[SapphireSphinx9]

Well first off, I would like to say that I'm not confronting anyone, or trying to offend anyone... If you feel offended, please accept my apologies now.

I am a Founding Sister of the Iota Gamma Chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma. I am also white.

Let me tell you about our chapter... From the Founders to the newly initiated sister (this past Friday) we have had a total of:
32 members of Hispanic descent
7 members of European descent
6 members of Asian/Islander descent
3 members of African descent

As you can see, even though we are a NPC (or “traditionally white”) sorority, we are not so traditional at our chapter. The sad thing is, that we have had a lot of interested women that are black, that have felt the pressure of joining either AKA, ZFB, SGR, or DSQ. Unfortunately, these women did not join us because of those pressures from parents/friends/society.

Now let me tell you about my situation...

Phi Sigma Sigma was not one of my first choices... I didn’t even want to know about Phi Sig, because I was under the impression that they were a typical “white” sorority... Rich, blonde, and stuck up. So I first went to the Sigma Gamma Rho (a NPHC sorority) table and asked them for some information. I knew the President at the time, and so she eagerly handed me the paperwork I needed. The reaction from the other women sitting at this table were not the same as hers. I got the feeling that I wasn’t good enough for them. Because of this unwelcoming feeling, I left the table. (I'm definately not saying that their feelings toward me were meant to be this... It's just how I felt.) I then went to the Sigma Lambda Gamma (a Latina sorority) table and asked for information. They were more than happy to tell me about SLG, and invited me to upcoming events that they were hosting. To make a long story short, it just so happened that I ended up going to a Phi Sigma Sigma interest group informational, and fell in love with them. We are an International sorority, and were “the first nonsectarian sorority; open to diverse membership from inception and the only one with a ritual that was not based in scripture.”

My parents never had a problem with what kind of organization I joined, whether it be “white”, “black”, “green”, “blue”, or anything else. They’ve always been pretty open minded about other cultures since I was little. I was in African-American Dance Club and Polynesian Dance Club in middle school, and my parents have always encouraged me to learn different languages, and about different cultures. Even down to the men I date... My parents, especially my mom, tell me that “it’s not the cover of the book that matters... but what’s inside.” Now I’m not going to lie and say that all of my family is like that... I have a few very closed minded relatives that think some pretty awful things about other ethic groups. But thankfully my parents let me “taste” a little bit of everything, and I’ve learned that these relatives of mine are not so brilliant as they think.

With all of this said, (sorry that this is so long) I don’t think that society should put such pressure on people to join certain groups. And I really don’t think that it is fair for parents to threaten their children that they will not pay for their tuition anymore if they join the wrong organization! What does that accomplish? Someone will get the raw end of the stick with that one... Either the child, for not being able to join who they want to... Or the parents, when the child joins that group anyway, and finds a way to provide for themselves... And this goes for any ethnic group...

Anyways, thanks for listening to my 2 cents.

Fraternally,
Beth