Here's another perspective on this topic: what about newer organizations, which are not specifically ethnic-interest - are those organizations also considered WGLOs, or PWGLOs, by members of BGLOs, AGLOs, LGLOs? After all, organizations like mine (which have been established in the late 1900s) are predominately white, though many members are not.
There are a lot of Asian, and Hispanic-interest fraternities and sororities established lately. Then there are GLOs like mine - not ethnic-interest, yet special-interest. So, is a young Asian, Hispanic, or Black woman considered to be selling out to her heritage if she chooses an NPC sorority, or an independant sorority like mine, over a sorority that represents her background?
There are no Asian Indian sororities out there (though there are several Asian Indian fraternities now, and I believe a "council" of sorts that aims to unite them) - what's public opinion of a young Asian Indian woman like me, who brings a chapter of special-interest GLO to her school, rather than etsablishing a brand-new GLO reflective of her heritage? Have I sold out on my Indian heritage?
What troubles me about this dialogue is that it's often assumed that a person of color/heritage has:
(a) no cultural pride, or
(b) has made a misinformed decision at best, if they choose a GLO other than the one that reflects their background.
I've heard it mentioned that one should never join a greek organization because of what it
isn't, but for what it
is. There are a lot of young ladies who showed a lot interest in A.S.K. when my Chapter was brought to campus, who were solely interested because they wanted to to experience sisterhood that was "not typical greek." That's just
not a good reason to rush and pledge. Though the assumption can be made that my sorority isn't typical greek, there are more profound (and positive) reasons why one would want to rush A.S.K. In the same vein, I think it's persuing interest in a greek org.
only because it reflects one's ethnicity, or rejecting interest in a greek org. because it
doesn't reflect one's ethnicity, is making a decision because of negative reasons, not positives. Rather, I would encourage persuing interest in a greek org. that reflects
one's values, whether those values are based on serving one's ethnic community, promoting women in technical fields, etc.
Finally, I'd like to share an incident that occured at a rush event for my sorority a few years back:
A rushee asked me what our breakdown by ethnicity was, nationally and at our Chapter. She was curious to know if there were many black women in our organization, since she was black. I balked - I had no idea, we don't keep statistics. So I said, very frankly, that I had no idea - but then, we were interested in women who identified with our values, to promote and sustain women in technical fields.
This young woman ended up pledging and intiating our sorority. She experienced Sisterhood amongst women of her heritage (through church and community organizations, though not a greek organization), and she felt that experiencing Sisterhood that reflected her professional interests could only enhance her as a person. I am proud to call my Sister both a Sister and my best friend - because we both share a love for our respective heritages, we share in the Sisterly bond, and we simply have so much in common.
I challenge anyone to say that either of us have made a misinformed choice, have sold out to our respective cultures, that we aren't truly accepted by our white sisters because we are not white, or that we choose to forget the distinctions of our heriage - simply by not choosing an ethnic GLO.
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equeen
A Lioness has her Pride!
@>--;--
Always
Seek
Knowledge
Alpha Sigma Kappa - Women in Technical Studies
[This message has been edited by equeen (edited December 03, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by equeen (edited December 13, 2000).]