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It All Depends On You!
I'm a member/founder of the only "Minority" based greek org on my campus, and let me tell you, it wasn't easy. Now, 2 years later, things are barely getting easier. I guess the fact that my campus has a very small greek system didn't make it any easier. To begin with, I didn't even know there were greeks on campus and when I found out, I had already started looking into my own interests.
There are only 2 fraternities (Chi Phi and TKE) and 4 Sororities, of which only 2 are national: Delta Phi Epsilon and my org, Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority, Inc. which is Latina based. The other 2 sororities are local (PXY and Phi Delta Psi). However, for rush, not only do we have our own events, but we also schedule events with the other orgs. The rush chairs always meet before rush to plan the events together. We also have, through tradition, an all greek picnic/bonfire and an all sorority event. Not only that, we continue to interact with each other throughout the school year as well.
The irony, to our advantage, is that my org (the most recent) has gotten the most recognition out of all the others due to our involvement in school events. Being Latina based, we focus on the Latino culture and promotion of cultural awareness. We've co-sponsored a High School Conference for Latino youth, we've also co-sponsored/founded our University's "Celebracion Latina:" which is a week-long event of workshops and presentations having to do with the Latino culture and countries, and we tutor ESL students at the local schools. Currently, we are planning a minority women's conference with help of the Multicultural Center. Also, when we first started having events on campus, people were coming up to us and asking us if WE were the only sorority on campus. Why, because none of the others orgs did anything except for their yearly philanthropic event.
I guess what I've been getting at is that it all depends on your campus and your organization. My org is non-NPC, but has more recognition than the other sororities on campus. To make this year even better, we received the award for Community Service and one of my sisters received this years award for sorority member with the Highest GPA at this years Greek Awards Night. So you see, it's all about your accomplishments. NPC or Non-NPC, IFC or Non-IFC, it varies with location and organization.
For me it wasn't about prestige or reputation, it was about what worked for me, where I felt comfortable, who would bring out the best in me. Be proud of who you are and always represent your organization the best way possible!
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