Quote:
Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS
Public mind:
A. the majority, which is majority white and nonGreek, and barely knows "black history" not to mention about the existence or stereotypes of NPHC orgs
B. Greeks who are familiar with the NPHC and the stereotypes (which isn't the case for most white Greeks)
C. All Greeks
D. members of NPHC and nonNPHC BGLO members
E. the black community
Which one?
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I think she's talking about some combination of B, C, D, and E.
I'm going to bite on this one, somewhat against my better judgment.
I agree with both of you to some extent. Lately there has been some drama on GC regarding NPCers and national "tiers." It is definitely accurate to say that on *SOME LEVEL* people have national ideas of NPC groups.
For example:
- AEPhi and SDT, ON THE WHOLE, often tend to be Jewish (NOT ALWAYS! But OFTEN!). There are a few other examples of this.
- There are some groups, maybe 5-10 as UGAalum mentioned, that people knowledgeable about NPCs might acknowledge to be more "prestigious" - but mostly because they are larger organizations and at more schools or at more prestigious schools. UGAalum has given a great example with Kappa and Theta. They are of similar size and tend to be at most major universities. But what is different about them? Their philanthropies. Their initiation ceremonies. But as a member of another organization that's often compared to Kappa and Theta (Pi Phi), can I really encapsulate any significant national stereotype differences between them? Or between them and my own org? No.
-There are a few NPCs that were formerly educationally based and part of the AES governing organization and joined the NPC at a later date in the 1950s. There are some things that these groups have in common. Members of the former AES groups can give a lot better explanation of this than I can. But again, can I encapsulate what makes all these groups different from one another? No.
-There are a few instances in which a sorority "cracks" the national awareness. The major example of this would be "Delta Delta Delta, can I help ya, help ya, help ya?" But what does this really say about Tri-Delt? That they have a stereotype of being ditzy nationally? OK, maybe for people who only know that skit, but not for anyone who really knows about NPC.
So basically, I think that it may be possible to stereotype groups of NPC sororities - more prestigious ones, ones founded to serve minority religious groups, former AES groups. Some of these stereotypes make GCers uncomfortable and it's not really considered kosher to talk about them. But really distinguishing stereotypes between the sororities in each general grouping? Much harder or impossible to do. Unless you're examining their philanthropies, history, ritual, which I don't consider "stereotypes." And I also think that each NPCs' history is much less likely to be known to members of other NPC orgs than would be the case in NPHC. Educated D9ers tend to know a lot about the founding of all the orgs in their council. Not the case for NPCers, sometimes even very well-versed ones. Partially due to numbers (more to learn for NPCers), partially due to cultural reasons (role of D9 in the black community), partially due to philosophy (more camaraderie between D9ers).
/hijack