honor societies

valmypal · #1 10-16-2006, 12:19 AM

Has anyone else ever encountered a honor society that was a wannabe social fraternity/sorority? I'm working as a GA with the greeks at my graduate college and all the honor societies here go around having bigs/lils and wearing letters and jackets and such. I have never seen this before. At my undergrad, honor societies were just something to put on your resume and help you academically, we didn't go around wearing letters and having big/lil night. It just seems to me like these students should just join social organizations. So I didn't know if this was a common thing elsewhere or if this university is just wierd.

PhoenixAzul · #2 10-16-2006, 04:35 AM

I'd say it's just campus culture. Otterbein doesn't have such a thing...our honor societies, however, do tend to wear their keys/pins often. Delta Omicron is a little more social than say, Phi Eta Sigma, but that's because theyre departmental.

AlphaFrog · #3 10-16-2006, 08:09 AM

It depends...are they "Honor Socities" or are they "Business GLOs"?

If Order of Omegas are all running around in "letters" and having big/littles, that's weird...but if Mu Phi Epsilon (music business fraternity) or Sigma Tau Delta (English business) are, I don't find that wierd.

33girl · #4 10-16-2006, 02:14 PM

Exactly what groups are you classifying as "honor societies"?

flirt5721 · #5 10-16-2006, 02:50 PM

I think it depends on the honor society. I know that Delta Sigma Pi (Business) have Big/Littles, wear letters, and have socials. That is the only one that I see.

But I don't see Eta Kappa Nu, Pi Tau Sigma, Phi Eta Sigma, or any other honor societies doing this.

AlphaFrog · #6 10-16-2006, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flirt5721

But I don't see Eta Kappa Nu, Pi Tau Sigma, Phi Eta Sigma, or any other honor societies doing this.

I had a boyfriend that was Phi Eta Sigma...they tried to do one social event and it flopped like an elephant trying to swan dive.

irishpipes · #7 10-16-2006, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flirt5721

I think it depends on the honor society. I know that Delta Sigma Pi (Business) have Big/Littles, wear letters, and have socials. That is the only one that I see.

But I don't see Eta Kappa Nu, Pi Tau Sigma, Phi Eta Sigma, or any other honor societies doing this.

Not to nit-pick, but Delta Sigma Pi is not an honor society. It is a professional fraternity. I am a member (alumna) and we had a lot of social aspects as well as professional ones. Part of the official "purpose" which we had to memorize as pledges includes the phrase to foster "social activity and the association of students for their mutual advancement." Members are expected to be VERY active - unlike an honor society like Golden Key or Phi Kappa Phi which is just an honor - you go to one ceremony, get a pin, and put it on your resume.

The only Delta Sigma Pi letters I remember wearing were on party shirts. We did have big/little brothers, but we didn't do car decals, jerseys, or jackets.

JonInKC · #8 10-16-2006, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

It depends...are they "Honor Socities" or are they "Business GLOs"?

If Order of Omegas are all running around in "letters" and having big/littles, that's weird...but if Mu Phi Epsilon (music business fraternity) or Sigma Tau Delta (English business) are, I don't find that wierd.

STDs? lol

valmypal · #9 10-16-2006, 09:57 PM

the honor society that i am talking about in particular is Phi Sigma Pi. i don't think its a big deal, its kinda cool, but my psychology honor society didn't do anything like that in my undergrad and i guess i was just surprised. i had to research what phi sigma pi was cuz they are not connected to a particular department, they are an honor society trying to bridge the gaps between academics, leadership, and social.

AUDeltaGam · #10 10-16-2006, 11:03 PM

I was/am a member of Phi Sigma Pi, and I know we did have some social aspects (like socials with the members) and some people had jerseys and hats made with letters. We never did bigs/littles, but we were a fairly new chapter when I was there, so that may be why. It seems that many chapters of Phi Sigma Pi act a little more "social" than other honor societies.

Senusret I · #11 10-17-2006, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by valmypal

the honor society that i am talking about in particular is Phi Sigma Pi. i don't think its a big deal, its kinda cool, but my psychology honor society didn't do anything like that in my undergrad and i guess i was just surprised. i had to research what phi sigma pi was cuz they are not connected to a particular department, they are an honor society trying to bridge the gaps between academics, leadership, and social.

Phi Sigma Pi is not an honor society in the classic (Baird's) sense. It is a "Recognition Society" along the lines of Alpha Phi Omega.

On a random related note (for anyone who knows) how does Baird's classify the Pershing Rifles? Recognition or Professional?

Dal319 · #12 07-19-2008, 01:24 PM

I'm a member of Sigma Alpha, a professional sorority, as well as Alpha Zeta, a co-ed honor fraternity, at UGA. At Sigma Alpha, the main difference between us and Panhellenic sororities is the fact that we do not have weekly socials. We do get together weekly for meetings, but most of our priorities revolve around promoting academics and leadership opportunities. Unlike Panhellenic sororities, which have their own stereotypes, Sigma Alpha (and Alpha Gamma Rho, our brother fraternity) have to deal with stereotypes based on the fact that we promote agriculture in a modern world. Many of our events deal with this.
Alpha Zeta focuses mostly on philanthropy and service; I am not sure if there are socials other than initiation. We do have letters, obviously, and merchandise that members wear, but I guess we are supposed to feel "elite" among our peers, and so we don't do many things social or even professional sororities do.

breathesgelatin · #13 07-20-2008, 05:27 PM

I still feel like purist "honor societies" are not social. I was/am in Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Eta Sigma, ODK, and Order of Omega. No social events except for networking stuff at the most.

I do think when honors/professional fraternities are for a single discipline, there's more likelihood there's going to be actual socialization and a real organization beyond just a nice induction ceremony. The history honors fraternity at UT (we didn't have a chapter of it at W&L for whatever reason) is fairly active, but mostly I think because they have to be to earn points to wear cords at graduation. Which I consider lame, but hey, if it's motivational to them, cool.

There seem to be some orgs on some campuses which have really broken out of the honors/professional mold...

AlwaysSAI · #14 07-20-2008, 06:21 PM

I've kind of skimmed through this thread, so I'm gonna add my two cents.

The biggest difference I see between pure honor societies and say, Phi Sigma Pi, an honor FRATERNITY is the secrecy of the ritual. The only people that know the inner meanings of Phi Sigma Pi are initiated brothers. We have a secret grip, password, meanings for all of our symbols, etc.

Compare that to Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor society. The 'initiation' ceremony was totally public--everyone and their momma was there to see every one take a 'vow'--whatever. There was no recruitment, no pledging ceremony, no pledging period. All I had to do to get in was maintain a 3.0 (I believe), which I would have done anyway.

AGDAlum · #15 08-06-2008, 06:51 PM

www.phisigmapi.org
I came across their website today. Their history is well-presented and comprehensive (and fairly candid, given the number of times their Alpha chapter has been revived).

There is a link to a fraternity that Phi Sigma Pi had crossed with in its early days: www.philambdaepsilon.org . . .I understand that it might have been a genuine fraternity at one time; is this contemporary site a spoof?