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Membership Questions in 2001
I wrote this as part of a thread on membership in 2001. I think it's still relevant (unfortunately) today.
The reason that people get shot down by members of an organization is usually because the questions they are asking has NOTHING to do with the organization per se. For example, rarely do folks ask: What is the genesis of Zeta's founding and how did Phi Beta Sigma play a part? What are the programs you are implementing today that support the initial goals and missions of the Sorority? What are some of Zeta's auxiliaries and how do they really interact with Zeta? These questions help a person determine whether this would be an appropriate organization for them.
Conversely, questions like: do I have to pledge to join and how long will I be on line? are you guys nicer/smarter/better than the AKAs and Deltas or SGRhos? why do you guys do that call/handsign? How high does my GPA have to be? These types of questions have NOTHING to do with the organization for an execution perspective. None of these questions can provide any illumination upon why Zeta exists today.
Folks want to be known for being popular/ smart/attractive; they love the colors; they want to step; they want to get respect by pledging hard; their moms/daddy/school teacher from back in the day is a member; they want to be a part of the biggest/oldest/one true fam/youngest and so on. These are the reasons many people select a GLO. Clearly, the same type of issues intrigued me. Yet at the same time, I joined before the popularity of the Internet. Therefore, I didn’t really know what other chapters were like; I didn’t know the latest chants or the hippest step routines. I didn’t know any of the minimum requirements for membership before I went to the Invitational. I knew that based upon what I’d seen on my campus and from those chapters around our campus, and from the Zetas who gave to me information about the Sorority, Zeta would be an organization to which I would be proud to belong, and have never regretted my decision one single day.
Folks who have access to the Internet have an even better opportunity to see Zeta and other organizations from the international, regional, state and local perspective. You would think this would go a long way in helping women to determine the best organization for them. Most times, though, it does not. Therefore, I really wonder if there is such a thing as TOO MUCH information. Joining a GLO, while an extremely important decision, is not more important than finding a suitable mate, deciding to have a child, and selecting a major in college. Yet, I see people giving more consideration and deliberation to what Sorority or Fraternity to join than many of the aforementioned items. I’m not knocking research and careful consideration, but at some point, you need to cut the umbilical cord and apply to the group that you feel will best satisfy (no group will be a perfect fit) your needs short and long-term AND the group that would best accept and utilize your own skill set and value add.
Ultimately sororities are rather similar. They all strive to encourage service, sisterhood and scholarship, among other missions. The main differences revolve around how they execute and implement strategies to accomplish their missions and goals—every group has a different way of showcasing Service, Sisterhood, Scholarship, for example. Generally, if you support the way a Sorority showcases its missions and goals, you will be happy and proud (for the most part) to be in the organization. If you fundamentally disagree with how they execute said missions; you are bound to be unhappy and disappointed.
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