Mutual selection?

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Maybe it's a regional thing but I certainly don't think this.

Ditto. We don't do recs up here and there are hardly any legacies either.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Maybe it's a regional thing but I certainly don't think this. Never have.

I also joined my sorority late-ish in college so it was just a natural next step.

I didn't have the "4 year burnout" that people get.

Originally Posted by AGDee

Ditto. We don't do recs up here and there are hardly any legacies either.

What percentage of graduates are active in alumnae groups 10 years out of college? I think my 10% may have been low, but I don't really know. When I look at the size of the group at alumnae events vs. the number of undergraduates at chapters in the area, it looks like a tiny number of involved alumnae.

I didn't mean that alumnae are all concerned with those two issues, but I think they pretty much only think about their memberships as alumnae when they know a PNM or when they have kids. I think that most graduates think about their own memberships in a backwards kind of memories-of-college kind of way.

I'm not saying this is the way they should think, but I don't think NPC alumnae membership is typically comparable to NPHC alumnae membership.

You could work with an NPC alumna for years and suddenly find out she was greek. You're probably going to know of NPHC membership pretty early on, even if the signs are subtle. What's up with the African Violets or all the Ivy?

[DiamondAthena]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Maybe it's a regional thing but I certainly don't think this. Never have.

I also joined my sorority late-ish in college so it was just a natural next step.

I didn't have the "4 year burnout" that people get.

I am not in NPC or NPHC but the majority of my college yrs(after I knew more about Greek life) I always heard some women say " Oh you're in a sorority, I used to be Greek." Or women who are asked about their parents college yrs saying "I found out my dad used to be in a fraternity, idk that" I've never heard membership in a fraternal org referred to as past tense when it comes to NPHC. Period.

So that always made me wonder about historically WGLOs vs BGLOs and the percentage of alum involvement. I am Southern so is it regional?

My sorority has always said 'It's not just a time commitment, it's a LIFEtime commitment"

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by DiamondAthena

I am not in NPC or NPHC but the majority of my college yrs(after I knew more about Greek life) I always heard some women say " Oh you're in a sorority, I used to be Greek." Or women who are asked about their parents college yrs saying "I found out my dad used to be in a fraternity, idk that" I've never heard membership in a fraternal org referred to as past tense when it comes to NPHC. Period.

So that always made me wonder about historically WGLOs vs BGLOs and the percentage of alum involvement. I am Southern so is it regional?

My sorority has always said 'It's not just a time commitment, it's a LIFEtime commitment"

Are we really going to make this thread about this now?

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

But don't you think that NPHCs offer an much richer and involved alumnae membership in general? I don't intend to slight NPC groups, but we didn't generally communicate to women their obligation to join and pay dues to a alumnae/grad chapter upon graduation when I was an undergraduate.

I think my own group does a better job with this now, but I think the idea that the sorority involved a lifelong commitment to involvement and service is something that maybe 10% of NPCers took to heart but that 90% of NPHCers did.

I think most NPC members think alumnae status is about rec. writing and legacies.

If what a woman wants is more along the lines of what NPHC groups offer, wouldn't it make more sense to,oh, I don't know, pursue membership in a NPHC group?

eta - maybe the op would be interested in the "If you could design an AI program" thread.

I think rec writing is more of an APH thing - at least, in my experience. The APH members get the information from APH, and then follow their GLO's procedure to procure recs. While of course individual alumnae write recs for girls they know, the vast majority of recs (which are so important down here) probably come through APHs.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by AOEforme

Correct: I'm not. And we don't have AI. (We have an honorary membership process, but that totally isn't open for anyone to apply to.)

I was just stating my opinion, from what I've seen from a relative who sought AI in an NPC and was turned away, a neighbor who's very involved in her NPC, and what I've read here.

Sorry if I offended anyone, but it was only my honest opinion and I offered it.

So you don't select for honoary membership from those who approach you, you bestow it upon women you feel deserve it? That's how many NPC groups view AI. There's one I can think of that operates that way, and do not take "cold calls" but rarely offer it to women who they select (for example house mothers, female faculty advisors, mothers, etc.). What really sticks out to me is that your relative "sought" AI in an NPC, and perhaps that group (or even the women she contacted in that group) didn't feel it was appropriate or didn't follow their policies for alumnae membership.

Originally Posted by OPhiAGinger

True. I'm not a member of an NPC and, therefore, not privy to many of the inner workings of your organizations. That's why I'm asking questions --- to build my understanding. Thanks for your response!

The point I want to make sure I get across, is that there are no set rules when it comes to individual membership processes of NPC groups, we just agree on standards for the recruitment process and that we won't take initiated members of other groups. Even though I am privy to how Alpha Gam membership works, I know each recruitment, each potential member, and each potential AI are distinct situations and decisions made at a place and a point in time, and those decisions may play out very differently based on who is involved, where it is happening, and other factors. We can't give you hard and fast information because we're dealing with individuals on both sides (members and those would want to become members).

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

If what a woman wants is more along the lines of what NPHC groups offer, wouldn't it make more sense to,oh, I don't know, pursue membership in a NPHC group?

eta - maybe the op would be interested in the "If you could design an AI program" thread.

I think rec writing is more of an APH thing - at least, in my experience. The APH members get the information from APH, and then follow their GLO's procedure to procure recs. While of course individual alumnae write recs for girls they know, the vast majority of recs (which are so important down here) probably come through APHs.

Oh, I'm with you about the first part. I think about the NPHC groups frequently and have a lot of admiration for them, but I not saying that NPC groups should try to copy them, particularly because it's not part of the heritage of the groups really.

I may have made my point about the rec writing poorly. I think that for most of the greeks I've known since I graduated as an undergraduate, unless I met them in the context of APH, writing recs for girls might be the only activity they perform in a given year for their groups, and I don't even think that most alumnae write them every year.

But you may be correct that the majority of recs written in a given year come through APH. I'm certainly not disputing that.

ETA: I'm not in the people-ought-to-be-able-to-put-themselves-up-for-AI camp at all. My point about limited involvement for most NPC alumnae members is part of the reason why I think people pursuing membership at this level is suspect. And I really do mean pursuing as in the sense of chasing it, not merely completing the process that they've been invited to.

[SWTXBelle]

It also bears mentioning that all NPC alumnae groups are not the same - some are more social, some more philanthropic, those near collegiate chapters are far more active in a different way than those who aren't. It depends on the group dynamic and the individual members.

[OPhiAGinger]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

[COLOR="Magenta]I think OPhiAginger is making it out to seem like just because an HQ doesn't want PNAMs approaching them about AI, that a sorority accepts no one.
[/COLOR]

That's not my intention at all, and I apologize if I gave that impression.

I am raising this question because my GLO has recently started considering an AI program and I want to get a better understanding of what has worked (and not) for the groups that have a program like this. It seems like old GC threads may have provided an overly supportive viewpoint that didn't reflect reality, and more recent threads reflect an overly pessimistic attitude.

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

[COLOR="Magenta]If Patti PNAM is dedicated to XYZ and would make a good sister, alumnae will take notice, without her having to approach HQ....These orgs do see women in the comminity that would make good members and extand the invite of membership to them.[/COLOR]

So, again, the answer is to sit and wait for what you want to drop into your lap...? The people I most admire in life are the ones who make things happen. IF my GLO does develop an AI route to membership, those are the kind of people I hope are interested because those are the kind who can add the most to our organization.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by OPhiAGinger

So, again, the answer is to sit and wait for what you want to drop into your lap...? The people I most admire in life are the ones who make things happen. IF my GLO does develop an AI route to membership, those are the kind of people I hope are interested because those are the kind who can add the most to our organization.

No.

Your answer is to live your life, be involved in the community, maybe meet women who are in the sorority.

You can't make it happen.

Even if a sorority takes inquiries from PNAMs, you still can't "make it happen?" Who's to say that just because you can contact them means that your initiative is going to "make it happen?"