Theta Nu Xi?

[SWTXBelle]

In your dreams, darling boy, in your dreams.

[preciousjeni]

WOW.

[WannaB3]

Okay, in my outsider looking in opinion, I feel that MCGLO is not to imply that other organizations do not 'respect" other cultures or that they only accept one type of culture in their membership. What I think Multicutural GLO are trying to imply is that their organizations do specifically aim to have a membership that is multicultural in nature. Other organizations do not necesarilly make that aim. Even other organizations that are under the Multicultural Greek Council, like Latina and Asian based GLOs claim they are not exclusionary and are open to members who are not Latina or Asian...however, when you look at their recruting efforts, they often times do not go out of their way to promote to people that are not in their cultural demographic.

I have never been aproached by the NPC sororities when they are out during pre-rush or freshman orientation. Why? Because I'm African American you don't think I'd be interested in your sorority? You dont feel like I'd fit in your majority white membership? If you truly feel your org is just as diverse it would be reflected in your membership nationally.

When I look at the Theta Nu Xi website and look at the photos of their sisterhood, I see all different races and hues...and with that I know comes different religions,cultures, etc. So it is apparent that this organization is made up of many cultures. Now I think it should be said that not everyone who joins a sorority wants to be in a multicultural one. Some people may feel isolated from their family or their traditions so they join a culturally based sorority with a majority white, black, latina, asian, whatever, membership so that they can be with those like minds.

Now when I look at the Gamma Phi Beta website, I see mostly...white ladies, a couple asian faces, some Latin, but as a whole I see white ladies. I'm not saying this in a racist way so don't even take it there. I'm just making a point, that on a national level it doesn't seem Gamma Phi Beta is very diverse and definitely not nearly as diverse as Theta Nu Xi.

It's the same if you go to an NPHC national website...you may see some non-African American members, and some NPHC orgs are more diverse than others, but again, that has to with the history and who they appeal/recruit to

beyond all that, I think who is or isn't multicultural is a stupid thing to get so heated. If you didn't feel guilty, you wouldn't speak up.

[SWTXBelle]

As diverse as Theta Nu Xi - no.
Diverse? Yes. Much more so than a few pictures on a website can show. I know of at least one southern campus where we were the first to pledge a black student. Go look at our colony photos here on GC. And here's the deal - we don't have a quota of a certain colour to fill. The attributes we look for do not include race - so if you don't see what you consider to be enough of any particular group you shouldn't assume that the issue is one of race. I'm always reminded of when there was an outcry because there were no black members of NPC sororities at SMU. Then someone pointed out that none had gone through recruitment, which is important if you want to get a bid. The next year 2 went through, and pledged. There are 26 members of the NPC, and all of them have membership criteria which do not include race. While some individuals or chapters may not live up to the inter/national ideal, the overall organizations have made a real effort to be inclusive and respectful of all pnms.

But that is really beside the point.

It has been pointed out that when the issue of multi-culturalism or diversity is mentioned by many, perhaps not all, MCGLOs it is often done so in a way that MANY find to be offensive.

I can't say as to whether or not that is the way it is meant. But I can say that when it is brought up as being perceived as a veiled criticism, the answer seems to be to not address the issue at all, but to instead try and shift focus to critiquing the diversity or multi-culturalism of the GLO of the person who stated they felt it was dismissive of their group. I hardly think checking a few pictures on a website constitute an analysis of the diversity of a group.

So I can't help but think that it is indeed meant to be insulting, and that the reason that issue is not addressed is because the perceptions of other GLOs do not matter to the MCGLO. I'm not alone in this, and I'm just surprised that groups that pride themselves on being inclusive should so callously dismiss an entire group out of hand.

eta - To answer the question of what do I have against groups with a multicultural mission - nothing, as long as they don't insult other groups. And let me also say that I wouldn't expect the MCGLOs to suddenly change everything in how they present their missions - but I have to say that I believe pledging someone just because they are or are not white is never a good thing.

aeta - One reason this frustrates me is because in this day and age ALL greek letter orgs need to be able to work together. Different people have different needs, and if a MCGLO is able to better fulfill those than a NPC or NPHC group, then good. It's not a case of either/or. NPCs, NPHCs, MCGLOs can all fulfill different roles, but we have to be able to respect OUR differences, too.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

but I have to say that I believe pledging someone just because they are or are not white is never a good thing.

Now THAT is insulting. This is one of those "pot meet kettle" situations. You perceive that multicultural orgs are dismissive of NPC organizations, so your response is to dismiss multicultural orgs? Let's get serious.

There are scads of members of NPC, NIC and NPHC orgs - which have multiple tens of thousands of members each - that do not consider multicultural Greeks to truly be Greek and who seek to invalidate the sincerity of members of these organizations.

There are perhaps a few thousand multicultural Greeks who express pride in their organizations - pointing out the fact that they are unlike NPC, NIC and NPHC organizations because their reason for existence is to promote multiculturalism - and out of those few thousand, some of the members get too big for their britches and make inappropriate and insulting statements.

I see and feel the tension here. But, for anyone to come in and say that the very missions of multicultural sororities are offensive is preposterous. And, what of people like me who consistently uplift ALL Greeks? I've never made a negative comment about the core principles of another legitimate Greek organization. If I've ever said anything negative, it has been about individual members of the organizations who were foul.

[SWTXBelle]

I said that ANYONE pledging JUST because a pnm is or is not a certain color is a bad thing. Are you arguing that I'm wrong? I just want to clarify. I certainly did not mean to imply that I was criticizing just the MCGLOs, and if that is the case I apologize. But now I have to ask - because I honestly don't know - do multicultural glos make a race a factor in deciding membership?

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I said that ANYONE pledging JUST because a pnm is or is not a certain color is a bad thing. Are you arguing that I'm wrong? I just want to clarify. I certainly did not mean to imply that I was criticizing just the MCGLOs, and if that is the case I apologize.

Nope, I don't disagree. Based on your previous posts in this thread, the comment implied that multicultural sororities do pledge non-whites simply because they are not white. Thanks for the clarification.

[WannaB3]

[quote=SWTXBelle;1633666]Then someone pointed out that none had gone through recruitment, which is important if you want to get a bid.[quote]

[quote=WannaB3;]I have never been aproached by the NPC sororities when they are out during pre-rush or freshman orientation. Why? [qoute] I am not the only one to experience this, and I've experienced it on more than one occassion, as rush happens twice a year.

Also SWTXBelle, you need to take into account that when one, as an African American, looks from the outside, they will see a large group of white girls and whether right or wrong, will assume that if I try to come out for these groups I will either A) not get accepted or B) feel like I got accepted to be the "token" or C) Get in, but never feel completely accepted. I coud really want to be a Chi Omega or Tri-Delta but if I don't feel like I can get in or my cultural traditions will be accepted and NOBODY from those sororities enourages me to rush anyway, or talks to me about their organizations, tries to get to know me, etc... then of course not many African Americans will come out to rush.

I have a black friend who is Delta Chi, he happy and I'm happy for him. Granted, on my campus, DX has the most non-white members, so maybe that again has to do with the people they promote too during pre-rush events. I don't know.

[SWTXBelle]

Oh, I understand that it can be a bit of a vicious circle - there are no minorities in the groups, so none go out for membership, so the groups do not get a chance to make any minorities members, and so on, and so on.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do think it is a point that should be considered before accusing the groups of racism. Sometimes it just takes one brave person, or one brave group, to go against the status quo to open the doors for all.

And sometimes it just may be that there already exist established groups with which pnms feel more at home with - if a campus has a strong NPHC presence, there may not be much interest in the black community in joining the NPC or IFC.

Heck, if you look at NPC colonization threads, you'll see that campuses often get a new group when a number of girls feel that the existing groups do not offer what they need.