The end of my chapter

[Sororitysock]

Why does it seem the groups that want to do this are all at private, expensive (how discriminatory to the less financially fortunate!), selective (how discriminatory to those with low GPAs and test results!) colleges?

[Sen's Revenge]

Originally Posted by Sororitysock

Why does it seem the groups that want to do this are all at private, expensive (how discriminatory to the less financially fortunate!), selective (how discriminatory to those with low GPAs and test results!) colleges?

Many elite colleges meet the full financial need of low-income students.

If a school has made the decision that financial need won't be a barrier to acceptance, I can see why a chapter of a GLO would want their own organization to mirror those policies.

I also admit that I don't know what semester dues look like for non-NPHC GLOs, whether it is more or less. In my organization, I do advocate for the local alumni chapter covering the initiation fees of at least one candidate who literally could not afford it otherwise. (I also advocate, as much as I can, for the reduction of cost in initiation fees in the first place, which is the real barrier.)

[33girl]

I’ve heard of people getting more money from (PA example) a private school like Westminster than Penn State.

Not sure if this is feasible at OP’s school (guessing it is) but another way to reduce dues? Get rid of the house. Either sell it to the school or rent it to the school or another Greek chapter or special interest group. Again, this probably didn’t even cross their minds.

[ASTalumna06]

I think the problem with dues is that in many cases, collegiate members truly don't know what they're paying for or why. Even if there are meetings establishing budgets, how many are paying attention to the breakdown? Is the breakdown distributed?

After BLM and COVID both became THE topics of 2020, there were many angry collegians wondering why national organizations were still collecting national dues and/or why they weren't donating large sums of money to BLM-related organizations and nonprofits. All of us here are aware of how our organizations operate and understand the relatively minimal amount of money per collegian our organizations typically receive through dues. They need to be able to keep the lights on, pay salaries, cover insurance, and run programs to provide members with helpful and meaningful experiences.

But how transparent are GLOs? I was going through some NPC websites recently for reference for a project, and props to SDT for laying out dues on their website: https://sigmadeltatau.org/join-us/pr...national-fees/. I don't know if there are others who do the same, but financial transparency is especially important nowadays. Even before the s***storm of 2020, college costs have been exponentially rising, and if students are going to fork over even more money for something, they want to see the value in it and know they're putting it toward the right things.

I know I'm playing a bit of devil's advocate here. But I think there is a higher level of understanding needed from both sides - the organizations and newer members - in order to come together and find solutions that will benefit everyone.

But if collegians simply want to scream, "Dues aren't fair and are discriminatory!" then that's absurd.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by Sororitysock

Why does it seem the groups that want to do this are all at private, expensive (how discriminatory to the less financially fortunate!), selective (how discriminatory to those with low GPAs and test results!) colleges?

Where there is an alleged victim, there will always appear a rescuer. A rescuer may feel if everyone can't belong, then no one should be able to join.

In addition: people with the means to attend private, expensive, selective schools may feel they somehow don't deserve all they have been given in life, and thus they will feel a need to change/destroy what others may perceive as part of their privilege.