Locals absorbed/colonized by NPC Sororities
 

It really all depends on which NPC member group is absorbing the local. Each group has its own process and sometimes decisions are made on a case by case basis depending on that specific situation. Sorry to have to say that it depends.

The same thing goes for the local history, colors, etc. From my experience it is best to move on and to fully adopt the symbols, culture, colors of the NPC group quickly. This is especially important for recruitment and chapter identity. The affiliation process can be confusing for those outside of greek life and confusion is the last thing a colonizing group needs.

I do think that affiliating locals can find some tasteful way of honoring their local heritage if allowed by the NPC and if appropriate. Moving on can be hard at the beginning but over time it makes more sense and is very easy. Chapters at FSU are a great example. Many were originally locals that formed to become a chapter of XYZ. Decades later they are very proud to be XYZ but have found some small way of honoring their local heritage where appropriate.

I imagine that no matter which organization is doing the absorbing, it's a big transition for the members. I think that's great that the chapters do things to retain some of their local history. I guess that can be achieved when learning about the chapter history, or through chapter traditions.

If anyone cares to share their story, I'd love to hear it.

My chapter started out as a local - Sigma Iota Phi. The founders had initially wanted to bring AEPhi to campus, but Panhel didn't want to expand. Two years later, though, we re-approached Panhel and they were amenable to expansion - AEPhi was interested in colonizing, and we were a chartered AEPhi chapter within a year.

Having new "everything" was a bit overwhelming at first. I still have my SigIPhi badge and a couple of lettered shirts, and I was a bit sad when I realized I wouldn't be able to wear them again, but it wasn't long before I had a shiny new AEPhi badge and some letters. ;) SigIPhi's and AEPhi's ideals and history aligned pretty well - AEPhi was originally founded by seven Jewish women who wanted to form an organization based on Jewish ideals while being open to women of all faiths, and SigIPhi was founded for the same reason (by seven Jewish women, yet!) 84 years later. So in our case there wasn't too much of a "culture shock".

Suddenly being answerable to a national organization was a bit of an adjustment - "you want us to fill out HOW MANY forms?!" But the up side of that is all the support we got as a fledgling colony and new chapter.

The new colony's initial membership consisted of all but two members of SigIPhi - one sister was an alumna and the other chose not to affiliate. (The alumna went through our pledging ceremonies with us, but AFAIK she was never initiated.) We then doubled our membership over the next few months (which included formal recruitment).

A few bits and pieces of SigIPhi's legacy have survived within the chapter. The chapter's history is on the web site (I wrote most of the copy for that page, and the copy has evidently not been changed in 15 years). I believe the history is discussed during new member education, but not heavily emphasized. The chapter sometimes incorporates purple decorations along with green and white, as SigIPhi's colors were green and purple. Other than that, though, SigIPhi is in the past.

I know I've mentioned this several times, but my chapter began as a local organization. There was only one other NPC on campus at the time, so the idea of adding another one was a totally foreign concept. We always had the intent to join an NPC. I appreciate Alpha Sigma Delta for what it lead us to, but I have no allegiance to the name, symbols, etc. We made them up and very few things had meaning. We also didn't really have any rituals or secrets. I know there was some confusion about our image as ASD--> KKG but we hadn't been around for that long anyway (less than 5 months).

Having supportive alumnae was an AMAZING change. We had support for recruitment, initiation, etc. and we felt so lucky to have it. It was kind of strange being "given" all of these new symbols, colors, etc. We were excited for the change though.

At the time, we didn't have any alumnae (of Alpha Sigma Delta). Some members went through Kappa's pledging ceremony but dropped out of the org altogether before our installation. (I'm guessing 4 out of 21). One ended up going through our first Panhellenic recruitment the next fall and joined again.

The colonization process was almost the same length as the new member period with a lot of the same programs.

We were not hoping for a particular sorority to pick us up, and I think most of us didn't know ANYTHING about national sororities. Two or three of our members knew some things and had mental lists of some of the well-known sororities they hoped we would join. I honestly probably could not have named any NPC until we started getting packets from them!

I'm sure the difference between a local that has been around only a couple years versus a local that has been around for 30+ years joining an NPC would be huge.

If I founded a local and it survived (and thrived) for many years and suddenly all the ritual and tradition was replaced by something else, I think that would be a hard pill to swallow.

Especially if the local and the NPCs core principles didn't match up.

I should add (in light of LucyKKG's post, where she mentioned that with her local "very few things had meaning") that the founders of Sigma Iota Phi did come up with things - letters (obviously), colors, a jewel, a symbol, and a badge and pledge ring - and did put some beautiful and well-thought-out meanings behind them. The meanings are all secret, and I consider my oath of secrecy still to be in force even though Sigma Iota Phi no longer exists. So it was a bit sad to put aside all those symbols when we became part of AEPhi, but we adopted AEPhi's no-less-beautiful symbols instead.

That's how I feel. My sorority is over 80 years old now, one of the orgs on campus is having their 100th anniversary this year- that's an old local! And while I have tremendous respect and tremendous appreciation for the NPC orgs, I'd be devastated if Tau Delta became something else, or if our campus was told we must be NPC/NIC or not exist. As far as I'm aware, this has never been proposed, but the local loyalty is very deeply entrenched and seen as part of our campus culture and history.

And double especially if it wasn't your (your = the local sorority's) choice, but something that the school forced you to do.

Not to mention that you can go from having tons of alum support to none in 2.5 seconds, even if it wasn't your decision.

The closest I saw to this happening was the Delta Chi little sisters at my school becoming an NPC chapter. Keep in mind they were basically what kept the fraternity going and organized (good guys but sorta clueless) and they probably had their act together more than some of the NPC groups. They also didn't allow you to be in an NPC and be a little sis at the same time. When all LS groups were eradicated, they decided to stick together and all the sororities completely agreed with this - they were a cohesive unit. Long story short, many of their leaders dropped out during the colonization because they didn't agree with some of the things the NPC group was asking them to do to receive their charter. They were never truly strong, and I believe they reorganized a couple times before eventually closing.

I don't know if this was a bad meshing of local group and national group, or if the same story would have played out with any NPC.

Until fairly recently almost all chapters of fraternities & sororities came from local organizations -- some of considerable age. However, in almost every case it was the choice of the members, not an edict by the institution, which brought this about. The local members determined that there was much to gain from a national affiliation which was difficult to do as a local organization. In about every case I know, any alumnus of the local was eligible to join the national for a period of time (typically five years or less) and many did. Some at the time of installation and others each time the chapter held an initiation. My experience with my own national organization is that some of the original members of the local were a much harder sell for the very reasons several of you cited. Also, it has been difficult to break bad habits many locals had that were not tolerated by the national (and probably the main reason the institutions are turning an about-face and suddenly welcoming nationals). Ironically, back in the 1970s many institutions were urging chapters to leave the national organization!

This is very true. If you look through you history books, you may notice the trend. AOIIs chapters are overwhelmingly founded from local sororities in the early days. My own chapter started as Phi Lambda Tau before becoming the Lambda Tau chapter of AOII. I know the Pi Delta chapter at Maryland was Lambda Tau Sorority before joining AOII (I can remember it for obvious reasons...I always wonder why they didn't pick Lambda Tau for their chapter name. :) )

Last fall, I worked with an Alpha Sigma Alpha colony that was absorbed from a local. They have since successfully been named a chapter. Part of the reason that I was invited to visit with the colony was to communicate with the alumnae of the local sorority. The sorority was about 10 years old. The atmosphere was positive, but the women were feeling some uncertainty about losing something that they had worked hard to establish and maintain. My fellow volunteer and I assured them that the local founders' are valued and celebrated for starting something wonderful, and we emphasized that many of the small traditions that have sentimental value could be incorporated into the ASA experience. We were clear that the rituals and official practices of the chapter had to be ASA through and through, but passing on a "local mascot" to a little sister, using local colors on a bid day t-shirt, or teaching new members about the original local were simple ways to keep their history alive.

We encouraged the women to also keep their connection alive by becoming Alumnae Initiates and supporting the new ASA chapter in tangible ways.

It was a very moving experience for me to talk with all the women involved.

That was because of racial and religious clauses the national orgs had in place at the time. It had nothing to do with insurance or risk management, which is why many locals are now being forced to go national (even if they haven't ever shown evidence of being a RM risk).

The only thing these two concepts have in common is that in both cases the school is trying to cover their asses - first by saying "OMG racism bad" and then by saying "OMG alcoholz bad." Whether the people running the schools actually feel that way is debatable.

Yup, totally the opposite of my experience. We picked letters and symbols because those were things we felt we had to have in order to be a legitimate sorority. What would we tell the rushees when they asked about our colors and mascot?? (Pink/green and clover, btw) I think it would be very meaningful to take time to choose values, symbols, and a motto that mean something to you. Ours were just perfunctory.