Need help on name of sorority issue!

[Swtmartini]

Hi everyone I need your help on an important issue. I was wondering how I can get a complete list of all the greek organizations that are out there. The problem is that in my college ( Baruch College) there is NO IFC to govern sororities and fraternities, we're pretty much reated as clubs. Recently, our historian got an inquiry about our sorority name being the same as an old fraternity. Our sorority is Beta Phi Sigma and it was formed around one year ago. When we were in our founding stages, the resources we used did not indicate that the name was taken by anyone. And even if it is taken by a fraternity that may no longer exist, the fact that we are a sorority makes the name in itself different right? I was just thinkin that legally if u file papers to get any organizations incorporated two names cannot be held by the same party and thus if Beta Phi Sigma Sorority is Incorporated than it will be different from Beta Phi Sigma Fraternity. I am not too sure about the legal implications of the same greek name however I do know that there are sororities and fraternities that did run into a similar problem such as ours and changed their names as a result of that. I hope you can help us out since our organization is new to all this and we hope to educate ourself better on Greek Life. Thanks so much for reading and hopefully I'll get some feedback! Take care!

[kddani]

google is your friend. If there's been a group out there by that name, google will likely some mention of it.

Also check to see if your library has a copy of the Baird's Manual.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Also, don't forget that you don't HAVE to have greek letters to be a fraternity or sorority. You could also pick an interesting and meaningful name. That's just one other option.

[PhoenixAzul]

If you want to look through Locals, try www.locasororities.org to find some of the orgs who are already in use. Good luck.

[AlphaFrog]

As far as I know, you can't copy-write Greek letters. There are several Delta Phi Epsilons. Legally, I don't believe there is anything anyone can do. If you like your letters and they have meaning to you, that's all that counts.


PS... Your post would be 100 times easier to read with proper spelling/punctuation/grammar/capital letters/paragraphs.

[kddani]

Originally posted by AlphaFrog
As far as I know, you can't copy-write Greek letters. There are several Delta Phi Epsilons. Legally, I don't believe there is anything anyone can do. If you like your letters and they have meaning to you, that's all that counts.


PS... Your post would be 100 times easier to read with proper spelling/punctuation/grammar/capital letters/paragraphs.

Hi, spelling/grammar/punctuation police here. It's "copyright", not "copy-write".

The content of what you said is incorrect. You can trademark a name, etc. hence why if I wanted to start manufacturing Alpha Sigma Alpha stuff, I would have to get licensed.

Copyright deals with things like books and music.

Trademark is more logos and names.

And there are both state and federal laws dealing with both.

Best bet, try to pick a name that someone else doesn't already have or at the least that they do not hold a trademark on.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally posted by kddani
Hi, spelling/grammar/punctuation police here. It's "copyright", not "copy-write".

Oops, I had it spelled copyrite, and that's what my spell checker changed it to. But, then again, my post was not one huge blur of a run-on paragraph, so it was easily understood what I meant.

[kddani]

Originally posted by AlphaFrog
Oops, I had it spelled copyrite, and that's what my spell checker changed it to. But, then again, my post was not one huge blur of a run-on paragraph, so it was easily understood what I meant.

I can get irritated by some of that stuff, too, but really, does it need to be pointed out in every single post?

Yeah, your post wasn't a huge blur of run-on paragraph, but it was also blatantly incorrect and contained a huge grammar/spelling/punctuation error.

To swtmartini, as your organization grows and you have the resources, you may want to consult an attorney.

[AEPhiSierra]

Did the person who sent you the inquiry give you any information about the group? My opinion, if it was a local group that no longer exists I wouldn't really stress about.

On a side note, you may want to think about starting an Inter-Greek Council. It wouldn't have any real authority unless the school decided otherwise but on a commuter campus its helpful for the chapters to touch base and share ideas. You can it use to promote each others events and avoid scheduling fundraisers/philanthropy events on the same dates. I know Brooklyn College's IGC schedules an all Greek rush fair each semester and does some all-greek publicity publicity too.

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by Swtmartini
Our sorority is Beta Phi Sigma and it was formed around one year ago.

FWIW, GreekPages, which has a pretty extensive list of GLOs, lists your org as the only Beta Phi Sigma. As kddani said, you might also want to check Baird's or see if you library has the Directory of American Organizations (I think that's the name).

[Tom Earp]

Originally posted by MysticCat81
FWIW, GreekPages, which has a pretty extensive list of GLOs, lists your org as the only Beta Phi Sigma. As kddani said, you might also want to check Baird's or see if you library has the Directory of American Organizations (I think that's the name).

While I was told by some one greekpages.com is passe' a long time ago, I use it daily. Do You remember?

It can be used in many ways.

As mysticCat said, try Bairds,several Editions of Bairds. The newer ones leave a lot to be desired.

Many times in todays time frame, there are Locals who have the same names and dont even know it because of distance.

By checking these informational areas, it should give You a better idea.

Please leave the Spelling Bee stuff out.

New person, young and asking a question.

Read and try to help would be helpful!

[adpiucf]

Change a letter in your name-- ie: Beta Phi Sigma to Beta Psi Sigma or Beta Pi Sigma, etc.

We did that because of a similar issue many moons ago.

Alpha Delta Pi
(formerly Alpha Delta Phi)

Or reverse your letters. Sigma Phi Beta.

Talk to a law or pre-law professor on your campus to get legal advice, or check with campus legal aid. They may be able to advise you on how to register your name.

Unless this is a well-established group with $$$ and they haven't come after you, just take the steps to register your name. You're a student club with Greek letters. Another example of two groups with the same name, a resolution and the local playing field: Rho Chi is the name of a pre-professional society. It is also the name used for NPC sorority recruitment counselors. When made aware, NPC changed Rho Chi to Sigma Rho Chi.... but many campuses use their own names to designate this role-- some even continuing to call it Rho Chi. I have yet to read of the national society suing any campuses using Rho Chi as the designation for their recruitment counselors.

[AOII*Azra-elle]

Doesn't Aries Rising have an exstensive page about what names have been used in the past and currently? I remember looking at it many moons ago...

[Tom Earp]

Yes, and use it a lot!

A tremendous source of information!

Be sure to check it and be amazed at what has been done.!

The Semi Modern day Bairds!

Sorry might not be as informative. but has a Ton Of Info!

Use it!

Thank You again ariesrising!

[Erik P Conard]

why not name it Delta Phi Epsilon, seems to be a popular choice
and it is a local anyway, so it does not really matter
be sure to copy-write it
watch your grammer, but ignore the spelling, no big deal
by all means, get an attorney. There oughta be several who'd
be eager to advise you
check Bard's, think Tom Earp's got one but he says the newer
ones are not as authoritve
One thing you don't want to tackel and that is whether or not it
is a hypenated name like Tri Sig or Tri Delt.
Or, go national