Since nobody has posted from the Asian GLO point of view, I thought I'd throw in my $0.02.
My sorority was founded in 1930 during a time when there were still many discriminatory laws against Asians and many hate crimes committed against Asians. Our founders were double minorities...they were women and they were Asian. They banded together to provide support for one another, to promote education, and to assist those in need.
While our philanthropies are broad and not specific to one race, we do have events that specifically promote Asian-American awareness.
We have had a conference on Asian-American history. At the conference, we had an Asian-American professor speak about the difficulties she had to face as a student, a sociology professor lead a discussion about why Asian-interest organizations are still needed today, and a presentation about the statistics of poverty and illiteracy amongst Asian in the US and how false the stereotypes of Asians are.
We had students sign a petition that there is a need and an interest for Asian-American courses. There are African-American and Hispanic-American literature and history classes. There are Asian literature and history classes. However, there were no classes about the racism and discriminatory laws Asian-American faced, the protests to get those laws off the books, the accomplishments of Asian-American activists and innovators, or the authors who write about the Asian-American experience. We took our petition to the dean and got an Asian-American literature class approved. We're still trying to get an Asian-American history class approved.
So I don't feel like MCGLO's, LGLO's, and AGLO's don't serve a purpose. Obviously, some people want something more broad. But I wanted something where I could learn more about my Asian heritage. And that's why I think all these organizations are important. Everyone is looking for something different. When someone comes on GC asking which GLO they should join, everyone always says to find the one that fits best. For some of us, that fit may be a MCGLO, LGLO, or AGLO.
ETA: If anyone is interested in learning more about the history of Asian-Americans, here's a good site. If you scroll down, they have timelines for different eras.
http://us_asians.tripod.com/timeline.html