Frat groups who initiate alumni
 

I’m a Pi Phi and I don’t normally post on here ,but I have been reading all sorts of post and I am curious do the male fraternities perform alumnae initiations?

I have a brother who left school before joining? He regrets it ,but has hooked up with a great paying job. He is an Eagle Scout and Past State Master Councilor for DeMolay so he knows brotherhood. He wants to exp a fraternity without going back to school. I told him I would check around.

I know some have but I don't know who, or their process. I spoke to my oldest son about my husband (father of 8 Greeks, husband of one, and nephew and uncle and cousin of dozens!) and he was astounded--had never heard of it. He was VP of his own chapter and didn't even know how they would start the process.

As a Phi Gamma Delta graduate brother, I can tell you that FIJI does occasionally initiate non collegiates. I can speak to older non-Greek relatives of brothers including a couple fathers who had become involved with their sons’ chapters. I also know alumni of the particular school who may have had to leave school or were always good friends of brothers but may not have had the time or finances to pledge while in school.
It isn’t an everyday occurrence, but it does happen.

Here's a story from a GC member who was initiated into Pi Kappa Phi as an alum in 2004.

Lute Olson, former mens' basketball coach at University of Arizona, was initiated into Pi Kappa Alpha as an alumnus.

I know two other adult men who were initiated into fraternities as alumni initiates. I am not positive as to what all those initiations entailed. That is, were these the same type of initiation as undergraduates? Is it considered full membership or is it honorary? I don't know for certain.

Point is that yes, apparently, alumni initiation is a possibility for at least some fraternities.

I've been a part of this happening. Twice.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your sharing

I told him AI is known in the sorority world ,but couldn’t tell him if it occurs for male fraternities. I asked him which one he had in mind. He was at a school that has FIJI, Sigma Chi and Kappa Sig. I advised him to make contact and ask. The worst is No.

Like PGD-GRAD stated, Sigma Chi has AI'd men who volunteered with their son's chapters or faculty advisors who weren't previously in fraternities and really dedicated themselves to the chapter they served. I have also seen cases where family members (a brother or son-in-law) was AI'd.

Back in the day, you could only get AI'd into Sigma Chi by being initiated with a colony that was being installed as a chapter; even if they had never been involved with that particular colony. The men getting initiated had to travel to the place where the installation was occurring. I know a member who was initiated with the College of Charleston chapter- his family were all Sigs from Arkansas.

Sidenote/ I know that "AI'd" does not need an apostrophe. It just looked better than "AId".

So I'm getting the sense that this is being inquired about by someone who is presently unconnected to any college fraternity. In Sigma Nu, we don't have "alumni initiation." We just have initiation. You may be 45 years old and no longer a college student, but you're just initiated. Most often, this is something we do for faculty advisors and other vital non-matriculates. We generally vote and request that our High Council approve the initiation. In my experience, they aren't going to get in your way. We then have the initiation, collect the fee and that individual is a bona fide Sigma Nu.

If you have someone searching to randomly be initiated though, I don't like his chances.

A number of years ago, Phi Gamma Delta at the University of Alabama initiated then-president Dr. Robert Witt. My husband is a Tau Kappa Epsilon member, and they list Elvis Presley as a member, initiated as a non-student.

Psi Upsilon does allow for the initiation of non-collegiates, but it's rare. I only know of one case in the 11 years I've been a Brother that I know it happened, and that was with a long time employee at our IHQ.

Also, if he's DeMolay, why doesn't he just look at joining a Lodge?

L X A also will Initiate none members but it is because of what they have done in working for the Chapter and must be approved by our National.

While they are called Honorary members, they will watch the ritual and are still Brothers. One of ours is President Harry S Truman at Univ. of Missouri!.

Curious...is there a list posted of sororities that do AI? I know mine does. I have a friend who is not in a GLO and her daughter is currently going through recruitment. Went to prefs today and I'm wondering if either of her two groups does AI.

We do have a list on GC--maybe in the AI forum? The only group I know that clearly states that they don't is KKG. And who knows, maybe it has changed.

Thank you! I looked, but didn't find anything.

Through a VERY quick Google search on each org, the groups below are the ones that didn't immediately produce a result on the national organization's website when searching on "alumna initiate" or "alumnae initiation." If you'd like to narrow it down further, have at it! :)

(Also, Delta Delta Delta calls them Honor Initiates and appears to be the only group that has a different name)

Alpha Xi Delta
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Chi Omega
Delta Zeta
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Delta
Phi Sigma Sigma
Sigma Delta Tau
Theta Phi Alpha
Zeta Tau Alpha

We used to have a comprehensive list; but, the sticky was taken down when some members complained that it might encourage people to "sorority shop".



Unfortunately, this list is not accurate. The OP's best bet is to go directly to the national websites for the sororities in question and see if they have information about AI on their websites.

I've always wondered if HQs carefully vet their AI applicants like they do regular PNMs. Someone here once sent me the story of a truly insane AI whom they initiated at Arkansas and I've certainly heard of others.

I am sure this is not the case for all of our AI's, because most are sisters, moms or other relatives, but for my alumnae chapter, if we have friends that we think would be a good fit, we bring them to alumnae events so that we can get to know them as a chapter...since it's the Alumnae Chapters that they'll mainly be involved with. After so many meetings, we vote on it and then make the recommendation to our IHQ. Can't speak to how well IHQ reviews the applications because I've never been on that side of things...but the AI's are "vetted" pretty extensively by the alumnae chapter.

Updated ;) I realized I missed one and only had 25 total on my master list I initially created.

Again, not sure if these remaining groups offer it - I didn't look beyond the first couple results in my Google search. Either way, it's easy enough to find out through a search or phone call.

To be fair, there have been quite a few insane members who have joined through the traditional route, too!

I remember someone mentioning once that TKE could initiate say, your Dad if you paid a fee. I was told it wasn't quite like full membership though.

Oh sure, but these women--well, I'm wondering if they went through undergrad rush and were released for good reasons.

That's true with us as well.

True. I wonder if any groups even track young women who accepted bids, became new members, but didn't initiate (whether of their own choosing or not), and if that goes into the AI decision-making process.

We had a situation like that. This woman had pledged Alpha Gam and then had to drop out of school entirely before initiation because of health reasons. Ended up getting married and took a long time finishing her degree. She always kept up with her pledge sisters and other women in the chapter and so she was initiated as an alum 3 years ago....at least 10 or 11 years after her initial pledging.

https://washburnreview.org/13933/new...burn-sorority/

This is just amazing

What an amazing story! I'm so happy for her!

Back on topic, the only initiations I've heard for graduate/alumni are for house moms on occasion.

Chi Omega will occasionally do AI, but it’s a rare circumstance.
For instance, if a local sorority become a Chi Omega chapter, HQ will offer the Alumnae of that local to be initiated.
Or if Chi Omega is colonizing in a city with few Alumnae, we will offer AI to a select few women in that city (like civic leaders).
Rarest occasion, if a member’s mother (unaffiliated in college) does a ton of volunteering for her daughter’s chapter and Chi Omega nationally. (But, I’ve known 1 member whose mom did so much volunteering, yet never got asked. My own mom has done lots of volunteering, making/sewing stuff for my XO chapter and UCLA’s. She’d probably have to find the missing loving cups, stolen many years ago from our HQ, to ever be asked! Mom has photos, as she is an avid estate sale shopper! She went to Baylor University before there were sororities and wasn’t in a local that became a NPC group.)

My mother was a member of the local which became Chi Omega; when she inquired about being initiated, she was told she'd have to go through a form of rush with the chapter! Chi Omega's loss was Gamma Phi's gain; she was initiated in to my chapter (conveniently , I attended the same college) and was an alumna advisor and alumnae chapter officer for years.

My organization performs AI, but it's not a common occurrence. Our AI are men who have served a chapter or the national organization to their capacity (chapter faculty advisor, house chef, facilitator for conferences). Once the application is completed, our National Council votes and makes a decision. Now there's always exceptions, especially for known athletes or men in the entertainment business who became Phi Tau AI.