Becoming registered

[OmegaPDPrez]

well, during my meeting I was told that i could not register as a group because of our history as a sisterhood. He told me that there is no way i can register since sisterhood is in our constitution.
and that if i really want to register that i have to go national, which is never happening. SOOOO i think i might just go underground. I believe that once we have our first successful semester that maybe we might be able to register at least as a student organization. But I refuse to back down.
I will be arranging an interest meeting and letting all of the members know the status of this group as it stands in university eyes. I dont think of this as a step back but even more reason as to why i should still pursue this goal.
I even talked with a friend who still thinks that this is the way to go. I even feel that we might even more success than the groups here just because of the determination that we have.

[AChiOhSnap]

Originally Posted by OmegaPDPrez

well, during my meeting I was told that i could not register as a group because of our history as a sisterhood. He told me that there is no way i can register since sisterhood is in our constitution.
and that if i really want to register that i have to go national, which is never happening. SOOOO i think i might just go underground. I believe that once we have our first successful semester that maybe we might be able to register at least as a student organization. But I refuse to back down.
I will be arranging an interest meeting and letting all of the members know the status of this group as it stands in university eyes. I dont think of this as a step back but even more reason as to why i should still pursue this goal.
I even talked with a friend who still thinks that this is the way to go. I even feel that we might even more success than the groups here just because of the determination that we have.

Oh boy.

What's going to be the ramifications with insurance/liability if you're an underground local and not recognized by the university?

[Yami_Cassie]

Why not take the word sisterhood out but still refer to yourselves as one elsewhere?

[BlueEyedButrfly]

I don't see why you should have to take the word sisterhood out of the constitution and I REALLY don't see why you are not able to register as a student organization because of that one word. Maybe I am missing something? Are there other GLO's on your campus?

[OmegaPDPrez]

WELL I am NOT taking sister hood out of our constitution. My campus needs an organization like this and i really believe that the main reason why locals are not allowed here is because of the risk factor that local orgs. are usually associated with.
My school has three other NPC sororities, we also have Gamma Sigma Sigma and one well established local but that has been here for about one hundred years ....AND with these groups we still have a large void of women who go sister-less on campus, who'd like to have sisters, but the lack of action( amongst other things,) has made joining one of these groups nearly impossible.
The problem is that these groups do not apeal to all women on campus it seems that the only benefit of joining one is just being able to say i'm in ABC sorority.. and thats it!
And thats okay with my school.
But its not okay with me,
my friends,
or my interest group.
Hopefully we will be able to at least govern ourselves in such a way that the university will be able to see what its missing out on.

[OmegaPDPrez]

Originally Posted by AChiOhSnap

Oh boy.

What's going to be the ramifications with insurance/liability if you're an underground local and not recognized by the university?

For now, we do not have any insurance.... I associate that with national groups anyway... AS a local group we're really really tiny and can't afford to pay such a thing, besides i'm not even sure what its exactly for

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by OmegaPDPrez

For now, we do not have any insurance.... I associate that with national groups anyway... AS a local group we're really really tiny and can't afford to pay such a thing, besides i'm not even sure what its exactly for

Didn't you ask that in another thread? I gave you a fairly detailed answer. Without insurance, you and everyone in your chapter can get sued for everything you have (and your parents too) if someone gets hurt or killed at or after one of your events. Even if it's not an "event" but everyone there is one of your sisters... the chapter can be held liable. Insurance is protection.

[OmegaPDPrez]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Didn't you ask that in another thread? I gave you a fairly detailed answer. Without insurance, you and everyone in your chapter can get sued for everything you have (and your parents too) if someone gets hurt or killed at or after one of your events. Even if it's not an "event" but everyone there is one of your sisters... the chapter can be held liable. Insurance is protection.

Oh hey, sorry, I mustve never read your response... I remember posting somewhere.....LOL
But there are plenty of groups who do not have insurace...And still get by. I know that insurance is costly and i wouldnt even know where to get any from... And i think my org is pretty risky of itself since, we dont have a school to put our name next to and we pretty much govern ourselves...
I dont really know what the solution would be unless my group took a vote on it and decided that insurance is the way to go!
But hey, thanks for the response-- both of them!!!

[BlueEyedButrfly]

We don't have insurance either and we don't plan on getting it unless we are miraculously allowed to affiliate with a national organization.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by BlueEyedButrfly

We don't have insurance either and we don't plan on getting it unless we are miraculously allowed to affiliate with a national organization.

I can't remember details, but are you having trouble affiliating? I know you asked a few questions but I didn't know if that was a goal of yours or not.

[BlueEyedButrfly]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I can't remember details, but are you having trouble affiliating? I know you asked a few questions but I didn't know if that was a goal of yours or not.

not to hijack this thread, but yes we are. our administration will not give us permission to go forward with the npc expansion process because they "lack resources." so, our dean of students told me that our request was mute until they decide they have "resources."

it's rather annoying. however, we're not going to let it stop us!!!! we're going to approach the dean again next semester and hopefully by then they will have a different answer for us!

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by BlueEyedButrfly

not to hijack this thread, but yes we are. our administration will not give us permission to go forward with the npc expansion process because they "lack resources." so, our dean of students told me that our request was mute until they decide they have "resources."

it's rather annoying. however, we're not going to let it stop us!!!! we're going to approach the dean again next semester and hopefully by then they will have a different answer for us!

Ah ok, Good luck

[SigmaPezY60]

Originally Posted by OmegaPDPrez

And i think my org is pretty risky of itself since, we dont have a school to put our name next to and we pretty much govern ourselves...

The fact that your are local is what makes your org risky....not because you don't have a school to put your name next to. Having said that....you don't have a school to put your name next to because you are local and it is a risk for the university. They do it to protect their students.

I'm in a local that has been recognized at NJIT since 1993. They aren't accepting any new organizations and no Locals for the reason of risk. My sorority still exists on campus because of our continued dedication to the campus and our continued good standing with our IFSC. That's not to say that the school isn't trying to get rid of locals. It's in our constitution that we don't go local without our own letters.

I don't recommend going underground. By doing that you may never get recognized by your university. If something were to happen to an new member while you're underground, it would be a serious problem for your organization and it's members. Don't fight the system. You want to do everything you can to appease them.

[AChiOhSnap]

Originally Posted by SigmaPezY60

I don't recommend going underground. By doing that you may never get recognized by your university. If something were to happen to an new member while you're underground, it would be a serious problem for your organization and it's members. Don't fight the system. You want to do everything you can to appease them.

I definitely agree.

OmegaPDprez, I read your group's website and specifically the information for parents section. I have to say, you might have a really difficult time appeasing parents (and some PNMs) if you're an underground sorority. I know you have a public no-hazing policy, but honestly, nothing screams bad news like an underground greek org. I know it seems unfair, since that's obviously not what you're about, but there's been too many incidents with underground orgs in the past.

Being an uninsured underground local sorority is like a trifecta of risk. All it takes is one thing to go wrong and you've got a whole mess of problems on your hands. For instance, a disgruntled former member could bring up a plethora of allegations against you (president) and the other members -- even if they're not true -- and you'll have a hell of a time getting your name cleared because you're underground (i.e. NO PROTECTION from that sort of thing). You and/or other members could get expelled, or worse, find yourself slapped with a bunch of legal problems.

I think you should try to find some way to work with the system, for the protection of yourself and your friends in your org.

[OmegaPDPrez]

Thanks for the advice...
The group will be coming together next fall, before we do campus wide recruitment to discuss plans about affiliation with a national group that may provide us with assistance to getting insurance and things of that nature. And if everything works out well we will be able to register the group as a sorority.
But until then the group will be as it stands, as a local, without insurance and without recognition from the university. Fortunately for us, education processes have been successful (though we've only had two).
I'd like to get insurance for the group, and hopefull the group will be able to come to an agreement to work something out financially among us...