What! I Don't Need No Stinking Sorority!--An NPHC Membership Journey

[PrettyBoy]

This is good. So good, half the bag of popcorn is gone.

[Still BLUTANG]

SisterGreek, did we go to school together? LOL.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by PrettyBoy

This is good. So good, half the bag of popcorn is gone.

is this before or after the bowl of chitlins you scarfed down?

and SISTERGREEK - glad i was an inspiration - keep it coming!

[SISTERGREEK]

At this point, all four organizations were on campus. X-Men had crossed a line the year before and their numbers began to rival those of Thundercats. By this time, many of my friends had crossed into the various organizations on campus. Also, many of my friends had tried and failed to gain membership in different organizations (including one series of unfortunate events that put an end to what I thought was a really strong friendship). By that time, I was beginning to be able to distinguish between the organizations based on the women that I knew who became a part of them.

I knew one woman quite well who joined Boy Meets World. She was a year behind me, and her coming out was entirely unexpected; I never even knew she was interested in a sorority. She was studious and in my major. We were also in an organization together. I liked her a lot because she was kind, steady, and reliable. She was my first real impression of the kind of women that Boy Meets World attracted, and it was an overwhelmingly positive one. I was really happy for her when I found out that she had crossed.

I knew several women who had joined the Thundercats. These women were smart, campus leaders, and quite visible socially as well. But there was something about the women who became Thundercats. They completely changed. Many of them seemed to carry themselves as though they were the ish (and not in the good way, in the bad way) now that they were members of their organization. It seemed that for many of them, their organization made them. This was not the case for all of them. There were several women that crossed whom I continued to good friends with. These women were intelligent and friendly, women that I greatly respected on campus. Also, a few women that I knew and really respected wanted to be Thundercats but were denied membership. But it did not sit well with me that most of the Thundercats seemed to be of the former variety. My impression of Thundercats at this point was not very good.

I also knew several women that had crossed into X-Men. Like the women of Thundercats, these women were smart (one was the valedictorian the year that I graduated), campus leaders, and very much socially prominent. Many of the women who became X-Men were actually women that had lived in my freshman dorm. However, unlike the Thundercats, I did not see any manifestations of a newfound superiority complex in the X-Men. They were the same women that they had been before they crossed, I just saw them less frequently now. Of course, there was that one X-Men that skipped out on her duties for an organization that I was president of (though that did not happen until senior year), but her linesister was right there to pick up her slack, which I respected.

And last, but not least, there was Punky Brewster. I still had not come into contact with any Punky Brewsters. I did not know, personally, any women that had crossed. I would see them occasionally on campus, but never had a really in-depth conversation with one. But for some reason, I didn't quite discount Punky Brewster, maybe because of the colors. (I really like that combination).

The really important thing that happened my junior year was that I begin
to reevaluate the sorority thing. Seeing women that I knew and respected joining each of these organizations made me give it a second glance. I begin to wonder what drew them to these organizations; there must be something more to it then I saw. I decided that I would spend the summer researching the organizations before make a final decision of whether to pursue membership or not.

To be continued....

[tld221]

i'm rooting for BMW only cause i wasn't a cartoon watcher and well, Ben Savage and Rider Strong pretty much rocked my socks in the mid-90s.

and well, they sounds awesome in this thread too.

[SISTERGREEK]

Oh, and there was that other "thing" that happened junior year.

What is it? What is that thing?.....

[tld221]

Originally Posted by SISTERGREEK

Oh, and there was that other "thing" that happened junior year.

What is it? What is that thing?.....

OK guys this is totally appropriate...

RITY?

[Still BLUTANG]

Originally Posted by tld221

OK guys this is totally appropriate...

RITY?

TLD, you're a mess!

SisterGreek, gotcha! we weren't at the same school, although your campus sounds scarily similar to mine.

[tinydancer16]

I have to go with tld, I'm a Boy Meets World girl to the core -I'm not ashamed to admit that I still watch it allll the time on ABC family

[SISTERGREEK]

First, no, I am not her, but I just couldn't resist. (What a character! lol.)

Second, I remain a huge fan of Boy Meets World, the show; if I had ABC Family, I would be watching it still.

The other thing that year, which really gave me another positive image of these organizations, happened the day that one of the fraternities was probating. The probate area on our campus is fairly close to the cafeteria and around six that evening, the cafe was full of folks eating dinner. All of the sudden, as I watched, there was a mass exodus. I was so oblivious; I had no idea why.

What I did see was that none of those who had left had cleared away their trays; they were all in such a hurry to jostle for best position to view the probate. This was frustrating to me, because I felt that our cafeteria workers were already overworked and shouldn't have to clean up after all of those grown folks. I turned back to my food, resolving to help clean up the trays when I was finished eating.

Just a few minutes later, members of the fraternity that was having, at that moment, its probate, poured into the cafeteria. Within five minutes, they had methodically cleared all of the tables, while the guy who seemed to be in charge sat eating a plate of food, watching, and directing. (Oh, this was also the fraternity whose member had manhandled me during my freshman year.) In my mind, it was the most decent thing that I had ever seen any organization do collectively; and I went over and told the guy who was sitting down that. He thanked me and we had a nice little chat. That one small act did as much to change my perception of this organization as the early incident had; and it also influenced my perception all of the organizations. This coupled with my friends experiences made me think that maybe there was something to them after all.

So I guess for me, these seemingly small moments and personal interactions--as opposed to all of the fan fare--were the ones that really shaped my perspective on greek life.

To be concluded soon...

[Senusret I]

I think we all think it's okay if you tell us the real names of the fraternities since we know you don't join one of those.

[PrettyBoy]

Originally Posted by tld221

is this before or after the bowl of chitlins you scarfed down?

and SISTERGREEK - glad i was an inspiration - keep it coming!

LMAO.

[PrettyBoy]

zzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz. PB sleeping in his chair with an empty bowl of chitlins and a half eaten bag of popcorn.

Interesting story though.

[Little32]

Thanks....I guess. Where is the smile that shrugs its shoulders?

[tld221]

Originally Posted by PrettyBoy

zzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz. PB sleeping in his chair with an empty bowl of chitlins and a half eaten bag of popcorn.

Interesting story though.

PB is only sleeping cause he got the itis!