Other gender Advisors/Honorary?

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

Not wise if you want to preserve your single sex status, in my opinion.

Please elaborate, I'm not connecting the dots.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

Not wise if you want to preserve your single sex status, in my opinion.

As long as none are initiated and serve in a purely advisory capacity, there's no problem. Sometimes it's great to bring in outsiders so you can get some perspective you otherwise wouldn't have. At one time, I employed a young lady from a sorority at my chapter's school as a receptionist. I was able to use information from her to squelch a number of issues before they became issues.

Having someone in an advisory capacity wouldn't be any different. They are going to be privy to things your insiders are not. If I have my druthers, my house corporation BOD will have at least one NPC member on it because I will be the first to admit that they have Greek housing down to an absolute science compared to us.

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by Kevin

If I have my druthers, my house corporation BOD will have at least one NPC member on it because I will be the first to admit that they have Greek housing down to an absolute science compared to us.

As a former International Director of Housing for an NPC group, I have to agree with you here! I've talked with several folks at various NIC groups about how we do housing.

[Kevin]

Women can be on our advisory boards and house corporations but they cannot be members. They cannot be initiated.

[AZ-AlphaXi]

Alpha Xi Delta allows non-members and males to be advisors in positions that do not involve ritual and/or membership selection. Non-members are not allowed at initiation. Non-members are also allowed to be members of house corporation boards.

[DubaiSis]

Originally Posted by AZ-AlphaXi

Alpha Xi Delta allows non-members and males to be advisors in positions that do not involve ritual and/or membership selection. Non-members are not allowed at initiation. Non-members are also allowed to be members of house corporation boards.

We had a man who served on our house corp board and he was first, like all of our Grandpa, and second the savior of the physical structure. The poor guy was about 400 years old and 4 feet tall (married to the cutest little lady, a sister, who looked about like his twin) and got called over to the house at all hours of the day or night to fix this or that thing that went wrong. If there had been ANY way to AI this man, we would have. He was a true double blue and gold Alpha Xi in all aspects except gender.

[Titchou]

One of our members advises a Beta Theta Pi chapter and received a regional award recently for those efforts. Wish we had a chapter here in town. Would love to do that.

An advising a chapter of the opposite gender would not impact a group's single sex status but being an initiated member would. Both NPC and NIC have agreements that restrict that in order to maintain their status.

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by Titchou

An advising a chapter of the opposite gender would not impact a group's single sex status but being an initiated member would. Both NPC and NIC have agreements that restrict that in order to maintain their status.

I'm not sure about that. I can think of at least 2 NIC orgs that are coed at least at a local level.

[Titchou]

Kevin: You can PM me any time. More than glad to share!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by naraht

For those fraternities/sororities which only allow undergraduate members to be of one gender (which is most of those discussed here on greekchat), does your organization allow either Advisors or Honorary membership of the other gender.

For Phi Mu Alpha, only men can be initiated as honorary members. Only brothers can be advisors. So, as a general rule, honorary initiations and advisor positions are limited to men.

I say "as a general rule" because, as I have mentioned on GC before, there was a period from the mid- to late-70s until the mid-80s when, while our Title XI status was being sorted out, a relatively small number of chapters (22) were given permission to initiate women. That option ended in 1985, but the 236 women validly initiated while the option was in place are considered true Sinfonians. I know of at least one who serves as advisor to a chapter.

[ASUADPi]

I don't know if this was an ADPi chapter that I heard about or another sorority, but I remember someone telling me about a chapter that had advisors that weren't members of that sorority. I guess it was because the chapter was at a school that didn't have an alumnae association so getting advisors was incredibly difficult. I believe that the main chapter advisor was of the sorority, but the other ones weren't.

For me I personally don't see a problem with having advisors that aren't of the same sorority. Obviously I don't believe they should be allowed to any ritual events. I would do it. If another sorority approached me and asked me to be like their recruitment advisor because they couldn't get one, I would do it. Recruitment is recruitment. The sororities have to follow the same rules. I would understand not being allowed to do some things.

I am also one of those people, while I love ADPi, I understand that we need to support each other. As one of my recruitment shirts said "no matter what the letter, we're all greek together".

[KSUViolet06]

Our advisory board members must be alumnae, but our chapters have had men serve as faculty advisors (at schools where faculty advisors are required.)

[Titchou]

From the NIC web site:

Statement of Position Regarding Single-Gender Membership

Fraternities and sororities have the right under the United States Constitution and civil rights laws to exist as single-gender organizations and to maintain that status, especially under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Further, Title IX of the Educational Amendment of 1972 provides that sexual discrimination shall not apply to membership practices of a social fraternity or social sorority that is exempt from taxation under section 501 of the IRS Code of 1954, the active membership of which consists primarily of students in attendance at an institution of higher education.



Beyond this, the North-American Interfraternity Conference affirms that men's and women's fraternities offer excellent opportunities for men and women to share a fraternal experience, and it supports the National Panhellenic Conference in its Resolution on Single-Sex Fraternities. The NIC believes single-gender organizations develop the character of an individual by
• Providing students with campus communities that provide an intimate, family-like structure;
• Providing a focus on scholarship, personal development, trust, mutual assistance and friendships;
• Offering full membership to men and women in their respective single-gender organizations;
• Opening membership with no discriminatory clauses related to race, creed or national origin;
• Allowing the chapter and candidate an opportunity for mutual agreement on membership; and
• Allowing the members of these private organizations to identify their friends without restraint.

The Conference believes strongly in single-gender membership and the acceptance of entirely male or female members, and it asserts the rights of every member fraternity to confine membership to men and to exist

[Psi U MC Vito]

I read that more as affirming the right for member organizations to be single gender, not as saying that they can't be coed.

[Titchou]

The complete last paragraph - didn't all copy to begin with:

The Conference believes strongly in single-gender membership and the acceptance of entirely male or female members, and it asserts the rights of every member fraternity to confine membership to men and to exist as single-gender organizations.