|
Omega Phi Alpha is a national service sorority, so our process may deviate significantly from the NPC organizations, but here's our philosophy....
When a local group decides to affiliate with us, we definitely want to incorporate them into the fold. We expect them to take our letters, colors, and other insignia. They learn our songs and rituals, and have the same rights and privileges as all other chapters as soon as they earn their charter.
But at the same time, we value and honor the history a group like this brings with them. We are definitely not trying to make them into 'clones' of other chapters! We encourage them to maintain local mascots and local traditions, as long as they don't detract or conflict with national policy. We go out of our way to select a chapter letter designation that reflects the previous name of the local organization when at all possible. And, of course, we have provisions to welcome the alumnae of the local organization as lifetime members of Omega Phi Alpha, if they wish.
We're lucky. Omega Phi Alpha's national organization values the individuality of each of our chapters, and gives the chapters a great deal of decision-making authority. Because of this, chapters are allowed (even encouraged) to take pride in their local histories, whether they started as a handful of women putting an OPA colony together or whether they started as a well-established local sorority seeking affiliation. If the local group has a kangaroo as a mascot (random example) they don't have to give it up --- they just have to recognize that as a local mascot and welcome our national mascot into their culture as well.
To be honest, colonizing an established group in some ways can be more challenging than colonizing a brand new group. Although they are much more organized than a typical start-up group, their emotional allegiance is strong to the old group culture and shifting that over to the new national group takes time. I remember working with a local that was affiliating with us a couple of years ago. We conducted their first OPhiA ritual on a retreat weekend and we had planned to do this ritual in our camping clothes in a very rustic setting. Right before the ritual, one of the girls realized that several were wearing hoodies with their local org's letters on them, and tearfully asked if they needed to change before we did the OPhiA ritual. We didn't have a policy to address this type of situation on a national level (as we usually performed this ritual in a much more formal setting with more formal attire), but I made a quick decision and told them to keep their local letters on. In this ritual, they would be receiving their OPhiA new member pin, and the symbolism of the OPhiA pin on the local org's letter shirt was a beautiful reflection of the transition this group was going through. After this group was inducted a few months later, several of the members told me that first ritual was an emotional turning point for them because of the sensitivity I had demonstrated with regard to their local org --- It was the first time they really felt an emotional attachment to OPhiA. I'm glad! They are a fantastic addition to our organization and we are lucky to have them.
|
Threaded Mode
