NPC rules - time for change
 

Recently I transferred due to family circumstances and the need to be closer to home. I was already initiated into a chapter at my previous school, in which I received a bid through continuous open bidding and not fall rush. Being our chapter was so new to campus, the recruitment process was a bit messy, and none of the direct panhellenic rules were ever shared with new members. Also, with not going through rush and meeting all the chapters my university had to offer, I feel as if I didn’t choose the “best fit” for me. Now, there is no chapter of my old sorority at my new school I am restricted from joining another NPC organization. Being a transfer student especially, I want a way to be involved and make friends. From personal experience, sororities are a great way to do so. I believe NPC’s rules are quite outdated as well. I came across a petition that I think is very well sought out and is applicable to many young college women. I pasted it below as well as the link to sign it in support! I feel many of us could benefit from a change in the unanimous agreement, especially with the current lack of sorority enrollment.
“The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is the governing board for 26 sororities and women's fraternities. The NPC has a policy that states, in general, once a young woman is initiated into any of the organizations it governs she is never again eligible to join another organization other than academic or local. I am interested in getting the NPC to amend that policy so any young woman who may want to join another organization will be able to do so. I believe that if a woman has a negative experience in one organization that she should be able to have another chance finding some place that can provide a positive one for her. I'm not petitioning for dual membership. This is for those young women who choose to no longer be a member of one organization in favor of going through the process of finding another one. Below I have provided an example-
Example- Ashley went through recruitment for Greek Life at her school which has five sororities all governed by the NPC. She was initiated into Sorority A, but then realizes it wasn't a good fit or had a bad experience and now feels "stuck." Under the current NPC policy, even if Ashley "disaffiliates" with sorority A, she cannot go through recruitment again to be a part of sorority B, C, D, or E because they're all governed by the NPC. With the amendment of the policy Ashley will be able to follow some sort of process in order to disaffiliate and go through the recruitment process again for an opportunity of finding an organization that is a better fit.
It is important to note that I support the Greek community. Greek members do amazing things for their community and the organizations help cultivate outstanding women. I am disaffiliated from the organization I was once a part of. It is because of the negative experiences I witnessed and had myself that I believe this policy needs to be changed. All young women who decide to go through recruitment don't have to feel "stuck" in an organization that they're not happy in. Especially with the current climate in regards to Greek Life, why wouldn't we want ALL of the young women choosing to be a part of an organization to have a positive, healthy, and encouraging experience? I believe this is a wise alternative to the regulation in place now.
My solution is to have this as a second chance, one time, re-do. No monies paid for dues will be returned and this is all at the risk of the young woman; no organization is required to offer a bid. The Greek System is supposed to empower women and I believe an amendment to this rule would do that. The reality of the situation is that new membership periods (the time before initiation) is too short and that people change. What was once a good fit for us may not be a good fit for us a year from now. In the Greek Community, particularly for women's organizations, it's said that "it's not four years, it's for life." Unfortunately, that's not always true. We don't expect women in bad relationships to leave them and stay single forever so why is it expected that a college aged young woman should never join another NPC organization? Yes, there are people who may take advantage of this, but we have no place judging those who want to leave their organization. No choice is without consequence, but by and large college is still a time to be able to take a risk with a support system in place.
Lastly, certain fraternities have regulations in place where a young man can leave his initiated organization, receive a letter of release from that org., and then be initiated into another organization. How is it acceptable for the men's organizations to have this privilege and yet, we don't deem it necessary or unequal that women don't have this ability?”

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/npc-time-to-change

This rule is a Unanimous Agreement made between all NPC member sororities. That's much more potent than a "policy." Overturning that would presumably require a unanimous agreement on the part of all NPC sororities. The odds of that happening are slim to none, and slim just left town.

While you point out some unfortunate situations that can occur, there are also many reasons why this agreement exists.

A few thoughts that come into my mind right off the bat:

The new member period before initiation gives women a chance to separate from their organization before they are initiated. For lack of a better term, that's the "trial period," and once you've joined, that's it.

Related to that, once a woman has been initiated and learned the secret ritual of her organization, it's anathema to most members that she should be able to leave and jump ship to another organization. Even the agreement was overturned/changed, If I was a member of the potential "new" group, I wouldn't want to trust my ritual with a ship jumper.

Would she be limited to just 2 tries? What if a woman didn't like Sorority #2, either?

Then there would be the craziness of women quitting, joining, and how that process would even be organized...I don't think there's any interest in opening those floodgates.

I'm sure there were many deep discussions that went into this long-standing Unanimous Agreement.

The reality is that even if some fraternities allow a man to join their group after resigning from another fraternity, in "theory," the fraternity members on Greek Chat have repeatedly shared that this rarely happens in real life, and many fraternities will not extend a bid to someone who was once a member of another group.

Also, to be clear, I transferred schools and made arrangements to move directly into the chapter house, without having met any of my new sisters. I affiliated and I loved both my initiating sisters and my affiliate sisters, and I'm still in touch with many women from both chapters. I'm also a long-standing alumnae volunteer for my Sorority. I'm a big believer in creating the change you want to see, and making the most of your experience in the organization you joined...which is much more than a "social club."

What you're essentially saying here is that you transferred schools, and because of that, you should be able to join a new organization, throwing all of the vows you made out the window. Wanting to make new friends at your new school quickly is no reason to sign a petition to change this rule.

So you want every young woman who doesn't feel 100% happy within the first few weeks? few months? few years? .. to be able to drop out and join another organization? I hope you see the issues with what you're proposing without me having to point them out to you.

We do want happiness and a positive experience for all women in our organizations. And if there are actions taking place so egregious and/or against NPC rules, individual sorority rules, or against the law, they should be reported. And petty fighting and bickering within one's organization does not count. Learn conflict resolution. That's also part of being in a sorority.

No, this is real life now. Every choice you make in life has consequences. Yes, there are support systems in college, but there are also harsh realities.

Being a member of an NPC sorority truly is for life, and college is such a small part of it. Membership as an alumna is a whole different animal, and it gives you the opportunity to meet members on a larger and also more personal scale. You don't need to hang out with members of your old chapter, but instead, you can meet sisters from across the country who share the same values as you.

And please don't compare being a member of a Greek organization, having to abide by governing documents and long-standing rules, to being an individual person in a romantic relationship. Apples and oranges.

It's not "inequality", or whatever you're trying to call it, because the NPC and the women who are members of it chose this for themselves. It's acceptable because the NPC deemed it acceptable.

This rule doesn't only apply to NPC members, but NIC members as well. This rules, like most organizations' rules do not benefit the member, they benefit the group. The group exerts more power with the 'one and done' policy in that fewer members will leave. I would also imagine that folks who feel disillusioned and resign from one group would have a higher rate of attrition--sort of like how folks who are divorced once are much more likely to get divorced twice.

I hope OP doesn't take this the wrong way, but folks who typically of the age of most of our new members tend to have very self-involved thinking and have a hard time understanding why groups do the things they do. To say it another way, this isn't all about you.

Take responsibility for your decisions. For what ever reason, YOU chose not to participate in fall recruitment. YOU chose a sorority to join. YOU chose to be initiated. Find an Alum group of your sorority and join it. Get the most out of your membership.

It would be wonderful if there could be some sort of college/university based Alumnae Panhellenics. Young alumnae who are graduate students and undergraduate members who do not have access to a collegiate chapter could meet other NPC members. Anyone know of a campus where this type of organization exists?

I am wracking my brain for exactly where, but there are (or were) campuses where clubs called Stray Greeks or such are set up for Greeks who transferred and find themselves in your situation. There is no exchange of ritual, of course, but they still try to participate in charities and such. This is/was popular when universities had more than one campus, and the major of students transferred to the main campus for their junior and senior years.

Maybe that would be a way for you to go.

What she said! No one here is going to agree with you.:rolleyes:

ETA: this is probably BarbieSomeNumber who was asking this same question "for her sister" last week.

You have resigned your membership in your organization. Did you try to do anything to change the things that you felt were negative in your sorority? I don't think your demand that you get another shot is going to go far. You could have transferred schools and been an unaffiliated member and still had the opportunity to participate as an alumna. You threw that all away.

What strikes me most about the OP's post is the mentality that comes through. Did anyone make you go through rush? Did anyone tell you that you couldn't rush during formal rush? Unless you had a gun held to your head, you made your bed and now you have to lie in it, to use an old phrase.

As for your sorority not being the best fit...guess what? That's the case for many sorority women! The difference? They find a way to make it fit! Whether a chapter has 40 or 400 members, there are members you can bond with. There are leadership opportunities where you can help guide the sorority in positive ways. Sorority membership offers many life lessons, such as making something work because you commit to it instead of giving up and complaining.

To change the bylaws as you suggest would unleash chaos...what's to stop a girl from "trying" out 3 sororities? From revealing deeply held secrets that tie members together? Worst of all? The approach you propose teaches young women that commitment means nothing, that when something is suddenly not what you want, you can drop it and move on. You won't find any agreement here.

Boise State, I think. I love this idea.

That is exactly the word I thought when I read this - chaos.

There is no way this is going to happen. And if by some chance it did, it would be the end of sororities as we know them.

We've already got Harvard and all the rest of the SJWs trying to ruin things. The last thing we need is to do it to ourselves.

I believe some fraternities have a status for non-members to be social affiliates - participate in only the parties and social gatherings when for whatever reason they cannot fully join. I think that's where some confusion over fraternity switching comes from.

QFP (because I wasn't sure how ASTAlum copied in her reply and so here is the OP's post, verbatim).

I don't know where to start with this... this... this what? Sigh. Frankly, my Panhellenic sisters (and fraternity brother) seem to have it well in hand with excellent responses. The OP's thinking is flawed in some very fundamental ways. I'll let her figure out how. Shrug.

ETA: guys, we had something similar a few years back from another disgruntled former member. I'll try to dig it up. It's been a while.

Or even involvement a regular Alumnae Panhellenic Association. As a young alumna/grad student I was an officer in one and a delegate to two others (clinical placements took me to different regions). My time in the APAs was one of my fondest extracurricular activities during grad school and the start of many lovely and lasting friendships!