Do you have to prove yourself?

[WhirlwindTNX]

Hey I'm with TNX. . .THETA NU!!!!. . .and I was just wondering if anyone in a new colony or greek org. feels that they now have to prove themselves worthy to be on campus or have to prove themselves to other Greek orgs. . .

I know I feel this way a little, because we are the only Multicultural sorority on campus and we're coming in at a time where it seems the Greeks are receiving Anti-Greek reactions from the school. . .and on and on.

Know what I mean?

[Tom Earp]

TNX, while I have to go a way back, I know exactly how you feel having been a local!

You will ahve to work 1000 times as hard to prove you selves as a Group, so dont get down hearted, keep slugging it on!

You are the ppor kid on the block, the newie that no one knows, the runt of the litter, and the ugly duckling!

You may grow to be that beautiful swan!

[aephi alum]

Having been a member of a local sorority, I know exactly what you mean.

More than a year after my local was founded, the director of Greek Life at my school was giving a presentation. In the course of the presentation, he said, "There are four sororities here." There were, in fact, six sororities - 4 NPC orgs, AKA, and the local.

Our president was sitting in the front row, and she cleared her throat loudly. The director looked at her and said, "...oh, and you guys." And he went right on talking, without correcting his earlier statement.

Once you've been around a while and had a chance to make a good positive impact on the community, I think you'll be fine.

[zchi2]

I understand where you are coming from too. Even though it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be when my chapter first started, people really didn't know how to react to a multicultural sorority. We just learned to kill everyone with kindness and work our butts off to not only show that we should be taken seriously, but also to make a good name for ourselves on campus. You just have to learn to brush it all off and make sure you are doing what you have to do.

[WhirlwindTNX]

Our colony was founded last year by three GREAT women, and now we have five more (including me). . .and we're hoping that our events will show that we mean business. We've already gotten a good start because a few of us helped on an almost sweeping Student Government Board campaign. But people still refer to us as "Those ONE girls" lol. It's all good because we're everywhere even though there's only 8 of us.

I know that we probably will have to prove ourselves to others, maybe the new Greek Director. . .I don't know. But I'm sure we'll be able to handle it.

Thanks for the responses. I wrote the post after I had this really negative talk with this girl who wanted to know why all greeks didn't just join together and she didn't understand the need for my sorority. . .But thanks a lot.

[kddani]

You also have to keep in mind that a group of 8 women on a campus of about 14,000 (that's only counting undergrads...with grad students you're looking at close to 30,000), which is also fairly anti-greek, it's an uphill battle. It's just the reality of Pitt's campus.

It's an uphill battle for the established sororities. My chapter has 72 (we ranged from 35-65 when I was there), and they struggle everyday to fight stereotypes. Every single sorority on our campus does.

If you encounter any sort of problems from current greeks, you have to keep in mind several things.
1) people, in general, don't always take well to change
2) the sororities at Pitt are pretty competitive with each other, in both good and negative ways. Several of the houses on campus are consistently well under our campus total, and the greek system as a whole is struggling to get more members. Perhaps, "taking care of our own" is how to best describe it. Unfortunately that has somewhat of a negative tone to it.
3) Your events and the function of your group as a whole are very different. Also, when they don't even know about your group, or know very little, it's kind of hard for them to be supportive. I knew that the group had formed, but knew zero about them, and TNX didn't really seem like it related much to our greek system as a whole. It just seemed to be another group on our campus with over 300 other student groups.

I'm not sure of what sort of interaction you want with the rest of the greeks on campus. If you want to participate in some of the events, you're going to encounter some problems, and least if it's Panhel/IFC events. All of the groups pay dues and put a lot of work into the events. With a group of 8, you may not be able to afford that, time or financial wise.

Working with SGB is good, but it's not really getting your name out there. There's perhaps an even greater animosity towards SGB than greeks on campus. For the over 5 years i've been on this campus, they are one of the most inefficient groups I have ever seen

Any group coming anywhere has to prove itself to others. "Proving yourself" probably isn't the best term. PR, outreach, campus visibility etc. are more what it should be. And that's what's going to get you noticed.

Get more members, if possible, and if that meets your the goals of your organization. Eight people can only do so much, and if you really want to increase your visibility on campus, you need to work hard and get your name out there. You don't want your members to burn out.

REACH OUT to the sororities. Take the first step. Like I said, I myself, and I'd imagine most of them, never really knew squat about TNX. I saw the article in the Pitt News about it, and that's all. They may not know that you want to be a part of things, they may not know what your function is. A good idea for you would maybe to make cookies or candy or something for right before the Panhel rush week. It's a VERY stressful time for the 11 NPC sororities on campus. They would definately take notice of a nice gesture like this. And/or send some sort of card wishing them luck.

Try to participate in the individual group's philanthropies. Several of the fraternities have different events (Sigma Chi's Derby Days, SAE's Paddy Murphy, etc) that would really allow you interaction with a lot of the groups, be great PR, and really help their philanthropies.

Sorry if this is all a jumbled mess. I just had lots of random thoughts running through my head.

I hope nothing I said was offensive, I really wasn't trying to be at all. I just know the realities of the campus, and I know how hard it is to change/create a group's image. It took KD several years, but now we have a great image on campus.

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about any of this more

[Eirene_DGP]

Originally posted by WhirlwindTNX
I wrote the post after I had this really negative talk with this girl who wanted to know why all greeks didn't just join together and she didn't understand the need for my sorority. . .But thanks a lot.

OMG...I can empathize. I had a girl from XYZ sorority call me last year and tell me she saw our info and did not see a need for our sorority on-campus. She wanted to blast me saying our chapter needed to change our info...(Basically she was mad b/c we said there were no minorities in NPC on campus *which was true*) Needless to say.....we got into a heated discussion b/c I am very determined and I REFUSED to change a fact.

[sairose]

Well, I've never been in a local or new GLO, but still, I somewhat know the feeling.

I am a music Greek. I get comments sometimes about how we're not a "real" sorority, not a "real" GLO. Some people do this to be obnoxious, but some don't know that we ARE a sorority and NOT an honor society.

Some of the social Greeks look down at us and make fun of us; they think we're trying to "immitate" them. Which we are not. We ARE a real sorority, we take our sisterhood VERY seriously...yet outside of the music department, we get very little respect. And I find that sad.

Why should I be any less Greek because I chose to join SAI instead of a Panhel group?

[GeekyPenguin]

We've been told we aren't a "real" sorority because we're international. On our campus, "real" sororities are supposed to be local. One of them even tried to say they coined the word sorority. My chapter was local for 100+ years before we became a Gamma Phi Beta colony, and we <b>lost</b> members when we were internationa. The locals have often accused us of "having a corporation-like sisterhood" and tell girls that they won't be real sorority members because we don't pledge. It is absolutely ridiculous...so yes, I know where you're coming from. There is also an interest group for Iota Phi Theta, Inc. on campus, and I really hope they get brought back.

[The_Nash]

We have definetly had to prove ourselves. Before this year we didn't have a house, and were a very small house with little recognition. This year our number just about quadrupled, and with that came great guys who want to be the best house on campus. We did really well in some philanthropies, dominated in some sports, and topped off the year with winning Greek Week. We have definetly made ourselves known on a campus of 60000, and are looking forward to showing all of ASU and greek life that we are here to stay.

[SigEp42]

WhirlwindTNX

While you may feel that you need to prove your self to the rest of the Pitt Greeks you will never have to prove your self to me. You are a great group of girls. I hope your chapter gets more involved with some of the Greek events. If you ever want to do some thing, (philanthropy or other wise) let me know and maybe we can make it happen.

[DeltaSigStan]

Two points here:

1) We had to prove ourselves as well. For years (since we restructured), no one knew who we were or thought we were a joke, the animal house that didn't do anything but party. Well, now that we're one of the top schools in GPA, and we've done well at several events this last semester, people are starting to turn. Hopefully, last Spring won't be just a fluke.

2) I'm going to be totally honest here. On MY campus, all the IFC and PHC houses are very diverse. My house, as a matter of fact, is one of the most diverse on campus. I see other IFC/PHC houses, and they all have members of all ethnicities, and they even hold the top positions in their houses.

I do respect what USFC does, and I have friends in almost all of the cultural orgs, and I do appreciate what they do, but I would take offense, on MY campus, for them to say that they started their GLOs because they weren't taken into IFC/PHC due to their race, because that obviously can't be true if we're also diverse.

Once again, don't get me wrong, they play a very active role on our campus and is very instrumental in helping promote the greek scene here, but I just wouldn't entertain a claim that they started because of a race issue with IFC/PHC.

Just on a side note, we will be the first IFC house to have a social event with a cultural sorority. This fall, during the very first weeks of school after rush, Delta Sigma Phi will be holding an exchange with the beautiful ladies of Delta Sigma Psi Asian sorority.

[AUDeltaGam]

I would say we had to also. Delta Gamma came into a very stong greek system and we had to "prove" that we were just as strong as any other chapter on campus. We dove headfirst into every opportunity we could (Miss Greek Week, Greek Week, Greek Sing and Derby Days) just so we could get our name out.

I hope our chapter continues to grow stronger and stronger!

[zchi2]

Originally posted by DeltaSigStan

2) I'm going to be totally honest here. On MY campus, all the IFC and PHC houses are very diverse. My house, as a matter of fact, is one of the most diverse on campus. I see other IFC/PHC houses, and they all have members of all ethnicities, and they even hold the top positions in their houses.

I do respect what USFC does, and I have friends in almost all of the cultural orgs, and I do appreciate what they do, but I would take offense, on MY campus, for them to say that they started their GLOs because they weren't taken into IFC/PHC due to their race, because that obviously can't be true if we're also diverse.

Once again, don't get me wrong, they play a very active role on our campus and is very instrumental in helping promote the greek scene here, but I just wouldn't entertain a claim that they started because of a race issue with IFC/PHC.

Just on a side note, we will be the first IFC house to have a social event with a cultural sorority. This fall, during the very first weeks of school after rush, Delta Sigma Phi will be holding an exchange with the beautiful ladies of Delta Sigma Psi Asian sorority.

[WhirlwindTNX]

Originally posted by kddani
You also have to keep in mind that a group of 8 women on a campus of about 14,000 (that's only counting undergrads...with grad students you're looking at close to 30,000), which is also fairly anti-greek, it's an uphill battle. It's just the reality of Pitt's campus.

It's an uphill battle for the established sororities. My chapter has 72 (we ranged from 35-65 when I was there), and they struggle everyday to fight stereotypes. Every single sorority on our campus does.

If you encounter any sort of problems from current greeks, you have to keep in mind several things.
1) people, in general, don't always take well to change
2) the sororities at Pitt are pretty competitive with each other, in both good and negative ways. Several of the houses on campus are consistently well under our campus total, and the greek system as a whole is struggling to get more members. Perhaps, "taking care of our own" is how to best describe it. Unfortunately that has somewhat of a negative tone to it.
3) Your events and the function of your group as a whole are very different. Also, when they don't even know about your group, or know very little, it's kind of hard for them to be supportive. I knew that the group had formed, but knew zero about them, and TNX didn't really seem like it related much to our greek system as a whole. It just seemed to be another group on our campus with over 300 other student groups.

I'm not sure of what sort of interaction you want with the rest of the greeks on campus. If you want to participate in some of the events, you're going to encounter some problems, and least if it's Panhel/IFC events. All of the groups pay dues and put a lot of work into the events. With a group of 8, you may not be able to afford that, time or financial wise.

Working with SGB is good, but it's not really getting your name out there. There's perhaps an even greater animosity towards SGB than greeks on campus. For the over 5 years i've been on this campus, they are one of the most inefficient groups I have ever seen

Any group coming anywhere has to prove itself to others. "Proving yourself" probably isn't the best term. PR, outreach, campus visibility etc. are more what it should be. And that's what's going to get you noticed.

Get more members, if possible, and if that meets your the goals of your organization. Eight people can only do so much, and if you really want to increase your visibility on campus, you need to work hard and get your name out there. You don't want your members to burn out.

REACH OUT to the sororities. Take the first step. Like I said, I myself, and I'd imagine most of them, never really knew squat about TNX. I saw the article in the Pitt News about it, and that's all. They may not know that you want to be a part of things, they may not know what your function is. A good idea for you would maybe to make cookies or candy or something for right before the Panhel rush week. It's a VERY stressful time for the 11 NPC sororities on campus. They would definately take notice of a nice gesture like this. And/or send some sort of card wishing them luck.

Try to participate in the individual group's philanthropies. Several of the fraternities have different events (Sigma Chi's Derby Days, SAE's Paddy Murphy, etc) that would really allow you interaction with a lot of the groups, be great PR, and really help their philanthropies.

Sorry if this is all a jumbled mess. I just had lots of random thoughts running through my head.

I hope nothing I said was offensive, I really wasn't trying to be at all. I just know the realities of the campus, and I know how hard it is to change/create a group's image. It took KD several years, but now we have a great image on campus.

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about any of this more

We're all totally aware of the battle we're about to go through. My colonies founders had it very hard in the beginning because they tried to reach out to ALL of the greeks and the ones that showed us love was NPHC. I will forever have much love and respect for them because of that.

We were treated as a regular student organization in the beginning because T.M. was giving us the Univ. of Pittsburgh run around. But what can you do but keep trying and not get out of their face till they deal with you. . .we did so there will be a few changes next year for us.

Trust me, we reached out to NPC and IFC and some of the reactions have been downright cold, because as you said before "People, in general, don't always take well to change."

So of course we're going to try again. We're most definitely fighters (not physically though), so we'll do what we have to do and more.

Thanks to you and SigEp41 for showing me and my girls love!!!!