Congrats to Michelle Obama

[oldu]

Michelle Obama is not the first politico to accept membership in a Greek organization without fully knowing the obligations. JFK was made an honorary member of Phi Kappa Theta (sans an initiation) and widely touted by the fraternity but never recognized by him in any bio materials. As was Hubert Humphrey into Tau Delta Phi under similar circumstances. Truman was made an honorary Lambda Chi Alpha but evidently acknowledged it from time to time. He may have had an official initiation -- maybe a Lambda Chi can attest to that. No doubt more than one group has made a pass at Barack himself.

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by oldu

Michelle Obama is not the first politico to accept membership in a Greek organization without fully knowing the obligations. JFK was made an honorary member of Phi Kappa Theta (sans an initiation) and widely touted by the fraternity but never recognized by him in any bio materials. As was Hubert Humphrey into Tau Delta Phi under similar circumstances. Truman was made an honorary Lambda Chi Alpha but evidently acknowledged it from time to time. He may have had an official initiation -- maybe a Lambda Chi can attest to that. No doubt more than one group has made a pass at Barack himself.

As far as the D9 goes, we don't have members that haven't been initiated, honorary or otherwise. At this point, Michelle Obama has only accepted the invitation but hasn't been inducted yet. She will not be a member until that happens so either Michelle or AKA could still decline/reverse the offer at this point.

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by rhoyaltempest

As far as the D9 goes, we don't have members that haven't been initiated, honorary or otherwise. At this point, Michelle Obama has only accepted the invitation but hasn't been inducted yet. She will not be a member until that happens so either Michelle or AKA could still decline/reverse the offer at this point.

Not sure that is going to happen:
Sorority Celebrates Michelle Obama’s Acceptance
Michelle Obama is sometimes compared to Jackie Kennedy, but she may now have something in common with another first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. The wife of F.D.R. became a honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, an historically black organization founded in 1908, and the group announced this week at its Centennial Convention in Washington that Mrs. Obama had agreed to join. ....
The sorority said that once Mrs. Obama is formally inducted into the organization, which has 225,000 members, she can’t become a member of any of the other “Divine Nine” organizations, as black sororities and fraternities are often called. Other honorary members of Alpha Kappa Alpha include the poet Maya Angelou, the late Coretta Scott King and former astronaut Mae Jemison.
But tonight a spokeswoman for Mrs. Obama, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, said: “Because of her respect for each of the historically black sororities and fraternities, her membership is
non-exclusive. She looks forward to working with all of them to help
bring change to their communities.”
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/sorority-celebrates-michelle-obamas-acceptance/?scp=2&sq=Michelle%20Obama&st=cse