The new millennium hasn't been kind to Lambda Phi Epsilon

[PeppyGPhiB]

This may seem off-base, but I must say that I'm kinda surprised that UCI has an asian fraternity, since SO MANY of its students are asian. I'm guessing that many cultural GLOs come on to campuses when they feel there's a need for them, as in when their needs aren't being met...? If these are just social organizations, I'm surprised they didn't feel their needs were being met in the social GLOs on campus, which I believe have MANY asians. I was just looking at a photo of our Gamma Phi chapter at UCI the other day and was thinking how that photo was the complete opposite of one I'd see from another school...almost all the women were asian. It reminded me how diverse my sorority is from campus to campus.

[nwu43]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

This may seem off-base, but I must say that I'm kinda surprised that UCI has an asian fraternity, since SO MANY of its students are asian. I'm guessing that many cultural GLOs come on to campuses when they feel there's a need for them, as in when their needs aren't being met...? If these are just social organizations, I'm surprised they didn't feel their needs were being met in the social GLOs on campus, which I believe have MANY asians. I was just looking at a photo of our Gamma Phi chapter at UCI the other day and was thinking how that photo was the complete opposite of one I'd see from another school...almost all the women were asian. It reminded me how diverse my sorority is from campus to campus.

Lambdas (and I'm sure is the same with most ethnic fraternities/sororities) isn't all about meeting the "needs" of some underrepresented minority. Many people find it appealing because of the tight brotherhood. Unlike mainstream Greeks, we are much more like a close family than a large social group (if I'm wrong please correct me! This is just the impression I have about mainstream Greeks). In all LPhiE chapters, for example, everyone knows everyone else very well, partly because we're much smaller (usually no more than 40 actives) but mostly because it is expected of everyone. In short, basically we are all expected to treat each other like we would to a family member. We don't really consider ourselves a "social GLO". We are also strict about not letting our letters touch the ground or letting non-Greeks (Especially girls!) wear them. We just do things very differently and take some things more seriously, and there are some people who prefer this.

This is why there are many lambdas who aren't Asian (our chapter in Kansas is 60% white), because the tight brotherhood is what appeals to them and not the fact that our organization is an Asian *interest* organization. And this is why we have chapters in California because we're not all about meeting the social needs of Asians.
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Btw, if my view of mainstream Greeks is wrong please correct me! This is just from what I've observed on my campus.

[L.O.C.K.]

nwu43,
I wouldn't make assumptions about the reasons why certain organizations were founded.

Even within the Asian American Greek community, there are many organizations that were founded for different reasons.

Pi Alpha Phi was founded b/c Chinese Americans were banned from joining White Greek orgs.

Chi Alpha Delta was founded b/c Japanese American women couldn't join White Greek orgs.

Sigma Phi Omega was founded in response to the heavy anti-Japanese sentiment in California following World War II.

Pi Delta Psi was founded to create an organization that would strengthen the Asian American community as well as advocate for the needs of Asian Americans and create a "unified" force.

I'm sure every organization has a slightly different reason...although many of the newer organizations (post 1980) all have very similar foundations.

As for LPhiE being 60% white at Kansas, that isn't the norm across all Asian American Greeks.

Out of all of our chapters, the most diverse is UC Riverside - they have three Mexican American brothers, 2 white brothers, and one South Asian brother.

However, most chapters have 2 max of people of outside cultures/ethnicities. Is this bad? No. The organization is Asian-interest, and because of the strong ties to culture and the community, inevitably the pool of people we pull from is mostly Asian American.

Nationally, we are about 95% East/Southeast Asian. Possibly higher.

Sigma Beta Rho, a South Asian based multicultural fraternity, is only about 60% South Asian now.

What I am trying to say is every organization is different, and LPhiE, nor PDPsi or any other organization, "represents" Asian American Greek life.

[nwu43]

Originally Posted by L.O.C.K.

nwu43,
I wouldn't make assumptions about the reasons why certain organizations were founded.

Even within the Asian American Greek community, there are many organizations that were founded for different reasons.

Pi Alpha Phi was founded b/c Chinese Americans were banned from joining White Greek orgs.

Chi Alpha Delta was founded b/c Japanese American women couldn't join White Greek orgs.

Sigma Phi Omega was founded in response to the heavy anti-Japanese sentiment in California following World War II.

Pi Delta Psi was founded to create an organization that would strengthen the Asian American community as well as advocate for the needs of Asian Americans and create a "unified" force.

I'm sure every organization has a slightly different reason...although many of the newer organizations (post 1980) all have very similar foundations.

As for LPhiE being 60% white at Kansas, that isn't the norm across all Asian American Greeks.

Out of all of our chapters, the most diverse is UC Riverside - they have three Mexican American brothers, 2 white brothers, and one South Asian brother.

However, most chapters have 2 max of people of outside cultures/ethnicities. Is this bad? No. The organization is Asian-interest, and because of the strong ties to culture and the community, inevitably the pool of people we pull from is mostly Asian American.

Nationally, we are about 95% East/Southeast Asian. Possibly higher.

Sigma Beta Rho, a South Asian based multicultural fraternity, is only about 60% South Asian now.

What I am trying to say is every organization is different, and LPhiE, nor PDPsi or any other organization, "represents" Asian American Greek life.

Um, I never said anything about our "founding" "reasons". I simply said there are other unique ways that ethnic Greeks can attract people compared to mainstream Greeks (I didn't say we're NOT about representing Asian interest... or I'd be a bit unfair to all lambdas who have put in so much effort into our national philanthropy, the minority bone marrow drive).

I guess I oversimplified and made a slip when I said "this is why we have chapters in California because we're not all about meeting the social needs of Asians". I meant to say that the idea of a tight brotherhood is part of/one of many reason(s) why some Asians in a predominantly Asian population would want to join an Asian Greek organization. I don't think that conflicts with our roles in promoting Asian awareness or strengthening Asian-American voice or advancing Asian interest as a whole

[gphiangel624]

[QUOTE=L.O.C.K.;1440080]nwu43,
Out of all of our chapters, the most diverse is UC Riverside - they have three Mexican American brothers, 2 white brothers, and one South Asian brother.
[QUOTE]

True- Pi Delta Psi at UCR is pretty diverse, as are most organizations at UCR. Being that UCI has comparable ethnicity demographics, I'm going to assume their orgs are almost as diverse, if not more.

My understanding of many ethnic-based or ethnic-interest Greek orgs were founded (in addition to what L.O.C.K. stated) is that the organizations have an interest in making the general campus and community more aware of the targeted ethnicity and the culture(s) related to it, and to provide services and/or philanthropic support to organizations related to the targeted ethnicity. For example, several of our organizations that identify as Asian-American (Greeks and non-Greeks) support local blood and bone marrow banks that specifically work with Asians and Asian-Americans.

Is my understanding in any way accurate?

[nwu43]

[quote=gphiangel624;1440204][quote=L.O.C.K.;1440080]nwu43,
Out of all of our chapters, the most diverse is UC Riverside - they have three Mexican American brothers, 2 white brothers, and one South Asian brother.

True- Pi Delta Psi at UCR is pretty diverse, as are most organizations at UCR. Being that UCI has comparable ethnicity demographics, I'm going to assume their orgs are almost as diverse, if not more.

My understanding of many ethnic-based or ethnic-interest Greek orgs were founded (in addition to what L.O.C.K. stated) is that the organizations have an interest in making the general campus and community more aware of the targeted ethnicity and the culture(s) related to it, and to provide services and/or philanthropic support to organizations related to the targeted ethnicity. For example, several of our organizations that identify as Asian-American (Greeks and non-Greeks) support local blood and bone marrow banks that specifically work with Asians and Asian-Americans.

Is my understanding in any way accurate?

Yup. I thought initially you were talking more about the social aspect of the Asian community (because you mentioned social GLO's) which would not be lacking in many California schools.

Ethnic Greeks do indeed provide services/philanthropy related to the targeted ethnicity, but I think the difference between ethnic Greeks and Asian clubs like CSA is that the ethnic Greeks are Greek! Just look up Pi Delta Psi on wikipedia you'll see that promoting "Friendship and Loyalty" is important just as it is important to promote "Cultural Awareness". Thus, many people choose to become part of the Asian Greek world because they are interested in forming bonds in addition to serving the Asian community.

[dbizzy]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

This may seem off-base, but I must say that I'm kinda surprised that UCI has an asian fraternity, since SO MANY of its students are asian. I'm guessing that many cultural GLOs come on to campuses when they feel there's a need for them, as in when their needs aren't being met...? If these are just social organizations, I'm surprised they didn't feel their needs were being met in the social GLOs on campus, which I believe have MANY asians. I was just looking at a photo of our Gamma Phi chapter at UCI the other day and was thinking how that photo was the complete opposite of one I'd see from another school...almost all the women were asian. It reminded me how diverse my sorority is from campus to campus.

I can definitely vouch for the diversity of your UCI chapter...a majority of the chapter is Asian, or at least not caucasian. Many other large panhellenic sororities on campus are just as diverse...Alpha Phi and Pi Phis come to mind. IFC Fraternities that have a large Asian composition at UCI include almost all of them...Kappa Sigma, SAE, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Pikes, FIJI...the list goes on and on. Some of my friends from Alpha Phi told me that when a few of them went to a convention, people almost looked shocked to see that there were even any Asians in the chapter. Now I'm sure each of those orgs may have cliques that are somewhat divided by race/ethnicity, but that's a totally different subject...

Not to stray from the original topic but I think most greek kids across the nation have a tough time imagining such a diverse campus such as UCI. And even with so much of the greek population being Asian, UCI still has a flourishing Asian-greek scene. I am the president of the largest Asian-interest fraternity here and yet my org as well as some others transcend the greek lines and become very involved in the greek scene (philanthropies, socials, songfest, just hanging out, etc), and it is completely accepted here. It's truly a pretty unique campus when it comes to demographics and social interaction. Just some food for thought!