Thank you for your inquiry into this issue. I would just like to point out a couple of items in addiition to those presented by my Sorors.
Our organization takes in as many members on the alumnae level as the collegiate level, if not more. In fact, a number of interests purposely wait to apply on the alumnae level for various reasons.
Also, pertaining to you post below, our alumnae chapters are geographically based and NOT based on your collegiate chapter. Therefore in a typical alumnae chapter, you have members who were made in that chapter, members who were made in collegiate chapters in the area, members who were made in other collegiate chapters who moved to the area AND members made in other alumnae chapters who now reside in the area. In fact some sorors, have affiliated with several alumnae chapters over the course of their Delta life based on where they reside and the communities they desire to serve.
Many cities have more than one chapter; not counting the suburban areas. For example, the Baltimore Metropolitan area where I reside includes about 7 alumnae chapters depending on where you draw the line between Baltimore and DC metro areas. There is so much to do in our communities that often one chapter is not sufficient to carry out the work of Delta.
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Originally posted by imadeltaz
I love that! That is absolutely how I feel about being a Delta Zeta sister, but I never heard it put into words before! I listened and heard loud and clear that my DZ membership was for life...that the "new members" learn from the collegians, who learn from the alumnae. I just don't know what many of our other sisters were paying attention to during the time this was being instilled in me.
We also have the same type of programs (offices, committees, etc) where alumnae can be involved after school, and those positions usually are always filled with eager alumnae, but on the alumnae chapter front, I think we have less than 50 chapters nationwide, and only 3-4 chapters have over 100 members. Most are under 50!
I don't know the pecentage exactly, but so many sisters graduate from college and fall off the planet sorority-wise. Sure, they still keep in touch with their chapter friends in most cases, but very few go straight from college into an alumnae chapter, and eventually just forget about it. In the past few years, DZ has created "Alumnae Associations" (chapters tied to the school you pledged at), and has made it easier to create an alumnae chapter so that perhaps sisters that don't live in areas with more than a handful of DZs around can participate. I know our sorority is working on it, and perhaps change takes time, but I think your programming for alumnae sounds great. It should be a "given" that you move from one stage to the next, but maybe our collegians are more worried about the here and now, and not the later. I would like to see that change.
I appreciate everyone taking the time to write back.
Greek Love, Tracy
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