I wasn't going to do this, but ...
 

Okay, I’m going to do this retro recruitment story thing … please don’t hate me. I was bored and just felt like sharing, I guess. I’ve decided to name the sororities after desserts, because I am also hungry right now.

When I was in HS, all I knew about sororities were the really negative stereotypes of blond girls with big boobs, lots of alcohol, and not a lot of keeping your clothes on. Um, not my thing. All my friends and I were agreed – it was buying your friends, and we were having none of it. My senior year, I visited North Avenue Trade School and the “host student” I was assigned to stay with was a member of an NPC sorority “Cheesecake”. Definitely dispelled the stereotypes, and they were all very nice, but … I had no prior experience with Greek life, and I am not extremely girly. Staying that night in the sorority house, where everything was COVERED in floral print, during the week before IFC/NPC Greek Week, where everyone was talking NONSTOP about strange activities that sounded, well, really stupid, was kinda scary. I didn’t have any hard feelings toward the girls, but it was completely over my 18 y/o head. After my visit, I had decided I wanted to attend North Avenue Trade School, but I was not going to spend the money, or the time (cut my vacation a week short? What was that about?) to participate in Panhellenic Rush. Cheesecake is a whole lot of trouble to make if you aren’t that into it and don’t understand the process.

Once I got to school, I pretty much ignored Greek life. Not many of my friends were involved with it, so it didn’t really have any impact on me at all. I was very involved in AIESEC, an international business org, and it took up most of my time.

My next introduction to Greek life came in the mailbox fall of my sophomore year. I received an invitation to Rush for a local sorority on campus, which I’ll call “Fried Cheesecake”. I debated for a while about going – after all, it was a sorority. But a friend from high school was an officer, and I knew a couple of other girls going. I was intrigued by the fact that they seemed more laid-back and diverse than the NPC groups on campus, and so I decided I would check it out. I missed the first night of their three-night event (AIESEC meeting, as usual), but made it to the other two nights. It was fun, and the girls were nice, but nothing really grabbed me and I was disappointed to learn that their goal was to eventually affiliate with an NPC group (since I had been drawn to them for their uniqueness from the other groups). Fried Cheesecake, while fun and different at first, was more like Cheesecake than I had thought.

To be continued ...

Sweet mary mother of god I love fried cheesecake!!! Sorry...please continue.

I've never had fried cheesecake.....anyway, goooooo Ren!

It's a real nickname of my alma mater. But not the real name of the school.

You might try googling it.

as I am currently stuffing my face with cheesecake, I am obligated to read this thread...

yay!!! looking forward to reading more

North Avenue Trade School is a pretty good school!;)

My nephew was just initiated last semester into the Kappa Sigma chapter at North Avenue Trade School. (My Kappa Sigma husband was thrilled!) And I wrote a rec for a girl who is now in one of the chapters there, so I am very interested in this North Avenue Trade School thread. More, please!

ummmmm. i want more. right now. yoo tink dis is a joke? nuh uh.

updates. now.


(and why did i google the NATS when i already know what school you attend(ed?))

North Avenue Trade School always makes me laugh.

Wait, is fried cheesecake an actual food?

http://www.greenbarnrestaurant.com/i...Barn%20017.jpg

Voila. Fried cheesecake. (It's definitely the best dessert to get at Longhorn's.)

The next semester, while I was president of the school’s AIESEC chapter, one of the AIESEC members was president of the school’s Omega Phi Alpha chapter, and encouraged me to attend Rush after I commented on needing more female company (I lived on a predominantly male hall at a predominately male school). Rush was a one-night event, and I couldn’t make it (AIESEC again). She arranged for me to meet with a group of sisters for dinner instead, and, since she was cool (and she was the president, so that was a good sign, right?), I went. The girls at dinner were great and encouraging, but not pushy. After talking with them and learning some more about the org, I decided to pledge – I liked the idea of a service sorority (a clear-cut purpose that I could understand no problem) and I liked the sisters (a really laid-back, diverse group of women that were easy to talk to) – and no house, so no scary floral print! Being a part of OPhiA opened my eyes a bit to exactly what some of that “weird, Greek stuff” I hadn’t understood before was all about.

Fast forward to the next year. Walking through the Student Center of North Avenue Trade School, I happened to glance at a display case (like a store window display) featuring a sorority I had never heard of before, “Cookie”. The motto and other aims of the sorority really stood out to me, and I stopped and looked at the display for a minute. Realizing I was blocking traffic, I wrote down the letters and went about my way. Later, I looked up the organization online. I began to get excited about Cookie – I didn’t know that there were social sororities like this! I realized once I began looking at websites that Cookie was a black sorority. I had heard of black sororities, sort of – I knew that one of my favorite professors was a member of one – but I had never known any details about them before. I also had no idea if, being white, it would be acceptable for me to even to seek membership. Looking up information on the chapter of Cookie at my school, I discovered that the campus advisor was none other than my boss at one of my on-campus jobs, whom I adored. I hoped that she wouldn’t mind if I asked her about her sorority …

Ummmm, because it needed to be even more caloric.

Really though, what isn't improved by being deep fried? And isn't the only downside to regular cheesecake the texture? Now, it's crispy on the outside.

Everything is fried in the south. I have never seen so many various fried items before until I moved here...

Fried Twinkies? Fried Oreos? yep.. got 'em...

Lookin' forward to more of the story!

You're white; KSUViolet is black. Up is down; right is left.

(I'm totally kidding and I know that none of the groups are really racially exclusive, but it's kind of cool to be reminded with real life examples, and I'll admit that both were kind of a fun surprise to me. I wasn't even aware I was making racial assumptions, but when races were revealed, I realized that I had been.)

That picture looks like half of a grapefruit to me. I would have never some up with cheesecake!

Me either! I think there is a Longhorn near my apt.:o

Cool story -- enjoying hearing your journey.

First of all, cheesecake............EW!

And, Ren, I'm going to PM you.

I was just in that wonderful city your alma mater is in. Love it more each time I go.
Can't wait for more updates!

fried cheesecake dont even sound right. i dont even like it when its lukewarm - GTFOOHWTBS. i need it to be cool/cold. and preferrably with strawberries.

but what does sound right is this retro thread - i'm so excited! Ren, we want more! and we want to know about the other "pastries" on your campus! (well i do!)

Starting with my boss the campus advisor, I wound up talking with few people about Cookie, including one of my supervisors at my other on-campus job, whom I also discovered was a Cookie (!). I got a lot of great advice (and important words of caution), and everyone emphasized that in addition to continuing to research Cookie, I also needed to research the other three NPHC sororities, as well as the NPHC itself and the history of BGLOs. I began to do so.

So the four NPHC sororities will be called (in the order of their charters on the campus of North Avenue Trade School): Cookie, Cotton Candy, Cupcake, and Cobbler.

I was already drawn to Cookie. Cookies are, after all, a wonderful dessert – classic, resilient, and of course, very good. What I had read about the organization so far really appealed to me, and that two terrific women I worked with and respected were members added a lot to that. The more I read, the more events I attended, and the more members I spoke to on campus, the more I kept finding out new pieces of information about Cookie that were exciting and surprising to me – the sorority really lined up with my own values more than I had thought an organization could. I was worried, however – I didn’t know any of the Cookies on campus, and getting to know them was hard. I couldn’t tell how they felt about me.

Two good friends of mine were members of Cotton Candy and Cupcake. I knew right off that Cotton Candy was just not for me. The ultra-sweet treat, like that floral-patterned sorority house from my senior year of HS, gave me a bad and girly vibe. I learned enough to respect the org (and even learned that Cotton Candy was the sorority that my favorite professor was a member of), but the colors, the attitude, the whole atmosphere associated with Cotton Candy was just not my cup of tea.

Cupcake I liked a lot. I had a lot of respect for my friend who was a member, who was the only active Cupcake on campus at the time. She worked hard and really repped hard for her org. I went to one Cupcake event and met some alumnae members who also gave me a good impression of the sorority. I also really liked their national website (yes, I am a geek and things like this impress me). However, there were a few things that nagged at me about Cupcake, and the org never quite gave me the same feeling as Cookie did. Cupcakes are delicious, but always leave you wondering about the rest of the cake.

Cobbler did not have a regular chapter on my campus, but looking at their website they did seem to have things together. I was also on GC by this point and was very impressed by the enthusiasm the Cobbler members always seemed to have in droves – I had never met any Cobblers IRL, but these ladies put a very good face on the org. Still, nothing was deterring me from Cookie. Cobbler, while certainly good and a nice dessert, just wasn’t what I was looking for – I rarely ever even see a cobbler, much less try any (you just don’t know what’s in there).

All of my research and experiences were leading me to continue pursuing Cookie, which I did. I attended events, got to know the chapter members, and kept on with my research and getting everything together, hoping for the sorority to have Intake so that I could apply …

Did you ever find yourself having to "explain" to Cookie and the others exactly what OPA was and that it didn't conflict with the pursuit?

It wasn't a big issue for me as my LB was a Pershing Rifle and I of course am in APO.... brothers knew, but they were more knowledgeable than I expected.

I'm trynna guess who Cobbler and Cupcake could be... loving the theme tho'

so you know who Cotton Candy is? tell me! i wanna know! cause i have my guesses...

Cotton Candy I b-live is Alpha Kappa Alpha... here's why
she posted this person's artwork a while ago ;)

hmm, i had that hunch.

Cobbler is Sigma Gamma Rho and Cupcake is Zeta Phi Beta

I picked up on Cotton Candy being AKA from their colors being "too girly," but maybe that's just me. Keep going! I love reading threads from NPHC, fraternities, and locals - they're so different from what I'm used to!

I had a friend who once told me that while she was in college in Chicago, at a predominately black school (she's white) she started the process of joining an NPHC sorority. She told me this story while I was pledging Alpha Xi Delta, so at the time, I didn't know just how different the NPHC process was. Anyway, she told me she was 2 weeks out from initiation, and she heard one of the sisters make a comment about "I cant believe we're going to initiate a white girl..." My friend dropped out of the process and didnt look back.

Like I said - when she told me this story, I didnt know the differences between the processes of NPC and NPHC and it broke my heart to hear this. After learning that the process is completely different....I wonder if my friend's story was true or not....:rolleyes:

*edit* To clarify - the reason I wondered if her story was true is based on the 'process' itself - not the fact that an NPHC would take a non-black member. I STILL dont know that much about the NPHC process, but from what I gather, it's not exactly a new member period and then initiation the way NPC is. My friend made it sound like the NPC process.

see, i was guessing the other way around...

then again Cobbler is effing yummy. i mean so are Cupcakes, but it really is such a treat to get a bowl of cobbler after a meal. i'm jus throwing that out there.

--tld221
greedy, dessert-loving SGRho (before someone else jumps on the stereotype :D)

Actually, quite a few Cookies from the North Avenue Trade School chapter are OPhiA alumnae as well. (Some members of the Cotton Candy and Cupcake chapters are as well.) :)

Is it bad that right now I really want some warm blackberry cobbler with Blue Bell Homemade vanilla ice cream?

only if you bring me some!

Is it just me, or are there food references all over this place today?

Oh, and great thread so far.

Recruitment threads are usually hard for me to follow (maybe I am retarded), but I like this one so far. So....let us have the rest.


BTW....Applebee's has Apple Chimmy Cheesecake (it's fried) I like it, but I prefer cheesecake cold!

oooooooh! so THAT's fried cheescake. i must be in the minority. i dont like cheesecake regular or fried. but at least now i know what it is. LOL.


i love your thread! keep the story going :)

Over the summer, I was researching my senior thesis and reading a LOT of race studies books and related texts. And I started to doubt myself, both as a scholar and as an aspirant for membership in Cookie. After all, what business did a white girl like me have doing work on racial issues? What business did a white girl like me have trying to get into a black sorority? I don’t really want to get into all this here, but I went into a period of this that wasn’t good. At this time, I wondered if perhaps, since I knew that I really wanted the sorority experience, if perhaps I should look into multicultural orgs, which I had learned about on GC. I looked at some websites, and spoke online with a few people, but again, I was not feeling it at all. I liked the sororities I learned about – some I even liked a lot – but the rich history of Cookie was something that was very important to me, and these orgs, while I know they are building it, just don’t have it yet. Also, none of these orgs had chapters at my North Avenue Trade School, so it was hard to get a real sense of what these groups were like. As I learned more about these sororities – and one in particular, which I’ll call “Chocolate-Chip Ice Cream”, was exciting and interesting, but I also felt somewhat resigned. I knew if I went this route I would always wonder about Cookie. Ice Cream, while delicious, melts over time – it doesn’t have the same staying power as a good cookie (even if you can give them both the same toppings).

I finally spoke with my thesis advisor – the professor who was a Cotton Candy member – about my questions regarding academia, as it was really getting me down, and that helped considerably. She also directed me to a couple of essays written by white women in race-related studies, and those essays helped me work out my guilt issues, both with academics and with pursuing Cookie. I was back on track (in some ways, more on it than ever before) by the end of summer, ready to begin my senior year.

Spring semester of my senior year, I had begun looking into alumnae chapters of Cookie in my area and wondering how I could get in touch with them. It didn’t look like the Cookie chapter at North Avenue Trade School would be having a Rush meeting before I was graduating in May. Then things starting happening like crazy, and –

I made it!!! I was initiated into membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated on April 5th, 2006.

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/phot...68584_8525.jpg
^Two of my wonderful LSs and me at my graduation from Georgia Tech one month later :)

The other sororities (in order of appearance): Cheesecake - Alpha Chi Omega, Fried Cheesecake - Chi Omega Tau, Cotton Candy - Alpha Kappa Alpha, Cupcake - Zeta Phi Beta, Cobbler - Sigma Gamma Rho, Chocolate-Chip Ice Cream - Theta Nu Xi

YAY! awesome story - and right before your graduation! 2006 was a very good year for me too!

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