NALFO Orgs. Changing Focus

[LatinaAlumna]

Article III, Section 1.0 of the NALFO Constitution states:

The purpose of the NALFO is to promote and foster positive interfraternal
relations, communication, and development of all Latino Fraternal organizations through mutual respect, leadership, honesty, professionalism and education.

The phrase "Latino fraternal organizations" appears throughout the NALFO constitution, in its by-laws, and all official documents. If an organization is no longer operating as a "Latino fraternal organization," but rather, an "organization founded by Latinos" but that now has some other focus, why should it still be permitted to retain NALFO membership? I can see why these orgs. might want to retain NALFO membership, but is there some benefit to NALFO in having such orgs. stay with the council (other than dollars)?

My personal opinion is that it is time for NALFO to clean house. I'd like to see some amendments to the constitution that would reserve membership for those organizations that were founded primarily to serve the Latina/o community, and that still uphold this purpose, regardless of their current membership demographics.

[knight_shadow]

I think it's time for many of the member organizations (and some of the former organizations, including my own) to re-educate its membership on organizational goals.

And as a former organization, this may not be my place anymore, but I think NALFO needs to become more than just a "holding group" for LGLOs. When reading the minutes and participating in NALFO business, I noticed nothing being accomplished (outside of voting members in and out). Before my organization left, I know there was a push to become more than that, but I'm not sure if that's happened.

I'm curious if the members that have seemingly changed focus will come together under a NALFO-esque umbrella. /randomthought

[LatinaAlumna]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I'm curious if the members that have seemingly changed focus will come together under a NALFO-esque umbrella. /randomthought

Some of these orgs. might need to do this (especially the smaller groups). I am not sure that all former NALFO member orgs. will be welcome into Multicultural Greek Councils. At least, if I was part of a multicultural founded org., I would have a real problem accepting a Latina sorority that now decided it is "multicultural".

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by LatinaAlumna

Some of these orgs. might need to do this (especially the smaller groups). I am not sure that all former NALFO member orgs. will be welcome into Multicultural Greek Councils. At least, if I was part of a multicultural founded org., I would have a real problem accepting a Latina sorority that now decided it is "multicultural".

In Texas (for the most part), all non-NIC/NPC/NPHC groups are looped into "other/multicultural" councils. The multicultural groups don't seem to be the ones that have issue with this -- it tends to be other NALFO/LGLO/HLGLO groups that cause problems.

I'm not sure if looping smaller organizations in with the larger ones will end well. That's one of the large complaints I remember hearing about NALFO. I can see organizations like ODPhi, KDChi, SLB, SLG, and others coming together, as we seem to be moving in similar directions. I can't see some of the smaller organizations benefiting from being looped in with groups like these.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

In Texas (for the most part), all non-NIC/NPC/NPHC groups are looped into "other/multicultural" councils. The multicultural groups don't seem to be the ones that have issue with this -- it tends to be other NALFO/LGLO/HLGLO groups that cause problems.

I'm not sure if looping smaller organizations in with the larger ones will end well. That's one of the large complaints I remember hearing about NALFO. I can see organizations like ODPhi, KDChi, SLB, SLG, and others coming together, as we seem to be moving in similar directions. I can't see some of the smaller organizations benefiting from being looped in with groups like these.

Maybe this is where things are getting side-tracked on campus. The campus Greek -Life office may not understand the various designations of each, so to make things simple, just group those who "look alike" into one council.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

Maybe this is where things are getting side-tracked on campus. The campus Greek -Life office may not understand the various designations of each, so to make things simple, just group those who "look alike" into one council.

I'll speak on my campus, as I'm not 100% in tune with the others.

UTA has 6 NALFO-esque* organizations (ODPhi, KDChi, SLB, SLG, Lambda Theta Phi, Lambda Theta Alpha) and interest for one more (PIA). The rest of our (13-15 member) MGC is comprised of other Latino/a, Asian, and Multicultural organizations. We could easily split off into two governing councils and still have enough resources for both, but the NALFO-esque organizations don't really see a benefit of bringing a NALFO council to the local level, as the group doesn't do much on the national level. It's not really the school that's blocking it (our Greek Advisor is one of my frat brothers and the school is very open to 'cultural' organizations and entities), but the member organizations.

*I used this because all of our organizations were NALFO at the time of our MGC founding.

[preciousjeni]

Now that Gamma Eta is part of the NMGC, I could see other Latino-based, multicultural orgs (biting my tongue so hard lol) following suit.

[LatinaAlumna]

I agree that NALFO can do a whole lot more to support its member organizations, but in my view this is challenging when some of the member organizations over the years have been faced with their own internal struggles as to the direction they want to take. This is one reason why I feel that narrowing the council down to just those orgs. that are maintaining their original focus of serving the Latina/o community might be helpful. If we can at least come to agreement that all NALFO organizations are on the same page in terms of focus, then we can move on to other business.

[knight_shadow]

Very true.

[Senusret I]

I have a few thoughts about this in general.

First, I don't know what NALFO does. But I also don't know what the NPHC does. I actually think the NPHC is less effective now since its reorganization than it was before.

Second, I don't think it matters that an organization has opted to become multicultural as long as it takes the proper steps to be that: constitutionally, programmatically, and leaving NALFO.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I do see NALFO doing things which are good, such as the awards. I think having an organization of peer organizations helps to maintain standards, incentivize strong programs, and to increase awareness and support of LGLOs on the campuses which need to be educated about them.

But my expertise is honestly not in "councils" as much as it is the internal structure of sovereign organizations.



(Shout out to GreekChat for having heavy-hitting topics today)

[BluPhire]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

First, I don't know what NALFO does. But I also don't know what the NPHC does.

What are you talking about you don't know what NPHC does????


Those Greek Picnics don't organize themselves.


LOL

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I have a few thoughts about this in general.

First, I don't know what NALFO does. But I also don't know what the NPHC does. I actually think the NPHC is less effective now since its reorganization than it was before.

Second, I don't think it matters that an organization has opted to become multicultural as long as it takes the proper steps to be that: constitutionally, programmatically, and leaving NALFO.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I do see NALFO doing things which are good, such as the awards. I think having an organization of peer organizations helps to maintain standards, incentivize strong programs, and to increase awareness and support of LGLOs on the campuses which need to be educated about them.

But my expertise is honestly not in "councils" as much as it is the internal structure of sovereign organizations.



(Shout out to GreekChat for having heavy-hitting topics today)

Re: First: LatinaAlumna may be able to speak more on this, but when I was involved with NALFO, it was literally a "holding group" for the LGLO organizations. The only things that I remember happening were votes regarding member organizations' standing. That's fine if that was the original intent, but it was my understanding that when NALFO and CNHL merged, it was to provide a larger platform for member organizations. The group hasn't used its platform to accomplish much.

Like LatinaAlumna said, though, this is likely due to the fact that many of the groups have internal turmoil.

Re: Finally: I agree. As I stated earlier, a lot of the negativity I heard from NALFO was due to the fact that the groups didn't seem like peers (outside of their histories). There were large historically LGLOs, small historically GLOs, large current LGLOs, and small current LGLOs. Obviously, these groups wanted to do what was best for them, but it didn't help NALFO as a whole.

Several of the HLGLO groups have left the council, so that may be a step in the right direction to help the group regain focus.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by LatinaAlumna

Article III, Section 1.0 of the NALFO Constitution states:

The purpose of the NALFO is to promote and foster positive interfraternal
relations, communication, and development of all Latino Fraternal organizations through mutual respect, leadership, honesty, professionalism and education.

The phrase "Latino fraternal organizations" appears throughout the NALFO constitution, in its by-laws, and all official documents. If an organization is no longer operating as a "Latino fraternal organization," but rather, an "organization founded by Latinos" but that now has some other focus, why should it still be permitted to retain NALFO membership? I can see why these orgs. might want to retain NALFO membership, but is there some benefit to NALFO in having such orgs. stay with the council (other than dollars)?

My personal opinion is that it is time for NALFO to clean house. I'd like to see some amendments to the constitution that would reserve membership for those organizations that were founded primarily to serve the Latina/o community, and that still uphold this purpose, regardless of their current membership demographics.

Just curious - how will this be determined?

[Senusret I]

*smh*

lol

[LatinaAlumna]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

In Texas (for the most part), all non-NIC/NPC/NPHC groups are looped into "other/multicultural" councils. The multicultural groups don't seem to be the ones that have issue with this -- it tends to be other NALFO/LGLO/HLGLO groups that cause problems.

I can see the LGLOs having an issue with this because the term "multicultural" does not describe their focus, or for the most part, membership demographic.

I'm not sure if looping smaller organizations in with the larger ones will end well. That's one of the large complaints I remember hearing about NALFO. I can see organizations like ODPhi, KDChi, SLB, SLG, and others coming together, as we seem to be moving in similar directions. I can't see some of the smaller organizations benefiting from being looped in with groups like these.

Since there are four major orgs. that were founded as LGLOs but now have a different emphasis, it is conceivable that they might want to start their own umbrella organization--but what would that be? Since I'm not a member of one of the forementioned orgs., I can only speculate, but I don't think a new LGLO umbrella would fit the bill, nor would a new MGLO council necessarily be appropriate. The only direction I can see these orgs moving toward is being part of the IFC/NPC councils on campus, while making an emphasis on their various special interests during recruitment.

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I have a few thoughts about this in general.

First, I don't know what NALFO does. But I also don't know what the NPHC does. I actually think the NPHC is less effective now since its reorganization than it was before.

Second, I don't think it matters that an organization has opted to become multicultural as long as it takes the proper steps to be that: constitutionally, programmatically, and leaving NALFO.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I do see NALFO doing things which are good, such as the awards. I think having an organization of peer organizations helps to maintain standards, incentivize strong programs, and to increase awareness and support of LGLOs on the campuses which need to be educated about them.

In part, this is what NALFO was/is supposed to do:

NALFO was/is supposed to be a solution to the issue of "which council should we join?" for LGLOs. In the 1990s, when LGLOs began to really see a surge in expansion across the country, it became apparent that most universities did not know how to handle these new chapters (which were not members of the NPHC and were resistant to becoming affiliate members of the local IFC/NPC councils). NALFO was/is supposed to be a way to satisfy university requirements of being a member of a council, while still giving chapters the ability to maintain their own customs, traditions, etc. (especially with regard to the new membership process). It was/is also supposed to promote collaboration among the member organizations and foster unity. To a certain degree, I believe NALFO has been a positive force for LGLOs, but the bottom line is that it started off with way too many organizations. NALFO has been around in some form for about 12-13 years now, and I think it could have been further along in some of its objectives had it started off with a smaller group of orgs.

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

Just curious - how will this be determined?

This is a great question, and it is something that should have been clearly defined by NALFO a long time ago. As a LGLO member, I can say what this phrase ("Latino Fraternal Organization") means to me, but it can be interpreted differently depending who you talk to, and/or depending on an organization's agenda.

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

Now that Gamma Eta is part of the NMGC, I could see other Latino-based, multicultural orgs (biting my tongue so hard lol) following suit.

I did not know that. I'm not sure if you can share, but was there much controversy? (I'm guessing they had to be voted in by the current member organizations.)

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Like LatinaAlumna said, though, this is likely due to the fact that many of the groups have internal turmoil.

Re: Finally: I agree. As I stated earlier, a lot of the negativity I heard from NALFO was due to the fact that the groups didn't seem like peers (outside of their histories). There were large historically LGLOs, small historically GLOs, large current LGLOs, and small current LGLOs. Obviously, these groups wanted to do what was best for them, but it didn't help NALFO as a whole.

Several of the HLGLO groups have left the council, so that may be a step in the right direction to help the group regain focus.

Yep--these two points (internal turmoil and having orgs that are not truly peers) have contributed largely to the current state of NALFO.

I also agree that it was a positive step for some of the former NALFO orgs. to take a hard look at themselves and decide to pursue other options.