Sorority Life article

dzsaigirl · #1 08-01-2002, 01:01 AM

I found this article about the differences between Sigma AEII on Sorority Life and the national sororities...pretty much sums up what all of us have said. This is a good one for potential new members to read.

Sorority Life Article

DeltaSigStan · #2 08-01-2002, 01:08 AM

That was great. Just read my signature.

PSUSigKap · #3 08-01-2002, 01:28 AM

very well said!

texas*princess · #4 08-01-2002, 01:29 AM

National or not.. I don't think *any* sorority should allow cameras into their house. Regardless of how well known (or not known for the Sigmas case) they were, it's no excuse to make a mockery of the greek system.

#5 08-01-2002, 02:11 AM

Hmmm, i don't know what the more disturbing thing is...

-the fact that some people may think sigma represents real Greek life

OR

-the fact that there is actually a 'Reality TV' fans website....

either way, the Apocolypse can't be far behind

Kitso

chideltjen · #6 08-01-2002, 02:35 AM

Did any other local member get the jist from the article that locals are bad? Maybe it's just me, but the article seems like it's saying "well, only locals are dumb enough to fall for MTV's ideas. Go national where everything is figured out for you and MTV won't be allowed near us." Sorry I don't mean to turn anyone off, but that article just gave me a very big stomach ache. While it's a big boost for nationals and can solve a lot of recruitment questions in the fall, I feel that locals are getting the shaft. Anyone agree? Or is it just way past my bedtime to think straight?

mmcline · #7 08-01-2002, 09:18 AM

I liked the article.

I am curious to see during this years recruitement how many PNMs, bring up the show, thinking thats how greek life really is.

AchtungBaby80 · #8 08-01-2002, 10:20 AM

I thought the article summed things up pretty well. As far as giving local groups the short end of the stick, I really don't think it was meant to. Maybe I'm biased, but there's nothing in the article that I saw that would make locals look bad...it just pointed out the facts, that there is a difference in the way locals and nationals are run.

aephi alum · #9 08-01-2002, 10:50 AM

Good article.

The article didn't come across as local-bashing, at least to me... it pointed out, correctly, that locals are not bound by NPC rules. Some locals do choose to set strict rules that are similar to those of the NPC sororities; others don't. MTV knows that no chapter of an NPC sorority would do the show (unless they want to lose their charter!) so they are only approaching locals, and even so, they had a lot of trouble finding a sorority because a lot of locals - even though they had the freedom to choose to do the show - decided not to.

33girl · #10 08-01-2002, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by phisigsigchic
Being a sister of Phi Sigma Sigma, a national sorority that had been arounnd for a long time with many traditions, let me see if I can explain what most of us NPC people feel towards locals. Nationals all have very strict rules we have to follow. Even sometimes when we think of something fun to do, if national does not like it, we can't do it and if we do it means BIG TROUBLE. Most of us have been around FOREVER some since the 19th century maybe even before. We have many long standing traditions and take recruitment and sisterhood very very seriously. We try our best to represent Greek life as best as we can. So when a small bunch of girls form a local sorority where they basically do whatever they want, maybe even haze their new members (calling them pledges is one form of hazing to us), follow no rules and then still are like "we are as Greek as anyone else," its almost like a slap in the face sometimes. Not to say all locals are bad. Some national sororities started as locals. But when national people see the stuff that goes on in the show, we just get mad because its like to us they aren't really Greek just going about and doing as they please with no philanthropy, no real hazing rules, and getting people like MTV to film recruitment stuff which we would consider hazing (calling them pledges and the pledgemaster, the whole thing with the rocks outside in the cold). Also during recruitment, most of that stuff is private and only shared between the sisters and new members, NO BOYS, NO ASKING ABOUT YOUR RELGIOUS BACKGROUND, NO CAMERAS! Basically this is how most of us national sororities feel, at least towards the show. But on my campus there are many locals who are really cool and would never do the stuff they do on the show.

Please DO NOT presume to speak for national sororities or their members. Your views about locals definitely aren't the same as mine.

Locals are definitely really Greek...some of them have been around longer than nationals. And I don't think they are founded to "do whatever they want" - it can be because the school doesn't permit nationals, or they want something different in their ritual, or they want a culturally based group. You are doing the same thing with locals that a lot of people do w/ Greeks in general - assuming one represents the many.

Your closed-minded and bigoted posts are doing more to make nationals look bad than anything Sigma could ever do, on camera or off.

anchorjenni · #11 08-01-2002, 01:06 PM

On a lighter note, the author of the linked article says that she's and alumnae of a sorority, but doesn't say which one. It's obviously NPC (hence the bias). Do we have any guesses on which one.

PS - I'm getting tired of this Sorority Life topic, so I'm attempting (very badly) to change the subject!

Jennifer

delta gamma
"I didn't come to college to find a husband, I came to college to find bridesmaids."

texas*princess · #12 08-01-2002, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by anchorjenni
delta gamma
"I didn't come to college to find a husband, I came to college to find bridesmaids." [/B]

This is completely off topic, but I think that phrase about bridesmaids is so cute!

anchorjenni · #13 08-01-2002, 01:34 PM

LOL! Thanks texas*princess! I found it online one day and it completely fits me.

Jennifer

delta gamma
"I didn't come to college to find a husband, I came to college to find bridesmaids."

chideltjen · #14 08-01-2002, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 33girl

Locals are definitely really Greek...some of them have been around longer than nationals. And I don't think they are founded to "do whatever they want" - it can be because the school doesn't permit nationals, or they want something different in their ritual, or they want a culturally based group. You are doing the same thing with locals that a lot of people do w/ Greeks in general - assuming one represents the many.

THANK YOU! Locals just don't do whatever they want. They are founded on more than just trying to be devient from the national system. We have traditions, rituals, bylaws, and standards for sisterhood and membership. It's that type of attitude mentioned above that makes the local/national feud grow stronger.

I guess the real reason I didn't like the article that much was the fact that the writer was comparing locals and national to a "mom and pop store" and a "fortune 500". That's like comparing Nike to Keds.

FuzzieAlum · #15 08-01-2002, 01:47 PM

The writer said, "Both are very valuable and both produce fine products." I don't think that was anti-local.

I think the biggest distinction between a local and a national isn't in the people in the chapter. Hazing or any other bad thing can start in any kind of chapter. Girls in an NPC group aren't smarter or better than members of locals. BUT if a chapter of a national group does start doing dumb things, and nationals finds out about it, it will be closed. It's sort of a quality control mechanism.

Many local sororities are wonderful, and they do offer some things nationals don't - on my campus, they had lower dues, for example, and looser rules about boys/drinking. (Quite frankly, if you are 21 and have a single, why can't you drink in-house or have a boy over? I can see why rules that strict turn some girls off.) But if a local has problems, the only one who can change it is the school, and their power is minimal, because the chapter can always go underground.

I think many people on here's experiences are colored by the locals they've experienced at their school. The local at my school was a Panhel member and followed all the rules for rush, etc. They did use to do some minor hazing but have since cleaned it up. So I have seen locals working well and upholding what I think of as being the good a sorority has to offer. Some folks on here, however, have seen locals that are out of control, and I'm sure that influences their opinions. It's hard not to have your opinions influenced by your own experiences! It takes a while to figure out how very different Greek systems and chapters can be. (You see the same thing happening when talking about hazing ... one person says "no one hazes," another says, "oh everyone hazes.")

The differences between Local A in City A and Local B in City B are as different as formal rush at a big Southern campus and rush at a small Midwestern liberal arts college with three chapters.