Sororities or similar organisations in Germany?

[uf_anna]

Hi everyone,

my name's Anna, I'm new to this board. I'm from Germany and have spent an exchange year at UF- that's why there's the "uf" in my name.

I recently came to the conclusion that I would really like to join a sorority . Thing is, I didnt when I had the chance ( in my exchange year) and I read about organisations/sororities foe people who decide on joining after graduating (in the US).

Now I was wondering, does anyone happen to know about similar organisations in Germany?
We have our own traditional kind of fraternities/sorities, but they are quite different from what I feel American ones are about and I have never been quite so interested to them in terms of becoming a member.

So I googled and found Delta Sigma Theta seem to have a Germany Alumnae chapter, but they seem to be traditionally black and I'm not.

So, maybe someone knows about other organisations.

Thank you!

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by uf_anna

Hi everyone,

my name's Anna, I'm new to this board. I'm from Germany and have spent an exchange year at UF- that's why there's the "uf" in my name.

I recently came to the conclusion that I would really like to join a sorority . Thing is, I didnt when I had the chance ( in my exchange year) and I read about organisations/sororities foe people who decide on joining after graduating (in the US).

Now I was wondering, does anyone happen to know about similar organisations in Germany?
We have our own traditional kind of fraternities/sorities, but they are quite different from what I feel American ones are about and I have never been quite so interested to them in terms of becoming a member.

So I googled and found Delta Sigma Theta seem to have a Germany Alumnae chapter, but they seem to be traditionally black and I'm not.

So, maybe someone knows about other organisations.

Thank you!

Traditionally or better yet, historically Black does not mean only Black. Since you are doing the research, research the history of sororities and fraternities in America past and present. In doing so, you will find that due to the long history of racism in America, many organizations are also historically white; however, this doesn't mean only white. All fraternities and sororities in America now have members of all races and cultures and cannot discriminate against anyone.

As far as finding American sororities in Germany besides NPHC (historically Black) organizations that also conduct alumnae intake, you might not. Sigma Gamma Rho (also historically Black) also has an alumnae chapter in Germany.

Good Luck and please do some research.

[DubaiSis]

I read here recently that Alpha Gamma Delta HAD a collegiate chapter somewhere in Germany at one time, but it closed. I have no idea how that worked but it sounded interesting to me.

[ms_gwyn]

Sigma also had a chapter in Germany...alas it recently went inactive

[agzg]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

I read here recently that Alpha Gamma Delta HAD a collegiate chapter somewhere in Germany at one time, but it closed. I have no idea how that worked but it sounded interesting to me.

I don't believe this is true.

[Always AlphaGam]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

I read here recently that Alpha Gamma Delta HAD a collegiate chapter somewhere in Germany at one time, but it closed. I have no idea how that worked but it sounded interesting to me.

This is not true. Alpha Gamma Delta has never had a collegiate chapter in Germany.

As ms gwyn said, Tri Sigma had a collegiate chapter in Mannheim (I believe through the University of Maryland) but they have since closed.

[Tulip86]

Anna, I can advice you to take another look at the "traditional" German sororities, because even though they are not an exact copy of the American ones, they are built on the same principles: sisterhood and friendship. Like the American ones, they have ritual, mixers with other groups, alumni organisations and all-greek events at uni's. Most just don't have greek letters but other names.

I know some German fraternities, sororities and Student Social Groups (studentenverein) can be quite elitist and off-putting, but I know for a fact that most are quite accessible.

The main difference is that, in Germany, most sororities don't have a house and, there are few nationals, most are local.

Good luck!

[excelblue]

Sororities in Germany are like "autobahns" in the US. You can find a highway that looks like an autobahn and is probably built better, but you'll be disappointed the minute you see that 80mph speed limit, even though nobody follows it. Basically, just like how a no-speed-limit autobahn is a German thing, the Greek system is a distinctly American thing. There are social organizations that come close, but not exactly.

[DubaiSis]

Sorry, I had the sorority wrong. Must have been Tri-Sigma I heard about.

[uf_anna]

Wow, thanks for all of your answers over night. (over night to me ).

@rhoyaltempest: I will! Just thought it wouldnt hurt to ask here, right? Maybe people just know about things sometimes

And yes, I have found that sororities may not discriminate against anyone. I am still not sure though how I would feel being the (almost?) only white person in a group.

@Tulip86: How come you know so much about the German system? It was quite the appropriate analysis. And yes, what I know about the clubs, they do seem quite off-putting, as do the people that are in them.

That is a very general judgement, I know, don't hate me

@excelblue: That is quite exactly the impression I got

Basically, it is very hard to establish ANY kind of group/club here because everyone is still over sensitive about the German past. Things like rituals, symbols, exklusive meetings and banners are always still viewed veeeeery critically (only changing now).

Always something I have envied about American college life

[DubaiSis]

UF Anna, you've brought up a really interesting conundrum for Germans. But hey, congratulations on paying off that World War I debt! It makes my credit cards seem utterly manageable. If Germany can do it, I certainly can.

I'm interested to hear how you work through this issue. Since Tri-Sigma wasn't able to make it work, my guess is no other NPC sorority will be trying it any time soon.

I was just thinking, you might look into FAWCO, the Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas. It's not a sorority style group, but you might enjoy continuing your connections with American Women. It's a worldwide group of expat clubs and I'm sure there are some in Germany. The website, www.fawco.org should be able to help you, although it's a little hard to navigate. Some clubs allow a certain percentage of non-Americans and others have no restrictions whatsoever.

[uf_anna]

@Dubaisis: its kinda funny you mentioned WW I- you might not ever do that in public here (no offense though). People just don't talk about positive aspects of their history (well the finally paying off being the positive aspect), someone will come right up and tell them about all the negative things that their country has done.
I think one should be able to talk about all aspects though, so never mind.

I have checked out the homepage that you suggested, thanks! I have even found a German-American Women's club in the city where I live. Just seems so everyone is in their 50ies who is active there- and I'm obviously not. But I will give it a closer look. Thanks again!

Generally speaking, I feel this whole country is really missing out on a lot of social opportunities.

No honor societies. No sororities. No business fraternities. No high school or college sport, intramural, if any. No awards to win at no events or competitions taking place. Only ceremony that we really have is graduation.

Heck, you don't event find school gear here. Not even a mascot or a sweater saying "XY college". Makes me really sad sometimes. Would want to be proud of my home school as much as of my exchange school. Isn't it ironic I have sweaters saying "UF" but not "Home School"?

Oh my, this makes me "USA homesick" right now...

[Tulip86]

You don't have school sports/honor societies/business fraternities in Germany? I didn't know that. I'm studying in The Netherlands, in a city very close to Germany (As in, if I look out my window I can see Germany!) and we do have all those things. Heck, I'm in my University t-shirt right now!

I also studied in the US, and though the American uni's have stronger "school spirit" (I think it's our lack of American Football and school vs school games! AND the fact that we usually don't live in dorms on campus) I do find school spirit at my Uni. Maybe that's why there's so many German students here .

It does make me wonder if there aren't many girls like you in Germany looking for that sorority experience. There's definately a niche there for a new kind of sorority.

And if you're at a Uni with only the snobby elitist sororities/fraternities I get why you wouldn't go there.

[uf_anna]

Hey tulip86, glad I can be the cultural ambassador here!

No, there's not a tiny bit of school spirit here and it's sad. It's really only changing now because schools finally realize they have to compete internationally - now that we have the Bachelor/Master system.

Actually, last year I had a class with a whole lot of International Master students (I am in a program with a German degree called Diplom, we are only changing the system now) and they all were quite shocked by a number of differences. They weren't all from the US but also from Mexico and other countries, and they were very shocked about the following:

- no school spirit

- no friendly/helpful attitude in administrative units, etc (because schools are state owned (98%) and hardly any sponsoring, etc allowed- therefore no 'service' attitude)

- incredibly difficult to get good grades here (depends on the actual school and department, but at my school, you absolutely excel(!) with a B)..doesn't really matter to find work in Germany, because people know what the grades really mean in here, but makes it harder to find work abroad/in your home country

- failing and retake the test is very common- and they're only offered twice a year

...but I feel I am kinda not sticking to the topic here

And yes, I have been wondering if others (at least who have studied abroad) have felt the need for this other kind of sorority. I can't be the only one!

Oh, and thanks for your understanding Tulip You really can't compare the German sororities/fraternities to the American ones.
I have a friend, 50% of whose male friends are in a "high school" fraternity. I have seen them out and about and they are definitely not the kind of people I'd like to surround myself with.... seems that rich parents, snobby attitude and drinking skills get you in. Only topic to talk about seems to be the latest internship at that oh so elitist consultancy. Not for me.


Even getting involved at school is not "cool" and considered "nerdy", if anything. Can you guys believe this??

[psusue]

I was in Italy for five weeks two summers ago and I found much the same attitude at the university I was at while there. The idea of people going to a school sponsored sport (does not exist in Italy), with school colors and clothes on (extremely rare and very tourist oriented in Italy, CHEERING for said team (school spirit is seriously lacking), was pretty much as alien as you could get for students there. They were probably put off by my enthusiasm, but there you go.

I feel like this is for a lot of different reasons. Some that I can surmise is that most Italian students go to school while living at home. There are no dorms and most students retain their friends from childhood from their hometowns. That coupled with the fact that there are no school sports or other rallying points for the students, there is little unity and even less school spirit. School is school and that is it.

There is also the fact that the school system is set up so differently in Europe. Their high schools probably rival our junior colleges, their universities our upper level courses, and then their second degree (last two years out of five), are pretty much our graduate schools. So basically they have their masters degrees at age 23. Which is possible in the U.S. but is not quite done in the same fashion, besides the fact that almost every student graduates with this degree, most who are seeking further studies (i.e. law school) do that directly after. School, from what I gathered, is taken pretty seriously. The idea of college being a social and academic experience is pretty foreign, although students do like to have fun at night/on the weekends.

But again, this is with their childhood friends. They feel that we're a bit flaky for moving away and making all new friends, but the situations are so different it's hard to compare. So yes, the idea of a sorority is very odd to most Europeans, but again there are social and academic reasons behind that. I don't know if the idea would ever catch on, because the cultural "soil" may not grow that kind of social scene.