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Originally Posted by HopefulInterest
Why do many orgs not qualify for or want to be members of the NMGC? (I'm just curious).
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That's a very good question and one I could only speculate on. Two issues, in particular, that I think may be challenging for some larger, more established multicultural GLOs is 1) the NMGC member orgs are heavily concentrated in the Northeast, and 2) the composition of member orgs is a little inconsistent in terms of size, reach, and demographics.
On another note, I think many smaller multicultural GLOs have not reached a point in their history where membership in an umbrella council is necessary for progress. So, the cost of membership (time and money) isn't worth it.
ETA: I just realized that I didn't answer your question in full. There are lots of reasons organizations don't qualify for membership in the NMGC and all the reasons have to do with minimum requirements such as insurance, being national by the NMGC's definition, being historically and programmatically multicultural, having enough chapters, etc.
From my perspective, and I'm speaking as an individual here, I think there is a bit of tension right now in terms of the definition of multiculturalism. The concept of "multicultural GLOs" has been watered down by schools nationwide that lump all their cultural GLOs under a "multicultural" umbrella. It's so bad that there are even schools who think all of their cultural organizations fall under the NMGC! It's an uphill battle, which the NMGC is ready to take on...diplomatically of course.