[20380] in APO-L
Re: All-Male Chapters/Philipines
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Buck, Elizabeth Ansley)
Mon Mar 29 18:22:26 1999
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 18:19:35 EST
Reply-To: "Buck, Elizabeth Ansley" <Buck_Elizabeth@COLSTATE.EDU>
From: "Buck, Elizabeth Ansley" <Buck_Elizabeth@COLSTATE.EDU>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.3.95.990327001219.24585B-100000@mallard2>
:::::::stepping up on the soapbox:::::::::
Ok, I've tried to stay out of this discussion until now (mainly
because it's REALLY getting old) However,when I read this post this
morning, I knew I had to say something.
Let me begin by saying that I think it's WRONG to force chapters to
go coed if they fall under the "gentlemen's agreement". Yes, this
may be a surprise to the few that remember my comments about 2-2.5
years ago. Before I'm asked to give my reasoning, here it is: I
visited some of the all male chapters before the 1996 convention.
While there, I saw a sense of brotherhood that I hadn't and would
never understand because I came from a coed chapter. Don't get me
wrong; I love the brothers where I pledged more than anything and the
brotherhood I had there is unmatched anywhere else I've been. The
brotherhood at all-male chapters is amazing, though, and I would
never want to take that away from them. That said, let me get to my
point with this reply...
> Why, because you PC Nazis don't think it's okay? This past
> National
> Convention proved that chapter rights are still recognised by the National
> Fraternity, and I think that creating 2 distinct sides to APhiO is an
> excellent solution.
That would grant the All-Male chapters their personal
> freedom and give us the ability to make other All-Male chapters at
> campuses where we know only an All-Male chapter would make it (and there
> ARE quite a few), while granting the Coed chapters the ability to continue
> on as they were.
Just out of curiosity, what would you do if one of those campuses
where "only an all-male chapter would make it" had a female that
wanted to join after the other all male chapters tried to get it
started? Say "NO!" because you want to preserve the all-male
heritage?
Another curiosity question, if only males or only females came out to
join an extension effort, then would APO refuse to let them have a
chapter?
Finally, 2 separate entities is a BAD idea. Let me get something
through everyone's heads. We are ALL the SAME. What makes us the
same is the fact that we are all brothers in this great organization.
True, brotherhood is different at every chapter, but that doesn't
make us different; it's what makes each chapter unique in their own
way. We shouldn't be focussing our energies on getting only all
male/all female/coed chapters formed; we should be focusing on the
service that we do and showing people what APO is all about so that
anyone and everyone will want to join.
::::::stepping off the soapbox:::::::
-Ansley Buck
Columbus State University
