AI Question: Alum Chapters

[LPIDelta]

To all the AIs and Potential AIs I would like to pose this question: How important is it to YOU to have a local active alumnae chapter near you? Understanding, of course, that in many cases you need to be sponsored by a/several member(s) of the organization, would it be enough to meet local members of your interest group or do you want there to be an official chapter?

[DGMarie]

in my case the nearest collegiate chapter is over an hour away. I would very much like to do more with them but it is not a commutable distance to play an active role.

edited to add: I should clarify that there IS an active alum chapter near me, which is the group that sponsored me and with whom I socialize. I misread your post to mean if there was a local collegiate chapter near me, which there is not.

[Sistermadly]

It was important for me that there was an active local chapter, since one of the reasons I decided to pursue AI was to make new friends/new networking contacts.

[bsp-mich24]

For me its important to have the local alum chapter located in the same town as the local college (where I will be part of the advising team).

My alma mater is about 3.5 miles from my house so getting to chapter meetings will not be a problem. From what I can tell most of the members from the local alum chapter live w/in a 35 mile radius from CSU, ____.

[aopirose]

In my case, it played a pivotal roll in my decision between two groups. Like DGMarie, both have collegiate chapters an hour away but with my schedule, it is not easy to be very active with them.

I had a lot of things going on in my life at that time and I did a tremendous amount of soul searching. I listed the pros and cons of each organization and I picked the one that best suited my needs and wants. I had already decided that whichever group I chose that I would give 110%. This process took about a year maybe even a little more. I decided that I needed a close support group and that it wouldn’t due to be a member-at-large. If I had been a collegiate member then at-large-membership wouldn’t have been a big deal or even if I didn’t have such deep things going on in my life.

I absolutely adored Group #1 and was a breath away from submitting my application. It was typed up and in the envelope. All I needed to do was mail it when a thought hit me. I worked with some of Group #1’s national officers through my local sorority and met a few of their local alumnae. However, there was no alumnae chapter either organized or meeting informally. There was talk of getting together informally but it never came to pass. I loved working with collegians but I was ready for that next phase of membership. Group #2, on the other hand, has a very active and vibrant AC that is celebrating its 87th anniversary this year. I am so proud to be this chapter’s vice president. Sometimes I wonder how different my life would be to be a Group 1 member, but I know that my home and my heart are with AOII.

Gee, am I long winded or what?

[tinydancer]

It was important to me that there be an active alum. chapter and a collegiate chapter in my area. That was one way I narrowed down my choices. The one I finally decided on has both, but after a lot of to-do, My sponsor and I found out that the one here in town (alum) was not too active. There is, however, a very active one in Dallas and they were more than happy to invite us to their events. I can get to Dallas in about 30 min. so this was a fine choice for me.

Now if they will just HURRY UP!!!

[Beryana]

It too was very important for me to have an active alumnae chapter as well as collegiate chapter near me. Unfortunately I have since moved and there is not an active alumnae chapter or collegiate chapter near me (the closest is 2 hours for an alumnae chapter and 4 hours for a collegiate chapter) but I do hope to get involved in some way.

Sarah

[adduncan]

As much as I would like and do intend to support collegians if and when I am accepted as an AI, I don't feel it's possible for me to do it without an organized alumnae support system.

There are a lot of great orgs out there that I wanted to explore, but if I'm the only active one--there's only so much I could accomplish and building both my new life in a GLO *and* as an AI *and* being the force behind a new alum association would be too much.

Now if I had been initiated as a collegian and wanted to start a new alum movement or group, that would be different--the ritual and other ground work would already be laid.

We'll see what happens.....
Adrienne (PNAM-2003)

[pinkyphimu]

i am not an ai, but i really wanted my mom to do it. the more i thought about it, the more i realized that she would never get to experience the reasons i wanted her to be an ai....ie. sisterhood friendship, etc., since there is not an alum chapter near by. i would imagine that for some ais having a collegiate chapter near by is less important than having an active alum chapter.

[navane]

Having an alumnae chapter nearby is very important, of course! After all, I'd be an ALUMNAE initiate! It's not good enough for there to just be a couple of alum members around...I wanted there to be an actual chapter with activities. Oddly enough, the group I am working with, "sorority #2", only seems to have one chapter in my area and it's one which has received awards from the national HQ for being an outstanding alumnae association.


With that said, it was also important for me to be near a collegiate chapter as well. As a student affairs professional, I know I have a lot to offer the collegiate members. So, it's a mix of both, really.


.....Kelly

[LPIDelta]

Thanks everyone for your responses! I appreciate your perspective.

Have any of you thought about getting involved on the National/International level? I am a volunteer on the International level for my organization, and in a way, all the volunteers are like their own chapter. We see each other at meetings etc. I joined my organization because I wanted to volunteer at this level.

Do any of you have those kind of aspirations? Or do you plan to just stay involved on a more 'local' level?