[AlwaysSAI]

This is how I see it, but I'm not NPC, so my view may not be as valid.

Admit it, I will, that greek organizations are elitist. I don't care what kind of org, be it NPC, NPHC, MGC, music, service. Every woman or man that comes out to an event is not offered membership. That is what sets greeks apart from other clubs. We select our members--our members do not select us. That is a quality we, as greeks, value but that is what also makes us elitist.

Many woman and men come out each semester to events. Women and men that are talented, smart, leaders that would make excellent members. Many of those women and men are not offered membership because our membership selection process is superficial (save NPHC and MGC). NPC, music and probably a few other organizations bid many women and men every semester after only speaking with them a total of 90 minutes the entire week. This leads to the assumption that all ABC women are pretty, all DEF girls are smart and all XYZ girls sleep with the GHI men.

Here's what the stereotypes all boil down to. Yes, some women and men in my chapters may match those perfectly, but there is no reason that should set a precident. As I stated before, greek organizations are elitist. Only those we chose are allowed membership and that leaves many people in the dark. Many times, people are intimidated by things, in this case sororities and fraternities, unfamiliar to them and that leads to insecurity about sororities and fraternities. To make up for that insecurity they have to find something that makes them stand above those organizations. Such things as--sorority girls are dumb (when most maintian a 3.0), fraternity boys are male sluts (when many are in committed relationships), or you only get into XYZ if you have blonde hair (when half the membership is brunette).

There are stereotypes about every single greek organization, not just NPC and the like. Around the school of music, my SAI chapter is known as the stuck up girls because we present ourselves with class. And, my Phi Sig chapter is disliked on campus because of our membership requirements.

If greek organizations are really that put off by stereotypes one thing that may get that problem under control is open membership. Every man or woman that comes out to x number of events is offered a bid. But, we could all list 500 reasons why Sally PNM and Chuck PNM should not be members of our organization.

I don't want to resort to open membership to stop stereotypes. I can deal with them because I know the truth. Stereotypes are a fact of life with greek membership and that's just how the cookie crumbles.