Sorority Involvment...sorry it's long!

MissKP · #1 12-01-2006, 05:25 AM

Hi all...I don't know if there is a similar post to this one but I was hoping to get some advice in my situation. At my university I am at currently, there are no greek organizations whatsoever, otherwise I'd be involved, but I graduate this year and am going to graduate school for 2 years at a new school about 30 minutes away and they have a few sororities...(alpha chi omega, delta gamma, and pi beta phi). So my question is...being that i'll be a graduate student and married at the time (i'm getting married in june) is there any way for me to be involved in a sorority? I am obviously not interested in the traditional freshman rush experience and living in the house because I obviously missed that time period but am really looking for a way to be connected to my new university and thought this would be a good way...but not sure if it's possible. thanks

adpiucf · #2 12-01-2006, 11:18 AM

A few of the NPC sororities do allow graduate students to pledge, but this does not guarantee a bid to membership. I would advise against rushing and instead focus on your wedding, graduate program and meaningful involvment in professional societies that will enable you to get the connections you need to get a job once you finish your program.

However, there are still opportunities for you to get involved with becoming a sorority member with a non-collegiate sorority. You will enjoy the benefits of social enrichment, service, sisterhood and leadership through membership in these sororities, just as you would in a collegiate-based group.

Good luck! You might also consider a community service group like the Junior League or joining the junior board of a charitable organization in your community like the local chapter of the American Cancer Society, the Ronald McDonald House, etc.

OrigamiTulip · #3 12-01-2006, 11:30 AM

The link in adpiucf's post has an extra http// in it. The link should be http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=54756

I would also recommend the Joining a Sorority After College thread, which had a pretty extensive list of all of the community/non-collegiate sororities.

AChiOhSnap · #4 12-01-2006, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissKP

Hi all...I don't know if there is a similar post to this one but I was hoping to get some advice in my situation. At my university I am at currently, there are no greek organizations whatsoever, otherwise I'd be involved, but I graduate this year and am going to graduate school for 2 years at a new school about 30 minutes away and they have a few sororities...(alpha chi omega, delta gamma, and pi beta phi). So my question is...being that i'll be a graduate student and married at the time (i'm getting married in june) is there any way for me to be involved in a sorority? I am obviously not interested in the traditional freshman rush experience and living in the house because I obviously missed that time period but am really looking for a way to be connected to my new university and thought this would be a good way...but not sure if it's possible. thanks

Before you rush, I think you should wait a semester or two and see the kind of time commitment your graduate program requires of you. My married friends in PhD/Masters/Professional programs barely have time for their husbands, let alone a sorority. Your NM period may require a time committment of anywhere from 5-15 hours a week, when you count studying for NM exams, meetings, sisterhood activities, NM bonding, philanthropy etc.

A sorority is going to want to be sure you can devote all the time that's required to your NM period -- and many sorority functions are on "undergraduate" time schedules (e.g. mid-afternoon, early evening) that may conflict with your graduate schedule. If you get a sense of what your program is like and you find that you can devote this extra time to a sorority, then I say go for it. Be realistic about your options given your campus culture (on some campuses, sophomores have a hard time receiving bids to say nothing of a graduate student!) if you do rush and best of luck.

ETA: And I definitely encourage looking into a non-collegiate sorority. These may be better tailored to your lifestyle in terms of scheduling and requirements.

adpiucf · #5 12-01-2006, 04:07 PM

You haven't offended anyone; don't worry! I'm afraid you have limited options then. Graduate students, on the average, are not pledged by the majority of collegiate sororities. As I said before, there are a couple that may bid grad students, but not all of their chapters do. I don't think collegiate sorority life is going to work out for you based on those restrictions. That said, you will have a full schedule between classes, studying, being a newlywed, possibly being a TA and involvement in graduate student organizations. Good luck.

AChiOhSnap · #6 12-01-2006, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissKP

I'm not really sure if this exists...but are there any non-traditional roles in a sorority other than the traditional rushing freshman?

Sorry, there's really not, at least at undergraduate chapters.

To echo what the others said, as a new member, you would be expected to attend all the meetings, practices, philanthropy events just like any other new member.. these events can be very time consuming and run late into the evening. Obviously it's between you and your husband whether or not this kind of schedule is acceptable, but many of your evenings would be spent entirely with the sorority as a new member. I'm talking like 3-4 nights a week, incl. every Friday night for my chapter, if that gives you a better idea of the time commitment I made as a new member

And on top of that, I spent most of the other nights socializing and getting to know the members of the sorority... going over to different people's rooms, their houses, meeting them for dinner, etc. While this wasn't "required" sorority stuff, per se, I felt that really making a huge time investment in the relationships with my sisters at the beginning was essential to my happiness in the chapter. Most of your new member class will be spending a large portion (if not LITERALLY ALL) of their free time getting to know the chapter and you might feel "left out" if you can't make the same time commitment.

I don't mean to sound so pessimistic but unfortunately undergraduate chapters of sororities, especially more traditional chapters with houses at residential campuses, are really tailored to an undergraduate lifestyle. Keep this in mind, and really study the campus culture. I mean, nothing ventured nothing gained, but there are unfortunately some schools where being married would be a big disadvantage to you. I'm not saying it's fair but it's how many -- especially traditional -- Greek systems work. I encourage you to do some deep soul searching before you rush. If you want to give it a try anyway, best of luck to you.

Keep in mind, too, that there are going to be a lot of organizations available to you as a graduate student (professional fraternities/sororities, societies, clubs) that you may want to check out as well. Good luck.

kddani · #7 12-01-2006, 07:30 PM

Maybe I'm missing something, but WHY do you want to join a sorority?

Tom Earp · #8 12-01-2006, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kddani

Maybe I'm missing something, but WHY do you want to join a sorority?

Fine question. Did You read the first post?

She just asked as question.

I am not sure, but did she explain what she was looking for? And Why?

If I am missing something then please explain.

AlphaFrog · #9 12-02-2006, 11:38 AM

Ok Tom, just tell her to AI and get it over with.

AChiOhSnap · #10 12-02-2006, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Fine question. Did You read the first post?

She just asked as question.

I am not sure, but did she explain what she was looking for? And Why?

If I am missing something then please explain.

Tom,

MissKP stated that she wanted to be connected to the university, and she felt that joining a sorority might be a good way to do so.

While I'm sure MissKP has lots of other reasons she wants to join a sorority, she didn't describe any of them here. KDdani's (perfectly legitimate, in spite of you insinuating otherwise) question was asking the OP to expand upon the other reasons she might want to join a sorority since, as a graduate student, you're NOT going to be connected, really, to the undergraduate institution except maybe as a TA. If the only reason MissKP wanted to rush and join an undergraduate chapter is to feel connected to campus, then she would be better served to join graduate organizations/professional programs.

I, too, would like to know the other reasons MissKP wants to join as it might help us tailor any future advice better to her.

I hope that Answers Your question Tom!

SoCalGirl · #11 12-01-2006, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissKP

I am obviously not interested in the traditional freshman rush experience and living in the house because I obviously missed that time period but am really looking for a way to be connected to my new university and thought this would be a good way...but not sure if it's possible. thanks

Since you're not interested in the traditional rush experience and living in the house I would say you probably should not attempt to join a sorority. No matter if a woman pledges as a freshman or a senior, the same pledge program and activities apply. Since you'll be married you would not be expected to live in a chapter house though.