Huh?

When I was going through recruitment, one of the girls in a chapter that had dressed completely identically down to jewelry (which honestly, I expected, thought they looked nice, very pulled together, etc,) was trying to tell me how diverse they were by saying, "For instance, we're not all pretty, and we're not all smart..." I remember just blinking and having no response. I think I may have said something about it being interesting or something equally inane. For the record, I didn't bring up diversity.

When I was an active in OPA we had a girl come through interview round and one of the sisters asked in jest, "Have you ever done anything illegal?" She kind of chuckled and got ready to really ask a question and the girl proceeded to tell us how when she and her friend worked for the Sanrio store in the mall, they had to close the store the last day that they were in business and stole thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.

OPA was very open when it comes to membership at my campus, but she definitely didn't get a bid.

To Clarify (this rush is 30+ years ago):

Seated rushee(s) with a seated rusher(s) were NOT to feel intimidated, looked down upon, or loomed-over by sorority members. Hence the Open House Rule explained at Ye Olde Rush Orientation: Rusher(s) must sit at or below their rushee(s) eye level when rushee(s) seated.

Or as our Rush Counselors put it, rushees are Princesses being courted from below by the sorority members. We were told to expect and welcome this treatment.

Rushees were given pillows or cushions when both they and rushers sat on the floor. And in my previous example the rusher sat upon a low glass table below my chair's level. Awkward, but memorable.

It's a women's fraternity versus sorority meme. Those ladies in a Fraternity, understand because we have been on the receiving end of that question during recruitment.

The odd thing is that when I saw your posting of the image is that I thought it was a slam on women in *co-ed* fraternities like Alpha Phi Omega and Kappa Kappa Psi...

Any idea if there is an easy way to get a list of those members of the NPC which are Women's Fraternities vs Sororities?

From the NPC manual of information (AKA green book) page 7

ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS

Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity ΑΧΩ
Alpha Delta Pi Sorority ΑΔΠ
Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority ΑΕΦ
Alpha Gamma Delta Fraternity ΑΓΔ
Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity ΑΟΠ
Alpha Phi Fraternity ΑΦ
Alpha Sigma Alpha Sorority ΑΣΑ
Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority ΑΣΤ
Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity ΑΞΔ
Chi Omega Fraternity ΧΩ
Delta Delta Delta Fraternity ΔΔΔ
Delta Gamma Fraternity ΔΓ
Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority ΔΦΕ
Delta Zeta Sorority ΔΖ
Gamma Phi Beta Sorority ΓΦΒ
Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity ΚΑΘ
Kappa Delta Sorority ΚΔ
Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity ΚΚΓ
Phi Mu Fraternity ΦΜ
Phi Sigma Sigma Fraternity ΦΣΣ
Pi Beta Phi Fraternity ΠΒΦ
Sigma Delta Tau Sorority ΣΔΤ
Sigma Kappa Sorority ΣΚ
Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority ΣΣΣ
Theta Phi Alpha Fraternity ΘΦΑ
Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity ΖΤΑ

And thus my confusion. I guess it comes from being in a co-ed fraternity.

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.