Latino Greek Letter Organizations
 

I'm interested in learning more about the Latino Fraternities and Sororities. Could some of you that have joined share your experiences, as well as, chapter and national websites?

I'd be glad to help. What exactly are you looking for? :)

Just wanted to know how your organization is received by other organizations at your school. I attend a Historically Black University and we don't have any other Greek Letter Organizations other than the Divine Nine here.

I just wanted to know about your experience with it since you've crossed.

Hope ya'll don't mind
 

I was past president of my university's Multicultural Greek Council (we had 15 chapters) and we had the following LGLO's: Alpha Psi Lambda, Lambda Upsilon Lambda, Gamma Phi Omega, Sigma Lambda Beta, Sigma Lambda Gamma and Tau Phi Sigma. I personally enjoyed getting to learn about the history and traditions of each organization. However, there were times of tension between organizations because of calls, hand signs, etc. for example, Gamma Phi Omega's handsign is the same as Iota Phi Theta. And Sigma Lambda Gamma's call sounds ridiculously close to the Delta call. Btt my chapter sponsored programs with A-Psi and the Betas and they were great experiences!:D

At my school, we are the only latino co-ed fraternity and there are 2 latino fraternities and 2 latina sororities. (as far as i remember) We sorta got along with the other latino orgs. We got along perfectly fine with the other non-latino greeks. but there was definitely tension with the latino orgs (mostly the sororities). we tried to be nice to everyone when we first started on campus but for some reason we couldn't play together. :confused:
My process was a blast. I pledged with a line of 7. 5 girls 2 guys and since we founded, we have grown to 24. My undergrad greek years were some of the best in my life and the fun doesnt end. I am still very active as an alum since my husband (also a member) is still in school so I still go to chapter meetings, rituals and all that good stuff.

Interesting. So when your undergrad chapter takes over a line they have one of the founders right there involved with their process.

That must be nice....to forever be a part of history.

I am a founder of my chapter, and I've been a sister for over 7 years. The entire process from initial interest to active membership to alumna membership has been a great learning process for me, and has shaped who I am in many ways.

We had problems with some of the Latino student organizations on our campus for a while. Many of their members felt that we should not have started a Latina sorority on our campus because of past incidents with IFC and NPC chapters and members of the Chicano/Latino community - in particular, official fraternity songbooks that were exposed to have degrading lyrics about Mexican women, and a couple of "Mexican Fiestas" in which participants had to come in dirty old clothing and literally crawl under a fence in the mud to get in the party after someone sprayed down their backs with water hoses (you can probably figure out what that was supposed to symbolize).

Every now and again someone who is against LGLOs will stir things up and my actives will have to just take it in stride. We were the first LGLO on our campus, but now there are several, as well as some MCGLOs. It's nice to see that students have a variety of options to chose from if they want to go LGLO.

*Applauds*

Latino Greeks...

I was wondering...can a Latino Greek Organization be also MultiCultural?
I don't know if I'm saying that right. But I have some friends who are XYZ's, it's multicultural nationally, but all the members I have met are Latina, they do a lot of Latin activities as well, like most of their community service is done with Latin interest in mind, geesh I think I'm saying that wrong.
Anywhoodolini, Can they be in two councils? I know a couple of Greek orgs are.

I know out here in CA, Gamma Zeta Alpha, Nu Alpha Kappa, and Sigma Lambda Beta are big. Go to www.collegiatecircuit.com It's a Latino based collegiate website and there's a BUNCH of Greeks on there. In their profile's they may mention stuff about their orgs, or have links to thier orgs. It's a good place to find out about them. I have a bunch of friends in Latino based frats, they're cool peoples. :)

Hi Deuika!

There are some organizations who state that they are multicultural but nearly the entire membership is Latina/o. Not being a member of a MCGLO but rather LGLO, I'm not really sure why that is, but I've often pondered this question, myself. Personally, I don't think a MCGLO should also claim to be an LGLO (although I know of some whose members do on an individual basis when it suits them) or vice-versa. They are two totally different things. Regarding councils, if you are MCGLO you cannot be part of NALFO, but on some campuses they lump all non IFC-NPC or NPHC orgs. into the "Multicultural Greek Council."

I am a member of Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, Inc., a Latina-based sorority founded in 1990 in NY. I crossed at our Chi chapter, University of Maryland, College Park in Spring 99. I am currenty an active member of our Gamma Alpha chapter, the DC area graduate/professional chapter.

To answer your question, Laidbackfella, I have had a great experience since I crossed. When I crossed, we had the following Greeks on campus:

LGLOs:
Lambda Theta Alpha (Sorority)
Lambda Upsilon Lambda (Fraternity)

BGLOs:
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Kappa Alpha Psi
Delta Sigma Theta
Phi Beta Sigma
Zeta Phi Beta
Sigma Gamma Rho
Iota Phi Theta

My chapter was founded at UMCP in Spring of 1997, and overall we have been received quite well by other Greeks on campus from the beginning. We have held events and programs with the other LGLOs on campus (of course), and we have also held events with almost all the BGLOs as well, including community services, programs, parties, step/stroll shows, etc.
Other than programming, a lot of my chapter sisters (including myself) were friends with a lot of people in the BGLOs (both before and after we/they crossed), so it was pretty easy to have good relationships.

Overall, I think a lot of members of BGLOs are very accepting, welcoming, and friendly to LGLOs (in my experience). I think there is an element of friendly competition (or not so friendly if you are dealing with the wrong people) at times between LGLOs (which is natural), just like there is between BGLOs. However, the element of competition is not really there between a BGLO and an LGLO, I guess because we appeal to different people and reach out to different audiences. So I think the lack of "friendly competition" makes it easy to have really good relationships with each other.

I hope this helps, and if you have more questions please feel free to ask. :)

Anyone have new thoughts? Or just old arguments...
 

Revisiting this thread after a while...

There seem to be a number of definitions of multicultural.

1) Organizations devoted primarily to one culture do have members of and welcome the inclusion of different cultures and sub-cultures (i.e. a Latina sorority with members from various Latin cultures as well as non-Latina women). So, these orgs are still Latina/Black/Asian, etc but they make a point to be inclusive and supportive of all.

-Example: Sigma Lambda Gamma

*Specific culture; multicultural membership

2) Organizations that began either as a group devoted to one culture or as a group that did not specify any specific culture (but were not specifically bringing attention to cultural issues.) Perhaps a more recent push to diversify has been incorporated and members are excited to bring in members with different backgrounds and experiences.

-Example: most NPC sororities

*Not originally intended to be specifically multicultural; current diverse membership

3) Organizations founded on multiculturalism. Specific chapters are often representative of cultures in the particular region. Programs are designed to bring education and sensitivity to the understanding of any number of cultures.

-Example: Theta Nu Xi, Zeta Sigma Chi

*Originally and intended to be multicultural


Thoughts? Are there more categories? How would an organization like Mu Sigma Upsilon** be best defined?

**MSU is the "first multicultural sorority in the nation" but they are bound to a Latino fraternity.

And, think about an organization like Phi Beta Sigma that is very diverse. PBS is certainly still considered a BGLO.

This all is why I really think we should be careful to say "historically" or "predominantly."

Re: Anyone have new thoughts? Or just old arguments...
 

preciousjeni,

I agree that people seem to have varying definitions of what a "multicultural" sorority is and is supposed to be. In my experience, I've seen organizations define themselves as multicultural when they fall under your definition (which I agree with) of a cultural organization with multicultural membership. Personally, I don't care what people define themselves as, as long as they are up front with pnms about who they are. I have met more than one person who thought a organization was multicultural in the way your sorority and mine define it, but they actually were culturally based with a multicultural membership.

Sororities like MSU are confusing because they are bound to a Latino frat and they use a lot of spanish language references. I don't understand how an organization where the name is written in Greek and Spanish and line names, nicknames, ect are all in Spanish, can be classified as multicultural, because to me, it doesn't seem to invite everyone, just people who speak Spanish. I think that the idea of culturally based, multicultural membership would apply to that organization..or maybe they are historically multicultural??:confused:

I've done A LOT (and I mean A LOT) of research on multicultural sororities. I've tracked down people and info and talked directly to various national officers. Of the 40+ multicultural sororities, there are very few nationals.

I consider local to be one chapter, regional to be more than one chapter in an area, a state or a region, and national to be more than one chapter in more than one region.

Based on these definitions, here they are in order of founding:

Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: November 21, 1981
*Appears to be predominantly Latina

Lambda Tau Omega Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: 1988
*Appears to be predominantly Latina

Eta Omega Tau Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: April 24, 1990
*Predominantly Latina - confirmed

Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: March 3, 1991
*Multicultural - confirmed by rocketgirl

Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: April 20th, 1994
*Appears to be multicultural

Lambda Psi Delta Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: March 9, 1997
*This organization is rather cryptic, but the founders appear to be predominantly Latina.

Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: April 11, 1997
*Multicultural - confirmed

Delta Xi Nu Multicultural Sorority
Founding Date: October 7, 1997
*Appears to be multicultural

Delta Gamma Pi Multicultural Sorority
Founding Date: November 11, 1998
*Appears to be multicultural

Zeta Chi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: January 30, 2003
*Appears to be multicultural

Omicron Lambda Pi
Founding Date: April 13, 2003
*This organization is rather cryptic, but the organization has very early ties to a BGLO.

From all appearances, it would seem that of the national multicultural sororities, those that have very apparent MC foundations are (eldest to youngest):

1) Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. (1991)
2) Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. (1994)
3) Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. (1997)
4) Delta Xi Nu Multicultural Sorority (1997)
5) Delta Gamma Pi Multicultural Sorority (1998)
6) Zeta Chi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. (2003)

What do you think, rocketgirl?

I'm not in a Latina sorority but I do know that Kappa Delta Chi is a Latina sorority that we have on campus. They are really nice girls and we have had a couple of socials with them.

Based upon what I've seen those seem to be it. I don't know what you are using to confirm, but I definately can confirm that we are a multicultural org, with a multicultural focus and multicultural membership....check the website...www.zetasigmachi.com:)

I do wonder why almost every one on the list is not really multicultural is actually Latina...interesting...

I think it's interesting how many local/regional multicultural sororities there are. If you do a websearch on locals there seem to be over 50. I know I've always wondered why it seems that people are starting brand new sororities instead of joining one of the many established organizations. I understand that everyone wants a different focus, but from what I can tell, the 5 you have listed as national all seem to have a slightly different spin on things.

That leads to my next question...what do you think the future is for multicultural sororities. Obviously we all are expanding every year to new schools, but do you think that there will ever be a strong multicultural council with bonds like NPHC or NPC? I think it would be great, but, it doesn't seem like anything in the immediate future. I think that would help with a national understanding for who we are and what we stand for, instead of the confusion, especially with groups that seem to not fall under the definition of a multicultural sorority.

I know ALL about y'all! Much love to ya! The only two orgs I, personally, can confirm are HWT and QNX. Now that you have solidly confirmed your org, I'll note that in the other post.

Indeed. I love to see new organizations flourish, but I'm afraid that many new multicultural orgs are fizzling out as soon as they start. The founders get fired up but they don't seem to be able to bring new blood in at a good rate.

I would LOVE to hear people's ideas on the future of mc orgs. Honestly, the two most established councils (NMGC and NAGC) for mc orgs do not, in my opinion, serve the needs of these organizations appropriately.

I also believe that, since mc sororities and fraternities don't really have a common foundational bond, we should be focusing on separate - but mutually supportive - councils for fraternities and sororities. I'd like to see the founding of a National Multicultural Sorority Council (NMSC) but of the national sororities I listed DXF is already NMGC and ZCF is NAGC.

That leaves ZSC, DGP and QNX.

To be honest, I would be happy to see these three sororities involved in national governing body. However, I'd prefer to see a "conference" with agreements that we promise to follow rather than a "council" that makes laws for our orgs. I think a conference would remain more sisterly.


ETA: NEWSFLASH! Delta Xi Nu seems to have broken out of its region and gone national!!

So that means that we have ZSC, DGP, QNX and DXN for a potential council.

Re: Latino Greek Letter Organizations
 

Hey, homie. I wanted to respond because I think you would find my particular experiance intrigueing, since I am African American who joined the largest Latino-based Multicultural Organization in the nation - Sigma Lambda Beta. The formalities - my chapter website -www.sigmalambdabeta.com/zetabeta and the national website is www.sigmalambdabeta.com.

Overall, my experiance has been great. I crossed a little over a year a go and in that first year I accomplished a ton of things. I went from revamping a chair position (campus involvement) and doing things with it that has never been to becoming a highly important chair (community service) and leading my chapter to having done the most community service in our council. I finally have arrived at being the second inline from the top (External Vice President), maybe, hopefully, the next president of my chapter. That is just fraternity-wise...On my council I have been one of the most outspoken members especially in dealings with the issue of expansion. At UF, our coucil seemed to have an air of eliteness that was unfounded and a couple of groups (Theta Nu Xi and Pi Delta Psi) had trouble getting on here - I spoke out for them when they couldn't speak for obvious reasons, but I take no credit for their arrival, it was all them. I am now the Executive Vice President of the council and I look the make the changes necessary. OK OK OK ENOUGH ABOUT THAT....THE PARTIES ARE BANANAS! And last but not least - self-improvement...my experiance has brought me to higher level. I am doing better in school (once the dust settle from my early months as brother, IT IS HARD FOR NEO, AM I LYING MY FELLOW GREEKS?) I am getting better physically, mentally, and spiritally. I wear my letters proud, but they did not make me. The made me better.

Like we say here at the Revolutionary Seta Beta Chapter at University of Florida....The true essence of a Beta man isn't perfection...but the desire to attain it.

BUT WE ALL SO SAY ( AND THIS IS FOR ALL GREEKS)....REP YOU SH!T OR GIVE IT BACK!!!!!!!!!!

that is hilarious...I guess it really is worldwide that sororities have the most problems everywhere! LOL LOL

Latina Alumna,


I had a question about your sorority. I used to date (and I still talk to a bunch of) LTAs...and I have heard a lot of distain from them about your sorority. I don't really care, but do want to know what you think about them or about the whole situation because this seems like stupid girl stuff. Let me know what the deal is...

I personally think that Latino orgs shouldn't rep the Multicultural banner just because they have a couple of non latino/as...
I think that you can have multicultural orgs that have culture specified chapters because of the region of the country or the compostion of the schools students.

At my Chapter of SLB, we are mostly latino but I got on board because of the multiculturalism that they said they were about...and once I got in I saw that it wasn't completely true...but then again it is hard to have mostly latino members and they have enough push to go out and do other things with other cultures...I pushed for this and as a chapter we have become much better and we are PROUD to be a multicultural organization, not only member wise but in thought and action.

I am a member of a Historically Latina Greek Letter Organization with Multicultural Membership. What does that mean? It means that we were founded by Latinas, for the advancement of Latinas and ALL WOMEN. Further explanation: We, as a nation, have members representing 107 different cultural backgrounds (this is lumping all Native Americans into one group, otherwise it is over 150) and encourage women of all cultural backgrounds to become members of our sisterhood, further, we were founded on 5 principles, one of them being Cultural Awareness, therefore, we do promote not only the Latina culture, but multiculturalism and awareness and action on the part of all cultures.

To address the original question, what has my experience as a member of a LGLO been like?
As a member who has just completed her "Neo Period" (first year), I have seen a lot. My experience within my organization has been wonderful, and I have truly seen it stand up to all of the things I expected and exceed those expectations time and again. We interact with the BGLOs on our campus for many reasons, mostly because we relate to them best, being the only Latina (or mulicultural) sorority on our campus, we relate better to the NPHC orgs than the NPC ones. There has been some friction from time to time, because of the differences chapter size, D - G relations (the call thing, mostly) and other factors, but we are, for the majority, well accepted. Due to recent developments, we may have a change in relations coming, but only time will tell. For now, we enjoy and look forward to continuing to work with our local NPHC.

PREACH ON SISTA, PREACH....Honestly, multicultural breaks down....there many Hispanic cultures, black cultures, asian cultures...In that sense...EVERY SINGLE ORGANIZATION WITH A CULTURAL BACKGROUND is multicultural, unless your membership is of all mexicans or colombians...or all haitians or jamacians...or all chinesee or korean. We should take this into consideration...

Hi wrussell.

Could you elaborate on what you meant by "everyone with a cultural background." Wouldn't that mean everyone?

Thanks,

P.I.

This is exactly what I was talking about! :) I think for people who aren't part of the multicultural Greek phenomenon, it's hard to understand...going back to my previous post

Would you say that your organization falls under the first definition? (I feel like we should have a special website to refer people to when they don't realize that there ARE varying definitions.)

I was talking about organizations. Organizations that are culturally based...latina based, asian based, and so on...

First I want to say what an honor it is to talk to you jeni because I have read alot of your posts and I agree on so many levels and yes my org does fit into the first one. I think the issue is when you say you are multicultural...you have to prove it. Especially those of the first def, if you are going to say "we are a multicultural org" then act the part. I believe that SLB and SLG (because I know first hand) are organizations doing that.

I think what I meant to point out is that some orgs focus on certain cultures and aim relatively exclusively on a certain one in their events, community service, membership, etc...and others are started with multiculturalism and multiculturalism awareness both as a core value and aim.

I guess my question is-you said your org. is primarily latino based, and that since you joined, your chapter has become more multicultural focused (correct me if I'm incorrect). Is this the same throughout the country, or would you say only certain chapters? Do you believe that as your org. grows, it will eventually change from Latino Based and Multicultural to simply Multicultural?

Just curious, because we do have a chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta at my school, and although there are several members from various backgrounds, it is still primarily Hispanic.

By the way, I think I met one of your chapter brothers a few months ago, Cesar.

I enjoy the dialogue!! I think we're getting somewhere in this thread. My soror posed a question that I too have been pondering:

wrussell, I appreciate the way you've handled yourself in here!

First, I agree with you first statment, but I don't believe my chapter operates this way. The more we do for one culture, we should feel obligated to do the same for the next culture. I think we are the only organization to table at every single cultural student assembly here at UF during the Weeks fo Welcome for the freshman.

Second, I can't truely speak for other chapters, but I feel that our intention is to reach out for all cultures but wheter we are following through I would bring into question. I don't think my organization will leave the latino-based title because 16 of our 18 founders are latinos so I feel that we will continue to have the latino-based multicultural title, but I think we just need to make the moves to live up to it.

LOL Cesar is my pops (or big, not sure how you guys do it, but he is in my family tree). He got me to join this org. He is a great guy, doing big things.

Thank you I appriecate that comming from such a knowledge able source.

Re: Not an LTA.
 

I KNOW THAT! LOL. That is why am asking you how you feel about the LTAs and if you get the same feeling of Distain from them out there on the westcoast? I am just wondering.

Re: Re: Not an LTA.
 

Sorry, I misread your post. LOL.

I've been a member of my organization for almost 9 years. I've been an alumna for the last 7 years. I have nothing but respect for the Lambda Theta Alphas, Sigma Lambda Gammas, Kappa Delta Chis, and all of the other Latina sororities who are out there improving things for women and for the community. Latina sororities all over the country are making progress and making a positive difference. I'm proud to be part of this. I've met several Lambda Theta Alpha sisters over the years, and they were all outstanding people.

One thing that being a member of an LGLO has taught me is that it is not about the letters that we wear, but the people who we serve. :)

Re: Re: Re: Not an LTA.
 

I can do nothing but applaud. It is nice to hear something good versus the stupid bickering. I appriecate your honesty and commitment to the betterment of society. Thanks.

to both wrussel &preciousjeni ~
i'm so glad to see intelligent and coherent conversation being posted about a subject which could (and has in some instances) become contorversial and/or a nasty fight. its important to include all of the things which have been discussed into the consideration when figuring out what to call an organization. ultimately, you can't stop an org from calling itself whatever, but you can be aware of how they fit their own given label and what other labels they might fit under instead/as well. my organization in particular has been very careful about what we call ourselves, we weren't founded as a multicultural organization, but we have grown to be one which does concern ourselves with multicultural issues, and have multicultural membership, something that happened in the very very very early days of the org. while i do look around at my chapter and the nearest chapter to us and see primary membership as latina in the past, the current trend is becoming more and more mixed members. other chapters are predominantly black, asian, or white, the chapters are generally a reflection of the women on the chapter's particular campus. depending on the area, the size of the campus, the cultural makeup of the campus, and the number and types of the glos available on the campus, each chapter of any organization is going to have a unique composition and will reflect the region and of course, the membership interest, recruitment success, and quality of the ladies in the potential member pool. speaking for my own chapter, we have only 4 ladies who do not identify as latina in some way, but regardless of their choice of self identification, Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Inc. and Gamma Chapter of aforementioned organization accepts these ladies as full and respected members of our sisterhood because of the founding principles and the strong bond of our organization. multiculturalism is not just a cause, it is a reality, and a lot of people have yet to learn that.

wow go to work and i seem to miss a whole conversation. anyway i just wanted to give applause to audaz and wrussell for your responses. it is definately great that there is an intelligent convo going on instead of arguing.

i do have a question...for any and everybody, for the organizations that recongize that their membership has become more multicultural, are you changing your programming to reflect this or no? just wondering because it seemed that the latina/o orgs at my alma matter have become more multicultural, but the programming never changed. Is that a direction that you think more orgs will go towards over time?

Re: Latino Greek Letter Organizations
 

I don't mean to be rude, or negative, but if y'all don't mind, I rather give a more negative aspect of Latino/a Fraternities and Sororities, just so y'all see the "other side."



This past fall, I rushed a Latina Sorority. During rush, the women were cool, really down to earth, strong women. I decided to pledge this sorority. There was only one other girl who signed a bid for this particular sorority during rush, but during an informational meeting, 2 other girls signed up. Throughout all this, the sorority ladies stayed cool. They talked with me, they were just awesome.

Once our "process" (or whatever you would call it) started, the cool, sweet, down to earth ladies made a complete 180. This ladies became heartless, rude and demeaning. Out of us 4 girls that were pledging, 3 were Mexican and 1 was African-American. Although these ladies from the sorority said they had sisters of all nationalities throughout the nation, their actions in this specific chapter showed that they really didn't want my African-American friend. They treated her differently, constantly complaining about the way she did things, or the way she pronounced Spanish words.

This women, during our process, started to belittle us. As we walked pass them at school, they whisper about us, give us dirty looks, and during our "meetings" they would yell.

Finally, 3 of the 4 girls left (the only one who stayed was my African-American friend). Now, if we just even walk past us, they call us names. They have a reputation of being rude, snobbish, a little too overconfident when they shouldn't be, etc...its no wonder their numbers are so low.

I have talked to my American American Friend and the belittling continues, she still hasn't become a member of the sorority (and our process started around Halloween). The more she tells me about what is happening to her, the more i'm realizing that what they did to us could be considered Hazing. So i'm now i'm trying to get in contact with our Greek Life Advisor about this.


Note: I'm not trying to be rude. I still completely respect this organization, and if I was at a different campus, i'd probably rush this group again. I met some of their sisters from California and they are awesome, but just this particular group is NOT!

Our programming changed, but I believe that it should. Your orgs programming should reflect your org's membership and principles. I hope that more org's go the diversify their programming, but you never know. Time will tell.

Re: Re: Latino Greek Letter Organizations
 

This is something I completely understand. And something I have a passion about: NEW MEMBER EDUCATION...

Before you let your advisor know about this consider this: did any thing they did serve a purpose? Like was there a lesson behind it? If not THEN IT IS HAZING...

I think alot of people have lost the meaning of bring new members in and are simply BEATING THEM UP to say OH WE PLEDGE HARD....but ah this is conversation for another thread. SomeBODY START IT...I WILL BE ALL OVER IT!

I could see a possible complication in that, however. Say, random example, several non-Latino members joined a historically and predominantly Latino fraternity. Somewhere down the line, the breakdown of the cultures gets mixed up. Those of non-Latino descent feel like the fraternity should reflect this multiculturalism, and abandon the predominant focus on the Latino culture. Then there could be others who want to continue following the traditions and rituals that their fraternity was founded upon (such as line names in Spanish, events catered towards the Hispanic community, etc). They feel that the original vision their founders had has completely changed from what they originally intended.

What then?

p.s. I'm not bashing one side or the other, I just think it's a realistic situation that could cause problems in the future.