national needed or not?

[PiratePrincess]

myself and several friends are unhappy with our schools greek system. We feel the emphasis is placed more on the social, instead of the service and self improvement. Several of these friends went through the new member program and dissagreed with the program. I myself have some major moral issues with the new member programs of nations glos. In addition, I am an older returning student who would like to make an organization that includes nontraditional students (part time, grad students, full time employed students, commuters, working and student parents, older students) in addition to traditional students. I have over this summer, with the help of friends planned the beginning of a local service sorority. I have already outlined the groups letters, colors, philanthropy, symbols, mascot, jewel, constitution, new member program, bylaws, and structure. Since service is our priority, we have decided on doing philanthropy on several levels- sorority (2 per sem.), school (2 per sem), community (1 per sem), national (1 per sem), and international (1 per sem). In addition, we are interested in requiring sisters to attend several school/local events each semester in different areas (arts/athletics/etc) to promote a more well rounded individual.

I am wondering if alining with a national glo is neccessary in really getting a good start on this organization. I feel that the majority of social sororities will change the values of this organization.

[babylyne]

It just depends....Many NPC groups are very focused on certian areas depending on the chapter. You may be so focused now but when you leave your sorority may go down another path (it happened to me) so no matter what you do there may come a day when it all changes. For the most part my sorority didnt change, but there are times when they feel the pressure. We are not a part of an NPC national and we have decided that we dont align with an NPC sorority. Not saying that there aren't some really great groups out there, we decided to be apart of a new national that is growing and building slowly but surely. So I guess my point is (I wander I know) stick to what you want your sorority to be, we do a ton of philanthropies and we love it!! And I was married when I started my sorority, so is one of the other founding sisters. So if you want to do that good for you!!!! Good Luck and if you need any advice let me know I know how hard it can be

~Heather

[SOPi_Jawbreaker]

There are several national service sororities. Have you looked into these? Perhaps, you can find what you are looking for there (strong emphasis on service, non-traditional students feel comfortable, involvement in the school, etc.) Starting a completely new organization is going to be hard work. If you do a search, there have been several threads about what is involved in starting a local. With a national service org, you would probably get more support and guidance with how to set things up. Plus, you would have a large national network of sisters.

Gamma Sigma Sigma
Omega Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Omega (co-ed service fraternity)
Epsilong Sigma Alpha (i think this may be more of a community/non-collegiate sorority)
Delta Theta Tau (i think this may also be more of a community/non-collegiate sorority)

I know that are many more service sororities out there. These were just the first few results I got when I did a quick Google search. I would recommend reading through these and try to research other existing service organizations. If you truly can't find an existing organization that has what you're looking for, then look into starting a local. But thoroughly research the topic first.

[OPhiAGinger]

Hi PiratePrincess! While you can certainly build a local service sorority that will exactly meet your needs, don't count out the national organizations just yet. The sorority you described sounds exactly like Omega Phi Alpha National Service sorority!

O Phi A promotes a blend of social and service activities, but with a much stronger emphasis on the service side. The similarities between your proposed program of service and O Phi A were especially striking. Our chapters are encouraged to perform projects in each of the following areas of service every year: to the members of the sorority, to the university community, to the community at large, to the nations of the world, to our permanent project (Mental Health), and to our president's project (which changes annually but was named as Women's Health for 2006-07). What's more, we welcome the non-traditional students you described as well as the traditional. Our sisters are a broad cross-section of campus life, including every ethnic group, older students, married students, handicapped students, and 'traditional' students. We believe we have something to offer all of these distinct groups, and they definitely have something to offer us!

I am currently serving as the national vice president of expansion for O Phi A, so if you'd like more details about how to establish an O Phi A chapter on your campus, please email me at expansions@omegaphialpha.org.

OPhiAGinger

(edited to add the email address --- that could be helpful!)