Sorority Shopping?

[adpiucf]

Originally Posted by Scandia

What if your closest exposure to a specific sorority (say, a friend or co-worker of yours) is a GLO that does not really match your personality or ideals. That you cannot see yourself being a member of, even though it is a great match for the person you know. However, you decide to investigate more about sororities (without necessarily having AI in mind)- and come across one that is a fantastic match for you, but was not at the university you attended. And it does engage in AI without major restrictions. Your friend says good things about it, even though she ended up joining a different one. She talks to you about AI, and now you would love to belong to that new organization. Wouldn't this be a valid reason to approach AI?

How do you know the GLO doesn't match your personality or ideals? Are the members of the local alumnae association satan-worshippers who kick puppies? In anyone's "search" for a sorority, throw the national names and symbols out of the mix. The local alumnae association and its composition of members are all that matters. These are the women you'll be interacting with-- and your interactions will largely be composed of planning meetings and the occasional happy hour or charity event/fundraiser. Who cares if that charity supports promotion of visions, children's literacy or domestic violence? Given a regular calendar year, an alumnae association will hold a big event to sponsor its philanthropy and maybe some smaller service events toward this cause, but they will also hold other events for other philanthropies, too. Ritual is something you will be lucky to participate in annually, if at all. Alumnae associations are run like service clubs-- and there are not regular mandatory meetings, so attendance is sporadic at best.

How do you determine that a sorority seems appealing? The people who are actually living, breathing members of the local group are the sorority. If you don't know any of them, you can't begin to profess "interest."

[AUDeltaGam]

I definitely agree with what many of you are saying. AI SHOULD be for women who have a prior connection to a sorority, not a woman who wakes up and says "Gee, I think I'll join a sorority today!" (a cookie to whoever gets the movie reference )

[DGMarie]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

How do you know the GLO doesn't match your personality or ideals? Are the members of the local alumnae association satan-worshippers who kick puppies? In anyone's "search" for a sorority, throw the national names and symbols out of the mix. The local alumnae association and its composition of members are all that matters. These are the women you'll be interacting with-- and your interactions will largely be composed of planning meetings and the occasional happy hour or charity event/fundraiser.

This is so true. I think if you have had no experience with any alumnae organization you get stars in your eyes about what goes on. We aren't singing and lighting candles and wearing letters to meetings.

[valkyrie]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

How do you know the GLO doesn't match your personality or ideals?

For reals. I can think of ONE sorority that I probably wouldn't consider based on my ideals, and that is taking into account the fact that I'm odd. There's no such thing as a sorority, as a general concept, being a match or non-match for any person. There's no such thing as being a "good fit" for any sorority in the abstract. You're only a good fit if, as everybody is saying, you like the local members, they like you, and you have something worthwhile to offer.

[adpiucf]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

For reals. I can think of ONE sorority that I probably wouldn't consider based on my ideals, and that is taking into account the fact that I'm odd.

Yeah. You're freaking weird.

And I have yet to meet a college PNM who says, "I want to join this sorority and this sorority only because of its ideals." No. She makes her choices based on her meetings with the local groups, not because of the sorority's strong national reputation. At the end of the day, an alumnae association is a social group. You just have to click with the ladies, who come in all ages, shapes and sizes. I think it is a hoot that I'm the youngest in my AA by a couple of decades. There are younger members, but I haven't seen them at anything. If I was joining ADPi now and this was the group before me, I probably would be reluctant to join b/c of the age gap. I love the ladies, don't get me wrong, but I'd rather be around a group closer to my age and station in life right now. I love this AA though, because of my past involvement and the programming we're working on. If I was a newbie to the whole sorority world, this wouldn't be the right group for me, regardless of how much I might love violets and lions and Ronald McDonald House Charities.