NPHC Secretiveness, Insularity, Etc.

[AKA_Monet]

To the OP: As a moderator for the AKA Ave Forum, I am dictated by our International HQ to NEVER DISCUSS MEMBERSHIP INTAKE with prospectives beyond "Hello and go to AKA1908.com"

I can NOT have my dues increase because random people tell prospectives crazy things. The GC AKA Ave. has over 2-3 posts per week regarding membership that are deleted. We even have a clear statement that we will NOT discuss membership. We will not discuss it and it will NEVER happen. We are holding our membership to ONE ACCORD for legitmacy as known by the Corporate Office to our member assumed to be lifelong members...


Wolfman: While I believe you all are quite eager to change the climate of your membership, have you all sustained the monetary blows to be of service to your communities?

The issue is the transition state between Undergraduate to Graduate Chapter does not translate. We lose members who wear the badge but fail do the work they commited themselves to do as "youth". We might have reactivation very late in one's life but the Sorority had dramatically changed from their initiation. We, as African Americans, cannot afford the loss...

What one sees on a college campus is NOT what is observed in the community by the Alumni. While we serve our respective communities, the undergraduate students do not have funds to maintain superior PR as the graduate chapters. It costs money to place ads in newspapers these days. Most universities student governments fail to include even IFC/NPC greeks, much less NPHC or MCGLO's. And universities NEVER give their rooms out to hold events as required by my International HQ. And we are a city-wide chapter.

There other issues, such as youth failing to understand the commitment. Yes, an re-introduction of an above ground pledge period that can misconstrued as hazing would be nice. But I know for a fact that Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. buried those thoughts in more ways than one...

[ChildoftheHorn]

Hmm..

I know of a few people(NPHC, NPC) thought having an "All-Greek" event where it would be a big cookout on the lake with people from every GLO on campus (IFC, NPC, NPHC, MGC). There would also be a tag football game with 1-2 people from each org.

It was kinda late in the year when we thought of it, but we hope to start it next year.

The big reason is that there is a huge division between the councils and there is no sense of unity within the Greek System.

I understand the D9 *hush*, but the point is also that many people are confused and mislead by lack of knowledge.
They hear about the hazing and assume that it is going on badly in every org on campus! no joke.....although I laughed when someone I knew said it.

Quite frankly, how would anyone know differently without taking out a portion of their day to do so (99% of people wouldn't)? There are none of the information meetings or discussion at all about the organizations (to the best of my knowledge).

Why not have an open hall during New Student Week where evey org has a few people and a sign/banner/board where they talk about their philanthropy/values/history for a couple of hours?

Both of these events would be good for the new students, current actives, and the system itself (everyone could use good exposure).

Sometimes, it is good to talk about (certain) things.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by ChildoftheHorn

Hmm..

I know of a few people(NPHC, NPC) thought having an "All-Greek" event where it would be a big cookout on the lake with people from every GLO on campus (IFC, NPC, NPHC, MGC). There would also be a tag football game with 1-2 people from each org.

It was kinda late in the year when we thought of it, but we hope to start it next year.

The big reason is that there is a huge division between the councils and there is no sense of unity within the Greek System.

I understand the D9 *hush*, but the point is also that many people are confused and mislead by lack of knowledge.
They hear about the hazing and assume that it is going on badly in every org on campus! no joke.....although I laughed when someone I knew said it.

Quite frankly, how would anyone know differently without taking out a portion of their day to do so (99% of people wouldn't)? There are none of the information meetings or discussion at all about the organizations (to the best of my knowledge).

Why not have an open hall during New Student Week where evey org has a few people and a sign/banner/board where they talk about their philanthropy/values/history for a couple of hours?

Both of these events would be good for the new students, current actives, and the system itself (everyone could use good exposure).

Sometimes, it is good to talk about (certain) things.

Several campi do have "Meet the Greeks". Some include all the councils, many don't... Also, the fact the many campi admins are "antigreek" overall, suggests that intervention by elders may be required. However, young people fail to ask us or ask us at the last minute--especially when matters are worse...

My undergraduate chapter that my graduate chapter oversees, has interacted with 2-3 different non-NPHC GLO's.

[Senusret I]

Child, some campuses do those things. On those campuses where the lack of information seems to be detrimental to the system, then talk to your greek affairs people -- seriously!

[ChildoftheHorn]

Yeah, on my campus there is a small thing that is done by a few of the councils individually - but not a collective....not a place where a student could explore all of their options.

There is not unity. There are quite a few people pushing for it, but IMO people have retained many of the prejudices against the Orgs. (this is a two way street).

As stupid as it seems....
-We follow the same guidelines
-Have similar structure (positions, philanthropy, tradition)
-Go to the same School (Go to class together)
-Have friends in each others' org.
-Belong to the same non-Greek groups

Why does it seem like such a strech for a lil' Greek unity too? - What council may be right for your friend, may not right for you.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by ChildoftheHorn

Yeah, on my campus there is a small thing that is done by a few of the councils individually - but not a collective....not a place where a student could explore all of their options.

There is not unity. There are quite a few people pushing for it, but IMO people have retained many of the prejudices against the Orgs. (this is a two way street).

As stupid as it seems....
-We follow the same guidelines
-Have similar structure (positions, philanthropy, tradition)
-Go to the same School (Go to class together)
-Have friends in each others' org.
-Belong to the same non-Greek groups

Why does it seem like such a strech for a lil' Greek unity too? - What council may be right for your friend, may not right for you.

Part of the issue is the inherent segregation placed on the campus. You met these "other greeks" in your classes and maybe an occassional view of a "yard show". Your greek life office failed to foster unity, probably because the ADULTS are not unified...

We cannot ask our young people to show unity when we, as a adults, aren't unified... During your parties at your house, have you invited any of the ethnic GLO's to assist you?

Moreover, there is a historical reason why many in the NPHC do not own houses near a large university...

At San Diego State University, I hooked up with 2-3 IFC's to inherently assist them in their classes. As a result, I started get my own Sorority undergraduate members assistance that I have never observed before. The kids came back to me and told all kinds of things.

Also, San Diego State University, was building a new greek row. They reorganized their greek life office and all GLO's started having the administration assistance in student affairs and perpetuating philathropy. I do not know how it now. But it I was involved in the early workings to see the changes taking place.

[ChildoftheHorn]

You know, the whole greek thing is funny on my campus.

Overall:
Fraternities are being rung out by the university.
Sororities could not be stronger!

BTW: Annual step show is SOLD OUT+ every year. You will see a lot of the MGC groups there, some people from the PNC, and very few IFC.

No one hates anyone else, there is just this distinct division. Granted, many of the orgs on campus have history going on 75 years + at that school for NPC and IFC. Houses make a big exporsure difference too, I think. Since all the greek houses are on campus, people see them very often. (Even I live in the Fraternity Quads - small dorm.) It is hard to break into that. Some of the Multi-cultural orgs. are extremely cliquish(w/hazing) and by doing so harm the others who are not. Since the NPC and IFC orgs are larger numbers per group, there is a more heavily enforced regulation.

Scenario: 30 XYZ pledges are hazed and 8 ABC pledges are hazed. It is a lot easier to get 1 XYZ to tell than 1 ABC based purely on numbers.

A lot of the *hush* is not just D9 stuff - or even the secrecy.

Its really a number run IMO.
i.e. They are smaller. there has to be a reason why they are smaller, must be hiding something, something weird must be going on.

Not to mention the prejudices/experiences of some people's parents that were in college 20-30 years ago (two way street - remember).

Org's will never be looked at the same way b/c they are inherently different (from their beginning) anyway...

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by ChildoftheHorn

You know, the whole greek thing is funny on my campus.

Overall:
Fraternities are being rung out by the university.
Sororities could not be stronger!

BTW: Annual step show is SOLD OUT+ every year. You will see a lot of the MGC groups there, some people from the PNC, and very few IFC.

No one hates anyone else, there is just this distinct division. Granted, many of the orgs on campus have history going on 75 years + at that school for NPC and IFC. Houses make a big exporsure difference too, I think. Since all the greek houses are on campus, people see them very often. (Even I live in the Fraternity Quads - small dorm.) It is hard to break into that. Some of the Multi-cultural orgs. are extremely cliquish(w/hazing) and by doing so harm the others who are not. Since the NPC and IFC orgs are larger numbers per group, there is a more heavily enforced regulation.

Scenario: 30 XYZ pledges are hazed and 8 ABC pledges are hazed. It is a lot easier to get 1 XYZ to tell than 1 ABC based purely on numbers.

A lot of the *hush* is not just D9 stuff - or even the secrecy.

Its really a number run IMO.
i.e. They are smaller. there has to be a reason why they are smaller, must be hiding something, something weird must be going on.

Not to mention the prejudices/experiences of some people's parents that were in college 20-30 years ago (two way street - remember).

Org's will never be looked at the same way b/c they are inherently different (from their beginning) anyway...

PM me when you can...

[Senusret I]

ChildOftheHorn, you need to slow your roll. For real.

You were just initiated this past semester, right? You can't possibly know all there is to know about even your own organization, much less others to say that they MUST be smaller for a reason.

You're throwing about the word "hazing" an awful lot -- have you reported it? Or do you just like perpetuating gossip about cultural Greeks at Northwestern?

[Animate]

Originally Posted by ChildoftheHorn

Scenario: 30 XYZ pledges are hazed and 8 ABC pledges are hazed. It is a lot easier to get 1 XYZ to tell than 1 ABC based purely on numbers.

A lot of the *hush* is not just D9 stuff - or even the secrecy.

Its really a number run IMO.
i.e. They are smaller. there has to be a reason why they are smaller, must be hiding something, something weird must be going on.

Not to mention the prejudices/experiences of some people's parents that were in college 20-30 years ago (two way street - remember).

Org's will never be looked at the same way b/c they are inherently different (from their beginning) anyway...

Please plead the fif before you seriously incriminate youself. You are commenting on things you have little to no knowledge of. "They are smaller. there has to be a reason why they are smaller, must be hiding something, something weird must be going on." Seriously? You wanna play numbers? Let's play.

Originally Posted by Senusret I

You were just initiated this past semester, right? You can't possibly know all there is to know about even your own organization, much less others to say that they MUST be smaller for a reason.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

ChildOftheHorn, you need to slow your roll. For real.

You were just initiated this past semester, right? You can't possibly know all there is to know about even your own organization, much less others to say that they MUST be smaller for a reason.

You're throwing about the word "hazing" an awful lot -- have you reported it? Or do you just like perpetuating gossip about cultural Greeks at Northwestern?

I must be missing something. I don't get the reaction to Child's post. To me it appears she is just being honest about her experience on her campus.

But then I didn't get the reaction to my post to Wolfman either.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

Just to be clear, Delta changed her intake process before the rest of the NPHC. We had a period where chapters piloted the new program, evaluated it and that in turn led to some tweaking. Then it was voted on at a national convention. You also need to understand that this whole process change started because host institutions were threatening to eliminate all NPHC orgs on their yards, because of the hazing that was occuring.

And notice I said hazing and not pledging, because in my mind they will always be two different things.

Yeah, a similar thing happened in Omega. To address this issue,they kept whittling down the length of the pledge period and tweaking the program until 1990 when the big change were adopted in the NPHC. The problem is not as acute in the sororities as the fraternities but across the board, we face the same issues, organizationally speaking. And, unfortunately, we get tarred with the same brush when things go awry in some big, high profile cases.

[L.O.C.K.]

Child,

Hazing is across the board (Black, White, Latino, Asian, Purple, Green, whatever)

It is present in MANY cultures over the past thousands of years and has manifested itself in many different ways.

Whether or not hazing happens is purely on a chapter basis for NPHC and NPC/NIC. I know of NPHC orgs that haze and ones that don't haze. I know of NPC/NIC orgs that haze and ones that don't haze. You can't make blanket statements like that and expect people to take your words first hand.

Also, another reason for small numbers is the proportion of Black, Latino, Asian students on campuses across the country. Except for HBCUs, HSIs, and some California schools, all are major minorities at most institutions...hence numbers will be smaller.

Are there other issues that contribue to smaller numbers? Of course. Is hazing one of them? Yes, it could be, but it depends on the chapter.

Hazing is still very very prevalent in all orgs across the board, and just trying to ban it has never worked and won't work until the culture of what it means to be "Greek" is changed. End of story.

Pledging and hazing have been thrown together into one basket, and now it's a crime to make a kid memorize your history or something. So, hazing will continue because members value their history and "traditions".

NPHC and NPC/NIC have strong anti-hazing policies, but if you look at say DST's website for example you will see lists of people who had their membership snatched or fined, etc. for issues like hazing. The list is not like one or two people either. (Sorry for callin DST out, but it's site that sticks out in my mind the most about members who got in trouble w/ IHQ)

As for secrecy amongst NPHC orgs...yea it's there. Why is it there? I am sure there are many contributing factors:

-anti-Black sentiment on campuses throughout the past century forcing undercover operations

-the sense of empowerment the individual gets being part of something exclusive (this obviously is not limited to NPHC orgs)

-"traditions" building up over time

-probably a lot more too

As AKA Monet said, a lot of the misunderstandings come from much bigger issues like segregation (both self-segregation and intentional segregation) or stereotypes or whatever.

Greek life has the potential to be bridges between various cultures and backgrounds. Unfortunately, right now it magnifies the barriers in many cases (per my research).

It's up to us to change it.

[1908Revelations]

Originally Posted by ChildoftheHorn

I understand the D9 *hush*, but the point is also that many people are confused and mislead by lack of knowledge.

There are none of the information meetings or discussion at all about the organizations (to the best of my knowledge).

Why not have an open hall during New Student Week where evey org has a few people and a sign/banner/board where they talk about their philanthropy/values/history for a couple of hours?

Lack of knowledge? I don't agree. Of course interested individuals wil not know EVERYTHING about any NPHC org before intake, but they know enough....I did.

My campus has Greek Speak each semester where all NPHC groups tell attendees thier history, chapter history, requirements for membership (as stated on the website) and this event is REQUIRED by the university to make sure that interested individuals are made aware of what the university stance on hazing is as well as their desired organization stance on hazing.

AKA also has 'the General Information for the Collegian' brouchure that ALL interested ladies are welcome to that tells them what is allowed and what is NOT. To me that is pretty cut and dry. As stated on our website and at my campus, "Any one being a participant in hazing WILL be denied membership!" ......That is cut and dry.

With that being said there is no need for me to coach little Jane as how she should become a member.....I didn't have a coach and I am doing well.