National "Personality"

[OPhiARen3]

Just looking for some opinions/ideas on this - my impression is that for NPC/IFC orgs, there is a lot of variety from chapter to chapter regarding the "personality" of the sorority/fraternity, and for NPHC orgs, this doesn't really seem to be as much the case. The NPHC orgs I guess just seem to be more standard in that regard - if you ask someone what the culture, etc., is like for an NPHC group, they usually are able to answer you, while for the NPC/IFC groups, people always say it depends from school to school.

I was wondering what you all think accounts for this - the way that recruitment works, the number of orgs, history, marketing? Something else entirely? Is one way better, or are they equally valid? Personally, I am a little confused about what seems to be a lack of real national identity for the NPC/IFC orgs, but perhaps this is just because not being in one of those orgs there is a lot that I don't see. Are they all essentially the same at the national level? What are the differences?

[33girl]

I think it's the number of orgs.

But I know lots of people who would disagree heartily with you on your general statement about NPHC groups.

[Tom Earp]

While all Major GLOs Organizations hold to Certain Tenents that each ones Chapters are to be held to, I just wonder if reagional areas have any input. Or maybe if they ae Older Chapters who try to Hold to the Old outdated ways of opporating before say Hazing was outlawed?

Maybe this is why so many Chapters are being suspended by Schools and Their Nationals

True, each Chapter has its own personality and who can really say other than areas are different along with the members.

[sigmadiva]

Originally posted by OPhiARen3
Just looking for some opinions/ideas on this - my impression is that for NPC/IFC orgs, there is a lot of variety from chapter to chapter regarding the "personality" of the sorority/fraternity, and for NPHC orgs, this doesn't really seem to be as much the case. The NPHC orgs I guess just seem to be more standard in that regard - if you ask someone what the culture, etc., is like for an NPHC group, they usually are able to answer you, while for the NPC/IFC groups, people always say it depends from school to school.

I was wondering what you all think accounts for this - the way that recruitment works, the number of orgs, history, marketing? Something else entirely? Is one way better, or are they equally valid? Personally, I am a little confused about what seems to be a lack of real national identity for the NPC/IFC orgs, but perhaps this is just because not being in one of those orgs there is a lot that I don't see. Are they all essentially the same at the national level? What are the differences?

From reading GC, one difference that I have noticed between NPC and NPHC sororities is that for NPC it seems that different chapters of the same org may use different colors / symbols / mascots depending on the school. For NPHC this is a big NO-NO.

Since I am not NPC, from the outside looking in, it seems that NPCs are obsessed with quota / totals - its all about numbers for every recruitment / COB event. For NPHC, the numbers can be impressive for some chapters (i.e, on some campuses AKA chapters can have 100 PNM, or 'on line' using the old term), but, there is no mandate set by the National org (as far as I am aware of for the other three NPHC sororities so correct me if I am wrong DST, AKA, ZPB members) to have cetain numbers each recruitment event with respect to the other NPHC sororities. That is why you never hear us worried about campus quota and total - those concepts do not exist for NPHC recruitment.

I also get the feeling that the whole selection process between NPC and NPHC is different. For NPC rush week, especially at an SEC school, it seems like a blurr - 100's of girls have to be 'screened' in a week before a bid is made. For NPHC it is encouraged that the PNM really do her homework - get to know the chapter members, support or be present at chapter events, be seen doing positive things around campus. This may take a whole semester of being seen and interacting with the chapter of interest, then when recruitment comes around, the chapter and the interested young lady have a history because each has spent a considerable amount of time together.

[MTSUGURL]

"Personally, I am a little confused about what seems to be a lack of real national identity for the NPC/IFC orgs, but perhaps this is just because not being in one of those orgs there is a lot that I don't see."

I'm not sure that this is a fair statement.
I'm not a member of an NPC/IFC organization, so I, like you, am an outsider. However, I've known (fairly well) enough chapters of the same sororities and fraternities on different campuses through either family members or close friends to see that while every chapter isn't alike, (i.e. ABC isn't the "smart" chapter on every campus), all the orgs that I've seen seem to have a strong national identity.

My family is spread out around the country. We don't all have the same personality, intelligence or looks but we all share a history and things that identify us as a family.

Comparing NPC, IFC, and NPHC is like comparing apples to oranges and grapes. Can't be done.

[sigmadiva]

Originally posted by MTSUGURL


Comparing NPC, IFC, and NPHC is like comparing apples to oranges and grapes. Can't be done.

True. I didn't want to say that, but I tried to answer her question anyway.

[xo_kathy]

Originally posted by sigmadiva
From reading GC, one difference that I have noticed between NPC and NPHC sororities is that for NPC it seems that different chapters of the same org may use different colors / symbols / mascots depending on the school. For NPHC this is a big NO-NO.

Actually, this rarely happens - it's the exception not the norm.

For instance, Chi Os colors are cardinal and straw. No chapter uses any other colors than those. And if they did, and our national found out, they would be set straight. However, we do allow members to have shirts, bags, etc. in colors other than our cardinal and straw.

Mascots/symbols - I've heard here and there of chapters who hold something special to themselves - like one of our chapter is into chili peppers so they use them in decorations or patters for letter shirts, but nowhere do they claim that it is a symbol of Chi Omega. It probably came from an event "way back when" where a funny or touching thing happened and the peppers remind them of that. But again, for all of our 170 chapters, I've only heard of this once or twice.

I like MTSUGURL's family analogy. I think it's great that we have a diverse group of women in my sisterhood. We may not be exactly alike, but our ritual binds us into "sameness" - even if we are the only ones who see it!

[PM_Mama00]

Originally posted by sigmadiva
From reading GC, one difference that I have noticed between NPC and NPHC sororities is that for NPC it seems that different chapters of the same org may use different colors / symbols / mascots depending on the school. For NPHC this is a big NO-NO.

Since I am not NPC, from the outside looking in, it seems that NPCs are obsessed with quota / totals - its all about numbers for every recruitment / COB event. For NPHC, the numbers can be impressive for some chapters (i.e, on some campuses AKA chapters can have 100 PNM, or 'on line' using the old term), but, there is no mandate set by the National org (as far as I am aware of for the other three NPHC sororities so correct me if I am wrong DST, AKA, ZPB members) to have cetain numbers each recruitment event with respect to the other NPHC sororities. That is why you never hear us worried about campus quota and total - those concepts do not exist for NPHC recruitment.

Can you please give examples of different chapters having different symbols/colors/mascots? I've never heard about that. Our symbols are all important to us on a National level. Some chapters have "traditions" but they are not considered at all symbols of the sorority.

Nationals doesn't set quota or totals. It's set campus by campus and figured by different numbers. I'm still confused on how some campuses do quota and all that crap so I won't go into it. Not everyone is obsessed with it, but perhaps the reasoning for those who are is because it is very rewarding to reach a goal.... the goal is quota and total. Of course people are gona be happy and strive for reaching a goal. While some may see it as a negative thing, I'm very happy that we do quota and total. It stops one organization from being a total powerhouse in the Greek system. It still happens, but on many campuses it works.

[honeychile]

I imagine that she meant the sororities which also have a local mascot. I never heard of that prior to Greek Chat, but I guess they do!

[OPhiARen3]

Originally posted by honeychile
I imagine that she meant the sororities which also have a local mascot. I never heard of that prior to Greek Chat, but I guess they do!

Do any NPC sororities (or really, any sororities or fraternities represented on here) have families within your chapters? For instance, for some chapters of OPhiA, we have the chapter broken down into smaller family groups based on big sister-little sister lineage, to create some closer bonds within the larger group, and each of these families has their own traditions in addition to the overall sorority traditions (colors, mascot, etc.). Just wondering how common, if at all, this is ...

[Senusret I]

Originally posted by OPhiARen3
Do any NPC sororities (or really, any sororities or fraternities represented on here) have families within your chapters? For instance, for some chapters of OPhiA, we have the chapter broken down into smaller family groups based on big sister-little sister lineage, to create some closer bonds within the larger group, and each of these families has their own traditions in addition to the overall sorority traditions (colors, mascot, etc.). Just wondering how common, if at all, this is ...

This happens from time to time in APhiA, but I wouldn't consider it to be common.

Happens more frequently in APO.

[33girl]

Originally posted by xo_kathy
However, we do allow members to have shirts, bags, etc. in colors other than our cardinal and straw.

That is exactly what she's talking about. If a Delta Sigma Theta would get a tote bag with her letters on it in pink and blue, NOT GOOD would be an understatement.

Some NPC groups have different national and local mascots, some don't. Not every NPC group has an **official** national mascot, so technically any mascot you'd see a chapter use would be local. They all have national things that have special meaning to every group, but sometimes they are things that are darned hard to make cute and cuddly mascots out of.

And to answer Ren's question, nearly ALL NPC/NIC sororities and fraternities have "families" within their chapters. How into it the families get with colors, names, mascots etc really depends on the school. We had a family sweatshirt that the big gave the little at initiation, but other than that, it wasn't a huge deal. (We also had a family shirt in my APO family.)

[Kevin]

I think it has to do with the collective memory of each individual chapter. Speaking for NIC groups, it seems that the 'culture' of individual chapters is most predictable by looking at when the chapter was founded. Chapters founded before the 50's seem to have a vastly different character than chapters formed in the 80's, and chapters founded recently are nothing like the other two.

The reason for this I think is that a chapter gets its personality through traditions. Traditions are upheld by active alum involvement and of course, they're passed down through actives.

When a chapter is founded, new traditions are created (having founded a chapter, I helped establish a few of these myself). These traditions are passed down through the membership as something that they just 'assume' must be done -- and let me tell you, it's amazing to see traditions that you thought up as something 'fun' to do at a given moment still being practiced several years after you graduate -- I fully expect them to be doing so 20 years from now.

Because of this, I think that throughout NIC groups at least, you'll find more similarities between chapters founded around the same times belonging to different organizations than you'll find similarities between different chapters of the same organization.

I can't speak for NPHC, but it seems that they have a more collective culture. By that, I mean that there is more socialization between members of their different chapters, and therefore, more traditions in common, and therefore more uniformality between chapters. That's my theory anyhow.

[Tom Earp]

I really had a hard time following some of the thinking on this post for a bit.

But, All or each Organization has Their Colors, Badges, Coat of Arms and anything else related to each Seperate Organization. These are Outward Symbols to show who We are.

Some have National Mascots as Symbols and some dont, We do not.

But if each Chapter wants a Local Mascot, there is nothing wrong with that.

What seems to be a problem is the interactions between Groups when We should all be standing shoulder to shoulder together!

Each Chapter as was said depending on time of inception may vary, maybe they shouldnt from HQs and Organizations Ideals.

Yes, We all have Chapter Problems as is seen on GC. There is no one Group that is a major problem, it is spread around isnt it?

[Senusret I]

Originally posted by ktsnake
I think it has to do with the collective memory of each individual chapter. Speaking for NIC groups, it seems that the 'culture' of individual chapters is most predictable by looking at when the chapter was founded. Chapters founded before the 50's seem to have a vastly different character than chapters formed in the 80's, and chapters founded recently are nothing like the other two.

The reason for this I think is that a chapter gets its personality through traditions. Traditions are upheld by active alum involvement and of course, they're passed down through actives.

When a chapter is founded, new traditions are created (having founded a chapter, I helped establish a few of these myself). These traditions are passed down through the membership as something that they just 'assume' must be done -- and let me tell you, it's amazing to see traditions that you thought up as something 'fun' to do at a given moment still being practiced several years after you graduate -- I fully expect them to be doing so 20 years from now.

Because of this, I think that throughout NIC groups at least, you'll find more similarities between chapters founded around the same times belonging to different organizations than you'll find similarities between different chapters of the same organization.

I can't speak for NPHC, but it seems that they have a more collective culture. By that, I mean that there is more socialization between members of their different chapters, and therefore, more traditions in common, and therefore more uniformality between chapters. That's my theory anyhow.

Post of the Century!