Multicultural GLOs

[HopefulInterest]

I mean GLOs that are part of the NMGC or any other council of multicultural orgs if there is one. (NMGC is the only one I know).

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by HopefulInterest

I mean GLOs that are part of the NMGC or any other council of multicultural orgs if there is one. (NMGC is the only one I know).

Thanks for the clarification. There are a handful of very small councils that may or may not be still operational. Currently, the NMGC is the only widely recognized umbrella council for historically multicultural GLOs. There are currently eleven NMGC organizations, but there are many more historically multicultural GLOs that a) do not qualify to become members of the NMGC, b) do not want to become members of the NMGC, or c) do not know about the NMGC.

I know you didn't ask for all that, but GC offers the opportunity to share knowledge with the general public, so hopefully your thread will be helpful to someone else in your same situation.

[HopefulInterest]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

Thanks for the clarification. There are a handful of very small councils that may or may not be still operational. Currently, the NMGC is the only widely recognized umbrella council for historically multicultural GLOs. There are currently eleven NMGC organizations, but there are many more historically multicultural GLOs that a) do not qualify to become members of the NMGC, b) do not want to become members of the NMGC, or c) do not know about the NMGC.

I know you didn't ask for all that, but GC offers the opportunity to share knowledge with the general public, so hopefully your thread will be helpful to someone else in your same situation.

Thanks for all the info. I didn't ask for it, but I found it quite interesting and helpful.

Why do many orgs not qualify for or want to be members of the NMGC? (I'm just curious).

I am familiar with NMGC and some of their orgs. I'm particularly interested in one, and am an interest for it.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by HopefulInterest

Why do many orgs not qualify for or want to be members of the NMGC? (I'm just curious).

That's a very good question and one I could only speculate on. Two issues, in particular, that I think may be challenging for some larger, more established multicultural GLOs is 1) the NMGC member orgs are heavily concentrated in the Northeast, and 2) the composition of member orgs is a little inconsistent in terms of size, reach, and demographics.

On another note, I think many smaller multicultural GLOs have not reached a point in their history where membership in an umbrella council is necessary for progress. So, the cost of membership (time and money) isn't worth it.

ETA: I just realized that I didn't answer your question in full. There are lots of reasons organizations don't qualify for membership in the NMGC and all the reasons have to do with minimum requirements such as insurance, being national by the NMGC's definition, being historically and programmatically multicultural, having enough chapters, etc.

From my perspective, and I'm speaking as an individual here, I think there is a bit of tension right now in terms of the definition of multiculturalism. The concept of "multicultural GLOs" has been watered down by schools nationwide that lump all their cultural GLOs under a "multicultural" umbrella. It's so bad that there are even schools who think all of their cultural organizations fall under the NMGC! It's an uphill battle, which the NMGC is ready to take on...diplomatically of course.