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Old 01-18-2005, 04:25 PM
Wolfman Wolfman is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 1,023
I'm not sure about NIC and NPC group stereotypes (or the lack thereof),but among NPHC groups there are definitely national stereotypes. Even though all members don't confirm to these stereotypes,to a large extent there is more than a grain of truth to them. It's somewhat like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The origins of this is grounded in history though, having to do with social class differences and other factors that differentiated various groups.

Fraternities:
A Phi A--gentlemen scholars,snobs,nerds,etc.
Kappa Alpha Psi--,pretty boy,playboy fraternity(a more recent stereotype--earlier more athletes and heavy drinkers)
Omega Psi Phi--the infamous "Que Dogs," the gregarious, macho party frat
Phi Beta Sigma--so-called "skaters," largely from more "declasse" backgrounds
Iota Phi Theta--black radicals,somewhat off the radar socially speaking,new kids on the block

Sororities:
Alpha Kappa Alpha--prim ,beauty queen,socialite types
Delta Sigma Theta--more open, outgoing, civic-minded,and gregarious
Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho in black society circles traditionally considered the sororities for black women from lower class girls.

Even though these stereotypes are often downplayed now, they tend to reflect issues that go back to the founding days of many of these organizations. One of the founders of my Fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, said that the other group in existence at the time on Howard Univ.'s campus appraoched him and another founder. He said they "turned them down flat," and it was composed of "bigots" who had money and esteemed family names. It was a "social club not a fraternity." (This is not meant to be polemical but to give insight into how these stereotypes,in terms of NPHC groups, developed.)
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