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-   -   Delta Beta Sigma - high school sorority (http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=234264)

SWTXBelle 09-01-2017 04:09 PM

Delta Beta Sigma - high school sorority
 
Going through my flooded garage, I found my mother-in-law's program for the 1933 Convention for high school sorority Delta Beta Sigma. It still exists, with chapters in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana. I cannot get a clear count for how many active chapters they have - 3, 4, and 7 are all referenced in different places on their website.

http://www.deltabetasigma.com/

ZTA72 09-01-2017 07:44 PM

DBS! Yes, oh my goodness...I was in a different sorority in high school, but some of my very best friends were in this one. I believe there are chapters still in Tennessee. FUN days!

HappyMom2 09-01-2017 07:55 PM

My daughter was in DBS for three years in Louisiana! She just graduated from high school this year.

tcsparky 09-02-2017 08:58 PM

Helena
 
All of my friends in high school were in DBS (my mom wouldn't let me join) and my younger sister became a member 9 years later. Many of my friends' mothers had been members. I looked into starting a chapter for girls in a high school in NC back in 2000, but wasn't able to get enough interest.

DBS was a great organization. Lots of good things happened when that chapter got their minds set!

amIblue? 09-02-2017 11:34 PM

I am an alumna of DBS. The chapter here in town is still active. I got a newsletter a few months back. There are a total of seven active chapters, mostly in Arkansas.

ETA: If I can dig it out of storage this weekend, I'll post a photo of my badge.

ColdInCanada11 09-03-2017 07:39 PM

High school sororities have always fascinated, and I have wondered: is your high school sorority more important than your collegiate, or vice versa? Or does that issue not come up? I love that there is an organisation to provide this support to younger women!

barnard1897 09-03-2017 11:39 PM

I was a member of DBS in Louisiana many years ago. They even had a national convention. The recrutment parties were held at members' homes. It was meant to be a feeder system for sororities at LSU and other southern campuses. Had a pledge pin and a membership badge. Although it was modeled similarly to collegiate sororities, with a bid night, new member period, big sisters, and initiation, the chapter I belonged to was pretty much made up of the most popular girls in our Hs and neighboring schools and focused way more on socializing than service. Some minor hazing was involved. My best friend was denied a bid so I did not stay involved. I learned some positive things from the experience, but more about what not to do as a sorority sister when I got to college.

carnation 09-04-2017 08:38 AM

What were these like? Did more people get in than not? Was it a really desired club? Did they have rush?

barnard1897 09-04-2017 10:07 PM

I imagine it varied from chapter to chapter. In our chapter, it was very competitive to be selected for a bid. You either had to make the right friends in the chapter or be from the right neighborhood and dress the right way. So it was mainly for girls in the popular set. Recruitment ran very much like the collegiate version with themes and releases along the way, except you had to be invited to even the first round event. The pledge education included history of the sorority, the names and locations of all other chapters, Greek alphabet, the mascot, the crest, etc. I recall wearing the pledge pin even at school. And they could issue black or gold marks to a pledge depending on conduct and performance on membership ed tests. I enjoyed getting to know girls from several different schools; most of them were from fairly wealthy families in our town. But there were girls who did not get asked to join and no rhyme or reason to why that was.
Re

amIblue? 09-06-2017 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColdInCanada11 (Post 2440571)
High school sororities have always fascinated, and I have wondered: is your high school sorority more important than your collegiate, or vice versa? Or does that issue not come up? I love that there is an organisation to provide this support to younger women!

My experiences were very different in high school and college, and I wouldn't say either are more important than the other. I also wouldn't necessarily call the high school experience an organization to support younger women. (See my comments below.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnation (Post 2440597)
What were these like? Did more people get in than not? Was it a really desired club? Did they have rush?

Quote:

Originally Posted by barnard1897 (Post 2440638)
I imagine it varied from chapter to chapter. In our chapter, it was very competitive to be selected for a bid. You either had to make the right friends in the chapter or be from the right neighborhood and dress the right way. So it was mainly for girls in the popular set. Recruitment ran very much like the collegiate version with themes and releases along the way, except you had to be invited to even the first round event. The pledge education included history of the sorority, the names and locations of all other chapters, Greek alphabet, the mascot, the crest, etc. I recall wearing the pledge pin even at school. And they could issue black or gold marks to a pledge depending on conduct and performance on membership ed tests. I enjoyed getting to know girls from several different schools; most of them were from fairly wealthy families in our town. But there were girls who did not get asked to join and no rhyme or reason to why that was.
Re

In our chapter everything was closed as far as rush goes. If you didn't have friends in the chapter, then you weren't going to get in. It also was not done to be super open about wanting to be a member. There were no open parties for what we called rush week. We had a theme every year and some fun times with the pre-selected pledge class. However, once the membership decided to offer you a bid, there were not any cuts like there are in college. We did have the chance for one final membership vote prior to initiation, but I don't know of anyone who ever got blackballed.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the whole concept. I had a wonderful time. I was in it with all my best friends that I'd been best friends with since elementary school. To this day, I'm closer to my friends from DBS than I am to my Kappa friends, but I don't believe that it's because I was in the sorority. These girls would have been my friends anyway because we had always been friends. We have a shorthand from growing up together that still works mumble mumble decades later.

We did the social stuff, but we also had a philanthropy week every year that we raised money for a charity chosen at the annual national convention. The philanthropy took a lot of planning, and we learned a lot doing those things. We learned how to run meetings and organizational skills.

My biggest issue with it is the whole closed membership process. There were a lot of hurt feelings and a lot of friendships would be ended over being in it or not being in it. We still have DBS and another high school sorority in my town. In a few years, my daughter will be chosen or not, and I'm not sure how I feel about any of it.

NWguy 09-06-2017 11:35 AM

Sounds like there isn't a legacy program for HS sororities, as there is in college? Or, is there?

barnard1897 09-06-2017 06:32 PM

There were quite a few girls in my DBS chapter who had younger sisters join later on, and it was in recognition of the legacy relationship. In some cases, the younger sister did not even attend our hs or know the girls in the chapter well, and we still extended her a bid because of her sister. Don't recall any going back to the mom level, however. And one of my best friends in the chapter was an affiliate from a different DBS chapter in another state. I thought that was really nice she could do that. These organizations can have good intentions especially if they are service and leadership oriented. I just think that in many ways, the girls lacked the maturity to elevate it beyond the social drama stuff. Someone's feelings were always hurt, etc.


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