Famous Greeks... or are they???

[Senusret I]

*barf*

[AOII_LB93]

Originally Posted by OTW

Honestly? I know that people like to brag and say "so-and-so famous person is a member of my organization!" They even like to post lists detailing all the famous people in their organization. I think it's great knowing that you share a brother/sisterhood with a celebrity -- but how many of them actually stay active as alums and give back to the organization?

I know that there are several celebrity Greeks who remain loyal to their organization and give back when they can, but I'm thinking the majority of them don't even give a shit anymore.

It's like, "Hey! Amber Brkich Mariano is an AGD from Westminster in PA! She won Survivor All Stars!" Whoopdefreakingdoo. What has she done for the Fraternity after achieving celebrity status besides give one interview to the Quarterly?

You can list pages and pages worth of notable alums, but what good is the list if they don't bother to have anything to do with the organization?

*stands up cheers, claps and hoots* THANK YOU! Who gives a rat's azz about some famous alum that doesn't do jack diddley squat for the org?!

Originally Posted by AOII_LB93

Because all of our members have something special to offer AOII, not just the ones who happen to be "famous".

I like that reasoning.

However...st the same time, it's nice to have a list just so we can put rumors to rest once and for all. One visit to AGD's website clearly proves that Raquel Welch, Madonna, Carole King, and Betty White are NOT AGDs.

[Senusret I]

I think every member has a role that can be defined by their careers.

I wouldn't expect Lionel Richie to be a Regional Vice President, but I appreciate the concert he gave during our centennial (at no charge to the fraternity) as a fundraiser for the foundation.

Several prominent Alphas moderated seminars at the centennial convention. Also, depending on where the general convention is, you might have various local alpha politicians or celebs come and give remarks.

Which is good enough for me.

[NutBrnHair]

Originally Posted by AOII_LB93

Because all of our members have something special to offer AOII, not just the ones who happen to be "famous".

That's sweet.

I found this thread very helpful:
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ghlight=Famous

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by OTW

Honestly? I know that people like to brag and say "so-and-so famous person is a member of my organization!" They even like to post lists detailing all the famous people in their organization. I think it's great knowing that you share a brother/sisterhood with a celebrity -- but how many of them actually stay active as alums and give back to the organization?

I know that there are several celebrity Greeks who remain loyal to their organization and give back when they can, but I'm thinking the majority of them don't even give a shit anymore.

It's like, "Hey! Amber Brkich Mariano is an AGD from Westminster in PA! She won Survivor All Stars!" Whoopdefreakingdoo. What has she done for the Fraternity after achieving celebrity status besides give one interview to the Quarterly?

You can list pages and pages worth of notable alums, but what good is the list if they don't bother to have anything to do with the organization?

That's really sad ...

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally Posted by OTW

You can list pages and pages worth of notable alums, but what good is the list if they don't bother to have anything to do with the organization?

I agree COMPLETELY.

[NutBrnHair]

Originally Posted by OTW

You can list pages and pages worth of notable alums, but what good is the list if they don't bother to have anything to do with the organization?

Most of ours do, so I don't have any complaints.

[UGAalum94]

I'll be honest: I wasn't really into the thread that much but the William Faulkner as fraternity guy thing was really worth thinking about as far as I'm concerned.

Rather than notable alums, I'd like to see unexpected alums.

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by OTW

I like that reasoning.

However...st the same time, it's nice to have a list just so we can put rumors to rest once and for all. One visit to AGD's website clearly proves that Raquel Welch, Madonna, Carole King, and Betty White are NOT AGDs.

I don't have strong feelings about it either way, but I agree that there would be some advantages to having a list. For one, some individual chapters feel pressured to list notable alumnae on their webpages because the other sororities on their campus do. It would give them a concrete, accurate list. Plus, many people misconstrue it to mean that we have never had a notable initiate. I did think it was sort of strange when To Dragma (our magazine) did a feature on Courtney Kupets (the Olympic gymnast who is a member of our chapter at U of Georgia.) It was interesting, but it draws attention to a notable member, which I thought was the point of not having a list. Of course, they also did a feature on GC's own Snowlady, who is not "famous", so maybe it's all cool.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

Most of ours do, so I don't have any complaints.

AMEN!

[jadis96]

Originally Posted by AOII_LB93

Because all of our members have something special to offer AOII, not just the ones who happen to be "famous".

I really like this idea. Don't get me wrong, I think having "famous" sibs is great. I know I get excited when I see someone on TV who I know is my sister, but it's also nice knowing to you IHQ you are just as important.

[ISUKappa]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

That is probably true for many organizations, but I know that AOII discourages the listing of prominent members and therefore does not list any on our IHQ webpage.

My point was more you can't trust individual chapter webpages to have correct info on prominent members. The best resource is the main organization webpage, if they are even listed there (and, as you pointed out, some don't).

[NutBrnHair]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

I know that AOII discourages the listing of prominent members and therefore does not list any on our IHQ webpage.

I wonder if this would hold true if the first woman President of the United States was an AOII?

[aopinthesky]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

I wonder if this would hold true if the first woman President of the United States was an AOII?

I suppose you can make the argument that if AOII had famous-enough alums that we would put them on display. There are a few, but since AOII does not put out a list it would be hard to name more than one or two unless you just happen to know.
I don't think that any AOII is saying that listing famous members is wrong, but I have been an AOII for over 30 years and have never seen a list of ours.