Hey Jaybee,
I forgot to mention this one women's organization called "Phrateres" (pronunced Fra-Tair-Eez).
They only have one chapter left now, at UBC in Canada.
http://www.ams.ubc.ca/clubs/phrateres/index.html
They used to have chapters at U of Arizona (UA chapter was co-ed, actually),
http://clubs.asua.arizona.edu/~phraterp/geninfo.html
(it folded not too long ago)
and I think there were chapters (now closed) at OSU, UVictoria, UW, UCLA (that's going way way back).
I think Seattle might even have an alumnae group..not entirely sure.
It was kind of like a sorority/service organization, in that there was pledging with pledge pins and also initiation (with an initiated members' pin). You did mixers with the fraternities, philanthropy stuff, participated in Intramurals, etc. It was like a club though, in that if you wanted to join, you just signed up and paid your money and you were a member, whereas sorority membership is by mutual selection and by invitation. Also, membership was cheaper, so if women found the costs of sorority membership prohibitive (and did not want to go the payment plan route), sometimes Phratere was a more cost-effective alternative.
We didn't get into the history that much, but I do recall that Phrateres was founded in the 1920's at UCLA by Dean Helen Matthew Laughlinson. My understand is that in the "olden days" sometimes sorority women were members of BOTH their GLO and Phrateres. For the most part though, women were either a Phratere or a GLO member (due to time constraints, etc.).
I think that's about all I can remember, but I think of something else, I shall post again.
BTW: I was a Phratere, and became an alumna initaite of Delta Gamma later.
P.S. Those who weren't Phrateres, never knew how to pronounce/spell us. Once I came back to my dorm room and there was a message on my wipe-off board that said, "Call Jenny about the philanthropy project
for Terry's".
