First, let me preface this with words from Preciousjeni in 2004:
Quote:
Originally posted by preciousjeni
Multicultural GLOs did not start in an environment in which membership, in the current GLOs, was unavailable for "multicultural people." We recognize this. We have a different purpose altogether.
We are not here because we were rejected by our desired organizations, nor are we here to hurt other orgs - and we certainly do not exist because we believe that other organizations are not open to diverse membership!
How audacious it is to me for some to assume that we discourage people from checking out ALL GLOs to find their match, simply because we "think" that other GLOs are discriminatory. As a general rule, this is not the case.
We were started by and for multiculturally-minded people. If you want to join an org that caters to needs of all people and actively works toward equality across the board, you can find that in a multicultural organization.
Other organizations do offer those qualities, but multicultural orgs are set apart in that they exist with the primary function of promoting multiculturalism. In theory, even if a "multicultural" organization were all-white/black/latino/asian/etc. but the members worked toward equality of ALL people, the organization could potentially be considered multicultural.
If, however, the thrusts and foci of that organization were primarily directed at a particular interest, that organization by definition cannot be "multicultural." It can have multicultural membership but it cannot be a "multicultural organization."
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That said....
Weekend before last, I was invited to be a guest speaker for the National Multicultural Greek Council's Spring Conference, themed "Namaste." Because I know you're dying to see pictures of me in all my Lazarus-signing hotness, here is the link:
http://www.nationalmgc.org/
I just wanted to say that it was very clear that one of the issues facing Multicultural Fraternities and Sororities is how they tell their story. They have reached an age of their existence where they are now "fighting" (too strong a word) to market themselves as multicultural by design. It's such a small statement, but on many of their respective campuses, both traditional and culturally-based organizations are re-branding themselves as multicultural in an effort to stay relavent.
It was a very interesting discussion at the NMGC conference....I had never really felt this was an issue, but I suppose it really is.... I mean, you have an entire council of GLOs whose very purpose was to BE multicultural by design, in both membership and programming, but then competing organizations market themselves as multicultural. By happenstance, usually.
The question was even posed to me why some NPHC organizations do that. Me, personally, I have never seen an NPHC organization rebrand themselves as multicultural. HOWEVER, I have seen diverse chapters that tend to stay diverse over the years.
I guess I am saying that I was very happy to be invited to speak to the NMGC, but more importantly to listen to the issues that face multicultural fraternities and sororities.
I was sad not to see any Theta Nu Xis there though.
