U of T has a co-ed professional local?

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
Lol, well I'm not a huge fan of the CSA mysef, but you never know. Maybe if we bug them enough they'll cave in.

Better bug 'em nicely! :P

[Lady Pi Phi]

Oh but of course!

[RACooper]

Originally posted by Taualumna
As much as I hate to say it, it might be because Alpha Lambda Theta (Alternative) is recognized because it states in their description that it is multi cultural, while Xi Psi Chi (why so many "i" sounding letters?????) is a "traditional" professional frat?

Just re-read the above and had a good laugh.....

Saying something like we are "multi-cultural" at UofT is a bit like saying we are "homo sapiens". I can't think of any organization at UofT that isn't multi-cultural; varsity sports team, student politics, or fraternity/sorority. Although there are exceptions - varsity: fencing (last I check both members are white), student politics: ethnic/cultural socities (inherently a little exclusive), fraternity/sorority: Alpha Phi Alpha or Alpha Epsilon Pi (both recruit specfic ethnic/religious members).

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by RACooper
Just re-read the above and had a good laugh.....

Saying something like we are "multi-cultural" at UofT is a bit like saying we are "homo sapiens". I can't think of any organization at UofT that isn't multi-cultural; varsity sports team, student politics, or fraternity/sorority. Although there are exceptions - varsity: fencing (last I check both members are white), student politics: ethnic/cultural socities (inherently a little exclusive), fraternity/sorority: Alpha Phi Alpha or Alpha Epsilon Pi (both recruit specfic ethnic/religious members).

Yeah, but how many of the above mentioned organizations, other than "ethnic" clubs have members that have recently arrived or came to Canada after say, age 12? GLOs, while multi-cultural, certainly don't have too many "new Canadians" as members. I know a girl, who is CBC (Canadian BOrn Chinese) like myself who said that GLOs are "for white people" after I told her that I intended to AI.

[RACooper]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Yeah, but how many of the above mentioned organizations, other than "ethnic" clubs have members that have recently arrived or came to Canada after say, age 12? GLOs, while multi-cultural, certainly don't have too many "new Canadians" as members. I know a girl, who is CBC (Canadian BOrn Chinese) like myself who said that GLOs are "for white people" after I told her that I intended to AI.

Okay off the top of my head:

Gamma Phi Beta has one sister from Isreal

In Lambda Chi Alpha we have 1 brother from Dubai, 2 from Iran, 1 from South Korea, 1 from Germany, 1 from "the fromer Yugoslavia", 1 from Isreal, and 2 from Russia.

Deke has 2 brothers from the Philipines (I think)

Sigma Pi has brothers from India, Malta, and Lebanon (don't know which are alumni now though).


I know that there are a lot more "new Canadians" in the greek system than this, but these are the ones that I know about. Having seen the number of "pledge" pins at Woodsworth alone or around campus I would hazard a rough guess that around 10% of the greeks are "new Canadians".

The whole idea that GLOs are some sort of "white only clubs" is the kind of negative sterotype that we are always fighting..... well other than the belief that GLOs don't exist in Canada . Besides if the greek community at UofT reflects the student body even remotely, it is going to be a very culturally diverse group..... don't forget that as of 2 years ago "Whites" are no longer the majority at UofT.

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by RACooper
Okay off the top of my head:

Gamma Phi Beta has one sister from Isreal

In Lambda Chi Alpha we have 1 brother from Dubai, 2 from Iran, 1 from South Korea, 1 from Germany, 1 from "the fromer Yugoslavia", 1 from Isreal, and 2 from Russia.

Deke has 2 brothers from the Philipines (I think)

Sigma Pi has brothers from India, Malta, and Lebanon (don't know which are alumni now though).


I know that there are a lot more "new Canadians" in the greek system than this, but these are the ones that I know about. Having seen the number of "pledge" pins at Woodsworth alone or around campus I would hazard a rough guess that around 10% of the greeks are "new Canadians".

The whole idea that GLOs are some sort of "white only clubs" is the kind of negative sterotype that we are always fighting..... well other than the belief that GLOs don't exist in Canada . Besides if the greek community at UofT reflects the student body even remotely, it is going to be a very culturally diverse group..... don't forget that as of 2 years ago "Whites" are no longer the majority at UofT.

Yes, but U of T is certainly more than 10% "New Canadians" or foreign students.

Rob, have you heard anything about someone wanting to start an Asian local GLO? I've heard rumours about that for about a year.

[RACooper]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Yes, but U of T is certainly more than 10% "New Canadians" or foreign students.

Rob, have you heard anything about someone wanting to start an Asian local GLO? I've heard rumours about that for about a year.

Yeah that rumor has been floating around for quite some time now.....

Three years ago a couple of students requested a meeting with me at Woodsworth (I was vice-prez then) to discuss the possibility of starting a Woodsworth Asian Students Association. I gave them alot of info and advice on the steps needed to get the group off the ground..... when they came back a month later, they were much more interested in what I could tell them about Fraternities: how they work, how are they founded, basic symbolism, why they use greek letters, and so on..... (apparently they were asking around at Student Affairs and Jim Delaney sent them to me). I told them what I could, explained that they could gain alot of valuable info on the web and wished them the best of luck. That was the last I heard of it...... officially...... but I still here rumors every now and then about students wanting to start an Asian GLO.

[AAgammagirl]

a new multicultural sorority at u of t? i don't understand.
every sorority on the campus has women from a diversity of cultural backgrounds. women are welcome from any ethnic or religious background.
i don't even know how another sorority would survive on campus, #'s are already pretty low despite the fact that more girls went through recruitment this year than in the previous 5 years.
what's this about alpha phi alpha? when did they start at u of t?
must be in the last year or two since i've been gone.
this is an interesting thread.

[Taualumna]

Alpha Lambda Theta (Alternative) is a co-ed, multicultural, dentistry frat. As for our sororities at U of T, they may be multicultural now, but they aren't historically so. Also, I'm not really sure exactly what the plans are/were for the Asian GLO. I only heard from a girl who said that she wanted to start one (same girl as the one mentioned in an earlier post).

[RACooper]

Originally posted by AAgammagirl
a new multicultural sorority at u of t? i don't understand.
every sorority on the campus has women from a diversity of cultural backgrounds. women are welcome from any ethnic or religious background.
i don't even know how another sorority would survive on campus, #'s are already pretty low despite the fact that more girls went through recruitment this year than in the previous 5 years.
what's this about alpha phi alpha? when did they start at u of t?
must be in the last year or two since i've been gone.
this is an interesting thread.

Yeah UofT's greek system is very multicultural, and I agree that it seems a little odd that any group would need to start to promote multiculturalism.

As for Alpha Phi Alpha they started up on campus at the same time as Alpha Epsilon Pi back in '99. AphiA website which is linked through UofT BSA (Black Student Association) states that one of the founding members of the fraternity made a trip to Toronto back in 1908 and established the "Delta" chapter..... unfortunately the chapter didn't survive and the "Delta" chapter was relocated to Tilliston College (though this doesn't jive with the info at their IHQ website - IHQ states it was the "Gamma" chapter).

I can understand why you don't remember them as they kept a very low profile back then and weren't very big in numbers, but now more members are visible (I believe their membership is at 8) on campus through their involvement in the BSA. Also they are participating in some of the more traditional UofT greek activities..... namely the Maddy. I do know some of the members at UofT and they are a great guys..... just a little uncomfortable in the greek system, I guess because they are still discovering how the community works and interacts.

[Taualumna]

But at the same time, a group must feel comfortable in a multicultural setting in order for them to be involved. I know a few Chinese Canadians (mostly non CBC) who, even though have lived in Toronto for most of their lives, still don't feel all that easy in "mainstream" culture. They'd prefer to hang out with their own culture (even though it isn't necessarily a language thing--some have been here since they were 7 or 8 or earlier-- and would therefore prefer something they're more familiar with. That's why there was thought of starting an Asian GLO. However, I do agree that it's probably better for "Sororities at U of T" to promote the NPCs to students from communities who are unfamiliar with GLOs either through friends/relatives or media (yeah, yeah, bad, I know) rather than having communities start their own ethnic GLO. It may be difficult at first to get to students who don't communicate in English outside of the classroom though.

[RACooper]

I have to agree with you...... it would be a lot better to promote ourselves to the community as a pre-existing group that is multicultural. But as you stated there are significant barriers to reaching some groups on campus - some students don't use english outside of the classroom, and some only socialize within their cultural group.

The current methods while somewhat successful unfortunately are slow in adapting to cultural change within the UofT community - and it is a similar problem experienced by the administration. Neither the greek system nor the administration reflect the current diversity of the student population. The administration's recruitment problem is mostly based on time - it takes roughly 10 years of instruction before someone becomes and associate professor or staff - so they are 10 years behind the curve. The greek system, no matter how we promote ourselves, or the recruitment methods we use, suffers from the simple fact that most new members are from personal contacts of existing members (friends or associates). If we currently do not have anyone in the cultural cliques on campus, it is extremely difficult for us to recruit from that group - they have to know us before they are comfortable with us.

[Taualumna]

And it's kind of difficult sometimes to get through to certain cultural groups even if there are contacts either through actives or through alum. I've spoken (nicely) to several girls who are daughters of family friends and they've given me weird looks.

[RACooper]

Yeah.... It's a slow process I'll give it that. The GLOs at UofT need to somehow over come: 1) the preconception that we don't exist, 2) that "no, we aren't like the movies", and 3) that we are multicultural and not a bunch of racist elitists. Unfortunately these are things that can't be overcome overnight, but must be worked on in the long run........