Transferring schools while in a fraternity
 

Hello,

I am in a fraternity (AEPi) and I am considering transferring to another school this upcoming year. The new school has my chapter but I've heard from many people that the guys in that chapter do not like transfer students and vote most of them out because they feel it ruins the dynamic of the fraternity. I checked the AEPi laws and it states that the chapter does have to vote me in for me to reaffiliate. So basically it is their discretion. If I were to get voted out, would I be able to join another fraternity at my new school?

I've seen many similar posts but I feel like my situation is unique because my old fraternity was not on IFC. Nationals was backing our fraternity but my school did not recognize it.

I appreciate any advice or information on this matter.

Whether or not your fraternity was backed by IFC is irrelevant for any group. Now as to whether you are free to pledge whoever, I can speak for Sigma Nu and tell you that it's a definite no. I can tell you I am aware of no exception with any GLO which allows dual memberships. There are some professional greek letter orgs which do allow dual memberships, but as far as social fraternities, I'd say you're stuck with AEPi as you would be an AEPi alumnus.

But we had 2 brothers who left AEPi at my school and joined Sig Eps this year. They just got their membership renounced and they were able to pledge again. So if I do the same thing, wouldn't I be able to pledge another fraternity? If it's not a dual membership, there should be no problem right?

Your best bet is to contact your fraternity's national office and pose your questions to them. They make the decisions and enforce your rules.

And wait to make a decision about resigning until you've met the chapter and that plays itself out. You wouldn't want to resign from your fraternity based on gossip, would you? Surely it means more to you than that....at least I hope so.

You didn't mention the membership renunciation part in your first post. Kevin was saying that no, you cannot be in two social fraternities at the same time, which is what it sounded like you wanted to do.

The same goes for Pi Kappa Alpha.

Even if you renounced your membership in the first organization, I can't speak for other organizations, but Sigma Nu would not initiate you and if they did, your membership would be revoked as soon as we found out.

The same above ^ goes for Phi Gamma Delta. Once somebody has been INITIATED into an NIC fraternity, we would never pledge nor initiate them. I believe that's pretty much the rule among NIC groups.

I can't speak for Sigma Phi Epsilon, but more likely than not what those men did violates their national policies. If you'd like to let us know their names and the chapter, I'm sure we could have someone look into that for you though.

Affirming that one is not a member of another secret society could also be part of an oath or confirmation in a fraternity's ritual, if it's not an outright national policy. At least in my day, there was no chance whatsoever that a fraternity would accept someone who was initiated elsewhere.

The only possible exception I can think of are the small handful of fraternities with non-secret or public rituals. I know they are out there but can't recall their letters offhand. But even then your wanting to join would tell the organization a lot about your loyalty and fidelity.

If you can't affiliate with your new school's AEPi chapter why not work with your current chapter and national HQ to see if you can obtain alumni status before transferring?

"Ruining the dynamic of the fraternity"? That's code for saying they would be embarrassed to be seen with someone. I'm pretty sure just about every org has that rule. Other wise everyone could go to Podunk U., get initiated and then waltz right in to some bigger, better chapter.

I really appreciate all your feedback.

I am really torn on what to do. The school I want to transfer to is really big on greek life and I do wanna stay in the fraternity I am in. It is making my decision to transfer a lot harder because I have 3 more years of college and my fraternity has had such a positive impact on my life thus far. If I do transfer, I will for sure meet with the guys of AEPi and hopefully they will let me in. My friends in that chapter told me not to get my hopes up though because they hate transfer students and feel like they are just tag alongs. I believe that if they do reject me, they'll give me the option to re-pledge which I would not want to do since I've already gone through the tough process once.

I understand people who think it is completely unloyal to quit a fraternity and join another one but there are two sides of the story. It is also unfair for a person to not be able to join his own fraternity at a different school and then be expected to stay in that fraternity, declare alumni status, and not join another one. It doesn't make sense to me.

I don't see what choice I would have other than renouncing my membership and looking for a fraternity that would accept me. Many people online, however, say that most people would not bid someone who has been in another fraternity. If I do renounce my membership, would I be required to let guys know during rush that I've been in another fraternity even if i'm no longer a member? I believe that even if guys heard my story, they would understand.

I know I haven't even gotten voted out yet so I may turn out fine but I believe that my friends are right on this issue and that my chances will be very low of getting in. Ultimately this problem is really making me want to stay at my current school but it would be a complete shame to turn down a better education in my field just because of my fraternity issue.

Your education is paramount here. Greek Life shouldn't factor in to your school choice. With regard to Sigma Nu, and probably a lot of other fraternities, the fact that you were initiated into another group means we cannot initiate you at all. It means that if we did initiate you and found out you had been initiated elsewhere (not unlikely in our connected society), we'd be obligated under our rules to disaffiliate you from our group. We'd also notify your former group which would probably boot you as well. I can't speak for AEPi on that though.

I imagine that the rules in Sigma Nu are the rule rather than the exception. Your best bet is to reaffiliate with the chapter at your new school and repledge if that's what it takes.

I can understand your frustration with not automatically being allowed to join your chapter, but please understand that recruitment into competitive fraternities is competitive. Allowing people to rush chapters which are not competitive, transfer and affiliate can really undermine a chapter's identity.

Your best bet is to play this thing straight. Disaffiliation could possibly mean you are not eligible to join anywhere. You may want to have a conversation with the national office of the organizations you're looking to join rather than the active chapters as active chapters may be incorrect on their interpretation of rules (I assume as much as you said you had two members of your chapter disaffiliate and then join elsewhere).

Are you an initiated member? I guess I'm not understanding why/how the other chapter could have you "pledge" again if you're already initiated? That's a good question to ask your national HQ about the process. Only initiated members are completely beholden to their fraternity or sorority. If you are initiated, it seems like the only options for that chapter are to affiliate you, or turn you down for affiliation.

If your friends in that chapter are discouraging you, I think you're right to be worried. Sounds like they're giving you tough, but honest, advice.

I transferred and affiliated myself, and it is a weird process to have to get voted in by the new chapter. I was going to advise you to make contact early with the chapter leadership and put your best foot forward, but your friends' opinions are making me think you may need to decide between transferring and the active, collegiate fraternity experience.

The rules are the rules and there aren't any exceptions for certain situations. Since you know brothers at the new school, there's no way you could fly under the radar and try to rush another fraternity. The word will be out, and then you'll really be persona non grata.

If you're not initiated, then you can rush again.