starting a local
 

Hi Everybody!
Okay so here's the deal. Myself and five other girls (my sisters) are in the process of starting a local sorority. Our school is very diverse but Greek life doesn't show that. All of the Greek orgs are divided by race. Therefore we wanted to start a multicultural sorority. We first tried to start a chapter of another MC sorority but that didn't work out. We didn't really share the same beliefs and whatnot. We then decided to start our own from stratch. We have done pretty much everything. We have our name, colors, symbols, mascot, jewel, constitution, philanthropy, facutly advisor, everything! We've been to all of the required meetings for new student orgs and filled out all the forms. Now they're saying they don't recognized local sororities because they feel we need a national org to govern us so they don't have a "sorority life situation." They did say that we could keep our name and drop the sorority part and just register as a student organization. Is it advisable to just do that or should we (as some of the sisters suggest) just try to register ourselves nationally as some type of charity or women's organization? I really feel like that would have us posing as something we're not.

Also, on another note, the only things we haven't done are figure out dues, rituals, and the offical pledge process. Barring that, we are a local sorority not affiliated with any school yet. Would it be kosher or whatever for us to wear our letters and what not? Also what do other sororities generally due for dues, rituals, and pledging (if this can be shared even a little)?

Thanks so much for any help you can give.
Yours in Greekdom,
Virginia

There are LOTS AND LOTS of national multicultural sororities out there. Many schools nowadays will not let any new Greek group remain a local. I advise that you do further research into what is already out there and would be a good fit to affiliate with rather than pass yourself off as a women's club.

Which I think is a shame. How many of us come from all-local campuses?

all local campus
 

My alma mater, Lake Forest College (IL), was all local until 1990 when Kappa Sigma revived their chapter there after a nearly 30 year absence. My sorority was the last local there and this fall affiliated with Kappa Alpha Theta.

I had no idea there were so many local GLOs until I came to GC. Ahh, the wonders of the internet.

My undergrad school Ursinus College was all local until 2 years ago and they (the 6 local sororities and 7 local fraternities)have no desire whatsoever to merge into a national. I personally think it is very admirable. Many of the local groups have been around for over 30 years, 50 years, some 75 and one 98 years so I can totally understand their desire to remain local. They have such rich traditions that at this point it would be hard for them to become another group, and I doubt they would do so. Now, I totally understand locals that become nationals, I am just saying that for some locals it works better for them to remain local and thats the beauty of being greek :D

Just my thoughts :)

Our biggest concern with affiliating with another sorority is that we've basically done everything to become a sorority. We've got our own letters, colors, philanthropy, symbols, mascot, jewel, constitution, everything! We really are reluctant to lose all of that by joining up with another sorority. We're kind of wondering if we could be just a local sorority and not be affiliated with the school. Like hold all of our events off campus. I mean, if we're not doing anything on campus I don't see why it would be a problem.

Virginia

Not to bring up the main thing that makes each sorority really unique, but if you have no ritual as you mentioned in your first post, then what makes you so reluctant to join another organization that is already established nationally whether it be NPC, NPHC, or MC? I promise I am not being rude, but anyone can choose greek letters, colors, mascot, etc...to not have a ritual seems self defeating as ritual, and the members, make the organization what it is. Without ritual, isn't it more of a club?:confused:

it was my understanding that the group has not come up with their rituals yet. Not that they are not going to have rituals.

To the original poster. I think that not being a recognized organization is a bad idea. There are lots of risk management issues with not being a recognized org, One of the big things is that you can not participate in the fun greek events such as greek week, exchanges, stuff like that. There are lots of groups out there and i would try to look into more of the multicultural orgs that are out there, I can understand why after spending all that time creating something that you do not want to give it up, but if it means that you will be recognized and about the experience the greek activities i would do what needs to be done.

I really commend you for trying to create a group that goes beyond race and is more about sisterhood. I have worked a lot in the civil rights movement and am happy that there are people out there that want to see beyond catagories such as race and look to find friendship/sisterhood with everyone.

good luck,
debbie

I'm just curious as to what beliefs did the original sorority have that you tried to join that you didn't share? Did you start the "new member process" and then realize it wasn't for you?

I don't mean to rain on your parade but it might be hard for your organization to stand the test of time if the university in which it is founded does not recognize your organization.

Good Luck

Like alphaalpha said, if you're not recognized by the university, even if just as a student organization, you are missing out on some things like funding, office space, and ability to promote yourself on campus (here @ KSU, unrecognized student groups can't promote themselves at student org fairs or have a table in the student centner).

As a sorority you might want to do Greek Week, mix or social with another group, or something like that. And those are things you can't do without being recognized. Also, at some schools, unrecognized organizations are seen as "threats" by the university.

There's a ton of information on GreekChat that can help you. Do a search or three.

You will face a lot of challenges if you are the only unrecognized GLO on campus. As others have said, you won't be able to use campus facilities, advertise, participate in Greek Week, etc. depending on your school's rules. You'll face challenges during recruitment too - women will wonder why they should join an unrecognized GLO when they can join a recognized one.

There are lots of national/regional MCGLOs out there. Keep looking; you may find one that is a fit.

Can you be recognized as a local sorority if you state that your ultimate goal is to affiliate with a national within the next few years? It takes time for a local group to affiliate with a larger org.

If you do operate as a local for a while and then affiliate with a national, you won't necessarily lose everything. For example, I was a member of a local that became part of a national GLO. My chapter still supports the philanthropy we chose as a local. What you can and cannot keep will depend on the national.

As for dues, put together a budget. What do you want/need to spend on recruitment, ritual, sisterhood activities, formals, t-shirts, badges/pins, etc.? If you hold fundraisers for charity, keep in mind that you could lose money, so set aside a buffer for that. Then make sure your dues cover all your expenses. If you find that the dues would be prohibitively high, trim back the budget.

Good luck. :)

Going national - you won't lose all
 

I am very impressed that you have written a constitution!

As a member of an NPC sorority, I will tell you - our colony has a local philanthropy and service project (in addition to the national ones), a local mascot, and colony/chapter bylaws (perhaps you could modify your constitution to fit this criterium). I have seen other chapters of my sorority who also have a local color in addition to the national colors. Please don't think that you will lose all your hard work if you go national. There are many benefits to going national, including rich traditions and rituals.

One thing you might do is check to see what the incorporation statutes in your state require and also if incorporating would solve your schools worries. Just a thought.

The same thing happened with my sorority but I totally faught it like tooth and nail. And now after a year, we are being given a chance to go up for recognition by the school. Are there any other locals on your campus? If there are plead your case. Tell them why your sorority would be an asset to the school. If there arn't, there are soooo many reasons to have a local on campus.

How many ladies are in your sorority?

Your question about having things off campus may still be a liability to the school though you are not recognized by the school you are students that attend the school and the members are people that attend the school so therefore the name of the school would be brought in.

If you had in mind from the begining to be a sorority, go for what you want. Don't settle for being a club.