Would OPA benefit from a local membership in Panhell?

[OPhiAGinger]

Okay, I used to think this was an easy question. OPA is not a member of national Panhellenic Council and we do not conduct rush the same way as Penhell sororities, so we would not benefit from membership in Panhell at the local level, right?

But recently some of our chapters have joined their local Panhell Councils (either as associate members or in one case as full members) and it has made me rethink this issue.

What do you think?

[DreamfulSpirit]

I think you may be referring to phi chapter as the full members, because I know we did join ASU's panhellenic council. Eventhough we are a part of that council, we don't participate in their rush, or as panhel calls it, recruitment. We still did our own thing. I think it all depends on the policies of the panhell council at each school if it'll work for OPA.

[raggann03]

I was wondering about that myself. But I do have another question though...are we a part of any other councils or anything like that?

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by raggann03

I was wondering about that myself. But I do have another question though...are we a part of any other councils or anything like that?

I've actually been wondering, since APhiO is a member of the Professional Fraternity Association, if that kind of thing wouldn't be a useful alliance. We're technically categorized that way under Title IX, so having that sort of grouping with other organizations which share that categorization might be useful. I guess the issue would just be whether it would be a help or a hindrance at this stage in our growth as a national org?

Anyway, re: panhellenic, since each university structures their campus council, it seems hard to make any judgments on what a chapter may choose to do. If a chapter feels that they can benefit from the alliance without conflicting with OPhiA regulations, then it's definitely a valid option. I don't know how many campus councils would not have a conflict with OPhiA's different Title IX status and general open recruitment policies, and that would be my main concern.

[MTSUGURL]

Having been a member of OPA and a local sorority, I would say definitely. The local was an associate member of Pan, and it helped many things - visibility, involvement with other Greek orgs, recruitment, etc.

[jitterbug13]

I think it depends on the school. For smaller schools and/or those who may not have a lot of Greeks, it may be good. That way, they will benefit from recruitment, sharing ideas during council meetings, homecoming events, etc.

For a big school, like where I was at Univ. of SC, I wouldn't think that would work. With Greek life being so big and everyone competing for girls, I think that OPA would wind up loosing out on the end. One, because OPA is not like a lot of panhellic soroities in structure (especially in community service) and the other sororities may take advantage of that. And there maybe the case where OPA maybe not as big or as popular as the traditional sororities and girls who would probably enjoy being in OPA may be attractive to the "popular" ones.

In my experience, there is a benefit of not being a member of Panhell. You can be in two sororities. My friend is in DG and OPA. We also had a member who was also a Tri-Delta. Some wanted to be in a part of a sisterhood where there was more of a focus of community service and that's what drew them to us. Those who are members of NPHC sororities wanted to do more community service. All of them wanted to streach out and get an opportunity to do more in the communty and well as meet new people.

[OPhiAGinger]

The chapters that have joined their local Panhell Council as associate members do not participate in recruitment. As you point out, we have a national policy that explicitly welcomes members of social sororities as well as independents -- and that's in conflict with the 'you must choose only one' rules of most Panhell recruitment systems.

But it's nice that OPA gets mentioned in the recruitment materials and all other Panhell materials that go out, and they get to compete in Homecoming, Greek Week, etc.

One of our chapters is a full member in their local Panhellenic Council, but I'm not sure what that implies about their recruitment events. (Anybody on from Rho Chapter?)

[raggann03]

I know on our campus (S.L.U) it is NOT beneficial to be a part of panhell at any level. We are a fairly "small" school and we are viewed as competition, so we are working just to get on their "good side". But I do think it would be beneficial if we were apart of a larger governing body of some sort. We get asked that question alot and I think it gives the impression that we are kinda just out there with no uniformity.

[MTSUGURL]

Being an associate member of Pan (which is the only type of membership available to non NPC orgs on my campus) meant that we had a voice (sometimes a vote) in things involving the Greek community, but as far as recruitment went, it had to be held after NPC recruitment. Phi Chi would put an ad in the NPC recruitment book that said something like, "Good luck this week, etc", and had the website address so that in case the girls didn't join they could check us out. I think OPA would benefit from membership in Pan - the rules take care of recruitment. If I understand it correctly, OPA wouldn't be allowed to participate in FR, whether they wanted to or not because of NPC rules.

[DreamfulSpirit]

I don't know if Phi chapter is a full member of panhellenic at ASU, but according to the Greek Life page for ASU, OPA is now listed under the panhellenic sororities.

[EmmyLoo]

Panhellenic recruitment is so crazy here at Ole Miss, that I'm not sure it would be a good idea for Alpha Beta. We have one of the most competitive Greek systems in the country, and it gets cut-throat. I know that isn't the case for a lot of schools, though. I'm sure it can be a great way to get recognized at other places, but it is definitely not for Alpha Beta.