Involved sorority collegiate turns invisible alumna

[AGDAlum]

My reply will not add much new to the mix, except for my story. I was a very involved undergraduate, then served a year as a leadership consultant. My first professional position was in a town 40 miles from the collegiate chapter I worked to create, and for the next four years I served as an adviser. (Hi, Carnation! )

I took a job in another state, in a town where there was a collegiate chapter. (In fact, I'd visited it during my consultant year.) I looked forward to helping with that chapter. Not so! They had two advisers (alumnae of that chapter) who didn't want anyone else involved. I was invited to one IRD (=founders' day) in the 2-1/2 years I lived there. (The bright spot of my sojourn in that job/that town was that I met and married my husband.)

I served on two AGD international committees during those seven years.

We moved to Maine; no collegiate chapter anywhere near. A few alumnae met for lunch, which was nice. I tried starting a regional alumnae group (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont) which had two IRDs, both very nice occasions.

We moved to another state, to a college town where there was a very strong collegiate chapter and a very strong alumnae club. Also very chapter-centric. (I remember one alum saying that she was moving to another state, mourning that "there are no Alpha Gams there." I looked in the directory and found about two dozen Alpha Gams. They just weren't the same chapter.) That chapter welcomed me and I served as finance adviser for four years. I still get their alumnae newsletter.

Since 1998 I've lived at some distance from an undergraduate chapter. I joined the alumnae club immediately and I pay dues every year. However, it is based 35 miles away and it meets the same night as my P.E.O. chapter. My schedule is quite full as I "welcome the opportunity of contributing to the world's work in the community where I am placed because of the joy of service thereby bestowed and the talent of leadership multiplied" with AAUW, P.E.O., Rotary, various community organizations, and professional associations.

[Munchkin03]

I'm another one!

I'll chalk it up to a few things:

1. Burnout. I was all about the sorority in college and when I got to grad school I needed to take a break from it. I did the social things like happy hours for a few years but the alumnae chapter here skews young and at 29 I'm kind of over mixers with fraternities. Granted, I made some of my best girlfriends from the alum chapter.

2. Interest in other charities. I'm extremely involved on a national and local level with my college and that's a full-time job in and of itself.

3. Work had to take a priority. I'm taking my exams to become a licensed architect. There's simply no time.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by AGDAlum

My reply will not add much new to the mix, except for my story. I was a very involved undergraduate, then served a year as a leadership consultant. My first professional position was in a town 40 miles from the collegiate chapter I worked to create, and for the next four years I served as an adviser. (Hi, Carnation! )

Hi, AGDAlum! Was that the A&M chapter?

People have touched on another problem with alum chapters. I've actually known women from many sororities who quit going to alum meetings because some alums made it clear to them that their chapter wasn't one of the "preferred" ones. Like: "Those of us from AB and YZ chapters are the cool ones in this group and don't you forget it; you ladies from MN chapter (who we feel don't deserve to wear our letters) may sit on the sidelines and observe our greatness."

[ADqtPiMel]

I wouldn't say I'm a slacker -- I started advising a month after graduation, though not my chapter of initiation. But I'm not active in an alumnae association. It's kind of funny that others have referenced their DC alumnae associations as very diverse, collegiate chapter-wise, as I've found that ours is almost all Maryland and GWU grads.

My reasoning is mostly time -- I work long and erratic hours, I'm married, and I have a time consuming hobby (marathon training). Any extra time I have left over is going to go toward the commitment I made to the collegiate chapter. But as others have referenced, I don't really have that much motivation to try to break through the cliques in the AA.

[Lil' Hannah]

Originally Posted by ADqtPiMel

It's kind of funny that others have referenced their DC alumnae associations as very diverse, collegiate chapter-wise, as I've found that ours is almost all Maryland and GWU grads.

Interesting...DG's DC chapter has only a few MD or GW (or AU) members. I always assumed it was because so many stay in the area after college and don't need to join the alumnae chapter because they already have each other.

[PiPhiERDoc]

My organization also has a policy about young alumnae not serving on our AAC - however, dispensation can be granted if the alumnae advisory committee desperately needs members (which was why I got on so early after graduation). Its probably different depending on where you are in the country, but I know that all the organizations on our campus are usually very much in need of alumnae to serve on their advisory committees. I think this is because being a small private school almost no one is from the area OR stays in the area when they graduate, so there is a very small alum pool to draw on.

[LadyLonghorn]

Originally Posted by PiPhiERDoc

My organization also has a policy about young alumnae not serving on our AAC - however, dispensation can be granted if the alumnae advisory committee desperately needs members (which was why I got on so early after graduation). Its probably different depending on where you are in the country, but I know that all the organizations on our campus are usually very much in need of alumnae to serve on their advisory committees. I think this is because being a small private school almost no one is from the area OR stays in the area when they graduate, so there is a very small alum pool to draw on.

Did you serve while you were in medical school/internship/residency? If so, how did you find the time?