Anyone willing to point out the brick walls before we run into them?
 

Dear Ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Incorporated,
I would first like to say thank you to all of those who have posted words of wisdom for those out there who are interested in pursuing a life long relationship with your beloved sorority. I have learned a lot just from reading. With that said, I am hoping that you might be willing to do a little more sharing. I have noticed that many non-sorority sisters have been reprimanded for asking inappropriate question or making inappropriate comments and I often wonder if there was a way for these ladies to know these things before they open mouth insert foot other than observing someone else's mistakes. I haven't found it yet so I am hoping that you ladies will help create one. Can you tell us non-members some of the major no nos when showing interest and attempting to do our research or maybe a story or two where less obvious mistakes were made? I know that it would be very helpful to me if they were all in one thread and I am assuming helpful to others as well. Thank you for your time ladies! Keep doing what you are doing!:)

This seems like a perfectly fine way to me. It's pretty much how society in general runs.

While I agree that this is the way of the world...is not one of the motivations behind the creation of such a community to help one another...to be different than the world in which we live?
I read a good book once that described it as "a symbol of the aspiratons of able young women to develop their full potentials in an atmosphere of friendship and mutually supportive stimulation to excellence"...was just trying to create that atmosphere of friendship here...maybe avoid a mistake or two from being made by myself and/or others

Why? A lot of this stuff is common sense. Besides, I don't hand my sorority away freely.

/lane swerve/
No one from any of the D9 organizations are going to spoon-feed you the dos and don'ts. Just like generations before you, the key is to talk to people on your campus. The stickies on each forum are there for a reason.

If you spent some time on this site, you would know what its purpose is and isn't.
/end lane swerve/

Indeed.

Ladies,
Maybe my question has not been correctly formulated because I am not asking for any secrets nor for a free pass into your organization. I was merely asking if there were things that you found disrespectful when coming from a non-member that you might be willing to share.

I HAVE been reading this forum for awhile and I have seen things that I would have never known...for example...one member posted that it is disrespectful to refer to your organization as a non member by just the Greek letters...one should use the full name. Maybe that is something I should have known but I didn't because a good majority of the world simply uses the letters.

There are things you may feel are common sense but common sense "ain't" so common. People come from different walks of life and therefore know different things. Not everyone may have access to an environment heavily populated with BGLO, or present at all for that matter, and therefore may not know some of these things. I was born and raised in a heavily Caucasian environment. I live in that environment. I work in the same type of environment and I went to college in the middle of corn country. Most of the people I encounter on a regular basis have never even heard the phrase divine nine. Everything that I know about your illustrious organization is due to independent research. I have made learning about it an independent study class for myself.

I have the utmost respect for your organization and history it was founded on. This is why I am even asking this question so as to make sure that I DON'T offend you or the organization you represent. If this is too much to ask then you are more than welcome to respectfully decline but please don't assume that because I asked the question that I am attempting to get anything for free. If allowed, I will earn my right and make my way just like I am sure you did/do as has every proud member before you..125% and more FOR SURE!

Swerving onto AKA Ave. because this made me chuckle :)

**Swerving onto AKA Ave myself, respectfully**

If you look at what you wrote you will realize you are not gonna get your answers from anonymous people on a message board. That's because outside the obvious, everything is subjective.

Let me take one part of your statement as a proof.

That's ONE member out of an 200k+ (No disrespect, it's been a long time since I've actually kept up with actual numbers of orgs) International organization. You are not gonna get a cookie cutter answer. If you take everything that everybody says they find disrespectful you may not be able to leave your room.

Re-read the previous answers, particularly 33girl's answer. It may not prevent you from making any mistakes...but it will help you avoid most mistakes.

You could have asked this question in the general greek life forum and maybe gotten some responses. I know for a fact we've had threads like this before, but I have no idea what words we could use to search for them. I would have been glad to share a personal story or two.

In the future, use less words to convey your thoughts.

First, I am only the second member of my organization to post in this thread so...

DON'T presume that just because people are posting on AKA Ave. that they are members of my sorority.

You did the most with the bold. *sigh* There are no pointers/tips to tell. As I said, this stuff is common sense. What is offensive to one member may not be to another, exp. I don't mind being referred to as an AKA by an interest, but apparently you've read differently on here. I would advise you to get with those interested chicks at the events you're attending who know EVERYTHING...they will school you quickly.

THIS!