Swedish "Sorority"

Swedish Grace · #1 06-28-2016, 02:15 PM

Hi everyone!

I'm a student at a uni in Sweden and have been very fascinated by the Greek culture for some years now. So much that I've started my own sorority at my campus. Though, here in Sweden things are somewhat different and I've adapted and altered the concept a bit to suit Swedish life and social rules etc. However! We have what should be called a women's club now. 3 active and one pledge.

Why I am writing here is to get help and suggestions, and get insight. I've read about Greek life and I've been on this forum before, lurking haha. But with this group founded only this April I need advise.

1. How do you find devoted members? We don't have a rush, that is not a thing at all in Sweden. As I've said there are 3 other girls with me but I am surely the one who's more active and who's heart is in it. I realise that we need a strong core and quality over quantity for it to work in the beginning. I feel like we have that but the effort and enthusiasm is somewhat missing now when we're not estblished.

2. Tips on what to do? What do you do in your sororities, in terms of socialising? Are there rules or just hanging out as normal? The idea is to have a bigger "formal" meet up once a month, and "normal" hanging out between. Aka not necessarily all at once etc.

3. What on earth do we do for initiation? I am totally blank here. We have a friend group on campus who initiate their members by throwing glitter at them at any bigger party/event. And then theyre in. We have no idea of what to do. And I realise that a sorority initiation probably is a lot bigger and more formal than that. I want it to but don't know where to start.

4. Ideas of what girls will "have" to do during their pledge time? So far we just hang out and if they fit our values they are in. Seems boring and we need something fun and something that bonds us together but ideas are dry here as well.

We have a name, logo, motto and values which we stand behind. We know what kind of people we want in our group and what visions we have for the future.

Apologise in advance if similar posts have been made. I've been searching both here and on other places for quite some time but I've most definitely missed something still. ☺

And I realise you all can't and won't tell me the specifics of your sorority. That is not for me to know as an outsider. I do wish for some inspiration however and hope you will help me. This is a very exiting but also nervous time and I want it to be as good as it can be from the start. Thank you!

PhilTau · #2 06-29-2016, 12:37 PM

I would not interpret the lack of response here as a lack of interest in you questions. But rather, people not really knowing how to answer them. Also, you can find answers to many of your questions by looking at past discussion topics. To many Americans, the European university system is a mystery. They may also feel that your inquiry is more academic. But if you look at the histories of several large American social sororities, their webpages indicate that many got started in the 1800s by four or five women.

As far as rituals -- don't expect anyone to discuss this because each person is sworn to secrecy, etc., etc. Several were purportedly exposed on Wikileaks, which is upsetting to a lot of people. But the type of information you seek isn't really hard to find, even before Wikileaks.

FSUZeta · #3 06-29-2016, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swedish Grace

Hi everyone!

I'm a student at a uni in Sweden and have been very fascinated by the Greek culture for some years now. So much that I've started my own sorority at my campus. Though, here in Sweden things are somewhat different and I've adapted and altered the concept a bit to suit Swedish life and social rules etc. However! We have what should be called a women's club now. 3 active and one pledge. Our 26 National Panhellenic Sororities were begun by small groups of like minded young women-many were in their teen aged years), so beginning a sorority with a small number isn't necessarily a bad thing. You four could get all the preliminary plans taken care of before you ask other women to join. What will you call yourself? Will there be dues the members have to pay-how much will that be? Will you have a specially designed pin that has special meaning to your group?

All sororities have colors that have special meaning to them, a special flower, a special coat of arms, other symbols that have special meaning to initiated members. You could work on those things with your core group.

Why I am writing here is to get help and suggestions, and get insight. I've read about Greek life and I've been on this forum before, lurking haha. But with this group founded only this April I need advise.

1. How do you find devoted members? We don't have a rush, that is not a thing at all in Sweden. As I've said there are 3 other girls with me but I am surely the one who's more active and who's heart is in it. I realise that we need a strong core and quality over quantity for it to work in the beginning. I feel like we have that but the effort and enthusiasm is somewhat missing now when we're not estblished.Once you have addressed the things listed above in red, you might hold an informational meeting. Advertise on your university Facebook page, or whatever is the best way to get information to your fellow students.

2. Tips on what to do? What do you do in your sororities, in terms of socialising? Are there rules or just hanging out as normal? The idea is to have a bigger "formal" meet up once a month, and "normal" hanging out between. Aka not necessarily all at once etc.Sororities socialize with each other and with dates at special date parties, but there is so much more to a sorority than that. There are weekly business meetings for the entire membership where plans are made for parties as well as for opportunities to help others in the community (at an animal shelter, a day care center, being tutors for language learners, picking up litter on the roadside-anything that the majority of the members are interested in and is seen as a need in the community). Tips are given on how to find jobs after graduation, how to write a resume to use when applying for a job, how to improve your student habits-how to improve yourself. Many US sororities have houses where members live, eat, and hold their meetings-some are small and only a few members can live there while others are the size of mansions and can accommodate a large number of members-upwards of 300 women sometimes.As mentioned earlier, sororities spend a lot of time doing philanthropic work and each sorority has a special philanthropy that all the members all over the country support.

3. What on earth do we do for initiation? I am totally blank here. We have a friend group on campus who initiate their members by throwing glitter at them at any bigger party/event. And then theyre in. We have no idea of what to do. And I realise that a sorority initiation probably is a lot bigger and more formal than that. I want it to but don't know where to start.National Panhellenic sororities have initiation ceremonies that are solemn and beautiful and secret. They are sort of like a wedding ceremony in a church. It isn't just throwing glitter on people.This is where the secrets of that sorority are revealed in a ceremonial way.

4. Ideas of what girls will "have" to do during their pledge time? So far we just hang out and if they fit our values they are in. Seems boring and we need something fun and something that bonds us together but ideas are dry here as well.NPC sororities typically have 6-8 week pledgeships, called new member periods, where the new members get to know the already initiated members, learn about the history of the sorority and the chapter of the sorority they have joined. They sometimes do a group project where they raise money for the philanthropy the national sorority supports-finding a cure for alzheimers, finding a cure for breast cancer, helping women who are in abusive relationships, etc. They go to parties, sporting events,

We have a name, logo, motto and values which we stand behind. We know what kind of people we want in our group and what visions we have for the future.

Apologise in advance if similar posts have been made. I've been searching both here and on other places for quite some time but I've most definitely missed something still. ☺

And I realise you all can't and won't tell me the specifics of your sorority. That is not for me to know as an outsider. I do wish for some inspiration however and hope you will help me. This is a very exiting but also nervous time and I want it to be as good as it can be from the start. Thank you!

Trying to explain in a few paragraphs how organizations that have been in existence over 100 years is difficult. You might gain more insight if you visit the national websites of each of the 26 national panhellenic sororities and the national websites of the Divine 9 sororities. You can read some of those histories, read about their colors, their symbols, what sorts of charities they support and perhaps that will help you understand better what you are aiming for. Good luck!

FSUZeta · #4 06-29-2016, 12:54 PM

Here are some links to a few of the 26 NPC sorority national websites:

https://www.zetataualpha.org/cms400min/Default.aspx

https://www.pibetaphi.org/pibetaphi/

https://www.alphadeltapi.org/

https://www.deltagamma.org/

http://www.tridelta.org/

https://www.alphachiomega.org/

https://www.alphaphi.org/Home

https://www.alphagammadelta.org/Home

And the link to the National Panhellenic Conference, where you can find the names of all 26 member sororities,: https://www.npcwomen.org/index.aspx

These are just some of the 26 National Panhellenic sororities. You should visit all their pages. They all do good work, have good values and offer sisterhood to many women. Please do not copy any of these groups names, colors, symbols, etc. Make your sorority your own-not a copy of an already existing one.

Swedish Grace · #5 06-29-2016, 01:02 PM

. I've been reading about this but I shall continue as you all recommended.

We already have an established name, logo, Facebook page to get word out, and a possible philanthropy cause. I feel like we are on our way but need a kick in the butt and establish our own rituals if we may call it so. To separate it from "just" a friend group.

Thank you all for your responses. I realise it's not the easiest of questions to give answers to. ☺

jolene · #6 06-29-2016, 01:26 PM

I'm excited to see how all of this turns out. Keep us updated.

Kevin · #7 06-29-2016, 01:50 PM

The most important question to me would be "why"?

Do you have anything in Sweden which organizationally resembles American Greek Life Organizations? Are there any specific things you wish to emulate? The most difficult thing, I think is that these organizations have been an essential aspect of American academia for nearly 200 years, so our society definitely has a spot carved out for these groups to exist.

We have a saying here "no need to reinvent the wheel," which you may have heard. It means there's no need to recreate from scratch something someone else already knows how to do or has done, etc. Here, however, I think you probably have a situation where reinventing the wheel, as we say, might be the most prudent thing to do. I'm not sure where Greek Life fits in within the context of Swedish academia--mostly because I don't really see the American fraternal experience working out nearly as well without the social aspect of having other similarly situated groups on campus with which you can socially interact with, have rivalries, etc.. And maybe you have something like that? None of us probably have enough information about your system to offer great advice.

Swedish Grace · #8 06-29-2016, 02:08 PM

The answer to the question why is: to have a strong network of women, who among other things will support and help each other. To have a group of women who thrive and lift each other. I think the answer is the same as for those who are in sororities and fraternities in America as well. You can always wish to elevate a friendship group to do more and be "better".

In Sweden there are the student union open to everyone. Then there are informal friendship groups who just hang out and party under a common name now and then. And some secret societies in bigger unis like uppsala. The vision for me is something in between which doesn't exist as far as I know.

As far as social interaction I see no problem. I don't wish this sorority to only, or mostly, just hang out with people from other (non existing) sororities.

Swedish Grace · #9 06-29-2016, 02:25 PM

The answer to the question why is: to have a strong network of women, who among other things will support and help each other. To have a group of women who thrive and lift each other. I think the answer is the same as for those who are in sororities and fraternities in America as well. You can always wish to elevate a friendship group to do more and be "better".

In Sweden there are the student union open to everyone. Then there are informal friendship groups who just hang out and party under a common name now and then. And some secret societies in bigger unis like uppsala. The vision for me is something in between which doesn't exist as far as I know.

As far as social interaction I see no problem. I don't wish this sorority to only, or mostly, just hang out with people from other (non existing) sororities.

Swedish Grace · #10 06-30-2016, 04:10 PM

To clarify: I am not after your sorority rituals etc. My wish is to get ideas of fun things for example initiation. More like a fun experience and not a heavy tradition filled one, which I'm sure is great.

jolene · #11 06-30-2016, 05:22 PM

Good for you, SG. It's wonderful that you are creating a group for university women to encourage each other. You and your fellow founding mothers can decide on what you want to do.

Best of luck to you! All of our sororities started somewhere. Mine started in 1893 with ten women.

Swedish Grace · #12 07-02-2016, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jolene

Good for you, SG. It's wonderful that you are creating a group for university women to encourage each other. You and your fellow founding mothers can decide on what you want to do.

Best of luck to you! All of our sororities started somewhere. Mine started in 1893 with ten women.

Thank you for your kind words! That is just my idea, it all has to begin somewhere ☺