And people jump pack when I let them know I'm a member of Order Of The Arrow BSA.

The term "sorority" was not coined until Gamma Phi Beta was established in 1874; therefore, organization that were established prior to that date are correctly termed fraternities for women. From the GPhiB web site:

"Members of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority, one of the 10 oldest women's organizations in North America, are proud of our rich and accomplished history, dating back to our founding on November 11, 1874, at Syracuse University in New York.

During an era when women were discouraged from attending college, four bold and courageous friends came together to form a women's society. They bonded together to face adversity and encourage one another's intellectual growth. Now, more than 135 years later, we celebrate the vision and dedication of those women for whom the word "sorority" was first coined - and all who have come since."

Cool! Ordeal Brotherhood or Vigil? and were you an Explorer/Venturer?

While I knew that some of the members of the NPC were correctly referred to as Fraternities, I would have bet a *large* amount of money that they were a *minority* among the members of the NPC (that there were more Sororities that Fraternities).

Now I know better, that *definitely* counts as something learned today.

Ordeal, Explorer, former Exploring District Exec.

I'm so used to the word Sorority, it's been a weird adjustment for me to realize my daughter is in a fraternity. When she add Pi Phi to her resume as a fraternity, it just seemed odd! :) I've noticed that a lot of the materials she's gotten will say "Fraternity for Women" after the name. Do other group do this, too?

AOII just says Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity. I can't recall seeing Fraternity for Women on any of our materials. I think the feminine rose trademark gives us away.

Can I add my awkward recruitment story? This was actually at a pre-recruitment event, one of my first as a sister. We had this PNM--let's call her Annie--show up. Now, I knew Annie, as I was a TA for one of her classes. Annie was a very intense young woman. I knew she would be attending this event and prepped my sisters for that. Turns out, I wasn't ready for it. She shows up, and after about five minutes, she drops this:

"Do you guys have any sisters who AREN'T white? I don't want to be in a racist sorority. My best friend is black." Okaaaaaay. Annie was kind of known for being overly blunt. I reassure her we are a very diverse sisterhood in many ways. And then soon after:

"So, what do you guys do for hazing?" I then said, no, we do NOT haze, in fact our new member period is the opposite of hazing--tons of gifts and love from your new sisters. Hazing is not allowed. She replied with a very dismissive "oh, that's what they all say" type of remark. I guess I should have left her after that, because she had more to ask.

"What is your initiation like? Do you do any kind of crazy stuff?" I just stammered that our rituals are secret and sacred and excused myself. I kind of avoided her for the rest of the party. Apparently, Annie told another sister how much she liked us, so I guess I didn't handle it too poorly.

So yes, I was asked if my chapter was racist, we hazed, and about all of our secrets in a period of roughly 10-15 minutes. On a happy note, Annie did go through formal recruitment and ended up finding a wonderful sisterhood for her.

:eek::eek:

Wow! Would be interesting to know if/how she ends up being a valuable member to her chapter!

This is not a current phenomenon, but happened 30+ years ago: our Rush Counselors revealed their NPC Homes BEFORE we filled out our Pref Cards. You see, strong early tent talk during rush had correctly discovered that each rush counselor (there were ten, one for each house) began her group's Open House Tour at her own NPC Sorority Home. As a result, some rushees already 'knew' the identity of each counselor's sorority. This early reveal affected my own pref card listing, as I truly wanted to belong to a particular Rush Counselor's group.

We are in a campus group together, so I know she holds a position now and is very passionate about it. Honestly, comments aside, she wouldn't have been a great fit for our chapter. I'm very happy for her and it seems like her chapter has calmed her down and taught her a lot!

Just catching up on this thread (and why, yes, I am procrastinating!). How funny that I just wrote a post this week about dear Dr.Smalley and the word "sorority."

Sometime in the past few years, Pi Beta Phi Fraternity had "for Women" added to it in printed materials. I suspect it was to head off the question posed in the graphic a few posts ahead of this. Explaining that a women's fraternity, fraternity for women, and a sorority are all one in the same is one of my elevator speeches.

Though I don't recall any graphics referring to Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity, in many print materials, the copy reads "Alpha Chi Omega women's fraternity".

Our daughters' friend had her engagement announcement in the paper last month and my husband said, "Oh no! The paper screwed up again and put that Megan is in Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity!" I had to educate him about all that.

(Yes, the paper screws up a whole lot.)

I have a weird bid day story... There's a girl in my pledge class who brought her best friend along for everything. And I mean everything. Her friend was there when she opened her bid, when she ran to the chapter, and throughout all of our bid day activities. As far as I know her friend isn't Greek nor has any desire to be. It felt very weird.