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  #61  
Old 12-04-2004, 02:22 PM
preciousjeni preciousjeni is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by JocelynC
THERE are many men and women who would prefer to join something that was FOUNDED on the core values of their culture and building their community up. As all encompassing as NPC's mission is, it cannot specifically address the needs of the hispanic/black/asian communities in the specific way that multicultural or orgs historically based in those cultures can. Those orgs exist to honor build and address the needs of men and women in those communites and for them to keep their "ear" to what goes on there while working closely with people of their own race. There is nothing wrong with that...

Simply put, the NPC/IFC cannot address the issues and causes SPECIFICALLY facing African Americans, Hispanics, etc. so that's where these organizations come in and I respect them. They have a very important and valid place in the Greek world.
Such a great way to put it! Thank you JocelynC!!
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  #62  
Old 12-10-2004, 03:37 PM
PhDiva PhDiva is offline
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Jocelyn,

You make excellent points throughout your post. I offer a different bit of perspective as I am a college professor in Black and Women's Studies and not a memeber of any GLO.

I encounter students on a regular basis who are bi-racial, multi-racial or as jeni puts it "multiculturally-minded" and often b/c of the college administration's and/or the existing GLO's resistance to change, these students often don't have a place for them to feel accepted. I've witnessed several of these students become disgusted with the whole idea of Greek Life b/c no one wants to move beyond the black-white binary paradigm (I know, I'm a professor... in layperson's terms: American society's willful inability to deal with Asians, Latino/as and people of mixed race ancestry). NPC and NPHC organizations are both guilty of this.

I've seen NPHC (Black GLO's) assume that they should have a monopoly on Black students wanting to join their organizations...thus someone like Jocelyn is viewed as a "sellout" b/c she opted to go with a NPC organization. Likewise, I've seen white students who are Black Studies majors (at my institutition) who wanted to participate in NPHC organizations (1) are seen as "wiggers" by NPC groups and (2) hazed beyond belief by NPHC organizations they are trying to join.

The point to all of this is that no one should have a say in how you define yourself and the choices you make. Therefore, MCGLO's can provide viable options for someone who's looking for a different experience. This is not to say that MCGLO's are without their faults but if they provide a means for a student to feel more connected and improves their quality of life, by all means they shouldn't have to face this "old guard" mentality of NPC, NPHC or the highway. People are going to gravitate to that with which they feel most comfortable so why not offer a smorgasborg of options and let people make up their own minds (and live with those choices).

Our world is becoming more diverse everyday and Americans have some of the least globally and multi-culturally minded people in the world b/c we cluster in ethnic enclaves and never leave our comfort zones. If we don't start taking the time to learn about one another without using our lens to judge someone else's experience negatively, we are going have many more Iraq's (your generation's Vietnam).

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  #63  
Old 12-10-2004, 03:47 PM
preciousjeni preciousjeni is offline
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Thank you for your perspective, PhDiva. You bring up points that have certainly been made in the many conversations on GC. The things you observed about NPC and NPHC groups are things that current members are trying to rectify. The more I think about it, the more I'm really starting to see the the birth of multicultural orgs came at a time when there was a lot of pressure on all Greeks to diversify (as they are still doing now.) So much attention to diversity would have certainly brought about the idea of multicultural Greeks as well as to set a welcoming stage for us to make our presence known.

I love how your first post was on this thread!
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  #64  
Old 12-10-2004, 04:21 PM
Wolfman Wolfman is offline
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"The value of our Fraternity is not in numbers,but in men,in real brotherhood."-Bro. Walter H. Maszyk,Esq.

I've read with interest this particular thread,and I do agree that the changing cartography of "race" is having an effect on our social makeup, even in Greekdom. But we must not forget that this conversation predates recent history. In the '40s and into the '60s, "white" Greek-letter organizations, which had exclusionary policies were under pressure from shool administrations to drop them. Some of this occured because individual chapters wanted to initiate non-white members and ran head long into resistance from chapters in the South.etc. Among the NPHC-member groups, this was an issue also. In my fraternity,Omega Psi Phi, we struck from our Ritual and Constitution any reference to race, ethnicity,etc. The tone of "inclusivity" that is being touted among NPC- and NIC-member groups is a recent phenomenon. These organizations were not founded in a historical vacuum either!
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  #65  
Old 12-11-2004, 02:52 AM
absoluteZChi absoluteZChi is offline
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Why MCGLOs??

I feel I've been out of the loop for so long...too long without my GC..

Well, after reading all the previous emails, I feel I can only give my 2 cents on why I started a chapter of a MCGLO

On my campus there were only 3 different type of sorority's (HW, HB and HL). I looked into each but felt that there had to be more than just this...why did I have to "pick" which single def. I wanted to join?

When Zeta Sigma Chi crossed my path, I knew it was what I needed. I wanted to share my culture (at the same time learn more about it...no one is the guru on being Mexican, French and Greek) and learn about others. I was in college to further my education and I didn't feel it only needed to be about what the University had to teach, but others around me....going out in the workforce wasn't going to be cookie cutter style, so why should my Sorority?

I'm proud of anyone who joins any org. and helps it reach a new level. I felt I could reach a new level with a MCGLO, plus since it was the first on the campus, I was opening the door for others to see what I saw.
-----------------------------------------------
Sidebar:
Many years later, I see so many orgs that are HLGLO change form being all about the Hispanic movement and change over to promoting themselves as MCGLO, when in fact they are just (in my opinion) "mulit-Hispanic". I think this goes against what their founders sought after so long ago. I truly feel that they should stay true to what they were founded on.
-------------------------------------------------
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  #66  
Old 12-11-2004, 03:38 AM
preciousjeni preciousjeni is offline
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Re: Why MCGLOs??

Quote:
Originally posted by absoluteZChi
Many years later, I see so many orgs that are HLGLO change form being all about the Hispanic movement and change over to promoting themselves as MCGLO, when in fact they are just (in my opinion) "mulit-Hispanic". I think this goes against what their founders sought after so long ago. I truly feel that they should stay true to what they were founded on.
I agree and I'm afraid it's this same mentality that causes non-MCGLO Greeks to sometimes become angry when an MCGLO joins their campuses. They feel that because MCGLOs promote multiculturalism, they are - in effect - saying that the rest of the Greeks are not multicultural or do not promote diversity.

As I've said, this is not the case. I truly believe that organizations need to remain tied to their founders' visions. If you are a HLGLO, HBGLO, HWGLO, HAGLO - etc. - be proud of your beginnings and realize that as you move forward, the face of your organization can change, but your purpose musn't.

Honestly, in my OPINION (please do not flame me!) the organizations that have stayed most on track, in this regard, are the HBGLOs, though I know there have been some minor issues when it comes to initiating non-AFAM aspirants. But, these are generally on an individual basis and are certainly not based in any national position on the issue.
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  #67  
Old 12-11-2004, 02:04 PM
WhirlwindTNX WhirlwindTNX is offline
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Re: Re: Why MCGLOs??

Quote:
Originally posted by preciousjeni
I agree and I'm afraid it's this same mentality that causes non-MCGLO Greeks to sometimes become angry when an MCGLO joins their campuses. They feel that because MCGLOs promote multiculturalism, they are - in effect - saying that the rest of the Greeks are not multicultural or do not promote diversity.
You must be picking my brain Soror Preciousjeni. I've experienced this same thing.....
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  #68  
Old 12-13-2004, 01:14 AM
LatinaAlumna LatinaAlumna is offline
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Re: Why MCGLOs??

Quote:
Originally posted by absoluteZChi

Sidebar:
Many years later, I see so many orgs that are HLGLO change form being all about the Hispanic movement and change over to promoting themselves as MCGLO, when in fact they are just (in my opinion) "mulit-Hispanic". I think this goes against what their founders sought after so long ago. I truly feel that they should stay true to what they were founded on.
-------------------------------------------------
CO-SIGN! There are too many LGLOs out there doing the "flip-flop" these days. I know of so many who have half the membership claiming to be MCGLO and the other half claiming to be LGLO. Along the same lines, there are several MCGLOs whose members will also try to claim LGLO. Some even tried to join NALFO.
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  #69  
Old 12-13-2004, 01:18 AM
Senusret I Senusret I is offline
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Re: Re: Why MCGLOs??

Quote:
Originally posted by LatinaAlumna
CO-SIGN! There are too many LGLOs out there doing the "flip-flop" these days. I know of so many who have half the membership claiming to be MCGLO and the other half claiming to be LGLO. Along the same lines, there are several MCGLOs whose members will also try to claim LGLO. Some even tried to join NALFO.
Name names, dammit!

lol j/k
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  #70  
Old 12-21-2004, 01:51 PM
Takeshi Takeshi is offline
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I hope it's not too late to chime in on this discussion. I become one of the founders of a chapter of my sorority because I wanted to start a GLO that not only had a diverse membership (racially, economically, religiously etc.) but was also devoted to promoting multiculturalism through on and off-campus activities. Being a multicultural sorority in Alabama is a struggle at times but I hope that our efforts will rub off on other Greek organizations that remain largely segregated.
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  #71  
Old 12-21-2004, 05:23 PM
shadokat shadokat is offline
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Re: Re: Why MCGLOs??

Quote:
Originally posted by preciousjeni
Honestly, in my OPINION (please do not flame me!) the organizations that have stayed most on track, in this regard, are the HBGLOs, though I know there have been some minor issues when it comes to initiating non-AFAM aspirants. But, these are generally on an individual basis and are certainly not based in any national position on the issue.
This may seem so, but I encourage you to look at both Delta Phi Epsilon and Phi Sigma Sigma in NPC terms. Both of these organizations were founded by women who were not accepted into other NPC organizations because of their religious beliefs.

From the words of DPhiE's founders: Delta Phi Epsilon was formed to "promote good fellowship among the women students among the various colleges in the country...to create a secret society composed of these women based upon their good moral character, regardless of nationality or creed...to have distinct chapters at various colleges..."

In 1917, did these women say no African American women can join? Could be...it was 1917 after all, and I don't know what the African American population was at the universities where Delta Phi Epsil was, but as someone who has been involved in sorority life since 1993, and been an active alumna for more than 7 years, I can honestly say that our chapters are following these words of our founders each day. I can't remember one chapter I've ever been to that has been all white. Not even my own, which is located at a school with about 600 minority students out of 7,000.

But are we "multicultural"? I don't think that was our Founders' intentions...it was their intention to provide women a sorority that wasn't based on nationality or creed.

But enough of my soapbox
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  #72  
Old 12-21-2004, 05:45 PM
TheEpitome1920 TheEpitome1920 is offline
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Re: Re: Why MCGLOs??

Quote:
Originally posted by LatinaAlumna
CO-SIGN! There are too many LGLOs out there doing the "flip-flop" these days. I know of so many who have half the membership claiming to be MCGLO and the other half claiming to be LGLO. Along the same lines, there are several MCGLOs whose members will also try to claim LGLO. Some even tried to join NALFO.

Oooh I know who you are talking about,lol.

But usually I hear from the members who aren't Latino/a that their organizations are multicultural. Interesting indeed.
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  #73  
Old 12-21-2004, 10:10 PM
absoluteZChi absoluteZChi is offline
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It does bother me when I see a GLO that was founded as a HLGLO change from Hispanic Oriented to MC. My Org has many Hispanics that didn't want to joing a HLGLO simply because they wanted to expand their knowledge of other cultures and teach others about theirs. This is something I think HLGLO were seeing start to happen, so they came up with changing their marketing to MC.

I know memembers of such orgs that are considered "old school" and they have told me that they don't agree with this change.

Originally posted by preciousjeni
Honestly, in my OPINION (please do not flame me!) the organizations that have stayed most on track, in this regard, are the HBGLOs, though I know there have been some minor issues when it comes to initiating non-AFAM aspirants. But, these are generally on an individual basis and are certainly not based in any national position on the issue.


I agree with preciousjeni....the only GLO in my opinion that have kept their course since founding is HBGLO. Many others have altered their marketing or started meantioning that they accept all religions. This to me isn't MC. Again, just my opinion.
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  #74  
Old 12-21-2004, 10:12 PM
absoluteZChi absoluteZChi is offline
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It does bother me when I see a GLO that was founded as a HLGLO change from Hispanic Oriented to MC. My Org has many Hispanics that didn't want to joing a HLGLO simply because they wanted to expand their knowledge of other cultures and teach others about theirs. This is something I think HLGLO were seeing start to happen, so they came up with changing their marketing to MC.

I know memembers of such orgs that are considered "old school" and they have told me that they don't agree with this change.


I agree with preciousjeni....the only GLO in my opinion that have kept their course since founding is HBGLO. Many others have altered their marketing or started meantioning that they accept all religions. This to me isn't MC. Again, just my opinion.]
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  #75  
Old 12-21-2004, 10:13 PM
33girl 33girl is offline
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This is all interesting.

Has anyone ever heard of an Asian oriented GLO changing over, so to speak, and proclaiming that they are a multicultural GLO?
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