Theta Nu Xi?

[SWTXBelle]

As diverse as Theta Nu Xi - no.
Diverse? Yes. Much more so than a few pictures on a website can show. I know of at least one southern campus where we were the first to pledge a black student. Go look at our colony photos here on GC. And here's the deal - we don't have a quota of a certain colour to fill. The attributes we look for do not include race - so if you don't see what you consider to be enough of any particular group you shouldn't assume that the issue is one of race. I'm always reminded of when there was an outcry because there were no black members of NPC sororities at SMU. Then someone pointed out that none had gone through recruitment, which is important if you want to get a bid. The next year 2 went through, and pledged. There are 26 members of the NPC, and all of them have membership criteria which do not include race. While some individuals or chapters may not live up to the inter/national ideal, the overall organizations have made a real effort to be inclusive and respectful of all pnms.

But that is really beside the point.

It has been pointed out that when the issue of multi-culturalism or diversity is mentioned by many, perhaps not all, MCGLOs it is often done so in a way that MANY find to be offensive.

I can't say as to whether or not that is the way it is meant. But I can say that when it is brought up as being perceived as a veiled criticism, the answer seems to be to not address the issue at all, but to instead try and shift focus to critiquing the diversity or multi-culturalism of the GLO of the person who stated they felt it was dismissive of their group. I hardly think checking a few pictures on a website constitute an analysis of the diversity of a group.

So I can't help but think that it is indeed meant to be insulting, and that the reason that issue is not addressed is because the perceptions of other GLOs do not matter to the MCGLO. I'm not alone in this, and I'm just surprised that groups that pride themselves on being inclusive should so callously dismiss an entire group out of hand.

eta - To answer the question of what do I have against groups with a multicultural mission - nothing, as long as they don't insult other groups. And let me also say that I wouldn't expect the MCGLOs to suddenly change everything in how they present their missions - but I have to say that I believe pledging someone just because they are or are not white is never a good thing.

aeta - One reason this frustrates me is because in this day and age ALL greek letter orgs need to be able to work together. Different people have different needs, and if a MCGLO is able to better fulfill those than a NPC or NPHC group, then good. It's not a case of either/or. NPCs, NPHCs, MCGLOs can all fulfill different roles, but we have to be able to respect OUR differences, too.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

but I have to say that I believe pledging someone just because they are or are not white is never a good thing.

Now THAT is insulting. This is one of those "pot meet kettle" situations. You perceive that multicultural orgs are dismissive of NPC organizations, so your response is to dismiss multicultural orgs? Let's get serious.

There are scads of members of NPC, NIC and NPHC orgs - which have multiple tens of thousands of members each - that do not consider multicultural Greeks to truly be Greek and who seek to invalidate the sincerity of members of these organizations.

There are perhaps a few thousand multicultural Greeks who express pride in their organizations - pointing out the fact that they are unlike NPC, NIC and NPHC organizations because their reason for existence is to promote multiculturalism - and out of those few thousand, some of the members get too big for their britches and make inappropriate and insulting statements.

I see and feel the tension here. But, for anyone to come in and say that the very missions of multicultural sororities are offensive is preposterous. And, what of people like me who consistently uplift ALL Greeks? I've never made a negative comment about the core principles of another legitimate Greek organization. If I've ever said anything negative, it has been about individual members of the organizations who were foul.

[SWTXBelle]

I said that ANYONE pledging JUST because a pnm is or is not a certain color is a bad thing. Are you arguing that I'm wrong? I just want to clarify. I certainly did not mean to imply that I was criticizing just the MCGLOs, and if that is the case I apologize. But now I have to ask - because I honestly don't know - do multicultural glos make a race a factor in deciding membership?

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I said that ANYONE pledging JUST because a pnm is or is not a certain color is a bad thing. Are you arguing that I'm wrong? I just want to clarify. I certainly did not mean to imply that I was criticizing just the MCGLOs, and if that is the case I apologize.

Nope, I don't disagree. Based on your previous posts in this thread, the comment implied that multicultural sororities do pledge non-whites simply because they are not white. Thanks for the clarification.

[SWTXBelle]

You were typing as I was editing, so you may have missed it. I am truly interested in knowing if race is a factor in membership selection. And although he stated it crudely, EW's question about how multicultural GLOs go about BEING multicultural is an interesting one from the perspective of someone who doesn't know (namely me).

And if you've carefully read a lot of my posts you will know that I am an enthusiastic supporter of all greekdom. At least, I hope so.

[tnxbutterfly]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

You were typing as I was editing, so you may have missed it. I am truly interested in knowing if race is a factor in membership selection. And although he stated it crudely, EW's question about how multicultural GLOs go about BEING multicultural is an interesting one from the perspective of someone who doesn't know (namely me).

And if you've carefully read a lot of my posts you will know that I am an enthusiastic supporter of all greekdom. At least, I hope so.

Is race a factor when you selecte your members? I would theink that you select people who are willing to uphold the vision of your founders.

I still think Miss justanothergirl is a big fat TROLL. She hasn't introduced herself. Her statement has caused everbody to get into a big old pissing match. Already, people are playing the "My glo is better then yours. No, my glo is better then yours. Is not. Is too" game. Can't we all be mature adults and agree to disagree

[DSTRen13]

It seems like PJ already answered a lot of you all's questions in her above post:

-----
Originally Posted by preciousjeni View Post
We've seen many, many threads that ask this question and have it answered, but I wanted to see a thread that is easily searchable.

Why were multicultural organizations started? What is the purpose of multicultural organizations?

Feel free to offer your comments, positive or negative.

Multicultural GLOs did not start in an environment in which membership, in the current GLOs, was unavailable for "multicultural people." We recognize this. We have a different purpose altogether.

We are not here because we were rejected by our desired organizations, nor are we here to hurt other orgs - and we certainly do not exist because we believe that other organizations are not open to diverse membership!

How audacious it is to me for some to assume that we discourage people from checking out ALL GLOs to find their match, simply because we "think" that other GLOs are discriminatory. As a general rule, this is not the case.

We were started by and for multiculturally-minded people. If you want to join an org that caters to needs of all people and actively works toward equality across the board, you can find that in a multicultural organization.

Other organizations do offer those qualities, but multicultural orgs are set apart in that they exist with the primary function of promoting multiculturalism. In theory, even if a "multicultural" organization were all-white/black/latino/asian/etc. but the members worked toward equality of ALL people, the organization could potentially be considered multicultural.

If, however, the thrusts and foci of that organization were primarily directed at a particular interest, that organization by definition cannot be "multicultural." It can have multicultural membership but it cannot be a "multicultural organization."
----

She specifically said that it isn't the race of the members that is important, it is the mission and vision of the organization - promoting multiculturalism. Not that how any organization chooses its members is anyone's business but their own, but based on what Jennis is saying here, a scenario of an all-white (or all-black, or all-Asian, etc.) pledge class would be entirely possible.

Any organization that has focii puts on events towards those goals. If a sorority's primary focus is multiculturalism, then they would put on events toward that end.

I really don't get what's so offensive or hard to understand about that, but maybe the term "multicultural" means something else to some people that I don't get?

[WannaB3]

[quote=SWTXBelle;1633666]Then someone pointed out that none had gone through recruitment, which is important if you want to get a bid.[quote]

[quote=WannaB3;]I have never been aproached by the NPC sororities when they are out during pre-rush or freshman orientation. Why? [qoute] I am not the only one to experience this, and I've experienced it on more than one occassion, as rush happens twice a year.

Also SWTXBelle, you need to take into account that when one, as an African American, looks from the outside, they will see a large group of white girls and whether right or wrong, will assume that if I try to come out for these groups I will either A) not get accepted or B) feel like I got accepted to be the "token" or C) Get in, but never feel completely accepted. I coud really want to be a Chi Omega or Tri-Delta but if I don't feel like I can get in or my cultural traditions will be accepted and NOBODY from those sororities enourages me to rush anyway, or talks to me about their organizations, tries to get to know me, etc... then of course not many African Americans will come out to rush.

I have a black friend who is Delta Chi, he happy and I'm happy for him. Granted, on my campus, DX has the most non-white members, so maybe that again has to do with the people they promote too during pre-rush events. I don't know.

[SWTXBelle]

Oh, I understand that it can be a bit of a vicious circle - there are no minorities in the groups, so none go out for membership, so the groups do not get a chance to make any minorities members, and so on, and so on.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do think it is a point that should be considered before accusing the groups of racism. Sometimes it just takes one brave person, or one brave group, to go against the status quo to open the doors for all.

And sometimes it just may be that there already exist established groups with which pnms feel more at home with - if a campus has a strong NPHC presence, there may not be much interest in the black community in joining the NPC or IFC.

Heck, if you look at NPC colonization threads, you'll see that campuses often get a new group when a number of girls feel that the existing groups do not offer what they need.