Quote:
Originally Posted by AEPhiSierra
AEPhi nationally and officially considers itself a "Jewish sorority" and does not officially refer to itself as "historically Jewish". Some members describe AEPhi using the "historically jewish" label because they feel the label "Jewish sorority" can be misconstrued as saying our membership is limited to Jewish women when, in fact, this has never been a policy of our organization.
Sigma AEPi has never had a restrictive clause as far as I am aware so I don't know why they would be considered a Jewish organization more so than ourselves or SDT. (Though I am not sure how SDT currently labels themselves - any SDT's out there to clarify).
What I find, and this is not an attack on AEPi, is that AEPi has put out its own definition of how it defines itself a Jewish fraternity and then others use this definition to measure other organizations. Each organization has their own idea of what constitutes a Jewish fraternity or Jewish sorority and based on that decide if that is a label they want to apply to themselves.
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Hmmm....I see what you're saying. Understand, I am not a member and you are....so you definitely have the "inside track". All I know is through all my experience with the Greek community; you know that Alpha Epsilon Pi is the "Jewish" fraternity. Whereas with Alpha Epsilon Phi and Sigma Delta Tau....well I didn't realize they were Jewish until I saw their websites (or something like that).
The following is from AEPi's national website:
Alpha Epsilon Pi, the Jewish Fraternity of North America, was founded to provide opportunities for a Jewish man seeking the best possible college and fraternity experience. We have maintained the integrity of our purpose by strengthening our ties to the Jewish community and serving as a link between high school and career. Alpha Epsilon Pi develops leadership for the North American Jewish community at a critical time in a young man's life.
The following is from Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi's national website:
he purpose of ΣΑΕΠ is to promote unity, support, and
Jewish awareness, as well as to provide a Jewish
experience for ourselves, our members, and the
community as a whole. We are devoted to friendship,
motivation, opportunity, leadership, and well-being.
In contrast on Sigma Delta Tau's national site, there is nothing referring to "Jewish women" or anything in the purpose. In fact, the only time I see it mentioned is when talking about the history of the founders. Also with Alpha Epsilon Phi, the sorority refers to "Jewish" when talking about the founders. The following is the mission statement from Alpha Epsilon Phi's website:
The mission of Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority is to inspire and support exemplary women dedicated to friendship and a lifelong commitment to Alpha Epsilon Phi while building on the vision of our Jewish founders.
Now I will fully admit I'm an outsider looking in here....I don't know all of the details of the mission and character of these organizations. But if I were a non-Jewish person (I'm Jewish...but not in a Jewishly-inclined organization), I would have less hesitation joining AEPhi or SDT as opposed to AEPi or Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi (placing specific sex aside). Even though all these groups are open to members of any religion, it's pretty easy to see why some may be more appealing to non-Jews than others would be.
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