Greek Relatives

[dakareng]

This might seem petty but our Pi Phi membership is for life. You are a Pi Phi, and unless you choose to resign you will always BE a Pi Phi.... it bugs me to no end to have college graduates say "I was a Pi Phi" or "I was a Kappa". Angelove, your aunt and cousins ARE Kappas, your other aunt and cousins ARE Thetas... alumnae such as myself and Carnation express our lifetime commitment, and encourage others to do the same but it starts with not saying "I was a member of XYZ" but saying "I am a XYZ" and being proud of it.

OK-- I'll step off my soapbox now

[erniegurl00]

Karen, I know what you're saying, but I doubt that any of us meant to say that our relatives aren't members for life (or ourselves for that matter). I know in my post I used past tense. I believe we just use it without thinking. I know I probably do, but in NO way do I ever want to suggest that I'm not a Pi Phi for life. I'm darn proud to be a Pi Phi.

Along those lines: I know our local newspaper automatically changes the grammar. A friend of mine was getting married and put that she is a member of so and so sorority, and the newspaper changed it to "was a member" on their own.

[piphiarrow234]

Originally posted by Jill1228

A few years ago at a family reunion in GA, I saw almost all of the Divine 9 being represented!

umm this might be a stupid question... but What is Divine 9???



and im the Only Greek in my Family.. my parents were really confused when i told them i was joing a sorority, they didnt go to college (millitary) and my mom thought the was THe sorority she didnt realize the was more than 1!!! but.. hopfully ill be the first of many greeks in my fam

[jharb]

Originally posted by piphiarrow234
umm this might be a stupid question... but What is Divine 9???

NPHC...there's 9 Fraternities & Sororities in that council. It's the historically African-American organizations. These organizations are:

Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha
Delta Sigma Theta
Kappa Alpha Psi
Zeta Phi Beta
Phi Beta Sigma
Sigma Gamma Rho (which was founded at Butler! )
Iota Phi Theta

hope that helps! (I'm a Panhel nerd...our Panhellenic council shares an office with AKA and SGRho @ Butler)

[piphiarrow234]

thanks! i learn somthing new every day

[collme83]

I am the first to go Greek in my Family WHOO! but my sister is an Honorary Pi Phi at the University of Idaho. All of her friends were pi phis, it just wasn't her thing to join, so they claimed her as an Honorary Pi Phi. My boyfriend's family has a lot of greek, i consider them family as well. He's a Phi Delta Theta, his Uncle is a Phi Delt as well, his dad a Sigma Chi and his Mom a Theta. His brother is also in a fraternity in Seattle, but i can't for the life of me remember. Anyway!

pi phi love,
...colleen*


P.S. i also heard that in the South, if you haven't been a legacy for decades, there's really no way you could get into pi phi, or any other sorority for that matter. True?

[piphiarrow234]

From what i heard, not true, but it def does help...... but greek life is Huge in the south esp. pi phi from what i heard and its very competitive....

[Speechpath]

Not true, we did have tons of legacies go through rush (sometimes over 100) but usually ened up with about 10 per pledge class. It of course helps to be a legacy but you can get a Pi Phi bid or bid at any other group in the south without being one.

[angelove]

re: using past tense - I know, I know - it bugs me too and I know better than to type it like that but I was in a hurry and not thinking clearly. Upon further reflection, I can see that I was the only one on this thread who did it - eek! And it's not petty at all - to the contrary, I think it promotes alum involvement. Thanks for jumping on the soapbox and keeping me clean, Karen!

[piphimaggie]

Well, I was thoroughly convinced that I was the first in my family to go greek....until my dad mentioned my grandfather had told him stories about having letters painted on his chest in alcohol and lit on fire during initiation....

Sadly, my grandfather died before I was born, and my dad couldnt remember the fraternity name. He attended George Washington University in DC...sooooo I emailed ALL THE FRATERNITIES at GW asking if they had a member with my grandfathers name...and sure enough...the president of Sigma Phi Epsilon emailed me back saying he had been initiated in February of 1924

I ordered a SigEp pin and wore it for my last year as an active PiPhi beneath my arrow to show my pride in my family's greek history

....letters painted on the chest in alcohol and set aflame...wonder if the Sig Eps still do that!

[hokieangel]

I'm the first in my family to go greek that I know of. IT was a huge shock to them because they thought if anyone was going to be a "sorority girl" it would of been my older sister. She went to UVA and well "fit" the "typical" sorority girl( blonde hair, blue eyes, gorgeous). Imagine their surprise when their sophomore VT daughter told them she was rushing. MY lil sister is going to Tech this coming year and I hope to make her a legacy.

[PiPhiGirl2005]

I am the first member of my family to attend college, and thus the first to go greek! Actually, two of my cousins currently attend GVSU, but they are not greek. My great-aunt attended Hope College, but I highly doubt that she was in a sorority there, and they are locals, anyway, so it wouldn't have helped me at Hillsdale!

However, I do have a little sister who is 15 and will hopefully go through recruitment at her college of choice in a few years. If need be, I'll write her an excellent Pi Phi rec! ;o)

[angelic1]

..pretty interesting story.. Today I went to a family get together.. it was at our family house and pool... we have an old old house in the family that we keep up for tours and such.. well its probably been about six years since I have been in the house (that was like high school)..

well we were walking through today and I looked over and saw a wooden plaque type thing with a darker wooden heart on it. On the heart was a skull and cross bones then right over top the letter sigma phi epsilon. I asked one of my older family members who is a sig ep? My great (great ?) grandfather was a founding father at U of R.

I never knew that anyone in my family was greek except for one cousin.. I found this pretty neat..

[arrowgirl]

I am the only Greek in my family, my sister almost went Chi O when she was in school but decided not to.

Also, on a side note, PiPhiGirl2005: I am from Zeeland originally! I live on the other side of the state (2 years now). I would consider finishing school at GVSU if it weren't for the whole no chapter of Pi Phi thing. It's so cheap! I am just surprised that someone from that same area is a Pi Phi! Woot!

[clothesgirl]

I thought I was the only member of my family who belonged to a fraternity until my dad started talking to me about a secret 'club' he belonged to in Chile before he moved to Canada--turns out my daddy was a freemason My lil sister joined pi phi last year and upped out active sister legacy count to 3. I'm already priming my brother to go greek, even though he won't be in univeristy for another 2 years...what can I say? I'm gung-ho.