Starting soror from scratch?? - Page 2

JenDG · #16 02-08-2005, 08:55 PM

I didn't realize that. It was the experience that I had at the school I went to. I figured it was the same for all campuses.

kddani · #17 02-08-2005, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JenDG
I didn't realize that. It was the experience that I had at the school I went to. I figured it was the same for all campuses.

every campus has it's idiosyncracies, and every person's experience is different. While what you said may be true on your campus and some other campuses, it's not true on all campuses. It's great to share your own experiences, but you really shouldn't make such an absolute statement

Next time maybe preface it by saying "this was my experiences on my campus...."

It's all good. Just didn't want the post to be taken as gospel.

Welcome to GC, JenDG

JenDG · #18 02-08-2005, 09:50 PM

I will be more careful next time, thanks (an obvious newbie mistake).

HollisterDXiChi · #19 02-10-2005, 04:44 AM

I PMed you! G'luck!

epchick · #20 02-10-2005, 01:58 PM

I finished reading that rush at UCSC that everyone told me to read, but that is NOT what I want to do at my campus. I really am not interested in going through the NPC and getting a sorority started here, I was just wondering if it would be more beneficial to start a new sorority (a local one...of course), or to bring in one sorority (that has everything we want) on campus.

Our campus already has a lot of NPC sororities, but I was just not interested in joining one.

I thank all of you for your input and ideas...it really means a lot to me. Take care all.

kddani · #21 02-10-2005, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by epchick
Our campus already has a lot of NPC sororities, but I was just not interested in joining one.

Why not? What is it about them that is making you rule them all out? What do you want to be different? What do you want to do? Are you judging all NPC sororities by those on your campus? Keep in mind that they're all not alike, and that chapters vary so much. NPC groups can offer a lot of assistance and make the whole process much much easier and much more likely to be successful than starting from scratch. I don't know if you realize that, and I have no idea what your campus is like or your views or anything, so i'm just putting that out there.

What need is missing on your campus that your group can fill?

Those are probably the most important questions that you need to figure out answers to before you can do anything.

While you may not want to bring a new NPC group to campus, a lot of the issues in the Rush at UCSC would still apply, no matter what kind of group you start. That thread shows so many of the perils and heartache and HARD WORK it takes to start any sort of new group.

epchick · #22 02-10-2005, 02:35 PM

I'm not saying that I would be total adament about not joining an NPC sorority, but i'm not interesting joining the ones that are established at my campus. I am not judging all NPC sororites based on the ones here at my school, because that would be just be insane. I know all NPC sororities are different.

I went through fall 2004 rush, so i got to know about the NPC sororities (as well as some other national ones that I don't think are NPC), and the only one that stood out was the one (not gonna reveal the name) that i ended up deciding to pledge. Unfortunately, things didn't work out with that sorority, things were said (things that were said by sisters to the pledges) that I didn't appreciate, that were pretty much demeaning, and I didn't appreciate it, so I left. I have friends in the other NPC sororites that participated in rush, but i want something that is lacking at my school.

The only other 2 sororities that I didnt not look into were two historically african-american sororites, which didn't interest me since I'm not african-american (i'm mexican-american).

What I want is a sorority where people don't feel like they are different. The sororites I saw at rush were either mostly hispanic, mostly african-american, or mostly white. There was not a sorority that had a mixture. Now, I'm not saying that if I do start a sorority that mine will be a mixture, because that is absolutely not my main focus. I just want something where girls can come and feel welcome, feel like they are part of the crowd, and not just someone who was there for the diversity.

I want a sorority that will reach out to community. I want to start a sorority that will go out and help young girls reach their full potential, and help them realize that they could be whatever they want to be.

Again, I'm not totally adament about not starting a NPC sorority here, that is why I came, to get opinions and suggestions from people who have a higher understanding of greek life and of their sororites than I do. I also know that starting a sorority from scratch is very time consuming, but we also do have the help of a local fraternity here. My friend (the one who wants to help found a sorority here) is friends with the founders of the local fraternity here, and they said if we wish to start a local sorority here, they would be more than willing to help us out.

Thanks for your concern, I really appreciate it. I sincerely hope I answered all your questions.

kddani · #23 02-10-2005, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by epchick
I'm not saying that I would be total adament about not joining an NPC sorority, but i'm not interesting joining the ones that are established at my campus. I am not judging all NPC sororites based on the ones here at my school, because that would be just be insane. I know all NPC sororities are different.

I went through fall 2004 rush, so i got to know about the NPC sororities (as well as some other national ones that I don't think are NPC), and the only one that stood out was the one (not gonna reveal the name) that i ended up deciding to pledge. Unfortunately, things didn't work out with that sorority, things were said (things that were said by sisters to the pledges) that I didn't appreciate, that were pretty much demeaning, and I didn't appreciate it, so I left. I have friends in the other NPC sororites that participated in rush, but i want something that is lacking at my school.

The only other 2 sororities that I didnt not look into were two historically african-american sororites, which didn't interest me since I'm not african-american (i'm mexican-american).

What I want is a sorority where people don't feel like they are different. The sororites I saw at rush were either mostly hispanic, mostly african-american, or mostly white. There was not a sorority that had a mixture. Now, I'm not saying that if I do start a sorority that mine will be a mixture, because that is absolutely not my main focus. I just want something where girls can come and feel welcome, feel like they are part of the crowd, and not just someone who was there for the diversity.

I want a sorority that will reach out to community. I want to start a sorority that will go out and help young girls reach their full potential, and help them realize that they could be whatever they want to be.

Again, I'm not totally adament about not starting a NPC sorority here, that is why I came, to get opinions and suggestions from people who have a higher understanding of greek life and of their sororites than I do. I also know that starting a sorority from scratch is very time consuming, but we also do have the help of a local fraternity here. My friend (the one who wants to help found a sorority here) is friends with the founders of the local fraternity here, and they said if we wish to start a local sorority here, they would be more than willing to help us out.

Thanks for your concern, I really appreciate it. I sincerely hope I answered all your questions.

No problem. You didn't have to answer them so much to me, but I think that they're really important that you answer and develop yourself, because those are the principles upon which your group, if you choose to start one, should be based on.

Good luck

WSUcheer99 · #24 02-10-2005, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by epchick
[B]The Pledging Process I'm talking about didn't really include any hazing. It was supposed to be a minimum 8 weeks of pure pledging, but the way that the sisters treated us was bad. Even now that I dropped out, they can't look at you without giving you a dirty look.

That was just the main concern about bringing an already established sorority to our campus. Because if we start a new sorority, we can include information on the pledging process in our constitution, but we just don't know where to start (and I have started reading that UCSC thread).

I believe most national organizations have anti-hazing policies, as well as some schools have their own hazing policies. If one is not listed in your national charter, i believe your individual chapter can choose to make an anti-hazing policy. Our national g.p.a. minimum is 2.5 but our chapter made it 2.6 for new members a few years back.

rocketgirl · #25 02-10-2005, 03:15 PM

I just wanted to mention that there are already existing multicultural sororities that promote all cultures and women feeling welcome. There are a LOT of multicultural sororities that open their doors to women of all backgrounds and promote community service. I myself am a member of a multicultural sorority so if you have questions about them in general or specifically about mine, just ask! There are a lot of other people on here who are in multicultural sororities as well...

Little E · #26 02-10-2005, 04:20 PM

I think your ambitions are admirable. Look for an organization that will work with your needs. There is diversity within NPC, NPHC, Latino orgs, and multi-cultural orgs. The biggest factor to keep the mindset you are looking for is the women you recruit, not the letters (in my opinion). A group of women who as people strive to make everyone feel welcome can wear the letters ABC just as well as XYZ. The support of a National and what they can offer you can help that cause. I'm not an expert, but those are my thoughts.

Good Luck

epchick · #27 02-14-2005, 03:33 PM

I went to the Student development center today to talk to the head of Greek Life, and we talked a lot about different routes to take to create a sorority.

I did as you said kddani, and I did a great deal of researching and I actually saw a sorority....a NPC sorority, that I think matched everything my group of girls wants. I even found out that there is a chapter of this sorority that WAS at my school, but we (the head of greek life and I) think it must have been deactivated, or inactive soon after it became a chapter (in the 60s). I think i'm going to be contacting that sorority (AEPhi) and see if we would have to go through NPC to reactivate that chapter.

My greek life offcier also said, that it might just be easier to start a local sorority, because our campus isn't an ideal place to bring another NPC sorority. We already have two...AXiD and ZTA and they are way under quota (50 girls). The head of the greek life also told me that there is already a local sorority that has been waiting 2 years to see if the NPC will expand a national sorority here. But i'm not giving up.

If AEPhi won't come back to our campus, then i'll keep loooking or just start a local, then go national with that local, only because I do like everything that being "national" comes with.

Anyone have any ideas where I can go from here? Do y'all think that AEPhi would be allowed to reactivate our chapter without going through NPC??

33girl · #28 02-14-2005, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by epchick
Do y'all think that AEPhi would be allowed to reactivate our chapter without going through NPC??

No, they can't do that.

Start an interest group and see where that goes.

Oh, and just to clarify, are you saying you have 2 sororities or those are the 2 that are under total?

epchick · #29 02-14-2005, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 33girl
Oh, and just to clarify, are you saying you have 2 sororities or those are the 2 that are under total?

Here at my campus, there are 2 NPC sororities,
2 national sororites (that aren't affiliated with NPC)
1 NPHC sorority,
and a few local sororities.

I'm not sure how many local sororities we have. I know there is 1 local, that just wants to remain local, and there is 1 that is waiting for NPC to expand to our campus.

Aduladi · #30 02-22-2005, 11:12 PM

Hi, This is my first time weighing in here. I spent a few moments reading the previous posts and I will say this. I am a founder of a multicultural sorority and we were founded two years ago. I know that for us, how our women were inducted into the organization was really important to us and being able to pretty consistently have new initiates go through our process and have a similar and positive pledge process was really important. One thing we have is what we call a discipline book. That way, members don't get"bored and creative" when a pledge does something they are not supposed to do. These are responses that are accepted and approved by the 'national' board. Secondly, if a soror treats an aspirant in a way that is not allowed in the pledge do's and dont's or the constitution, they can be charged and put on trial by nationals. This would lead to someone potentially being suspended or stripped of their letters. We really take this seriously and sorors tend to respect the rules.

I hope this is helful to you and if you need any other advice, you can let me know and I wll try to help. Been where you are and I know how challenging this process is.
Good luck in your process!!

Aduladi
Omicron Lambda Pi Multicultural Sorority, Incorporated
www.omicronlambdapi.org