This blog will focus on undergraduate students. I promise I will post another blog about Grad membership as well.
So you've done your research, you realized that XYZ org is the PERFECT org for you. So now what? Do I tell all of its members? Do I tell all of my friends?
After realizing which organization you want to join, you have a lot of work ahead of you. Do you know the National and chapter history? Do you know the principles of the org? If a member was to ask you "Why do you want to be a member of my organization, do you know what your answer will be? These are things you need to think about and prepare.
1. Attend ALL if not most of the organization events. By doing this task, TRUST ME the members will know that you are interested.
2. Join other organizations on campus. Black Student Association, Student Government, etc...to get noticed! There is a big chance that the members of the organization of your choice are ALSO members, so this is another way to connect with them. Try to land leadership roles with these organizations as well.
3. Discreet!, Discreet! DISCREET!!!! I can't stress this enough! If you are close friends with a member or two, then it's okay to let them know your interests, but, for the most part, do NOT let anyone else know. That includes "pillow talking w/your boo" talking to your BFFs, and GOD FORBID members from another organization. Even if your friends confide in you and tell you, their interests do NOT mean that you tell them well your interests lie.
4.Community Service- Most organization require that you perform community service. Now some may require more hrs than others, but in a nutshell, you want to stand out! I say that to say this, Don't start community service RIGHT BEFORE RUSH!
5. Grades - Grades are crucial when we are choosing members to join our org. We don't want people that just met the bare minimal GPA requirement, but we want prospective members that are on their A game! For example when I pledge DST all of my line sisters had GPAs well ABOVE 3.0. My GPA was a 3.8!
6. How do I know about their events? Research and see if they have a chapter website, a Facebook account that you can join or become a fan of. (And by that I mean some organization including my initiating chapter have a "Friends of XYZ Chapter") Also, keep your eyes and ears open for flyer's, posters, etc. for events that they may have on or around campus.
7. One of the worst things you can ask a member is "When are you all having a line?" If she/he thinks you're worthy, she/he will VOLUNTEER this information to you, without you asking.
8. Don't become a Fraternity groupie! WE HATE THAT!!!!!!! You have no idea who many emails I have received in the past asking me "I want to be a part of Delta, will become a Q-Sweet, or Q-essence, or Q-doll, etc.. help me? The answer is NO! In some cases, it can HURT you from becoming a member. Let your grades, knowledge, community service, and leadership skills shine! Also so we can make matters clear, Zeta Phi Beta, and Phi Beta Sigma are the ONLY sister and brother organization.
9. Don't HOUND us! We have lives outside of our organization. A question or two is fine, but calling us all the time, emailing us all the time, or following us to class is a turn-off!
10. YOU CANNOT PLEDGE AT A SCHOOL WHERE YOU DO NOT ATTEND CLASSES! You cannot pledge at a school with an active chapter unless you are enrolled there as a degree-seeking student. Isn't that obvious? For example, there is no such thing in Delta as "cross-pledging".
11. Just because you live in a city with a City-wide chapter does not mean you can pledge that chapter. Your school must be included in the city-wide chapter's charter for you to qualify to pledge that chapter. City-wide chapters are not for every woman attending a school in that city. If you don't attend one of those schools, you do not qualify to pledge the City-wide chapter.
12. Several undergrads have asked what they can do if the XYZ chapter at their school is suspended. The answer is simple, nothing, short of transferring to a school where the chapter is active. If the chapter is not active by the time you graduate, set your sights on an alumnae chapter after you get your degree. Also, don't expect a chapter that has been suspended to have intake right after their suspension is over. If the suspension period is over, but a fine unpaid remains, there can be no chapter activities until the fine is paid.
13. A newly-initiated Delta wrote, "I can't stand it when those who did not make the line complain to me and say they are upset because they didn't make it and they know they had better qualifications than some of my line sisters. Keep your comments to yourself because those who did make it had nothing to do with you not making the line, especially if you think you may want to submit another application for membership!" AMEN!!! If at first you don't succeed, Try, try again!
14. Joining XYZ org can be VERY expensive, so are you willing to make a FINANCIAL commitment? It's not enough to pay to pledge - Delta business, for example, takes ONGOING financial support. Too many people have been willing to spend a small fortune to get in and then complain about dues once they are members. It is VERY VERY VERY (did I say VERY?) expensive to maintain membership in these organizations. If you aren't willing and able to budget for it as you do all of your essentials, you don't need to pursue membership.
15. Can I take out a student loan to join XYZ? I have received this question so many times that I thought I should address it. How you pay for membership is your business, but I am strongly against it! As I stated before initiation dues, membership dues, etc. can be pricey!
For the most part, I tried gearing this blog towards all sororities and Fraternities. On the last note, I will end by saying this about MY sorority for those of you that are interested in DST. Delta is not just a lifetime commitment. Delta is a LIFESTYLE! We do not need people who only wear t-shirts or step. If you cannot make Delta and its programmatic thrusts a prominent part of your life FOR THE REMAINDER OF YOUR LIFE, please find another sorority.
I hope this was helpful!
I really like your blog! It provides alot of information that you can't get anywhere else. I have a question about greek membership. I am at a university where the organization I'm interested in is not present--i think its suspended, because advisers in the greek office and at meet the greek said that there isn't even a chance it will be back on campus until 2014. Is there another way to pursue membership if there isn't one on my campus or a city wide chapter?
ReplyDeleteI'm currently a Junior working toward my bachelors degree. Although I am in my late thirties, I am thinking about attempting to pledge undergrad. Am I too old to be thinking about pledging undergrad? Should I just wait til I graduate and attempt to pledge an Alumnae Chapter.
ReplyDeleteRight me too that's what I was thinking but was scared to say something....
DeleteIf XYZ sorority is suspended on your campus is there anyway to pledge and just not be recognized by the school?
ReplyDeleteWhat is a "colony"?
Is it possible to gain permission from a neighboring school to your campus and pledge on their campus?
Can you join a sorority if you have no rhythm and are bad at stepping?
ReplyDeletewhy is it that you have to be discreet ? Just curious ....
ReplyDeleteIf Sorority A was very active on campus when I first arrived, and I had been consistently attending their events when suddenly Sorority B revealed a new line, when previously they had been dormant on campus. Is it too late to consider and possibly show interest to Sorority B which just revealed that they are still present?
ReplyDeleteIf a chapter at my school has been inactive or possibly suspended (I have no idea what the back story is) what can be done to get them back on the yard? I know that there isn't anything that I can actually do because it isn't my place but I have done my research on all of the D9 sororities and the one that I want to be apart of is nowhere to be found. Help please!
ReplyDeleteHello I am a member of the United States Army and I don't attend Syracuse University but the nearest chapter to me is there. I am in school and I want to pledge but the school I attend does not have a chapter. Any help?
ReplyDeleteHi my Son is attending a college in South Carolina that doesn't have Sororities or Frat's can you tell me the process of helping him pledge under an umbrella of anothe college.
ReplyDeleteHi, I just stumbled across your blog while conducting research of the various sororities within the NPHC. I am currently a junior attending undergraduate school with a 4.0 gpa (really praying I keep this up especially with this semester since I'm taking 6 classes, I'm apart of 4 different extracurricular organizations, and I have a part time job). I do not talk to my immediate family, so I don't have any financial or emotional support from them (long story smh) so I haven't really had the time to do community service since high school. I used to attend school in Georgia with my parent's help and then after I fell out with them, I was out of school for a while, and I worked at some restaurants while I was there in hopes of getting myself back to school one day. I was able to enroll to another school a year later, then I dropped out with an A average, because I found I really did not care for what I was studying. My cousin, who my parents forbade me to talk to for years, in NY found out what I did and encouraged me to come to NY to find myself there. I came to NY with $0 in my pockets. I was still working in restaurants and decided that I would like to go back to school, but for a degree I was more interested in. This is the best I have ever done in school being involved and being interested. However, because I am still young, I am not qualified for financial aid and I still needed to pay for rent. So I haven't had the time to devote myself to community service only because I feel like I've been utilizing community service efforts myself. I'm proud to say that this semester I was able to get different scholarship and grant opportunities that helped cover my full tuition and books! I am saying all of this because I am so proud of who I am and the next thing I would like to do is learn about sisterhood because I never got along with my own mother and 2 sisters (I haven't talked to my immediate family for 3-4 years). I was wondering if there was a way I could do community service with the sisters after the fact? Also would I be able to learn about sisterhood after joining an organization? Sorry for the long post!! I just want to be clear about my questions.
ReplyDeleteI have a question. One of my friends is interested in the same org as I am and she has been at my school a few years longer than me. Member of this organization pays her alot of attention and even give her insider information, like most recently she told me that they informed her that there will be no line. Should I be concerned that I am not being noticed by the org?
ReplyDeleteI do not know if my last post has shown up.
ReplyDeletehello,
ReplyDeletei have a few questions, one being if the chapter of the sorority i am interested in is inactive with no chance of coming back is there a way that the sorority would allow my schools chapter to be apart of the nearest city wide chapter?
also,being that my best friend is a member of a fraternity. dose that make me a " frat groupie" and dose that look bad to the sorority i am interested in?
one more thing, being that i really want the sorority to be back on this campus dose it look bad to work for what i want, meaning while trying to keep discretion.Doing things like anonymous surveys to show the interest on this campus not only for the sorority im interested in but for all of them,dose that look bad or thirsty to that org?
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ReplyDeleteHello. I want to ask a question because my heart is deeply saddened. I wanted to join a citywide chapter if DST here in my hometown. The City-wide chapter consists of 3 different chapters (XYZ) now they've been suspended but will be off the end of this June. I went on X's website and they stated that the chapter will not be reinstated until the end of Spring 2019 but I graduate Spring 2018. Is it possible for the other two schools to resinstate the chapter on their campus instead?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind joining the alumnae chapter as well but they just crossed a line this year and the line prior was 11 years ago. Please, is there any advice I should take because this is really heavy on my heart
What made you want to pledge at the collegiate level instead of waiting to join an alumnae chapter?
ReplyDeleteNormally I don't read article on blogs, however I would like to say that this write-up very compelled me to try and do so!
ReplyDeleteYour writing style has been surprised me. Thank you, quite nice post.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting information for alumnae chapters. Your info helped me a lot. I'm preparing myself for when it's time for a possible rush within an alumnae chapter here in Georgia. I have a question. In the requirements for alumnae, the criteria is to have 2.75 on a 4.0 scale. I have a 2.6. I'm 34 and graduated a long time ago. I was told that I can't re-enroll to raise my GPA since I've already graduated, however, they said that I can take graduate level classes and get a Post Bachelor Graduate Certificate. It's not a masters degree and It won't increase my bachelors degree 2.6 GPA. The GPA will actually start over with the Post Graduate classes and they consists of 5 to 6 classes of my HR concentration in the 500 levels. If I get to the point of submitting for membership, do you think they will look at the Post Graduate Bachelor class GPA or the Bachelor's only GPA? I'm trying to decide on if I want to take up a Masters Degree Program or will the Post Grad Bachelors Cert suffice?