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Originally Posted by adpiucf
AI is an honor given to a few whom the sorority believes will add prestige, honor and/or service to the sorority. Once initated, AI's are sisters. Sure their experiences are a bit different from someone who had 4 years as a college member. That doesn't mean they won't make great advisers or alumnae officers once they get up to speed on sorority policies and activities-- heck, many of the alumnae advisers and officers I have worked with over the years have had to completely re-learn their sorority ABC's because they were not actively involved in undergrad or its been years since they have been involved and things have changed.
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Well said.
I just happened to look at this forum a couple of times, and now that James has asked the question I have to respond.
Fraternities do have various forms of honors and memberships granted to individuals (in some cases male or female) who have devoted their time and care to the fraternity. House mothers for example- even though few fraternity houses have a live-in house mother any more.
But it is never advertised anywhere. It is one of those things that comes to you when the time is appropriate and because brothers initiated in the traditional manner are so moved by your service as to wish to accord you the highest honor that the organization could possibly bestow.
I have read this forum more out of curiosity than anything else since I have never seen AI discussed openly before, and since I have a tendency to be blunt- let me please say what I am sure many are thinking,
Sorority shopping for AI initiation does happen on this forum, and it is amusing at best- insulting at worst.
I firmly believe that AI is something that should come to the prospective initiate in most cases. Otherwise, I think a prospective initiate should be approaching a particular chapter because of a deep personal connection (open to a variety of definitions) that leads one to wish to offer service to the chapter. Perhaps your daughter is a member, or friends of yours were in college- and the chapter now needs an advisor or dedicated volunteer. Or maybe you are a faculty member and would like to help advise a sorority (or fraternity) from a scholastic standpoint. All Greek organizations could benefit from a closer connection with school faculty.
Stray from that, and you are sorority shopping.
And by assuming that you can shop around to 2 or more sororities and get initiated, you assume two conflicting things,
1. That you can gain personally by an association with the sorority.
2. That the sorority is so casual about its sisterhood that they would admit a post-collegiate stranger as an AI.
Motives may vary from person to person, but consider how this looks. Anyone considering the application of a sorority shopper who has no past connection to the sorority is naturally going to assume you want the letters for your own purposes first and foremost.
And frankly some of you should be more careful with what you write here. As others have noted, mixed in with an expressed desire to AI are disaparaging comments about active sisters, sororities in general and statements that clearly indicate your AI quest is about YOU first and foremost- not about being part of a sisterhood.
For my part I can tell you, as the proud member of an old Texas family, that we all know each other. Going the AI route to boost your personal prestige or social standing is not going to work. In fact it will have the opposite effect.
And if your goal is to finally be in a sorority as an AI with chapter advisory duties- but then try to change your chapter to suit the vision of sorority life you think should have been when you did not pledge as an undergrad, best of luck surviving that too. You will need it.
Ideally- either AI comes to you or you volunteer with pure motives to a single chapter of a single sorority.
This forum is a great place to get advice on that.
But for the sorority shoppers, the negative reaction you get here pales in comparison to the face-to-face encounters you will endure if you insist on pursuing AI in this manner.