Retro on the Rocks with a Twist?

[susan314]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

My SAI little, as I have said a few times, is an SDT legacy. She told me yesterday that while SDT is no longer a "jewish only" sorority, every chapter has to be completely one way or the other-fully jewish membership or fully non jewish membership. I don't know how true that is....but, I would assume she is right because her info came right from a sister.

I don't think that's true - she may have misinterpreted something. Unless something has really changed since my undergrad years.

We had an SDT chapter on my campus, and although the majority of members were Jewish it certainly wasn't a requirement. (efcheerBB was a member of SDT at my campus, albeit several years after me ...she should be able to confim that)

[efcheerBB]

Originally Posted by susan314

I don't think that's true - she may have misinterpreted something. Unless something has really changed since my undergrad years.

We had an SDT chapter on my campus, and although the majority of members were Jewish it certainly wasn't a requirement. (efcheerBB was a member of SDT at my campus, albeit several years after me ...she should be able to confim that)

When I joined SDT, out of my pledge class of 8, we were split 50/50. The following pledge class were all non-jews. I think things may have changed since then, but I am not aware of it. I do know we did a reorganization over the past couple of years so who knows...

As for the whole legacy thing, part of me wonders what it will be like for my sister if she goes to a school with SDT and decides to rush since we are not jewish...

[susan314]

Originally Posted by dukemama

/mini-hijack (sorry)

Are AEPhi and SDT the only 2 sororities considered historically Jewish? I thought DPhiE was too (I know that it was founded by Jewish women and the only DPhiE I ever knew personally was Jewish as well). Just curious...

/end hijack

I believe that DPhiE was founded as one of the only non-secretarian sororities, so they weren't specifically founded as one of the historically Jewish sororities.

I suppose on some campuses they may have a higher proportion of Jewish sisters than other groups (can't say for sure - we didn't have DPhiE on my campus), but religion wasn't a basis of their founding.

(DPhiE sisters - correct me if I made any errors regarding your history. )

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by susan314

I believe that DPhiE was founded as one of the only non-secretarian sororities, so they weren't specifically founded as one of the historically Jewish sororities.

I suppose on some campuses they may have a higher proportion of Jewish sisters than other groups (can't say for sure - we didn't have DPhiE on my campus), but religion wasn't a basis of their founding.

(DPhiE sisters - correct me if I made any errors regarding your history. )

And the non-sectarian founding may have attracted Jewish women who couldn't find their niche anywhere else, which may explain why they have a lot of Jewish women on certain campuses.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

And the non-sectarian founding may have attracting Jewish women who couldn't find their niche anywhere else, which may explain why they have a lot of Jewish women on certain campuses.

There is a second force in effect. If there are traditionally Jewish sororities on your campus, and a PNM is Jewish, many chapters assume she is going to join a Jewish house. If they are limited in the number of invites they can issue, they won't want to waste one on her. I have seen this happen even when the PNM didn't express that type of preference, in much the same way a chapter would probably release a triple-leg to another chapter.

[tinydancer16]

For the love of all that is Kappa Delta --HURRY UP!!!
Sorry. I just can't help myself, I've become thoroughly engrossed. A Kappa Delta story that takes place in Maryland...it doesn't get much better!

[Leslie Anne]

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the delay, I had to take a breather and run some errands. This discussion about Jewish sororities is really interesting. To this day, I don't know for certain whether or not I would have been allowed to pledge Soccer. They are a Nationally Jewish sorority, not just a chapter that happened to have many Jewish girls at Maryland.

Going Greek: Jewish College Fraternities in the United States, 1895-1945 is on my list of books to read (right after Bound by a Mighty Vow). I might find my answer in there. But it sure would be easier, for now, to hear from members of AEPhi, DPhiE, and SDT. Were any of them at one time "Jewish Only?" If so, when did it change?


Okay, so...the rest of my story. I'm having a tough time because I'm trying to pare it down. I could just tell you really quickly "blah blah blah, blah blah blah, THE END." The thing is, that's not the way it happened. More characters entered the story and A LOT more went on. I don't want this story to become a drag though. So what should I do? A quickie ending? Full story? Full story pared down as much as possible?

Let me know (you can PM me) and I'll get on with it.

Thanks for being interested!

Leslie

[deadbear80]

My Mom has always told me that when she went through Rush in the 1960s at the University of Michigan, there were only 4 houses that 'took' Jews. 2 of them, I'm pretty sure were founded as non-sectarian (DPhiE and Phi Sig). The other 2 were definitely founded as 'Jewish' sororities (AEPhi and SDT). But she has always said that she never looked at the other houses because she was more comfortable where there were other Jews. I know they weren't discouraged from joining a house that didn't have Jews, but no one apparently did it. That and I think in 'mutual selection' both the 'non-Jewish' houses and the "Jewish" rushees would mutually drop each other. I think that Jewish girls were more attracted to houses where they felt like there were others 'like' them. Isn't that why we all joined our respective chapters in the first place? Someone in DPhiE confirm this--weren't at least some of your founders Jewish?

Contrast to when I rushed...when girls joined every NPC chapter on campus regardless of their religion. Yes, AEPhi did cater to more Jews (partially because so many of us were legacies because our Mothers/Grandmothers/etc. only joined "Jewish" houses) but they definitely took non-Jews too. I knew a girl who was a Lutheran who joined AEPhi the year we pledged. She was the only non-Jew in her pledge class. Didn't bother her one bit. I do know that some girls were a little turned off by the fact that AEPhi was 'so Jewish', but I also went to a school with a large Jewish population, so that was also probably a factor. I personally didn't join AEPhi, and joined a house that was pretty religiously mixed. There weren't that many Jews in my pledge class specifically, but I was far from the only one.

If memory serves me right, there was a time where some houses really didn't take Jews, and that had a lot to do with the Christian ideals that they were founded on. But someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong--aren't the NPC chapters all supposed to have non-discrimination policies nationally now?

/end hijack

[Forgetmenotivy]

Full story; the ending of the novel can make the novel a good book!