Fake/Phony Alums?
 

For formal recruitment this year, we had a supposed alum come to help us out. She seemed really nice and helped out a lot! But, later we found out that she tried to order a badge from our International Office, who had no record of her ever being initiated. This person claimed to have been initiated by our chapter but upon looking through old composites, she was nowhere to be found and other alums that would have been active with her had no memory of her! She added almost all of my sisters on Facebook and later started adding some women from another sorority at my university as well. Later, we found out that she was looking into adult initiation into that sorority.

So, I guess what I want to know is if anyone had ever had something like this happen at their chapter?

Oh no!

One of the sororities at MS State had a perp when I was there. This was a visitor who claimed she was from the U of Arkansas chapter. She had allll the paraphernalia and this was before eBay! But things she said about the Arkansas campus were all wrong so I told that sorority about my doubts and after messing with her about what goes on in initiation, they busted her.

That is insane! I've never heard of that happening...who has the balls to do that?

Ooooo that would piss me the hell off. I think I've said it before, but I loathe perps.

I have mom shirts from all my daughters' sororities. I even feel like a perp when I wear those, especially when the sorority's name is bigger than the word "mom".

IMO that's no biggie. I've never bought my mom one, but I don't think she'd feel bad about wearing it if I did (she's in a different sorority).

The only time I've worn another sorority's letters (excepting as a child when I wore my mom's KD shirts) is on Bid Day when the recruitment counselors do their reveal. And I will say it is a WEIRD feeling to wear a different sorority's jersey even though mine is underneath, and it's WEIRD to see someone from another sorority wearing my letters. It wasn't any less uncomfortable the second time around.

Years ago, we had two guys transfer in to our school (different years), who said that they were brothers. They didn't want to affiliate with us but only wanted to play inter-murals and hang out with us. Back then, the electronic verification that we have now was not available, so we let them hang out. Later, we found out that they had no connection to our fraternity.

So what did they gain? It makes no sense. They aren't even footnotes to us, just oddities.

Never happened to my chapter both when I was a collegian and later when I became an alum.

Whenever the collegiate chapter needs help, we usually get an email from the Alum Chapter president/liaison to the collegians. Once in a while we'll get Random Alum who just moved to the area who'll contact the collegiate chapter offering to help, but the collegians are advised to direct her to the Alum Chapter immediately.

In my experience as a member, an alumna just doesn't contact a collegian without going through proper channels. Exceptions are made for advisors and special relationships, like alum chums.

Speaking of that I saw a "Tri Delt Dad" shirt today in the airport. I wouldn't mind my mom wearing a shirt or two but when you have your daughers sorority letters and under neath it saying like "ZTA MOM" I find that weird. Like living vicariously through your daughter.

Since I've been at my chapter/an alum of my chapter the only time a member who quit/was terminated actually showed up to help with recruitment I heard she was thanked for her willingness to help but was gently shown the door. It was odd too because it was a young enough woman that the majority of actives knew her and knew she had quit.

I never heard that story! (I am a recent MSU alum so it may have been well before my time) That was one bold lady to try to pull that at State. The South is too small of a world to try to pull that mess. Would you mind PMing me the chapter? I am curious to know which one of our chapters it was. Some of them are smaller worlds than others.

LOL! Well, I certainly don't need to live through my daughters, I have letters of my own! Most of these came through the chapters themselves as gifts on parents' days and others came from gifts straight from the groups' national websites.

However, the word "mom" somehow seems to be invisible to a few people, who come up and start doing cheers from that sorority or exclaim that they were an ABC at ThisorThat University.

My mom has had that happen too, especially at the gym. My dad has never had that problem. :D

(Then again, these shirts are both t-shirts from Family's Day or the like, rather than stitched letter t-shirts....)

Exactly...people forget that every chapter is different. In some chapters, there are VERY active parents'/mothers' groups that assist chapters for various events. The chapters thank them with Mother's pins (ta da...why do you think we have these?) or Mom/Dad shirts. Just because it's not a common thing on one campus doesn't mean it's a sign of a mother co-opting another group's letters. Check your org's store. I bet they sell them.

That's past perp and on to creepy "Friends Till The End" territory. I would say she pretty much shot her chances for AI in ANY sorority.

This could never happen in our chapter - it's small enough (we never had over 60 actives) that a fake alum would get busted in 2.5 seconds. Ditto for the other chapters on our campus.

I actually have a chapter listing of all the women initiated into our chapter from when we did our centennial reunion, and when anyone asks to join our FB group, they need to give me their maiden name and pledge class...or you ain't getting in. If your HQ can provide such a thing, I would recommend it for whoever maintains membership in your chapter facebook group.

AH I know you arent living vicariously through them :)

Hmmm... This is how it's supposed to work with ADPi, too! I know that Alumnae Associations are to do that, as we had a deactivated member try to join. She was given a second chance by EO, but blew that one, too. No more ADPi for her (I would hope!). I do hope that you contacted EO about this wannabe, so the other chapters can be warned.

Okay, I just got some more information from another active from this chapter. (hi,"Mischief"!) She told me this woman's name and that she's got ADPi stuff all over her Facebook and she does!!! Worse yet, she's friended several legit ADPis; I know one of them.

I am stunned by the nerve of this woman.

Phi Mus, do you have an online or print membership directory like the ones mentioned in this thread? I've been wondering about someone who has posted here. (Poor Phi Mu: they've had more than their share of phony members on GC lately.)

There is a look up. I have requested out of it for personal reasons, but I can still be found on our "Bloom" which is like Myspace, but for Phi Mus only.

My chapter is a very small one and we don't receive much help from the local alumnae chapter. Most of the help we do get is from our recent alums and advisors. We all felt like that lady was creepy...she stayed on our hall (we don't have a house at my university) with a sister during recruitment! Not only did she add active sisters, she also friended many of our recent alums who were still students. After we got word from EO that she was not a sister, our chapter advisor told us all to defriend and block her on facebook. She apparently has several different profiles under various names that are close to the name she introduced herself under. On her facebook page she had pictures of founder's headstones and her doing diamonds (by herself) beside them, from an alumnae bbq and from the ADPi museum at EO.
That lady went to some incredible lengths to appear 'legit'! Gah! It still makes me mad!

Does ADPi have a Sister Directory you can access online?

Why the heck would you let some random person in your homes without verifying them first? Sorry you girls had to go through this, but I just don't get how anyone could just let her in like that.

Creeptastic. Who let her on the hall? On the bright side, stalking is a form of creepy flattery. ;)

I have no idea how she got so close to any of us but yes, we are all at fault for letting it happen. I know that I initially assumed that she had been checked out by our advisors and our chapter's executive members... Obviously I was wrong!

Out of curiousity, how old was she?

Roughly mid- to late forties.

Just started reading this and WOW. There are some crazy people here. I think they just want some attention they never received back then...

Luckily we never had anyone pretending to be brothers....not sure what would happen to those guys if they tried us and get busted.

You aren't Greek. You have no idea what these things may mean to an organization. You really need to step away from the keyboard and worry about your recruitment.

I actually wanted to get my mom a "Phi Mu Mom" shirt, but in SDT's colors.

I'd buy my mom one if I thought she'd wear it. I know she wouldn't really want to (she's not big on lettered shirts and such even with her own letters) but she has been very supportive of my membership and my organization even though it isn't her own. ETA: She's been supportive of my membership both with time and finances, and IMO it's perfectly fine to show appreciation to a parent with a shirt like that.

Agreed. There were parents who were more involved in our chapter's parents' association than they were in their own alumnae associations.

Double agreed. I see it a lot with men and women whose kids have been cut by their legacy chapters. I can think of two moms like that who should have been given major awards for all they did for their daughters' chapters! The moms never darkened the door of their own chapters again.

I saw a picture of the phony alum on Facebook with her ADPi stuff. Erg.

The active I know from that chapter says that they have but the woman persists. She still has the ADPi shots all over her FB.

Out her so we can all go on FB and mock her. :p

PM me if you really want to know :)

Yiiii! I just heard from BabyBearADPi and she said that the perp was actually on campus again once last year. I hope the cops threw her butt out since she'd been banned from campus.

She still has her ADPi FB page.:(