[DrPhil]

Thanks, ladies.

From an NPHC perspective, blackballing definitely happens since the aspirant process includes informal interactions and informal criteria at some level. There are people who get (A) blackballed for one sorority/fraternity and end up joining another, (B) blackballed even after undergrad so they can't join alumni/alumnae/grad chapters unless they move to another area, and (C) blackballed for EVERY sorority/fraternity on the campus. And it doesn't have to come from actives. Members who have graduated and who never attended the college or university can do it.

This can happen because of high school-based stuff or because people are from the same area. But, it tends to come from stuff that happens in college, or just not liking that person for some reason, since most of our members join after freshman year (although Delta and some other NPHCs don't forbid freshmen from joining if they qualify). Therefore, what happened in high school or who you knew from back home tends to matter less by the time you're a sophomore, etc. It can also happen because someone knows that person in another capacity, has heard something, or the aspirant has been talking trash or acting cocky.