[Rain Man]

Originally posted by IotaNet
To the Group -

I have another perspective on this discussion that may spur some additional thought.

A few years ago, I was chatting with Darryl Matthews (Executive Director of the National Association of Black Accountants and current General President of Alpha.) He recounted a conversation he had at a NABA convention with some undergraduate students.

Specifically, he asked a group of them whether they were members of BGLO's and the vast majority were not. When asked, the general consensus was, "Why Join a Fraternity/Sorority? We get what we need from NABA."

When you think about that, it goes pretty deep.

Back in the early days of Greekdom, Blacks had very few places/organizations we could feel welcome and validated. I was recently reading the Kappa ahistory book and it spoke at length about how Kappa was founded largely to provide Black college men at Indiana with a sense of "community" and support.

By and large, we didn't have access to mainstream organizations or middle class affluence. Heck, we couldn't even stay at most hotels. BGLO's gave us a place to be comfortable and receive a measure of this validation.

Nowadays, the world has changed. We (ostensibly) have full access to places, travel, resources, and the like. In other words, we don't need to go to the changes of seeking BGLO membership just for social/personal validation. Indeed, those in the middle class can afford to go to Hawaii, the Bahamas, or Europe if/when we choose to do so. We make enough money to go and BUY some validation if we please.

Additionally, there are a number of campus-based organizations (not necessarily Fraternity/Sorority) from which young Blacks can choose. There's NABA, NSBE, BDPA, NBMBAA and a whole host of others. the added bonus is that these groups don't necessitate the rigors (foolishness?) of hazing that some of our BGLO's won't let go of.

On the other hand however, these groups offer valuable training, development, and networking opportunities that will enhance the lives of those students.

IotaNet, you bring some insight to a question that (from my personal observation) Greeks have danced around but never really fully addressed:

Are the NPHC orgs still relevant in the 21st century? At the very least, your insight makes it a little bit harder for Greeks to definitively answer yes. That question requires true introspection and soul searching.

We, as a system, need to get away from thinking that we are "doing a favor" to the people who consider membership and understand that we better be about the business of delivering REAL value and useful experiences to them.

Just my .63

AMEN! I couldn't have said it better myself. Tell you what, I'll give you an additional .37 and make it $1, even though what you said was worth a lot more.

Good stuff, IotaNet!! Keep on postin'!