Joining professional GLOs for other reasons

[decadence]

n/m

[navane]

Originally posted by decadence


I should add... greek life is not big on this campus, in fact this would so far be the only GLO here if it got started.
Thanks.

Since Decadence and I have e-mailed back and forth about this, I just want to clarify that the group he wants to start would in fact be the only GLO for many, many miles around. I've been on GreekChat long enough to know that someone will inevitably say "send your friend to see the Greek Life Advisor." That's just not possible.

Hey Dec, my suggestion is to review what the fraternity membership guidelines say. Some fraternity guidelines explicity state that the members must be in a veterinary program, medical students, etc. If your international organization stipulates that members must be law or pre-law students, then the person who e-mailed you would be out of luck.

Also, I know which group you speak of and it is very law-oriented. How many law-related events would your chapter have to have?

I definitely understand that you may want to take on this person for his or her enthusiasm and because of your need for members to help start up the organization. That's something to consider as well.

If all else fails, you can encourage this other person to start a different GLO and have an instant Greek community!

.....Kelly

I hope I can help with this by sharing my own story.....

My GLO is a professional music sorority. However, on my campus (when I pledged at least) they were very active socially, and when I rushed, the music aspect was only mentioned minimally and the "professional" aspect never.

I, personally, have almost no interest in music. I barely even listen to the radio. But I did the philanthropies that came along with it, and in the process, learned to appreciate how much it means to people that do.

I think, especially if your GLO is going to be the only organization around, that it is great for your friend to pledge. I am sure s/he will be a valuable member of your organization, even if they are not looking into the law field. Perhaps s/he will even learn something about it and consider it in the future. And finally, it never hurts to have someone with different interests to keep your group from being too stuffy (as my chapter of my GLO is now)

Best of luck to you with your new chapter!

[MysticCat]

Okay, I'm going to play devil's advocate a little here. I assume that I, too, know the fraternity you're talking about, since there is only a few professional GLOs in law and only one of them opens its membership to pre-law students.

To take a few of the things you've posted:

I agree with you Ginger the diversity she could bring to the chapter would be great and keep it from being stuffy etc. Her major is in Fashion Design so I can guess that's the field she's interested in professionally. Her email said the factors which appealed to her were a 'students encoraging each other to study as well as having fun'.

I would question how well her interests and the things that appeal to her jive with the GLO. The GLO you're talking about has as its purpose:

... to form a strong bond uniting students and teachers of the law with members of the Bench and Bar in a fraternal fellowship designed to advance the ideals of liberty and equal justice under law; to stimulate excellence in scholarship; to inspire the virtues of compassion and courage; to foster integrity and professional competence; to promote the welfare of its members; and to encourage their moral, intellectual, and cultural advancement; so that each member may enjoy a lifetime of honorable professional and public service.

Its motto is: Service to the Student, the School, the Profession and the Community.

I wonder if a group with those stated goals would meet her expectations.

You also wrote:

I agree, but it seems safe to say she would be a collegiate only member as opposed to a life member (i.e the professional aspect after graduation would only come into place if she needed a lawyer probably!), though doubtless the lifetime friendships themselves'll remain as well as the skills she learns through the group.

This seems counterintuitive to the whole idea of GLOs. I think everyone on this board would agree that one of the most important things to us about membership in our fraternities or sororities is that they are lifetime commitments and bonds. I would question the appropriateness of taking in a new member who is not committed to that lifetime bond.

The thing is, as Kelly touched on, we'll have invited law speakers, and law specific stuff too, being a professional GLO though she wouldn't have to attend for all of that....

I was not a member of this GLO in law school, although a number of my friends, including my roommate, were. My observation of this group was that it was very heavy on the law specific stuff, and very light on the social stuff. I'm not saying that would be the case with every chapter -- a pre-law chapter would have a different dynamic, and chapters differ from school to school -- but it may be indicative of a fraternity-wide mindset. In any event, I think it is a bad idea to start out with the idea that some members wouldn't have to attend all chapter activities. You're almost talking about two classes of membership: the really-committed and the only-along-for-the-fun. Not good for overall chapter health, I wouldn't think.

Getting her on board'd probably be great for us, but will it be as beneficial for her in the long run too?

My guess -- she would figure out fairly quickly that this group isn't for her and would drop out. Chapter morale could suffer as a result.

Perhaps I come at this from my personal perspective and experience of the somewhat special interest situation of my own fraternity. We are a fraternity for men who have an interest in music, yet we were founded as a social fraternity. For a period of time, we identified ourselves as a professional fraternity, but two decades ago we officially decided to reject professional fraternity status and return to our roots as a social fraternity -- a return that is still in progress in some places. There is no requirement that brothers be music majors (although most probably are), nor is there any expectation that brothers will go on to careers in music (although many do). I'm a lawyer -- probably most alumni brothers I see on a regular basis are in fields other than music. But in my experience, we would never consider pledging a man who did not share our interest in music, not because they wouldn't be fun to have around, but because they would not be as likely to be committed to what we're all about and, as a result, wouldn't be likely to stay committed to our brotherhood.

Just my two cents.

[Tom Earp]

Holy S**T Bat Man, I have never seen the likes of the two posts above from these two Fine Members of G C!

I for one am Damn Impressed and that is no joke!

This is a very serious thread, and is way beyond me, but find that there is some very serious thinking here.

If The person in question is wishy-washy, then they should not be asked to be a member. Why? Well you are in the process of trying to start something that will take a lot of Very Hard Work and Dedication on the part of "ALL" members!

If a person is not ready to commit to it, then pass on the person! Plain and simple! If a person drags a new group down, it could drag the whole group down!

All I can say, is the very best of luck, adn it should not be like Paper Chase (TV) Show but with a little fun thrown in as you will need it in Law! I know

[SilverTurtle]

Decadence-
I'm a member of a professional GLO for the arts (see my sig). Our membership requirements include: (paraphrasing) at the least an active interest in at least one art form, and a desire to promote all art forms.

So maybe you're a history major, but you also act in some of the school plays (real-life example). You can join, provided you meet other requirements, & accept a bid, etc.

If this girl has no interest in or connection to law, then it's really not the place for her. And you'll probably find that in the international membership requirements.

In the future, though, since there is an emphasis on pre-law, I could see members who join, and maybe a year or two into school they've changed their major. So I can see how non law students (or non prelaw students) would still be members of said GLO, even though their major is something like education or fashio design.

I would recommend this girl continue searching for professional GLOs & as someone else mentioned, maybe you guys can sort of start up greek life together on campus.