Other BGLO's

[DoggyStyle82]

Originally posted by dardenr
To my knowledge, when the Alpha Phi Omega first came to Historically Black Colleges, we were nicknamed A Phi Ques by the campuses, not ourselves. Think about it. . .if generations of black students had been conditioned to believe that the letter Omega was "Q" by 1947 (when APO first came to HBCU's) why should my brothers think any differently? Add to that the fact that Omegas are members of our Fraternity anyway, it makes a lot of sense.

Now today, in 2002, there are a lot of black people who had Alpha Phi Omega on their yards when they were in college. When I first crossed and wore my letters to a high school function, my teachers all said "Congrats! You're an A Phi Que!" Even though my chapter says APO, I had to respect the fact that A Phi Que is how most people would know my fraternity. I can't even order para from certain stores unless I say "A Phi Que."

My Fraternity has traditions. . .some are ritualistic in origin, others we picked up along the way. Our leaders encourage each chapter to have their own traditions, and on the yards where it makes sense, we adopt those traditions.

That is the best answer that I have heard and I can respect that. If the Omegas on your campus are cool with that, I have no problem. Many traditions start without people knowing why and its understandable. My point is that the english letter "Q" is not equivalent to the Greek letter Omega (which is actually a "W"). It has a meaning specific to Men of Omega and has no significance outside of those privy to it. That is why it is inappropriate for others to use it.

Brother, I would never tell you what to say or how to refer to you org. Good dialog. Intelligent debate never hurt anyone.

Gamma Sigs: Please stop saying "I joined for the service, not social". If so, you open yourself for criticism every time you take on a trait of a "social" org and then complain about the treatment that you receive.

[SeriousSigma22]

Sorhors and Fellow Greeks,

As members of the divine 9 we don't need to worry about the small stuff! They are a service organization and many of their members are our sorhors and frat brothers. Members of gamma sigma sigma and alpha phi omega know that they were created to provide community service. If they have line names, hand signs and calls that sound like the divine 9 what are we going to do sue them for having information that seems similar to ours. I will restate my original comment as follows: I joined Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority because of the community service, my sororities principals, true sisterhood, and the fact that during the greatest time of oppression for African Americans my sorority established new boundaries on an historically caucasian university when the klan and other white supremacist groups resurged in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio in the years 1920 - 1922.


Serioussigma22

[notorious4it]

I said that I belong to a SERVICE sorority and there are many social apects of your organization that I don't partici[ate in. The difference between me and you is that at the end of the semester I have to turn in a certain amount of hours and that's what keeps me alive. I joined Gamma Sig to do service with agroup of people that iknew were going to do service also. I konw that my chatper will have to do SERVICE because that's what we are required to do. I give of myself every week in the name of service and that's why I became a Gamma Sig. I don't appreciate you telling me why I joined my sorority because that's something you can not reallu speak on. There is nothing wroing with a service greek participating in social activities I'm saying that I know what comes first every time. On my yard an NPHC Greek said to me that they wouldn't be doing any service in the fall semster because they had too manu step shows to participate in. ISH like that is the reason I am a Gamma Sig..because we dont' have that option. I am about thru with this issue I just ask that you don't try to tell me my intention as a Gamma Sig because you don't know what is in my heart.
Notorious #4

Gamma Sigma Sigma and Alpha Phi Omega-Greek......But Unique

[msbrowneyz]

Originally posted by notorious4it
On my yard an NPHC Greek said to me that they wouldn't be doing any service in the fall semster because they had too manu step shows to participate in. ISH like that is the reason I am a Gamma Sig..because we dont' have that option.

Notorious,
It is quite unfortunate that general statements be made and they apply across the board to Pan Hell. General statements were made about Gamma Sigma Sigma and you did not take too kindly to them. If someone did say something like that [that they would not be doing community service], they are definitley not acting in accordance with the principals that all of us in the Divine 9 adhere to. It is my hope that individuals don't believe all we do is step because that does not begin to scratch the surface. But unless you are a member of one of the Divine 9 organizations, all else is truly speculation by that of outsiders. I hope that you joined your organization on a strong foundation and not on the fact that you were interested in an NPHC sorority [first] and got turned off by something stated. If it's in your heart, nothing could change it.


Greater Service, Greater Progress.

[notorious4it]

To clear up one thing. Women do not join Gamma Sig because they are turned off or down by NPHC Sororities. I joined Gamma Sig for the pure motive of doing service in its name. What's in my heart reamins in my heart and being a Gamma Sig doesn't change that at all. FOr the time being though I choose to be only a Gamma Sig. I wasn't making any generalizations about NPHC Greeks I was just stating an example of some thing that distinguishes Service Greek from Social Greek. I have nothing but respect for the young women of other sororities and all I ask for is that respect in return. I do appreciate the attitudes of the ladies of Sigma Gamma Rho in choosing not to criticize what is not the same because I hoestly haven't received this type of response from the other women.

[SeriousSigma22]

Notorious4it,

I understand exactly what you are saying about your organization. You are saying that your organization is purely based upon doing service for the greater community. You don't understand why some members of the divine 9 are up in arms about similar hand signs, calls, colors, that fact that your organization steps, etc. Everyone is very zealous about his/her organization, however, we all must be mindful and respectful because we all have a lot to offer to the greater society/community. However, to state that most of the divine 9 is only about stepping thats not a true or clear statement about the individual organizations. I can only really speak for Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. but we take our motto: "Greater Service, Greater Progress" very seriously and we really do a lot of service on the undergraduate and graduate levels. Yes, it does seem that some of the undergraduates really love to step but if you just look a little closer you will probably see that they are working and uplifting their communities with a smile. Stay blessed!



Serioussigma22

[gssdiva]

Hello everyone, I am also a member of Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority. Since we are not a nphc sorority, our members are free to join nphc organizations. I know of some of our members who are Zetas, Deltas, etc. I was just wondering how you ladies felt about members of organizations such as mine joining nphc sororities and fraternities?

[kizzie22]

Originally posted by gssdiva
Hello everyone, I am also a member of Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority. Since we are not a nphc sorority, our members are free to join nphc organizations. I know of some of our members who are Zetas, Deltas, etc. I was just wondering how you ladies felt about members of organizations such as mine joining nphc sororities and fraternities?

Well first of all welcome to greekchat gssdiva. To answer your question I don't have a problem with people in national honor and service orgs joining my org. We have soRHOrs that are members of these orgs. They are hard working soRHOrs in both orgs. I say to anyone who has an interest in one of the NPHCs orgs just go with what's in your heart.

[SeriousSigma22]

To gssdiva,

I totally agree with my Sorhor Kizzie22 and believe that a member of a service organization and national honor society is good reason to have that person in ones organization. Folks that are already members of hard working organizations have experience and a lot to offer that particular BGLO. And welcome to Sigma Gamma Rho's message board!

Serioussigma22

[superpledge]

Greetings Ladies
I am a member of GSS and i pledged at Tuskegee where we have been on campus since 1968 and we have never had problems with any of the NPHC Orgs.
It is with recent growth of GSS that we have started to run into these problems.
Please believe me that we are not trying to be an nphc org. there are certian traditions that go along with being a chapter on a HBCU, calls, stepping, etc.
We also have memebers of GSS who are members of NPHC Sororities.
Our calls and handsigns came out of being on HBCU's.
And we did nto take ooo-oop and skee-wee and mash them together to get a call.. nor did we take the SGRhos handsign, and i am going to take a guess that it does not have the same meaning as our hand sign.
We are just a group of hard working women and a few men who are trying to have a lil unity in service and give back.

[rho4life]

bump......just stimulating the discussion.

[btb87]

Originally posted by rho4life
bump......just stimulating the discussion.

Well, this was definitely stimulated discussion! Quite interesting!

[TheEpitome1920]

I was at an Ohio State party when GSS first came to that campus. I'll never forget the look on the faces of SGRhos, Deltas and AKAs when members did the handsign and call. I think education was key in a situation like that.

[bro_strawter]

"Doggystyle: There's no such thing as A Phi Que."

How do you know? We know all too well that the translation letter for Omega is not Que. As my frat brother stated, people from HBCU's has referred to us as A Phi Ques since the very beginning. Being that my chapter was founded by the Rho Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi, I doubt very seriously if they had a problem with referring to the frat as A-Phi-Que.

Moving on, it always amazes me how some think that we are in the business of imitating NPHC greeks? Um, for what? We've (APO) have had handsigns well before NPHC orgs, and line numbers were being used at our Mu Alpha chapter since the early 50s, and yes, Brother Bill Clinton has a line number also! As far as the President over at Howard U, I am here to inform you that he he does refer to the fraternity as A-Phi-Que. Heck, he was instrumental in bringing the chapter back.

Folks need to cut out all this "y'all imititating us" bs. Let the truth be told, all Greek orgs imitate, or have great influences from Masonry, Eastern Star, and Phi Beta Kappa one way or the other. Lets not concern ourselves with the small things, and try to focus more on getting out there in the community. NPHC Greeks are no better than Service, Music, or Professional Greeks. I've even heard someone say that "you're not greek unless you're in the Pan." I was ashame for the individual as well as his chapter for making such a statement. Do weed need to go back and revisit Greek 101. SMH. Carry on.

[gamma_girl52]

I would just like to reiterate that Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority is not a BGLO.

With that being said, in the 6 years I've been in this sorority, I've seen it all in terms of how other greeks react. I've come to this conclusion: Either you're cool with us, or you ain't. Whatever the reason, it's your opinion. Gamma_girl52 isn't trying to change what you think. All I ask is for respect to be given to me, the same as I give every other greek. All I ask is that if you have a question about my organization, come straight to the source and ASK A MEMBER, the same thing I tell people when they want to find out about ANY Greek organization. There are enough generalizations about Greeks as it is and there are more than enough out there about Gamma Sig.