Alumni Associations limited in ways that chapters can't?

[naraht]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

OP - Are you saying that such sub-groups do exist and are looking for evidence in other Fraternities/Sororities, or are you asking if such sub-groups exist at all?

I'm trying to find comparisons to the situation in Alpha Phi Omega where there are geographic Alumni Associations which are restricted to only men, even though most chapters are co-ed.

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by naraht

I'm trying to find comparisons to the situation in Alpha Phi Omega where there are geographic Alumni Associations which are restricted to only men, even though most chapters are co-ed.

Pardon the double-post, but how do you account for people who move into new geographical area? I would be pretty bummed out if I moved and tried to join a different alumnae chapter only to be forbidden. Then again, given what I have observed with APO (the chapter on my campus was co-ed, but not every male member was happy about it), I can see where there might be some clashes.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

If you're just talking about geography, and you're in an overlapping area, I guess the personal choice could be based on average age of current members, common interests, etc., but in AXiD and Gamma Sig, I personally know of no "special-interest" alumnae chapters.

I wonder if the example the OP used - a Catholic alumni group - might exist in the case that most alumni in a particular alum chapter graduated from a Catholic university? You don't have to be Catholic to attend a Catholic school at any grade, so I can't imagine there being a limitation for alumni/ae to be of a certain religion. Then again, enough people do move to areas outside of the geographic region from where they went to school and join their closest alum chapter. Neither of my alumnae association/chapter are fully comprised of women from the closest collegiate chapter.

Well in my case there's not an alum chapter in my city but chapters within about an hour's driving distance in any direction. I could pick any one of those if I liked. But no, there was a post elsewhere that was asking about making an alum chapter purely made up of people from somewhere else (lets say Virginia) while living in another location (lets say Ohio). So there are plenty of alum chapters in Ohio, but the individual wanted to make an Ohio alum chapter of Virginia people, it was weird.

And as a grad of a Catholic school, even if there were a lot of Catholics in the alum chapter it wouldn't make sense to limit it TO Catholics. There's nothing Catholic about recruitment, ritual, our sisterhood, etc. It's possible that one of our breakout groups (SIGs) could be oriented around that but I'm not actually sure that they can have something that's really exclusionary, if that makes sense. That is, it could be a group dedicated to going to Mass, maybe, but they couldn't prohibit another alum from joining. I'm not sure though.

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

Pardon the double-post, but how do you account for people who move into new geographical area? I would be pretty bummed out if I moved and tried to join a different alumnae chapter only to be forbidden. Then again, given what I have observed with APO (the chapter on my campus was co-ed, but not every male member was happy about it), I can see where there might be some clashes.

I wonder if any of the other split co-ed/single sex fraternities can weigh in on that too. And though I"m sure it's been answered elsewhere, what's the proportion of male/co-ed chapters in APO at the college level or otherwise? Are only current APO chapters allowed to remain male-only? Is the rule the same with alumni chapters?

I guess I'm curious if this is more of a current issue or something that's more of a grandfathered in situation. (Although obviously still a current issue to the people involved.)

I wouldn't think an alum chapter of any group would be allowed to discriminate based on something that the group itself doesn't discriminate on (religion for example) except in the case where orgs aren't uniform with their rules for all collegiate chapters.

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by naraht

I'm trying to find comparisons to the situation in Alpha Phi Omega where there are geographic Alumni Associations which are restricted to only men, even though most chapters are co-ed.

The Men of the Rising Sun Alumni Association which I am familiar with does not have bylaws which restrict women from joining. (I am looking at their bylaws right now) I would also venture to say that none of them have rules on the books which forbid women from joining.

What they have done (which is allowed) is named their association "Men of the Rising Sun." Obviously, this creates a brand identity in which women would not be overtly welcome. On the other hand, there is nothing in the bylaws which forbids it.

For the sake of comparison, the Baltimore Area Alumni Association is also all men (to my knowledge) and really tries their best to open up their events to all types of brothers. But they've been so male and so African American for so long, I think it would take a special type of person to socially integrate that group.

So on one hand, you have a bunch of guys who are clearly doing their best under the rules to give the appearance of being exclusively male, and another group that probably couldn't get women if they tried.

It's interesting. I say leave them both be, for now.

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

Pardon the double-post, but how do you account for people who move into new geographical area? I would be pretty bummed out if I moved and tried to join a different alumnae chapter only to be forbidden. Then again, given what I have observed with APO (the chapter on my campus was co-ed, but not every male member was happy about it), I can see where there might be some clashes.

APO does not have a plethora of alumni association, unfortunately, so chances are you wouldn't move to an area with a super duper active association.

I have a lot of opinions about our alumni structure in general, and I hope that we take a hard look at other organizations to learn from their best practices, AS WELL AS using data to drive our decisions.

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I wonder if any of the other split co-ed/single sex fraternities can weigh in on that too. And though I"m sure it's been answered elsewhere, what's the proportion of male/co-ed chapters in APO at the college level or otherwise? Are only current APO chapters allowed to remain male-only? Is the rule the same with alumni chapters?

I guess I'm curious if this is more of a current issue or something that's more of a grandfathered in situation. (Although obviously still a current issue to the people involved.)

I wouldn't think an alum chapter of any group would be allowed to discriminate based on something that the group itself doesn't discriminate on (religion for example) except in the case where orgs aren't uniform with their rules for all collegiate chapters.

I kind of love you right now.

Long story short, there are very few all-male chapters left. There is no more grandfathering -- they've all got to be making good faith efforts to become coed.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I kind of love you right now.

Long story short, there are very few all-male chapters left. There is no more grandfathering -- they've all got to be making good faith efforts to become coed.

Awww gee

And thanks for the info.