I want to join a fraternity!

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

It's definitely possible.

The faculty advisors were often non-members at my alma mater, too. Those advisors were mostly around for signing paperwork, though. That doesn't seem like the same thing that elicampbell brought up. Most (if not all) of the GLOs had organization advisors (who were members) guiding the chapters.

I read that as a "go to the chapter and help them with chapter business" thing. I wouldn't mind a non-member supporting ODPhi events, but if someone (who was ineligible for membership) wanted to come to meetings and get into chapter business, that would be an issue.

ETA: Just re-read some of the quotes you posted. It looks like many of these rural campuses had advisors serving both roles. My alma mater is in the middle of the 4th largest metro in the US, so there were plenty of GLO members to choose from.

[ASTalumna06]

The extent to which he would be welcome to participate will probably weigh heavily on which grad school he attends, what the fraternity's policy is when it comes to advisors, and how open the chapter members are to the idea.

And in all of the examples above, the advisors had SOME connection to the sorority and/or school... above and beyond just being a student there.

In conclusion... I wouldn't put my money on this working out.

[dnall]

To the OP, you really should have considered that before you picked your school. At this point, if you're serious about this, you should transfer. I don't get the grad student user name and what you're asking. If you're in grad school you may have missed your chance, but should still inquire with some chapters at schools you'd be willing to transfer to.

Regarding non-members being involved... while many things are similar about the way an undergraduate chapter operates from one org to another, the advisory/governance side is often very different.

My fraternity is an old major national and we operate with an a board system. It is primarily advisory in practice, but has significant governance powers over the overall local org (chapter, alumni assoc, & liaison function with housing corp). Within that corporate board structure, the majority of are obviously alumni. However, there is no restriction that trustees be initiates. When establishing a new chapter, we routinely pull in parents, faculty, and possibly even someone from the community. With established chapters, the faculty advisor (mostly for signing stuff) sometimes sits on that board, and about half the time they'll have a parent's club rep as a trustee. Male non-initiates who make a solid contribution after serving on such boards for a while are often honorary initiated. Obviously that is not the greek experience that everyone else had though.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by dnall

Regarding non-members being involved... while many things are similar about the way an undergraduate chapter operates from one org to another, the advisory/governance side is often very different.

My fraternity is an old major national and we operate with an a board system. It is primarily advisory in practice, but has significant governance powers over the overall local org (chapter, alumni assoc, & liaison function with housing corp). Within that corporate board structure, the majority of are obviously alumni. However, there is no restriction that trustees be initiates. When establishing a new chapter, we routinely pull in parents, faculty, and possibly even someone from the community. With established chapters, the faculty advisor (mostly for signing stuff) sometimes sits on that board, and about half the time they'll have a parent's club rep as a trustee. Male non-initiates who make a solid contribution after serving on such boards for a while are often honorary initiated. Obviously that is not the greek experience that everyone else had though.

That's interesting.

To the OP, you really should have considered that before you picked your school. At this point, if you're serious about this, you should transfer. I don't get the grad student user name and what you're asking. If you're in grad school you may have missed your chance, but should still inquire with some chapters at schools you'd be willing to transfer to.

I disagree. There are ways of getting involved in your community and being social without being in a fraternity. I wouldn't transfer unless it was for academic reasons.

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

That's interesting.



I disagree. There are ways of getting involved in your community and being social without being in a fraternity. I wouldn't transfer unless it was for academic reasons.

There are lots of great schools out there with great programs, some of which have everything one wants including a greek system and one that has the organization that one's mom/dad was/is part of. Why not choose one of them and get the entire college experience that one seeks? There is nothing wrong with this. To some people, this is important. To others, not so much and that's okay too.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by rhoyaltempest

There are lots of great schools out there with great programs, some of which have everything one wants including a greek system and one that has the organization that one's mom/dad was/is part of. Why not choose one of them and get the entire college experience that one seeks? There is nothing wrong with this. To some people, this is important. To others, not so much and that's okay too.

I don't see transferring exclusively because of Greek Life. Just as I wouldn't get transferring for any student organization. Particularly for more life-long oriented organziations, there are ways to join later, or for others fill the desire for a social or service life in other ways. Sure, include Greek Life in your considerations when choosing a school, but transferring in/for graduate school purely for Greek Life? Nuh uh.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by elicampbell

SigEp has Alumni Volunteer Corp. Some volunteers are not members. We do not let them participate in ritual, membership selection or anything that is related ritualistic. It is not as if we throw open the doors and let everyone in see our ritual. There are some volunteer positions that are only open to members of the fraternity.

I hope that this answers your question.

It does. Thanks.

Originally Posted by rhoyaltempest

There are lots of great schools out there with great programs, some of which have everything one wants including a greek system and one that has the organization that one's mom/dad was/is part of. Why not choose one of them and get the entire college experience that one seeks? There is nothing wrong with this. To some people, this is important. To others, not so much and that's okay too.

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I don't see transferring exclusively because of Greek Life. Just as I wouldn't get transferring for any student organization. Particularly for more life-long oriented organziations, there are ways to join later, or for others fill the desire for a social or service life in other ways. Sure, include Greek Life in your considerations when choosing a school, but transferring in/for graduate school purely for Greek Life? Nuh uh.

Exactly. I'm all for getting the total college experience, but you can get it without being Greek. If you want to transfer because the new school is better for your degree, fine -- I'd encourage it. Transferring because you want to be an XYZ doesn't make sense, though.

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I don't see transferring exclusively because of Greek Life. Just as I wouldn't get transferring for any student organization. Particularly for more life-long oriented organziations, there are ways to join later, or for others fill the desire for a social or service life in other ways. Sure, include Greek Life in your considerations when choosing a school, but transferring in/for graduate school purely for Greek Life? Nuh uh.

Where did you get purely for greek life? Where? I said there are schools that have ALL that one wants including greek life.