Thank You

All media requests need to be given directly to the sorority's headquarters. No one on GreekChat (with the exception of inter/national officers) has the authority to speak on behalf of their organization.

That said, given the experiences I've seen in the past with the media soliciting sororities for help, I doubt you'll get much response from anyone here as NPC and NPHC organizations have strict guidelines forbidding their members from taking part in ventures like this.

If you are really serious about this, you'd know better than to ask for help on a message board. You might want to contact the Office of Greek Affairs at UCLA directly and see if they can be of any help.

Yes I agree with OTW.....with NPHC organizations their is no such thing as rushing in public. It's shown that way on TV, but not in real life. NPHC are not allowed to uncover who is on their current line until the probate show.
Just in case you don't know a probate show is where students who are currently joining the XYZ org come out to reveal to other peers that they are now a part of XYZ.

Again agreeing with OTW you would have to take it to Nationals. No one on GC with the exception of (who may be a part of Nationals exec board) are able to give you any information.

It depends on what type of organization Tyra is trying to rush. If it's an NPHC she's really going to have trouble rushing. Although she is a celebrity she still must follow the NPHC or XYZ org guidleines as far as education go. It's possible to do Honorary membership, but some NPHC's no longer do it. If I'm not mistaking her mother is in an NPHC org, so she should know that it would be extremely hard to rush an NPHC org. Tyra may want to try another pan-hellenic council.

Unless it's a way to get by, but I doubt it.

What does anyone else think?

i figured that! I just wanted to ut it out there...I appreciate your replies and I will continue to contact national! Thanks again!

As a PR professional, I actually view things like this as an opportunity to show the positive side of sorority life. I also doubt (if this is even legit) Tyra's childhood dream was to "rush a sorority"...rather than "be in a sorority." If I were a sorority at UCLA I think I might see whether it was possible to invite Tyra (and therefore the cameras) to a safe, fun sisterhood event, so outsiders can get an idea of what a sorority sisterhood is all about. Just one event, or one day, NOT living in the house or going to chapter meetings, etc. Of course everything would have to be cleared with HQ, and chapter advisor/whomever present to make sure everything's OK. I'd also advise having someone with legal/media knowhow present.

There are risks with doing things like this, but if GLOs (and I'm thinking more along the lines of NPC/NIC here) operate in COMPLETE secrecy, it leaves negative, incorrect rumors and myths to fester. Positive PR comes very hard for our community, and the companies I work with dream of PR opportunities like this. You just have to be smart about it.

Peppy !!just read my mind...I have been trying to contact the right person in Alpha Xi for the same purpose...the use of cameras and Tyra to show the positive side of sisterhood....not necessarily the entire experience...could help all of us benefit from "finally" some good, positive, spin on being a sorority girl. God knows, MTV's series did us no good and made us once again "the terrible horrible awful experience" which fraternities so quickly get labeled!!

I agree the benefits outweigh the risks and one has to be so media savvy, but if Tyra is totally sincere and interested, I know any of us here would adore to have our GLO on prime time with that beautiful lady sharing the spotlight.

This is not entirely accurate. I've seen plenty of Archonian and Pyramid pins prior to initiation.

I have to disagree. The risks definitely outweigh the benefits here.

Unless the GLO has full control of the content that gets aired on TV (which I doubt would even fly with the show's producers), it'd be a bad idea -- and I hope that the NPC takes the same action they did when MTV came calling for "Sorority Life".

Thank You

point withdrawn

That's what Alexandra Robbins said too. :rolleyes:

Thank You

Although MTV did a terrible job depicting GLO's on their series, I have seen some reality shows where Greeks were portrayed in a positive light. "Stranded with Cash Peters" on the Travel Channel showed an Alpha Gamma Rho chapter at a school that I can't recall at the moment. The brothers were hospitable and friendly and the show didn't force any kind of drama or embellishments of what greek life is supposed to be like.

Tyra Banks' show doesn't seem like it would exploit an organization for ratings like MTV did, but having her rush, or pledge, or whatever would look kind of silly for an entire show. I like PreppyGPhiB's comment about just showing one function that Banks could participate in, like a community service project. That would freakin rule.

We are willing to do the day and the life!!!!

Thank You

What exactly do you want to accomplish?

Portraying Greeks in a positive life? or Giving Tyra an automatic invitation for membership into a sorority?

Negotiable
 

Who says a GLO would have to bow to everything the show wants? HQ and the show could come to an agreement about when the show could come over, etc. Things like this are negotiable. If the show is not willing to negotiate with headquarters, HQ can back out.

And really, this is not in the same ballpark as a full series like Sorority Life or an undercover expose like what happened with A.R. It's not like she got permission from a GLO beforehand, anyway.

Thank you PeppyGPhiB! You are absolutely right...we are willing to negotiate!

If that's the case, then unless the OP wants to film a local or multi-cultural org., then she's really wasting her time calling the Office of Greek Life at UCLA. She'd have to go directly to HQ.

So now I have a question. Say an NPC I/HQ gives the ok for one of their chapters to be filmed....would they have to first obtain permission from the NPC Executive Council in order to do so?

I think she said she's going to try calling the HQs. I agree that I think that's where she should start...it's their call.

I don't see why they would have to get permission from NPC exec. The NPC sororities are still independent of each other and do their own PR and marketing individually. Or were you talking about the college panhellenic council?

The reason why I ask is because, in the case of Sorority Life, I recall seeing a memo from NPC that was sent to ALL chapters forbidding them from taking part in the MTV project. If I can find the link, I'll be sure to post it here.

I know that the Tyra project is on a different level, and I hate bringing up Sorority Life over and over again, but I still think that she's going to have a hard time getting the NPCs to take the bait, regardless of their willingness to negotiate and portray them in a good light.

This is generally an unofficial practice only. Back before pledging was banned it was uncommon for people to not know who was on line on most campuses. Currently, many Greek Life offices require knowing exactly who is undergoing membership intake and sometimes the campus also knows.

The probate isn't an official part of the process either and it's actually not a real probate show if the members have already crossed.

This show is a dumb idea to me. If she was serious about being a member for the right reasons she wouldn't need her show or cameras present.

As long as she's doing this as an informative 2 segments instead of ridiculously living out her childhood dream for her talk show. I assume she won't actually rush or even make herself that much of a presence.

The 2 segments should consist of her saying "I always wanted to be in a sorority" and then proceed to show the pros of sororities as Tyra observes and learns.

Sorry if I seem really dumb of asking this...but I'm totally confused :confused:

Is Tyra actually studying in UCLA? And wouldn't she have to be a student there in order to participate in rush? I mean, it's one thing to film the process of rushing, but it's a different thing when you're participating rush...

As much as I believe Tyra would give good publicity to Greek life, I really doubt the logistics will work well. Besides, I don't believe there's such thing as negotiation. Saying that " if I filmed your sorority I hope you would grant me a membership in your sorority" sort to speak...

That's exactly what I'm thinking. And also interviewing active members and rushees about their experiences. Tyra's show needs to elaborate more than just saying "my childhood dream is to rush a sorority" (or be in a sorority as I interpret)

That's not true for all of us. And our RUSH MUST be made adequately publicized.

Hmmmm, my sorority was shown on Tyra's show in a segment where folx were given "do-overs" and one of our members participated. Tyra blind sided us by doing things she was explicitly not given permission to do.

I should have read ahead. ;)

I hated that segment. It made me cringe. GLOs need to stop trusting media outlets to be considerate of our interests.

Exactly, which is why this request raises red flags.

Hmmmm, and did Tyra just want to RUSH a sorority,or join one. - LOL

i personally think Tyra Banks is an attention whore. portraying sororities in positive or negative light would probably be the last thing on her mind. which ever one would make her audience go "aww, poor tyra" the most would be the angle they go for.

Thank you, DSTCHAOS. This is exactly why I hope sororities stay away from this project.

While many people are hopeful that this would portray us well...come on. You know that an episode showing the positive things about being Greek won't benefit anybody else but us -- and it probably won't make for good TV as far as ratings go.

People like drama and they like looking down on us. No one gives a damn about raising money for charity. Give them a show about parties that get out of hand or catty chapter members and they'll tune in.

Hmmmmm, notice the edits if the OPs posts. Either this was a scam to begin with or we gave her an earful she wasn't ready to hear. LOL

The funny thing is I used to like and respect Tyra until she started doing this show. Her "people" aren't taking good care of her.

I think she was legit because the email address she posted was a tyratv.com address. Plus, a search of her email on Google brought up other message boards where she solicited individuals to be on the Tyra show -- she was looking for female rageaholics and Fergie's biggest fans.

Methinks it's because she wasn't anticipating this kind of response. Oh well. Maybe Tyra's childhood dream of being in a sorority won't happen after all. :rolleyes:

Maybe Tyra can start her own sorority!!

She can be the founder of Nu Tau Mu - for Next Top Model.

:p

Like!! Oh.My.God!!! Tyra wants to showcase US?!?!?!?!? :eek:

Like!!! I soooooooo can't contain my excitement!!!!!!! Pick me, me, meeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!! :eek:

I missed this episode...what happened?

What bugs me most, is that these talk shows often try to present themselves as "investigators" or "going undercover to discover the truth", only to dupe the average tv viewer that they are presenting "news".

These shows are ENTERTAINMENT. What other possible motives would any talk show have for soliciting groups of any sort? It's sensationalism at best, and, well, you can imagine and probably have seen a lot of the worst in this genre.

"Researchers" trolling message boards are not researchers at all - they are usually under- or non-paid interns or low-level puppets trying to get around the proper channels. I cannot imagine anyone who respects him or herself to go on these shows and allow themselves to be exploited.

I can also imagine said show to lambast members on message boards where they have asked for participants, and received a less-than-warm welcome.

Anyone catch the Tyra in a fat suit episode? Fake, hollow, and insincere. Gag-worthy.

i wanna know too!

i hate ANY show/movie that does this. all it does is prove what we already know - that the general public are less-than-friendly to bigger people. more or less depending on what part of the country you are in.

If it was Tyra's dream to pledge a sorority, tell her to AI.

:rolleyes:

teeheehee. .. just kidding! :p