[Sistermadly]

I've said this to one of my favourite GCers, but I'l say it here for the first time:

The only way I think that any inroads toward integration of NPC sororities will happen is for NPC sororities to charter chapters at historically black colleges and universities.

Lambda Chi Alpha did it at a university that was once an HBCU but is now in the process of desegregating. Why can't an NPC group colonize at that school as well? I should also add that the school is also in the South...right Tom?

I think it's great that the administration wants to be proactive (ugh, I hate that word), and I think it's great that they realize that the legacy/recommendation presents a particular disadvantage to certain students. However, I think it's going to be quite the uphill battle to get Southern schools to let go of these traditions.

Also - if (white) NPC women see an African American (or Latina, or Indian, or Native American, or Asian) young woman in their community who is an outstanding student, and leader, don't automatically assume that she's "already made up her mind". If you're a teacher, talk to her about your organization. If you know her from church, invite her to your city's alumnae panhellenic information session for high school students. If she needs a mentor, be her mentor. Let her see a different face -- a human face -- of an NPC woman, and you just might change her mind.

The NPHC is a wonderful conference, and there are some truly amazing organizations with rich histories represented there -- but that's not to say that a minority woman isn't interested in an alternative. I was, and I have aunts, cousins, sisters, and nieces who are in NPHC sororities!

The way the system is set up now, it's almost a foregone conclusion that an African American woman will automatically join an NPHC sorority, and therefore, NPC women don't try to win over an excellent candidate. And yes, I know how tough it can be to get someone to change her mind if the NPHC is all she knows -- but I think that you're selling NPC sororities short if you just shrug your shoulders, throw up your hands and say "Oh well!" I'm curious to know, however, why a similar conclusion doesn't seem to be drawn with respect to Latinas, Asian, or Indian women?

It's up to you -- to us -- as NPC members to let minority women know that they are welcome in our organizations. Like adduncan said in another post in a different forum, eventually someone has to be the first person to take a bold step forward.