What! I Don't Need No Stinking Sorority!--An NPHC Membership Journey

[tld221]

Originally Posted by SISTERGREEK

Oh, and there was that other "thing" that happened junior year.

What is it? What is that thing?.....

OK guys this is totally appropriate...

RITY?

[Still BLUTANG]

Originally Posted by tld221

OK guys this is totally appropriate...

RITY?

TLD, you're a mess!

SisterGreek, gotcha! we weren't at the same school, although your campus sounds scarily similar to mine.

[SISTERGREEK]

First, no, I am not her, but I just couldn't resist. (What a character! lol.)

Second, I remain a huge fan of Boy Meets World, the show; if I had ABC Family, I would be watching it still.

The other thing that year, which really gave me another positive image of these organizations, happened the day that one of the fraternities was probating. The probate area on our campus is fairly close to the cafeteria and around six that evening, the cafe was full of folks eating dinner. All of the sudden, as I watched, there was a mass exodus. I was so oblivious; I had no idea why.

What I did see was that none of those who had left had cleared away their trays; they were all in such a hurry to jostle for best position to view the probate. This was frustrating to me, because I felt that our cafeteria workers were already overworked and shouldn't have to clean up after all of those grown folks. I turned back to my food, resolving to help clean up the trays when I was finished eating.

Just a few minutes later, members of the fraternity that was having, at that moment, its probate, poured into the cafeteria. Within five minutes, they had methodically cleared all of the tables, while the guy who seemed to be in charge sat eating a plate of food, watching, and directing. (Oh, this was also the fraternity whose member had manhandled me during my freshman year.) In my mind, it was the most decent thing that I had ever seen any organization do collectively; and I went over and told the guy who was sitting down that. He thanked me and we had a nice little chat. That one small act did as much to change my perception of this organization as the early incident had; and it also influenced my perception all of the organizations. This coupled with my friends experiences made me think that maybe there was something to them after all.

So I guess for me, these seemingly small moments and personal interactions--as opposed to all of the fan fare--were the ones that really shaped my perspective on greek life.

To be concluded soon...

[Senusret I]

I think we all think it's okay if you tell us the real names of the fraternities since we know you don't join one of those.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I think we all think it's okay if you tell us the real names of the fraternities since we know you don't join one of those.

shoot, at the way plot twists be working in these threads, you dont know!

jokes jokes. of course.

[DSTKellie]

Interesting Thread!!!

[1908Revelations]

I have a few ideas of who is who, but somebody PM me to tell me the deal! Please

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally Posted by SISTERGREEK

Just a few minutes later, members of the fraternity that was having, at that moment, its probate, poured into the cafeteria. Within five minutes, they had methodically cleared all of the tables, while the guy who seemed to be in charge sat eating a plate of food, watching, and directing. (Oh, this was also the fraternity whose member had manhandled me during my freshman year.) In my mind, it was the most decent thing that I had ever seen any organization do collectively; and I went over and told the guy who was sitting down that. He thanked me and we had a nice little chat. That one small act did as much to change my perception of this organization as the early incident had; and it also influenced my perception all of the organizations. This coupled with my friends experiences made me think that maybe there was something to them after all.

So I guess for me, these seemingly small moments and personal interactions--as opposed to all of the fan fare--were the ones that really shaped my perspective on greek life.

To be concluded soon...

That was good to hear because I thought the other students leaving their trays was tacky.

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I think we all think it's okay if you tell us the real names of the fraternities since we know you don't join one of those.

I agree.

[SISTERGREEK]

Yes, the students leaving their trays did show a lack of home-training and common courtesy.

OK, since folks want to know:

The "You Can't Sit There" Fraternity: Alpha Phi Alpha

The "Man-Handling/Cafe Cleaning" Fraternity: Omega Psi Phi

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally Posted by SISTERGREEK

Yes, the students leaving their trays did show a lack of home-training and common courtesy.

OK, since folks want to know:

The "You can't sit there" Fraternity: Alpha Phi Alpha

The "Man-Handling/Cafe Cleaning" Fraternity: Omega Psi Phi

I was right.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by SISTERGREEK

Yes, the students leaving their trays did show a lack of home-training and common courtesy.

OK, since folks want to know:

The "You can't sit there" Fraternity: Alpha Phi Alpha

The "Man-Handling/Cafe Cleaning" Fraternity: Omega Psi Phi

interesting - in my head it was the other way around...

but at the same time, i always hear guys who are interested in Que talk about how they admire their community service, even if it is the seemingly littlest thing (i know, all the frats do service, but i've heard this moreso than about the others from interests)

[SISTERGREEK]

For me, the act was quite unexpected. I mean, I had this impression of that organization, based on the behavior of the members that I had observed and encountered, that would not have predicted such an thoughtful act.

Though the Omegas on my campus were some beautiful brothers (they had this trio of members who all had locks, they were specimens of near perfections), I mostly only knew them for standing around under their tree and harassing hapless freshman who happened to wander onto their grass.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by SISTERGREEK

For me, the act was quite unexpected. I mean, I had this impression of that organization, based on the behavior of the members that I had observed and encountered, that would not have predicted such an thoughtful act.

Though the Omegas on my campus were some beautiful brothers (they had this trio of members who all had locks, they were specimens of near perfections), I mostly only knew them for standing around under their tree and harassing hapless freshman who happened to wander onto their grass.

well awesome things come in 3's... you got pics?

[SISTERGREEK]

^^You know, I wish I did. Writing this has made me remember things that I haven't thought about in a long time. I wonder what those guys look like now?

The summer before my senior year, I begin to systematically research the organizations: all of them, even the ones that I did not have a particularly favorable impression of. I knew I still had an opportunity to pledge because for some reason, at that point, organizations were taking lines every year, rather than every two years. What I learned about all of them was that they were so much more than the other college organizations that I was involved with. They were about “LIFETIME COMMITMENT” and “SERVICE.” Somehow, in all of my observation of these organizations on my campus, these two facts--particularly the service element--were lost on me. (Which means that all of our organizations could stand to do a better job of promoting our service dimension at the college level. I tell you, four years at an HBCU and I really did not see that aspect of these organizations being displayed on campus. In fact, what I did see was that people who were doing service in order to join these organizations quickly disappeared from the service projects after crossing. However, I don’t know if that was because they were now focusing on their organizations particular service endeavors or not. We have to do better with this. ) All of these organizations were doing positive things in the community and impacting the community in distinctive ways.

As I continued to research, Thundercats and Boy Meets World fell by the wayside. Nothing about these organizations, from their respective foundings to their then current initiatives, resonated particularly strongly with me. Though I had a good impression of BMW from campus, I was not moved to seek membership in this organization, though I now understood why my friend had. The history and programming of Thundercats, while also significant, did not really inspire me; it really reaffirmed my campus impressions that this was not the organization for me.

So that left X-Men and Punky Brewster. Both had very different things going for them. I had such strong, positive impressions of the X-Men on my campus and of course Punky Brewster had something very unique about its founding that was not easily dismissed. However, the founding and the vision of the X-Men seemed to me quite auspicious, and the programming was admirable and in line with my own philosophies about service and the women that were members of this organization were ones that I considered role models and whom I would want to one day call sorors (This is funny because when I initially became aware of greek life, this is the last organization that I thought I would identify so strongly with, and if you have read these posts closely, you will understand why). Ultimately, the unique elements of the founding of Punky Brewster was not enough to outshine the legacy of X-Men and the representation of the organization that I saw on my campus.

But still, I wasn’t quite decided. I knew that if I were to pledge, I wanted only X-Men. It was X-Men or nothing at all. However, I was not sure whether I really truly wanted to pledge(I tend to overthink things; I am trying to be better about that). Of course, by the time I made up my mind, the process for that year’s line had already begun; so the undergrad ship had sailed for me and I had to turn my mind to pursuing graduate membership.


Dunh, Dunh, Dunnnnnnnh......Will SISTERGREEK achieve her goal of membership in X-Men? (Well, obviously, I do.) Who are the mysterious X-Men? Who is the mysterious SISTERGREEK? (She only has a few posts, and yet she seems so well acquainted with this board.) Tune in for the cliffhanging ending of "I Don't Need No Stinking Sorority." Coming soon....

[treblk]

Great story Sistergreek! I love the cliffhangers...LOL