Im 30 and want to go Greek

[Sue_XO]

I apologize if I am in the wrong "room" but wanted to touch the 80's crowd.

I just checked with my sorority and special initiations are available.

I am not talking about one sorority; I am totally there for anyone going Greek - so if my group declares special initiation- do others? Let us list them so all know!!

Greek love! Sue



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"It is not something you just become;
it is something you've always been."

[happyowl]

Hello Fellow GreekChatter's

SueXO wrote:
"I just checked with my sorority and special initiations are available."

Thank you Sue for bringing this topic up. Prior to a few days ago, I didn't know this option was available for my GLO. (I had heard as a pledge a long time ago that this option was only available for Alum members of locals that had become affiliated with Chi Omega. Of course times and policies change over two decades.) I think it is wonderful that women who didn't have the chance to be initiated into a sorority while in college still have the option to share in the Greek bonds.

If possible, could GLO members also post on the proper or recommended procedures for special initiations. For example, does the potential new member need to contact the national HQ for an introduction or can this be handled by a local alum group? I am sure this will help answer a few questions for potential new members.

Thanks again Sue-

Happyowl

[This message has been edited by happyowl (edited August 12, 2001).]

When an alumna wishes to be initiated into Alpha Gamma Delta, she is supposed to contact the nearest alumnae chapter or club.

The chapter/club is then responsible for petitioning an invitation from IHQ. IHQ can then extend or deny her an invitation. Alumnae initiation is certainly a gigantic honor as only a few women are initiated each year. These women are usually family members of AGDs and women who have given exceptional service to our campus and community.

As far as fraternity education goes, I have no idea how an alumnae initiate would go about doing that. It's possible that education is similar to our collegiate fraternity education with more emphasis on alumnae responsibilities.

Depending on when the invitation is extended, alumnae initiation usually takes place with the collegians.

I hope this helps.

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A single seed...becomes a Rose of incredible beauty.

A single grain of sand...becomes a Pearl of great worth.

A single great idea...becomes a Century of success.

Go Alpha Gam!

[This message has been edited by OohTeenyWahine (edited August 12, 2001).]

[Beryana]

I know that for AOII you also should contact your local alumnae chapter or if you don't know where one is, IHQ can give you the president's name and contact information. Technically the collegiate chapter that you will be initiating into has to vote on whether your paperwork continues throught the channels of approval (really not very difficult, just people signing off on the application).

I am personally very glad that this is an option because I did initiate as an alumna and am loving every minute of it! =)

Sarah
AOII-Beta Gamma
Chapter Adviser

[aephi alum]

AEPhi doesn't do alumna initiation, unfortunately. When my local sorority went national, we had one recent alumna (the group had only existed for about 2 years), and she was initiated with us, but that was an exceedingly rare exception.

IMO, AEPhi is missing out on a huge opportunity by not doing alum initiation.

[Miami1839]

Why is that so many Sororities do Alum Initiation but I havent heard of Mens Fraternities that do. At least I know mine doesnt. I'm just curious.

-Kevin
Beta Theta Pi Alumnus
Epsilon Mu
George Mason

[This message has been edited by Miami1839 (edited August 13, 2001).]

[aopirose]

My husband's fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, does it. Both his brother and his father were alumni initiates

Originally posted by Miami1839:
Why is that so many Sororities do Alum Initiation but I havent heard of Mens Fraternities that do. At least I know mine doesnt. I'm just curious.

-Kevin
Beta Theta Pi Alumnus
Epsilon Mu
George Mason

[This message has been edited by Miami1839 (edited August 13, 2001).]

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by Sue_XO:
I apologize if I am in the wrong "room" but wanted to touch the 80's crowd.
I just checked with my sorority and special initiations are available.

This is a really good thread about "Alumnae Initiates" or "Non-Collegiate Initiates".... http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/...ML/000015.html

Here's all the 26 NPC orgs, and I will fill in what I know
(either:
"Yes, they will under certain circumstances initiate non-collegiate woemen" or
"No, they do not do this practice"):


Okay, here they are:
Alpha Chi Omega - yes
Alpha Delta Pi - Yes
Alpha Epsilon Phi - no
Alpha Gamma Delta - Yes
Alpha Omicron Pi - Yes
Alpha Phi - Yes
Alpha Sigma Alpha - yes
Alpha Sigma Tau - yes
Alpha Xi Delta - Yes
Chi Omega - Yes (but EXTREMELY rare)
Delta Delta Delta - Yes
Delta Gamma - Yes
Delta Phi Epsilon - yes
Delta Zeta - Yes
Gamma Phi Beta - Yes
Kappa Alpha Theta - Yes
Kappa Delta - Yes (but rare)
Kappa Kappa Gamma - No
Phi Mu - don't know (probably yes, though)
Phi Sigma Sigma - don't know
Pi Beta Phi - Yes
Sigma Delta Tau - don't know
Sigma Kappa - Yes
Sigma Sigma Sigma - yes
Theta Phi Alpha - don't know (probably yes, though)
Zeta Tau Alpha - Yes

Hope that this helps. Each NPC org has slightly different ways of approaching Alumnae Initiates. I will post that information in a subsequent post!

[CutiePie2000]

Here are some responses from various NPC orgs that I have acquired when I was doing my research on Alumnae Initiates.

You can see that they all have slightly varied approaches for Prospective Alumnae Initiates (i.e. some NPCs like a Prospective Alumna Initiate to have a college degree, others it is not mandatory, and "some" college is just fine).
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Alpha Delta Pi:
does consider, in special instances, women for its Alumnae Initiate program. According to ADPi’s policy, potential members must be recommended by an Alpha Delta Pi collegiate chapter, an alumnae association, or three individual Alpha Delta Pi alumnae members in good standing.

Delta Gamma:
has an alumnae initiate program where sometimes women are initiated depending on the individual situation. A prospective initiate does need to be sponsored by a Delta Gamma. They would need to contact Delta Gamma and request the application for Prospective Initiates, then we would look it over and go from there.

Pi Beta Phi:
Pi Phi does have a procedure for alum initiates. However, there are several steps for the process. The initiate would have to have attended a four year, accredited university or college. She would be sponsored by an alumnae club and a Pi Phi chapter. And she would be voted on by Grand Council. If a Prospective Alumna Initiate did attend an accredited, four year university, you would qualify. And, if that individual has a Pi Phi friend, she could begin the process for you.

Gamma Phi Beta:
Alumnae Initiates are women who become members of Gamma Phi Beta as alumnae. They may be women who never attended college, who attended a school that did not have a Gamma Phi Beta chapter or who did not join a National Panhellenic Conference sorority while in college. The process of becoming an alumnae initiate usually begins with a local alumnae chapter. If you do not already know any Gamma Phi Beta's, I would suggest that you contact the President of the closest Gamma Phi alumnae chapter to you. I would be more than happy to give you that information. The President would then most likely invite you to one of her chapter's events, so that you may become more familiar with what it means to be an alumna member of Gamma Phi Beta. After you have decided that you are indeed interested, an application is submitted on your behalf from a member who will be your sponsor. She will take you through the education part of the program and eventually see you through the initiation which will be held at a local collegiate chapter.

Kappa Delta:
I am the National Vice President - Alumnae for Kappa Delta Sorority and your request for information regarding alumnae initiation was forwarded to me for a reply. We do not have a specific alumnae initiate program although we do, under specific circumstances alumnae initate women. Normally these women are working with one of our college chapters as perhaps a facullty advisor or have had contact with an alumnae association who then nominates them for alumnae initiation.

Kappa Kappa Gamma:
Currently KKG only offer membership to women who are enrolled as full time students at one of the 128 colleges where we have collegiate chapters. KKG has no vehicle to initiate women who are not college students or who have graduated from college interested in membership.

Zeta Tau Alpha:
ZTA does have an Alumnae Initiates program and the process is as follows:
A ZTA alumnae may recommend outstanding women from their communities for membership in ZTA. A four year period must have elapsed between the time she left college and the time she would be initiated. The unanimous vote of National Council is required. It is desirable the woman has attended and institute of higher learning, although not required to be a graduate. She should bring to the membership the attributes hoped for in each new member. Approval of the recommendation is not automatic. If you are interested in becoming an alumnae initiate, it is important to show sincere interest in our organization. Alumnae who do recommend women to become alumna initiates usually do so because the unaffiliated woman becomes involved with a collegiate or alumnae chapter, supports our programs, reflects our values and demonstrated a commitment to lifelong membership. There is a definite relationship formed with the members of ZTA prior to becoming recommended for membership. Women do not generally "Seek out" becoming an alumnae initiate. It usually happens because the collegiate or alumnae members feel the woman would be an asset to our organization. If you are interested in sorority membership and have no special group attachment, perhaps there are other groups whose programs operates differently than ZTAs. But, if you do have an ongoing relationship with ZTA, you can inform the members that you are interested in becoming an alumna initiate. Again, there are no guarantees they will start the process or that National Council will approve the recommendation. ZTA typically approves under ten women a year for this honor.

Alpha Sigma Tau:
anyone interested in membership as an alumnae member must have completed at least one year of college, and generally we want to find out what you know about our sorority. An alumnae or collegiate member must recommend someone for membership as an alumnae affiliate. I have had similar requests, and generally want the individuals to meet other alumnae in an area, if we have an organized alumnae association, and then if the members in the association want to recommend the individual for membership, that would be great!

Alpha Gamma Delta:
Alpha Gamma Delta does have an Alumna Initiate Program whereby our members can recommend friends, relatives, co-workers, etc. for Initiation. The member would bring this potential initiate to Alpha Gamma Delta events to meet the other members in her alumnae chapter/club and the chapter can begin the process of recommendation.
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This list is by no means "complete", but just gives an idea! Thanks!




[This message has been edited by CutiePie2000 (edited August 15, 2001).]

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by happyowl:

I think it is wonderful that women who didn't have the chance to be initiated into a sorority while in college still have the option to share in the Greek bonds.

Exactly. This was the case with me...I was not initiated into a sorority in university and I thought that I had missed my opportunity by not pledgeing in college, until I (thankfully) discovered alumnae initiates.

Also, in many cases, it is my belief that Alumnae Initiates come about like so:
A Daughter goes to college and goes Greek. Then, her non-Greek Mom gets actively involved in the Daughter's chapter; consequently the Daughter's chapter loves the Mom and appreciates all of Mom's hard work and efforts, and Mom ends up getting initiated too!


For example, does the potential new member need to contact the national HQ for an introduction or can this be handled by a local alum group? I am sure this will help answer a few questions for potential new members.

Here's my thoughts on that.....
My *personal* belief is that a Prospective
Alumna Initiate should contact the Head Office of the NPC group that they're interested in and explain that they are interested in being a "Prospective Alumna Initiate". Be sure to be truthful and explicitly state that you never joined a sorority in college. If you were pledged in college, but never fully initiated into membership....that might be different..
Furthermore, if you do NOT know know any members personally, say so in your letter. That way, the Head Office may pave the way to an Introduction to the local alumnae chapter. (Somewhere along the way, you will need an alumna to sponsor you for membership, so you will need to get to know a sorority member personally, eventually, in order for you to apply to be approved for membership.) That being said, Head Office MAY do an introduction for you via letter or email, but nothing is for sure. Each NPC group seems to react a bit differently with regards to this type of pursuit. Also, what is the extent of your college education? (some NPC's want 1 year of college, some want 2, some want a full 4 year degree, some say no college is a prerequisite).

I would caution you against contacting an alumna chapter directly yourself...best to let Head Office make the introduction. I only say this, because if you contact the alums of ___ sorority YOURSELF, they might erroneously assume that you already are a fully initiated member of ____ sorority who is new to the area, and then you have to clarify that "no" you're not a ____sorority member, but rather that you're seeking out being a prospective alumna initiate.

You do not want to get off on the wrong foot, as it can be difficult to "back peddle", smooth things over and do damage control. Best to email Head Office and let them set things up (and always always always be upfront that you are NOT an initiated member of that group, just to be on the safe side).

Just my 2 cents, but I have seen 2 misunderstandings(!!) occur from Prospective Alumna Initiates who contacted the alumnae orgs directly and the alums thought they ALREADY were initiated members...it just made for an ackward situation and kind of got things off on the wrong foot!

[Miami1839]

Originally posted by aopirose:
My husband's fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, does it. Both his brother and his father were alumni initiates

Thats cool. I wonder if there are others. I never knew about alumni initiates until greekchat. Thats great that it does give post graduates the option of going greek.

Kevin

[shadokat]

Delta Phi Epsilon does have alumnae initiation. We actually had this at our last convention and it was so great. One of our sister's mother, who has done so much with her daughter's chapter, was initiated as an alumnae initiate. Another woman who was a house mother for 15 years at one our houses was an alumnae initiate. And finally, the secretary at our HQ, who has been there a LONG time, was made an alumnae initiate.

Our alumnae initiates are normally folks who have given of their time and resources to D Phi E in some way, although if someone did the research and wanted to do so, I'm sure contacting our International HQ and speaking with someone there would be the first step.



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Delta Phi Epsilon, Celebrating 84 years of Dedication, Pride and Excellence!

[Diokete Hupsala]

Phi Sigma Sigma


I am a founding Sister to a chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma (a member of a local that started the process of being National when I was a Senior). I was initated as an Alum along with 9 other sisters who had also played a role in the chapter going national. Now it has been 10 years, but to the best of my recall, you can contact a local chapter for information on joining as an Alum.

Another great organization is Beta Sigma Phi. Not a college, traditional sorority, but one that has many chapters internationally with different levels roughly based on age. My mother is a proud BSP sister, now in the highest level of "Master" that the sorority has. Her membership spans close to 40 years now. If I had not found Phi Sigma Sigma, I too would have joined BSP. Just something else to consider.

[The1calledTKE]

TKE has intiation for older men that become instant alumni. I know a lot of fathers become brothers this way. Its a good father son bonding experience.

[AngelPhiSig]

If anyone can find out about Phi Sigma Sigma for me, that would be great! I know we have a mothers pinning, but I would love to see my mom become part of something that I love!!!

<3Ali