Quote:
Originally Posted by Senusret I
Would I sound ignorant if I started using the term NJGLO? Because seriously, that's what these orgs sound like to me -- seems like every GLO I've seen from New Jersey is multicultural in membership and they all look like each other. Yes, the girls all have the "wet n wavy" hair and the guys all look like the Gotti boys, regardless of their actual race. It is the damndest thing!
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Te amo mi amor!
In some ways I don't think it is fair to say it is a NJGLO, but it is sorta accurate as well. Chapters of orgs are re-marketing themselves as multicultural to gain more members because the Greek population is small.
I think the problem with this whole re-marketing/"everyone" trying to be multicultural stems from several factors:
1. It's what's HOT right now! hahaha, j/k sorta. It's a way for more people to buy their product, and younger/smaller orgs are trying to get brand recognition. (Sorry for the business analogies, it's what is in my head right now)
2. Younger/Smaller orgs not expanding strategically and as a result after the founding class/line and maybe one or two additional classes/lines, the chapter is struggling for members and opens up to new markets. With respect to younger/smaller orgs, it is a lot easier for this trend to catch on within the organization, especially if they are experiencing low membership numbers across the board.
Its a rush to be one of the big guys (at least in number of chapters), without substantially investing time in doing research about the climate of the school, the commitment and dedication of interests, and being able to support your chapters as an organization.
Another problem is in expansion when interests really only have info from the org's representatives to go off of (sometimes because the org is small and sometimes because the interests are lazy and just want to be down/have letters). They might know someone from back home who joined ABC org and they think the "concept" is cool, but they have no idea what the organization is actually about and what they are doing (for members, communities, etc). In the case of MC orgs, you have organizations that say they are multicultural, but that operate almost entirely on a different platform, yet the interests do not spend time doing the research on the "product" that the "Sales Team" is selling. About a year ago I had someone say to me, if I had known about TNX before I joined my org, I would have def pursued TNX. I guess she was trying to complement us but to myself I'm thinking,"You Fool!". The internet has been on and poppin' for a good minute, there is NO way you couldn't have done a google search and found out about other mc sororities. And of course there's greek pages, wiki, but I digress.
In the case of NJ, I think it happens in part because many MC orgs have been founded there, and newer groups that are ethnically based may view the "success" that they have on campus as a way to gain a foothold in the market.
I just love the "We are X with multicultural membership schpeal [sp?]" It gives me a chuckle every time. To me I feel like it is obvious that there are internal identity dynamics going on in an organization when that happens. Trying to come at it from an interests perspective, I can't understand why you approach an organization with apprehension about joining the group because you may not be of the same ethinicity as the group majority. It's cool if a black girl wants to join LTA (just using them as an example not saying they are culprits of this) because she sees something in them she aspires to, or that she feels they are really holding it down. That doesn't make LTA a latina sorority with multicultural membership; it is a Latina sorority, period. They were founded as a latina org, they service the latino community. 1 black girl, 100 black girls, or a diverse chapter does not change that fact.
We (MC orgs) need a (strong and viable) council, like ASAP.
And that my friends is my rant of the day.