Greek Decline

[RedefinedDiva]

Originally posted by dotts
I am not a member of a sorority on my campus but I was interested at one point. Since I was a little girl I wanted to join a specific sorority but sadly, I found that the pledging process was not in line with my morals and ideas. Unfortunatly the BLack sororities on and around my campus have been labeled with terms that in no way implies what these organizations were founded as. Although we have considered forming a new sorority we still have one last hope, there are no AKA's on my campus so maybe in the future...

I don'tt understand this last sentence. Are you implying that AKA is your "last hope"?

[lovehaiku84]

Originally posted by dotts
I have to agree with dardenr. I am not a member of a sorority on my campus but I was interested at one point. I am very involved on my campus, I hold office in the Student Government Association, and the local NAACP among others, I hold a 3.7 GPA, I am double majoring and minoring, I was voted Homecomg Queen, I've held two internships with two Fortune 500 companies, and I have plans to own my own business one day.
Since I was a little girl I wanted to join a specific sorority but sadly, I found that the pledging process was not in line with my morals and ideas. I am a leader on my campus and a mentor to high school kids, and I never want anyone to question my good character. Unfortunatly the BLack sororities on and around my campus have been labeled with terms that in no way implies what these organizations were founded as. So I have to say dardenr, in my community you have hit the nail over the head. My closest friends are beautful, intelligent, leaders on my campus. They are presidents and founders of many black groups and we would love to share our gifts with a black sorority if it did not mean being abused physically or mentally. Frankly, we know we can be successful without it. Although we have considered forming a new sorority we still have one last hope, there are no AKA's on my campus so maybe in the future...

Hello,
I'm not a member of an organization either. I have a couple of questions for you. Why start another organization? If you are so dissatisfied with the four main black sororities, there are really an abundance of new black sororities created by people just like you. Maybe you could find one of them and help it to grow. It's kind of pointless to have a bunch of random new black sororities with only the 5 women who started them as members. It would be interesting to actually see them grow and develop into relatively strong and influencial organizations. Also, like RedefinedDiva I wonder if you're saying that Alpha Kappa Alpha is your "last hope." If that is in fact what you are saying, I'd strongly advise you to take a step back from pursuing membership in any organization to figure out what it is that you're really seeking. Here's why --> For starters, members of any BGLO take their organization very seriously so it's insulting to have someone say that their organization is not your first choice but that you are willing to just join anyways. Secondly, what happened to your interest in this one specific sorority? I understand that the "process" on your particular campus has turned you off but for a life long interest to just disappear... I don't know. I know that you are hurt and upset, but I really think that you should remember what it was about the first organization that so made you want to belong. I say all of this because I went through the same thing. It was really hard and I had a lot of tough choices to make. So I did take a break of like 5 or 6 months to just get my mind together and determine what choice would be best for me. These organizations have been around for so long and are not going anywhere so you don't have to feel pressed to make it a part of your undergraduate experience especially if there are some issues with the organization of your interest and their "process". If you were to graduate having joined an organization that wasn't your first choice, how would you feel if you learned that on the graduate level the process was nothing like at your undergraduate institution and that members would have welcomed someone with your level of achievement and dedication?

Well, I'm going to hush up now. At any rate, I hope everything works out for you and that you make the best choices for you.

[tp2005]

Originally posted by brownsugar952
This statement really makes me think that basically you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. People will criticize you if you haze and then they would criticize you if you don't and they will can you paper. If you only do the required amount of community service, people will say you should do more. If you do tons of community service, people will say they don't want to join because greeks will take away their time from studying. People will always find a reason to be turned off with greek life no matter what you do. I just think greeks in general should just make sure they live up to the principles of their organization and not to listen to what others will say. If you all think you are doing your best and your national officers are pleased with you, that is all that matters.

That's true.

In my case, the main thing that turns me off from pledging is the whole discretion thing. I can't get information I need like how much it costs b/c ur not supposed to let them know early on that u wanna pledge cause they'll be on ur case. I can understand wanting to know what the potential future of ur organization is about, but don't give them a hard time just b/c they express interest in wanting to be on a line in ur organization. Lucky for me it's not as bad for fraternities.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally posted by tp2005
In my case, the main thing that turns me off from pledging is the whole discretion thing. I can't get information I need like how much it costs b/c ur not supposed to let them know early on that u wanna pledge cause they'll be on ur case...

Although fees are lower for undergraduates than graduate members if you were to be invited into a membership, either way, you will have to have a significant sum of money in the low 4-digit range for you to be considered as a member...

Moreover, I wish it was just about how one looks in public, because that would be the easy part--especially for undergraduate members... It is also about grades and having full time student status with 100-level and above courses. An interest is unable to be considered without walking in the door with those "papers"... That is what all organizations will tell and all the other items that you "think" you see without significant proof are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Besides suggestion of wanting to participate in activities unbecoming of a member in any organization before one has actually undergone an official membership intake process is illegal and questions one's intentions for really wanting to become a member in the first place... Why? To do what others have done to that person? What for?

All I got to say is I refuse to have my "pearls snatched" for silly behavior. There are too many other things I could be doing with my time. And what you think you see on your campus may be an incomplete story...

[dotts]

Originally posted by RedefinedDiva
I don'tt understand this last sentence. Are you implying that AKA is your "last hope"?

I think I was misunderstood. I should have made it clear that Alpha Kappa Alpha was and still is my first choice since I was a little girl. But because they are not active at my university I started to research other sororities. That is when I became disatisfied with Greek life at my school. AKA is my last choice in that I still have hope that a sorority on my campus can make a real positive difference in the black women communtiy and change how I view black sororities.
But on another note, I have not heard about these other sorority organizations other then the four. Who are they?

[lovehaiku84]

Well, a lot of them are local sororities founded by black college women (some think as a result of being denied membership into one of the main four). There are also some for women without college educations. I recall there being a thread about this a while back either here or in the Delta Sigma Theta forum. I believe the most recent one popped up in Chicago. It's called Theta Nu Phi or Pi (I'm not so sure) and was founded like in the last couple of years. If you run an internet search on just "black sorority" you will come across some of them, as not all of them have web pages. Also there are professional black sororities like for teachers or nurses, etc. The reason you may not have heard of them is probably because their membership is smaller and because a lot of them remain local and don't really become national organizations.

[RedefinedDiva]

Yes, indeed....

This thread is mighty interesting, to say the least....

[AKA2D '91]

Greek Decline:

1. If you think there is a greek decline, the D9 should not be conserned with you submitting, right?

2. Maybe it's a good thing you think there is a Greek Decline. This way, we won't have to contend with much of those who "slipped through the cracks of our various organizations."


THE END!

P.S. ALWAYS remember discretion. A few of you have posted some info (TMI) and I can make ONE phone call to get the greek wheels a turnin.