Mo.