-well, first off... i am a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. i want to say that no sorority or fraternity can truly lay claim to the words 'frat' or 'soror' when referring to a counterpart group except Zeta Phi Beta and Phi Beta Sigma, off tops!
-second...i think that for organizations whose traditions and practices and purposes for existing are not the same as those of the nine traditionally african american fraternities and sororities, offense should not be taken when someone talks about one organization imitating another. GLO's differ from BGLO's in their organization and initiations and such so much that comparisons cannot and should not be drawn between them.
however, the imitation that is referred to, that is so thouroughly disdained, is that of non-NPHC BGLO's that 'coincidentally' have similar colors and handsigns and calls intake processes and etcetera to those of the nine NPHC BGLO's, in some mixture or another. AND, on top of everything they wanna step, but claim to be innovators of something new...huh!
those organizations may very well be service organizations, but they trivialize the existence of the nine NPHC BGLO's. it's a slap in the face of any memeber when this sort of imitation occurs.
i don't have a problem with an organization that starts up and does something different and tries to find a different way to enlighten the community and uplift us all; i commend any such organization. on my campus at the university of missouri-columbia, there is a start-up organization, Sa-En-Ra, that is very african based in its principles and ideas and methodology. they have no calls or hadsigns or the like, but they are a fraternal organization [minus the Greek letters]. they are a superb group of men. i don't have any problems with similar such BGLO's.
-thirdly, the word probate alludes to a time period early in the twetieth century when hazing was absolutely rampant on college campuses eveywhere; it was germaine to most people's college experience. when joing an organization, especially a fraternity or sorority, you were considered 'on probation' -- not worthy of full membership. near or at the end of your 'probation' you would put on a show for the public demonstraing your worthiness, a probate show. over time, the elaborateness (sp?) of the show has remained the same (songs, steps, etc.), but it is more for entertainment value and purposes of presentation of new members (neophytes). this is why a 'probate' is more commonly referred to as a neophyte [show].
-lastly, if we [members of all GLO's] could remember the the reasons why our organizations exist, and the true spirit if fraternity...that's all that matters, really.
i'm out
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