Non-Collegiate Greek Organizations vs. Local Organizations vs. National GLO's

deltalamb · #1 07-08-2004, 01:42 AM

Hello Everyone,

I would appreciate your opinion on this one.

I am a proud member of Delta Lambda Delta Sorority which is a non-collegiate organization. Though we have members who are currently full time college students we do not currently have actual chapters on any particular campuses and our membershipis also open to those who are not in school.

My question is, do local organizations who are college affiliated still consider non-collegiate organizations to be "local". We consider ourselves local and have been by some organizations but by others we have been told that we are in a whole other class.

Non-collegiate GLO's seem to be under more scrutiny by other GLO's even more so than college affiliated orgs. I can speak for my organization by saying that we chose to be a non-collegiate GLO because there are more restrictions and rules when being college afiliated. It can even prove to be more expensive for the organization depending on the campus you are affilated with. Though we are all college educated we do not believe that a person should be denied a chance at forming a life long bond just because he/she did not attend college for whatever reason.

How do you all feel about Non-Collegiate organizations?

Kevin · #2 07-08-2004, 10:19 AM

I feel fine about them. But other than the brotherhood/sisterhood and perhaps the way they're governed, they really don't bear a whole lot of resemblance to more traditional GLO's.

My guess is that a non-college affiliated sorority would probably resemble a chapter of the Junior League more than an NPC sorority.

33girl · #3 07-08-2004, 10:31 AM

I agree with ktsnake. Your non-collegiate status really doesn't have anything to do with being local though. Local is how many chapters you have. If you have chapters all over the nation you're national, whether you accept collegians, non-collegians or a mix. If you only have one chapter, you're local.

sairose · #4 07-08-2004, 01:37 PM

I think the non-collegiate ones are wonderful! I had never heard of them before I was on GreekChat...but I think it's great because it's gives people a chance to be Greek who either didn't go to college, or whatnot.

I haven't heard of Delta Lambda Delta. How many chapters do you have? When were you founded? Etc etc? I like to learn.

aopirose · #5 07-08-2004, 01:55 PM

Local
Like 33 said, if you only have one chapter then you're local. I understand that if a group only has two chapters and they are an hour apart, some may consider that local too. This is mainly because they are in the “local area”. However, I think that once a second chapter is added, the group is either regional or national depending on its location.

My view
Whether a group was founded 200 years ago or yesterday, it serves a purpose. I do view non-collegiate organizations differently because they do not belong to a major association like NPC or NPHC. It doesn’t mean that I think any less of them. It just means that they are governed differently.

If other groups are scrutinizing yours, it means that they are unfamiliar and don’t understand. Take that opportunity to educate them.

erica812 · #6 07-09-2004, 10:17 AM

I am a very proud sister of Beta Sigma Phi International Sorority!! We operate much like other Greek organizations with the simple distinction that the educational status of a woman has no influence on whether or not she can become a member of the sisterhood. Membership is by invitation only. We have approximately 12,000 chapters in the U.S., Canada, and multiple other countries.

The chapter that I helped to establish is made entirely of college students. There are a number of collegiate chapters, but college enrollment is certainly not the norm for Beta sisters.

If it weren't for Beta Sigma Phi, I would have missed out on the opportunity to have "Sorority Sisters." I have enjoyed my APO membership very much, but I always hoped to find a group of women to share my time and talents with. I love that Beta Sigma Phi supports women's causes.

Erica

Diamond Delta · #7 07-09-2004, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by erica812
I am a very proud sister of Beta Sigma Phi International Sorority!! We operate much like other Greek organizations with the simple distinction that the educational status of a woman has no influence on whether or not she can become a member of the sisterhood. Membership is by invitation only. We have approximately 12,000 chapters in the U.S., Canada, and multiple other countries.

The chapter that I helped to establish is made entirely of college students. There are a number of collegiate chapters, but college enrollment is certainly not the norm for Beta sisters.

If it weren't for Beta Sigma Phi, I would have missed out on the opportunity to have "Sorority Sisters." I have enjoyed my APO membership very much, but I always hoped to find a group of women to share my time and talents with. I love that Beta Sigma Phi supports women's causes.

Erica

I just saw your website and your chapter looks precious!!! I too started my chapter and some of us are still in school too, some aren't. We aren't affiliated with a school, but I am hoping to start a chapter at my school soon. I'd like to get them going and then just be their advisor. Good luck to you. Good luck with rush this fall!!!

Kevin · #8 07-09-2004, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Diamond Delta
I just saw your website and your chapter looks precious!!! I too started my chapter and some of us are still in school too, some aren't. We aren't affiliated with a school, but I am hoping to start a chapter at my school soon. I'd like to get them going and then just be their advisor. Good luck to you. Good luck with rush this fall!!!

Part of what I consider the traditional GLO approach includes being affiliated with the University. Things like homecoming, Greek Week, Rush, competition with other houses, all those sorts of things. You probably don't get that. However, you do have a good sisterhood, a lifelong committment, etc.. just like traditional groups.

Again, I'd liken y'all to something like the Junior League or maybe a female version of the Masons or Elks before I'd liken you to traditional, University Affiliated GLO's.

I'm not trying to say that one is better than the other, they are just different enough to not be the same thing.

deltalamb · #9 07-09-2004, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sairose
I think the non-collegiate ones are wonderful! I had never heard of them before I was on GreekChat...but I think it's great because it's gives people a chance to be Greek who either didn't go to college, or whatnot.

I haven't heard of Delta Lambda Delta. How many chapters do you have? When were you founded? Etc etc? I like to learn.

Thank you so much for responding. Delta Lambda Delta Sorority was founded in May 2003. (We're still babies compared to some of you)

We only have ne chapter so far that is based in Brooklyn, New York but we are n the process of getting other chapters started.

I would love to ask other non-collegiate GLO's how you all go about recruiting new members. For us it is kind of difficult because a lot of the schools will not allow you top post fliers on their campuses and even the schools that some of our sisters attend make it difficult to recruit because they won't allow you to wear your paraphernalia on campus unless you are registered. In order to get registered on one campus they said that we would be required ot purchase a $500,000 insurance plan. I would like to know how other organizations such as ours deal with this.

Kevin · #10 07-09-2004, 02:18 PM

deltalamb, are these public schools telling you what you can and cannot wear on campus???

I can see their point though with the insurance. And actually, it might be smart to get a policy. It would definitely be smart if you're a current officer.

Diamond Delta · #11 07-11-2004, 07:38 PM

ktsnake, I totally see your point about non-collegiate groups being different than collegiate ones in that we will probably not participate in events such as homecomming, traditional socials, crush parties, competitions, intramurals, etc. You are correct about that .However, since most sororities, fraternities etc. are "for life" then I think we are more alike than not. The collegiate experience is usually only 4-7 years of one's life experience (some more-some less), whereas you could be in the fraternity for 50 years! So the majority of some people's greek experience isn't even at the college level. So in that respect, I feel non-collegiate GLO's are very similar to college ones b/c we do many of the same things as collegiate alumnus (alumni-I forget!). There are also many members of sororites that join as alumnae-especially in the NPC. Not a majority, but certainly some. Now I do not know about numbers in the NPHC, but I know that many more join community groups as alumni than as collegians (when compared to the NPC).

I hope that didn't read arugmentative, I am just thinking that in the long term-we are all more similar than we are different. Especially if you consider it to be a life long membership and not a college thing.

Diamond Delta · #12 07-11-2004, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by deltalamb

I would love to ask other non-collegiate GLO's how you all go about recruiting new members. For us it is kind of difficult because a lot of the schools will not allow you top post fliers on their campuses and even the schools that some of our sisters attend make it difficult to recruit because they won't allow you to wear your paraphernalia on campus unless you are registered. In order to get registered on one campus they said that we would be required ot purchase a $500,000 insurance plan. I would like to know how other organizations such as ours deal with this.

My group is new too and we are planning to recruit members in a few ways.
1) get a website and a chapter email
2) Get your name out into the community. Register with your city as an organization with the "welcome office" or whatever.
3) Put an ad in the paper announcing yourself! List your philanthropy and other projects. Always include "Those interested in joining can contact 555-1234 or www.seeus.com for more info"
4) Have socials. Try a Mexican and Margarita or Luou night and have each member bring a friend or two.
5) Have a Tea Party. I know it sounds silly and old fashined, but ladies love getting dressed up and doing this!
6) hold a fundraiser and wear your letters.
7) Have a girls night out and wear letters. Use it as an opportunity to talk to tother women you see out.
8) Talk to the near by schools and see about putting an ad in the school newspaper. Often there are no restrictions to it being just for students. Other businesses asvertise in there-why not you!

Good Luck!

erica812 · #13 07-12-2004, 05:00 PM

I'm glad you liked our site, Delta Diamond. It really needs to be updated!! I actually graduated in May, so I had to say good-bye to my Beta Sigma Phi sisters.

I found a good way to recruit members was by e-mailing students who are listed on campus activity websites. Believe it or not, I got plenty of responses this way! Word-of-mouth was definitely our strongest tool though. When we were just forming, we had 6 members one day and TEN the next just because two members each brought two potential members. We were lucky that all four chose to join.

Erica

Tom Earp · #14 07-12-2004, 05:14 PM

Just a question, wasnt this same post placed on another Thread?

If so, I suggest that the mod merge them.

Not being a da, but keeping posts togethere will help more than yu may think!

Erik P Conard · #15 07-12-2004, 07:26 PM

KTSnake's definition of the non-GLO, non-NIC, non-collegiate
organization...was excellent, well thought out. And he only replied when asked, had no hate, and was a gentleman thru and
thru.
KT, I predict great things for you.
You represent Sigma Nu, UCO and the greeks as I knew them in a
commendable fashion. Carry on and best wishes....