Okay uh well hello everyone uh thank you so much for having me today uh my name is ellis bonds as joe said i use he him his pronouns and i currently serve as the associate director for intercultural affairs at elizabethtown college and as i mentioned i’m a proud brother
I’ve learned the sigma epsilon i’ve seen a fraternity incorporated uh so we’re going to get into some presentation will entail and uh go kind of take it from there uh so the overview of the presentation uh we’re gonna go over some presentation norms uh a little bit about myself uh kind of
Dive into what i saw on stockton’s website and kind of how that plays into fraternity and sorority life do some definitions go over a little bit of history uh go through some theory um then bringing it all together uh and then next steps uh so for presentation norms i just ask
That everyone uh be present uh and be engaged all right there is going to be a portion for us to be talking and having a conversation uh so i think everyone has their camera off right now uh so people wouldn’t mind turning their cameras on and just being engaged and
Present in this presentation that would be greatly appreciated i’m not someone that likes to just talk at people that makes it very uncomfortable and very awkward and you also have great things to say so i want to hear what those things are uh please be attentive uh be real
So the thing about being real is that we’re going to talk about history and a lot of times in history we want to glamorize it and romanticize it and history is not always pretty uh and so that’s what i mean by be real we’re going to engage in some truth telling
During this presentation and i want us all to be comfortable with that uh and then be ready so be ready for the challenge ready to take the next step be ready to take your chapter to the next level uh be ready to hold your fellow members accountable hold your new members
Accountable all of that fun stuff uh so these are just some norms that i have for any time i present so that way i can uh make sure that i’m making the best out of the time that i have with you all uh so a little bit about myself i was
Born and raised in atlantic city new jersey so about a quick 20 minute 25 minute drive from stockton i graduated stockton in the class of 2015 uh with a bachelor’s of arts and liberal arts i concentrated in social sciences so i did a lot of psychology sociology
And social work courses uh while i was at stockton as you know mentioned i joined my organization lambda sigma optional i think i’m trying to incorporate it the spring of 2012. uh i am a number seven uh for those who you know we can get a little bit into that later on um
While i was at stockton i did serve as chapter president i served on the greek i served in the greek council as president i was a part of student senate i was a member of the highest praised gospel choir where i sang in the choir for four years i was president
Of the naacp i was vice president of hope helping other people excel um i worked in a campus center as an operations assistant i worked as a resident assistant i was an orientation leader so i did a whole lot of stuff while i was there um and it kind of all emerged
After i joined my greek organization so i’m very very happy that i was able to do that as a first-year student uh which then kind of impacted my future and things that i was able to accomplish while i was at stockton um so we’re just going to read this
This commitment and it says stockton university is committed to building a diverse and respectful community that values individual and group social differences of race creed color national origin nationality and strategy sex age gender including pregnancy marital status civil union status domestic partnership status familiar status religion inflectional or sexual orientation gender identity or
Expression atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait genetic information liability for service in the armed forces of the united states or disability that’s a mouthful but those are all that’s a lot of protected classes uh so that’s why they have to be stated uh but the part of it is
Uh diversity is crucial to achieving the mission of a broad liberal arts education structural curricular and co-curricular and interactional campus diversity creates an inclusive and respectful environment for all students and employees so my first question is how does fraternity and sorority life honor this commitment and joe’s not allowed to answer
I’m sorry could you repeat that question uh i was just kind of going over the commitment uh that stockton has on the website i forgot what what webpage i saw from specifically uh but typically the really the last part diversity is crucial to achieving the mission of a broad liberal arts
Education and things of that nature and i wanted to know how does the fraternity and sorority life has stopped and honor this commitment that stockton has um i would say one way is like you know we do have a lot of uh minority organizations um on campus so that’s one way
Awesome anyone else i’m going to say the opposite and say that stuff kind of is starting to but it really hasn’t as much as probably they should okay okay anyone else one of the ways they um uphold this this note is uh putting on programs that promote diversity and inclusion okay
All right so we’re going to go ahead and move forward um i definitely would say that one way is by establishing this dei committee through fraternity and sorority life through greek council um i think that’s important and uh it is something that is needed you know as greek organizations
I was very active on campus as a member of my fraternity um and sometimes they don’t really see all the work that goes into being a member of a chapter to being a member of the organization to be a member of a council and things like that
Um and it’s a lot more than people uh know what it would entail to like do it so um i definitely think that the creation of this committee and this position which within each chapter is something that is also very good as well okay so one thing about me is that i’m
Really big on like a strong foundation i’m kind of understanding excuse me what exactly we’re talking about uh when we speak because we use some sometimes in higher education and this is not just stockton-specific it can be for any institution i’ve worked at a few since stockton so i
Can tell you that it’s very much so when we talk about diversity and inclusion and equity and social justice and all that fun stuff we talk about it but it becomes buzzwords at some point and so i think that sometimes we have to understand what these words mean
Um to really really grasp on how we can like implement them and make them action items for us to be able to make our campus or college uh a more inclusive place so very simple diversity these are definitions taken from webster dictionary by the way i did not make these up myself
Um the condition of having or being composed of different elements uh especially the inclusion of people of different races um so what i always tell people all the time is that the basis of diversity just means difference that’s literally all diversity means i’m black you’re white i’m gay you’re
Straight i’m tall you’re short like whatever however you want to say it you know it’s just difference uh inclusion is the act of including or the state of being included and then equity justice according to natural law or right freedom from bias or favoritism
So the way i kind of like to say it is as members of social organizations you know obviously not while covert is happening i hope no one’s throwing like you know parties and ragers and all that crazy stuff um but i like to explain it in terms of like going to a party
So being at a predominantly white institution as a black person this is how i would interpret it you know diversity is being asked to go to the party right uh so you’re just being asked like they they thought about you hey want to come to this party sure why not uh
Inclusion is being asked to dance at the party so you’re not just there standing on the wall or sitting on the couch uh you’re actually asked to dance like be included in the party and things like that uh but when i think of equity i think of equity as
Uh like the now now they’re going to play some music that represents me at this party as well um so that’s how i like to kind of define it and like bring it uh by layer by layer uh for like just plain as something for people to understand
Okay so privilege uh a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit advantage or favor uh oppression is unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power and they’re marginalized is an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group and the reason why i chose these words
Is because a lot of times we talk about privilege and you know privilege for me if anyone here runs track i ran track when i was in high school and about one semester at stockton i didn’t stick with it as a college athlete um but privilege is like the win when you’re running
When you’re running with the win and the wins help when you glide it’s like pushing you along further and you’ve done nothing to get that you just literally started running and the wind happens to be working in your direction that day uh versus running against the wind which
Is like oppression so you so you constantly have to push a little bit harder work you know try to run a little bit faster things like that to get to the finish line and get the same goal so that’s how i like to define privilege and oppression um and then obviously marginalized
Uh a marginalized group is someone who is unimportant or power in a powerless position within a society or group uh so understand that because we have um because we have privilege and we have privileged identities we have to have marginalized identities as well so those are the identities that
Are that have the lack of access to resources uh those are the identities that kind of fall into systemic oppression so whether it be the system of education whether it be the system of housing whether it be the criminal justice system uh whether it be the like workforce
System whatever the case whatever the case may be they’re marginalized in various systems uh and some of those identities are people who are people of color so whether you’re black uh asian asian or asian american hispanic latinx um or you can be a member of the lgbtq
Plus community that also puts you in a marginalized group if you happen to be disabled you’re in a marginalized group because sometimes things are not accessible for you whether that’s visible disability or invisible disability um if you’re a veteran which is kind of strange because you know you go out when
You fight for the country and you do so much for our country but yet you’re still in a marginalized group in our country which is extremely sad um so those are just some groups and that’s how it kind of works like privilege you know we have those groups our people
Who you didn’t do anything to get it but that’s the privilege you were born with so i identify as male i was born male i identified with the sex i was assigned as birth and assigned at birth sorry and that was no no no work on my own that was just how i
Was born but that’s a privilege that i know that i hold in society uh so just using that as a like an example for you so i just have two questions for people they’re very simple answers whoever wants to answer them uh who was higher education created
Students i want to say well i see people or someone say wealthy people uh what wealthy what let’s be a little bit more specific what they answer but what wealthy person white rich people but not people white rich men yes men is exactly right white rich men
Uh and what were they intending to do as a result of going to college the intention was to basically give them like i guess one leg up if you could say like they have that background if not say oh i know this now because i went to college
Okay that’s a good starting point there’s one specific thing that was whenever when higher education was correct i think that’s more of the goal now uh but when it was created they were only in it was like with the intention of doing one thing who knows what that is
Uh so for those of you who do not know what they were intending to do was go into clergy so the idea was that they were getting these degrees to go into the ministry to be elders pastors whatever the case may be uh so very much so protestant uh christian
Foundational type of thing and that’s what higher education was created for for white men um you know some who were presumably wealthy maybe not as you know well off uh in some cases but the idea was that they were intending to go into ministry or be a part of the clergy
Of said church and so i found this quote uh and the company keeps a history of white college fraternities and a part of this they were talking about recruitment um and what they were looking for uh when they were recruiting members for fraternities uh you know back then so
I’m just going to read this to you and then we’re going to see what some initial thoughts are there is only one complete unblushing male in america a young married white urban northern heterosexual protestant college educated father fully employed of good complexion weight and height and a recent record in sports
So what are some initial reactions when you hear that that is the one complete unblushing no in america any thoughts on that it’s like extremely specific it’s very specific absolutely um it’s like to the t there’s nothing there really isn’t uh much will go wrong with that you know
Any other thoughts about that not every person is going to fit all of those things absolutely any other thoughts i think for me it kind of ties to you know when i talked about the history uh how we’re going to get into some history and history is often glamorized
And romanticized and we try to make it pretty uh and it’s not always pretty and this is a part of that um that was what it was back then obviously i think we haven’t passed that even with our fraternities that are predominantly white um i think that in some cases it has
Moved past this um but then that’s what it was um and that’s not something that is encompassing of you know what makes up america and what made up america then not not only uh what makes up america now uh so i think it’s important for us to understand that like you know
When there could be members of your organization uh that were you know back then during this time uh whereas this is what they were looking for when they came to recruitment for uh for a fraternity at a collegiate uh institution so just think about that and then i think
We’re going to get into some history now um so again white college fraternities uh phi beta kappa 1776 uh the college of william and mary in virginia and they function as a literary society so what was important about that when i was doing my research was that they would hold um they would
Hold like debates and things like that uh but they were debating things about like uh like slavery um and it really wasn’t like should we get rid of slavery it was more like um let’s find more ways to validate reasons to continue it uh so that was type of things that they
Were debating back then and that was in 1776 in virginia the college of william and mary uh so think about that when you think about the foundation of your own organizations and when they were founded uh and we’re going to get more into that as a couple slides later in this presentation uh
So the masonic influence so for those of you who don’t know like they’re like freemasons uh they were in existence long before fraternities came to be um and so when we have the idea of the mason influence uh what we have to understand is that that’s where the idea of a secret
Society came from uh and so you know when they have uh they had like different knocks to get into the different houses and there was a certain knock that you use uh if you were a member of the organization you knew what that knock was and that was that granted you access
Into that uh that was how they came up with like rituals uh different uh ceremonies different things for initiation uh that’s where you know i know for my organization we have what is called a grip uh and it’s a secret handshake that only members of my organization know
Uh knows and so i think so so that is also where that comes from as well because the masons had a secret handshake that they did i think it’s important to understand that a lot of the things that we do now in greek life were not started specifically by fraternities
Um it was started back then by the masons um i want to knock over my water uh by the masons and what they were doing at that time so just keep that in mind when you think about the different rituals and traditions and ceremonies that you have
As a part of your organization i don’t want to get into specifics obviously out of respect to your organizations and the idea of them being a secret society there has to be some sort of like secrecy as a part of that um but definitely understand that that is where it is influenced from
And obviously has transitioned over into fraternity and sorority life um today uh the expansion process looked very different than today so if any of you uh are unfamiliar with doing expansion for your organization uh you know it probably has a very very strict guidelines you have to follow rules you
Have to follow i know that um when i was president of greek council uh i had the pleasure of being a part of expansion for kai absolute national alliance already incorporated a sigma beta both fraternity incorporated and delta phi epsilon uh and again like i said working with those different organizations and
All of that fun stuff it looked very streamlined very uh very particular they wanted certain things done this explanation process through my research i found out was that when they wanted the expansions to happen uh it would be they would an individual could be at another college
And they would get in contact with a member from the college of william and mary um and they had the constitution written on paper and so what they would do is that they deemed that person as worthy of being welcomed into phi beta kappa they would give them the bottom they
Would have the constitution written at that point in time probably was only on one sheet of paper because what what constitutions like that you know what i’m saying um and they will rip the piece of paper in half and they would give the the mother chapter as it’s written in
The on the book uh the mother chapter would keep the top half and then the next person would keep the bottom half and so what would happen is that if they were recruiting people who were not living up to the values and ideas of this organization
They would be able to go or however and get the uh the bottom half back and that would then resend that membership of that uh of that individual uh so again very very interesting not really anything that is uh nothing like either one expansion to happen today uh i was involved in
Expansion for rutgers university camden uh about was it now two years ago um and that would be horrible to think about that um and that just be something that we use for expansion uh but then what it really boiled down to was that it was a little bit of elitism there
But we have to understand that it was white men joining white men um so you know the very few if any of people of color that were at colleges at this time were not getting invited in to join by the organization um and it was what it boiled down to was
That it was white men joining white men um to again discuss things like slavery racism and all that kind of stuff but never in a way to attempt to you know defy it or to go against it but in ways to find ways to validate it are there any questions so far sorry
When i don’t want to go too fast either so uh the chapters emerged so like i said 1776 um was the founding foundation of it but then chapters emerged from 1787 to 1830 but one thing about that was that it was poor communication so that’s how it started with differing
Traditions and rituals remember how i talked about those rituals and traditions that came from from the masons influence um that that was getting uh messed up because of the poor communication and so we have to uh understand that when you have an organization somewhere we’re so we’re so proud of the
Organizations we belong to and we’re so proud of the traditions and rituals that we have or what we know to be traditions and rituals from what was given to us and could you imagine going to a different chapter and being involved in a ceremony or being involved in whatever
And they’re doing something completely different or something that goes against the foundation of your organization and you don’t and but you don’t want to you don’t know why they’re doing it but it could be because of poor communication um and that’s not something that i don’t
That i think happens in 2021 now i think we have a good um a good handle on that kind of stuff where i can go to a chapter and know what’s going to happen in regards to other shoe and things like that um but that was what was going on then poor communication
So differing traditions and rituals began to happen and it was not it was not creating a plan for success and for sustainability then in 1831 uh it’s called the anti-masonic party and this was a party that was introduced in the united states that wanted to get rid
Of anything that was the idea of a secret society um and so the masons were a part of that but then phi beta kappa was a part of that um because 1831 you know that they were a part of that and so there was a man
The first name is william i’m drawing a blank on the last name first name was william and he was about to publish a book that was going to reveal all the secrets from the masons and what they did for their virtuals their traditions and their secret handshake and all that kind of stuff
He was going to publish a book for that and i know some of you are probably cringing right now in your seats to think that someone would expose your organization secrets that way you know what i’m saying um but that was what he was gonna do and then he went missing
So through research it doesn’t say that he’s that he was dead or he was found dead he just went missing um and then in the same year phi beta kappa became an honor society uh and so my understanding and i’m from not mistaken they are one of the most prestigious
Honor societies you can be a part of now and like you know a collegiate atmosphere um but that was why was because they published i believe from what i remember seeing uh they published their own uh stuff and what they were doing and things of that nature and i know still
In honor societies there’s some secrecy to it as well uh but it’s not it’s not held in some cases i don’t think it’s held in the same regard as those of us who belong to fraternities and sororities um but let’s talk truth so for any of my members on here
My friends on here who are part of ioc organizations uh i want you to think about the year your organization was founded and let’s talk about some truth and what that what time was that in our country in america is any is anyone here a part of our a
Part of an ifc organization yes i think a bunch of us are okay oh yeah so let’s think about the the year uh your organization was founded and then let’s talk about what some of that truth could be about the founder uh about the found the foundation of
Your organization and the founders of your organization yeah there should be a couple organizations on here uh capstick was formed in 1869. okay so 1861. um and so think about the timing of that and our country in america at that time what what would you could what could you believe to be true
About that well i mean um if it was born in 1869 i think the american civil war was around 1861 to like the 1880s okay that’s a good start thank you for thank you for saying that any other organizations on here besides kappa stigma axp was founded in uh 1895
By a couple of protestant uh ministers actually okay and so 1895 uh so what what could potentially be be said about that and things you you and what could be uh what could be gauged from knowing 1895 when your organization was founded uh tensions in the u.s were definitely pretty high
Uh things like jim crow laws and stuff like that in the south uh it was it’s from connecticut though it’s at trinity college so i don’t know too much about what’s going on in the north but yeah oh definitely absolutely and i think a lot of times when you think
About history and i had to learn this myself when i was an africana studies minor at stockton excuse me um we talked a lot about history and talk about racism in our country we speak a lot about the south um and all those things are true uh what
They say about the south is absolutely true but i think sometimes we forget that some of those things were happening up north as well uh may have been happening a little bit differently but i know for a fact that new jersey has land uh that slaves were once on
Uh like picking cotton work in the field all of that kind of stuff um and new jersey’s not a state that’s southern uh so i definitely hear what you’re saying though in terms of like at that point in time maybe it wasn’t well documented um about what was going on in that part
Of the country at that time anyone else on the call on a meeting sorry this is not a phone this is definitely zoom um so the reason why i said let’s talk truth uh like i said before the part about being real we have to we have to own history
You know and i think a part of it is that when we when we think about these things we have to understanding the timing of it and yet and still that could the history could be ugly and where but where your organization has progressed at that
You know to this time or the time where you came in um as a part of your organization it could be something that is so magical and so beautiful now you know but maybe it didn’t start that way um as it relates to marginalized communities uh so plain and simple you know
Some of our organizations and in terms of like the ifc and some of those older more traditional organizations of what they’re classified as um fraternities some of them could have been slave owners some of them could have absolutely had slaves that were working in the field that were uh
That were engaging in that racist behavior um and things like that and so i think that we need to understand that that is something that is a very real possibility um and documented in some of the research that we have about fraternity and sorority life
Here um and so i just want to make sure that we understand that like when i talk about when i say let’s talk truth it’s because you know we have a saying in our fraternity and it’s really really special to our chapter that says uh in order to know where
You’re going you must know where you come from and so that means ancestry that means traditions that means culture but understanding what it meant then and what it means now and those can be two very different things and it’s okay if it is um but understanding that sometimes we
Kind of ignore the history we want to we want to glamorize the history and we can’t do that and you know we can’t do that in order for us to move forward properly and become those awesome like dei advocates you all want to be for your chapters
And be uh for the greek community as a whole so that’s what i mean when i say let’s talk truth um so sororities let’s just ask two simple questions i’m sure we can get some conversation going about that um why did they come into play to empower women okay that is absolutely true
Absolutely any other sorority women on the um on here understand why sororities came into play so yes uh someone said why did to empower women uh yes there’s it’s very it’s very a few documentations of women gaining membership and i should have says on it’s just like in fraternities
Um but even though they came into play to empower women at the time that they came into play who did they exclude women of color women of color yes thank you if you’re writing answers in the chat i’m sorry i can’t see the chat when i’m sharing my screen
So i so i’m sorry i can’t see that uh but yes women of color and so when we think about why sororities came into play absolutely right to empower women uh you know i think there was some documentation of women joining um two that i saw specifically
Um were sigma alpha epsilon so sae and then tau delta phi uh but the reason why sororities came into play uh which they were known originally as women’s fraternities that term the term sorority was used in 1882 for the first time uh when it for the foundation of gamma
Gamma phi beta which was a sorority that was based out of new york um but they came into play because women were interested in joining these fraternities right uh but men were okay with them joining on an abridged version so you can be a member of our of our fraternity you can
Be a member of our organization but you don’t have the full rights and you don’t have the full privileges that come with being a member but we are going to give you a whole bunch of responsibilities to remain your partial membership and so that is why sororities came into play because
Why would i as an individual um join something partially when i can just go ahead and make my own and we and i can empower other women to do the same thing um and we can all come together and do our own work for community and things like that
But in the time that they were coming into play they were still excluding women of color so was it all totally inclusive probably not um and at that time while it wasn’t something that was well known or widely talked about or you know widely accepted
Um i would even throw in her trans women if there were trans women at that time they also weren’t being accepted into uh into sororities when they were women’s fraternity started when before i started uh so 1851 uh alpha delta pi uh was the first um these these were local
Organizations uh so they they were they’re known as the first but they were local uh and in 1852 phi mu but again like i said kept on a local level so 1867 pi beta 5 was the first national women’s fraternity uh they became national because they
Went they had i’m joined a blank on the found the founder the location of the institution but they started the second chapter and that made them a national moment’s eternity so that was why they’re noted as the first national women’s fraternity uh but in some documentation of history uh alpha
Delta pi and phi mu were are recognized as the first as well um so again like i said they came into play because they weren’t getting full membership by the fraternities that were in existence at that time and so they decided to make their own thing i do still do community
Service still have that nurturing piece as we know um a lot of women to be um but they also they they were going to set up for schools for like women’s seminars and things of that nature so it wasn’t really they really weren’t um going to the same schools as men they
They were going to women’s colleges as well they weren’t involved in like co-ed curricular uh institutions at that time um so just think about that as well when you think about history and all of that and then we’re going to move on so again like i said we talked about um
Who they were excluding and what was women of color who were the fraternities excluding men of color and people of color in general at that time um and so we have the establishment of uh historically black greek letter organizations um and so i think it’s important that a lot of times
We think um and i know i didn’t so i did my own research um that all of the divine nine when i was in high school i thought they all were started at howard university because that’s just all you ever heard howard university howard university um and through research you find out
That the first fraternity amplified alpha fraternity incorporated was founded at cornell university in new york uh in 1906 uh at a time where students at cornell were leaving they were leaving the institution black students they were leaving the institution because they did not feel that cornell was a place for them
And so that became the establishment of alpha phi alpha uh fraternity incorporated and so you got to think about how big that was for blackness and to be able to honor that blackness and own that blackness and be in that you know that camaraderie um and so that was really really important then
And they were founded by seven men uh at cornell university and they have tons of chapters now i know we have a chapter at stockton uh and doing such amazing work but again thinking about the time that it was started in 1906 when you think about the history of movements in our country
And you know the representation of people when you’re thinking about people who may identify as lgbt or things like that they could have been excluded from that from membership processes and things of that nature as it relates to historically black greek letter organizations or even moving forward to our historically
Uh latinx based organizations as well um so obviously you have alpha kappa alpha who was started in 1908 at howard university so they were started at howard university uh but again it’s important that not all of them were started at howard uh but again alpha kappa alpha came
Together to unify women they really really believed in the women empowerment piece and so that’s why they were started um by that time i think the beta chapter of alpha phi alpha was already at howard which was founded in uh 1907. um so they might have had some help from the um
From alpha phi alpha by alpha kappa alpha was established in 1908. uh indiana university kappa alpha in 1911. and so it’s important that when you know uh kappa alpha psi again pwi institution uh they they started kappa alpha psi as a uh the way history is written is
That it was it was an alternative to some clubs that were racially exclusive uh on that campus at that time and so black people just couldn’t join whatever fraternity couldn’t join whatever club whatever the case may be so these black men 10 black men came together and created kappa alpha
Psi again as a safe place as a safe haven as a safety net for the black students at that institution at that time uh howard university omega sci-fi uh 1911. so i want to make sure that we understand they were founded in the same year kappa and omega um by howard university
Is someone writing on this i don’t know what’s happening or why that’s doing that i apologize um but yeah so they were founded in 1911 at howard university uh at the time and their motto was a friendship is essential for the soul uh is there oh okay no problem mark
Uh and then howard university again 1913 uh delta sigma data sorority incorporated that is when they were established and they were established right at the time when women’s suffrage was a thing and so the reason why i wanted to highlight when sororities came into play and how they were not encompassing of
All women is because if you think about the women’s suffrage march and things like that they were going on at that time when delta sigma data was founded when the deltas were walking they were walking for all women uh they weren’t walking just for black women they were walking for women who were
Black who were asian who were white who were who were latina they were walking for all of them and so that’s important to understand that you know when they came in and started with the uh picking up the fight and carrying on the torch and things like that
They wanted to make sure that it was encompassing of all women so that’s really important to note about delta sigma theta uh howard university phi beta segment 1914. i saw one thing you know when you do research uh about the the the uh the divine nine um
At that time at howard from 1914 they had a chapter of alpha phi alpha they had a chapter of kappa alpha psi and they had a chapter of omega sci-fi at uh howard university during that time period uh those three organizations were known as like the elite uh and they
Were like the elite of the elite so it was like you know there was like black and then there was like bougie black and so those men who were a part of alpha kappa and omega were bougie black um and so phi beta sigma came into play
Because they wanted to be the people’s front and they wanted to be the organization that not that they’re just going to accept anybody but we don’t want people to feel unwelcomed um or not feel like they can be included in our fraternity and so that is why they were started in 1914 uh
Which was no like disrespect you know to the alphas or the kappas or omegas and things of that nature but they have found a different need uh that that they could fulfill for the student body of howard university at that time uh which then led to the creation of uh
Zeta phi beta incorporated in 1920 uh by five women they did have help from a founder of phi beta sigma established uh zeta phi beta in 1920 you know that’s when race wars were high lynches were high things of their nature and so the zetas were on the front line
Making sure that they’re fighting against those injustices and fighting against all of that uh bullard university another pwi uh sigma gamma rose already incorporated in 1922. what’s so special about this is because uh sigma gamma rarel was founded by seven women they were actually graduates of bubba university they were not undergrads
As in comparison to most organizations that you think about the founding of so they were not underground members they were grad students and they were seven teachers um and they were really really working about they were really really working towards uh fixing things within the community
And so when you say within the community they were referring to the black community um and how education could be a powerful tool in that uh so that is um how sigma gamma rho came to be and then morgan state university i go to fight data fraternity incorporated in 1963
Uh and so that was this was unique and was special because the iotas were founded by uh more non-traditional students as we would classify them in higher education so adult learners or people who are going back to school um and then they had a lot of a lot of their founders were also
Involved locally in activism and things of that nature and a lot of them were veterans uh so that’s also important to understand that that again gave representation gave a voice to people uh who sometimes go voiceless who sometimes go unseen unheard uh and that was um a part of the
Creation of iodify theta please understand that i am not like i’m not the expert in history of greek life i’m not the expert and like these are i don’t belong to any of these organizations um so i would encourage you to speak to members of these organizations if you want more
In-depth detail history and things of that nature but through the research that i was able to do this is what i was found uh that would be beneficial for this presentation okay i’m trying to go to the next slide it’s not moving okay so uh naofo the national association for latino fraternal organizations
The national multicultural greek council uh so who was the first and the reason why we talk about that um is because there’s two there’s two different documentations of history and i know when i came in um to the sigma epsilon when we were learning the history of latino based organizations
I was informed that limited if i was the first last fraternity to exist um and it would make sense because they were founded in 1975. i was not we were founded in 1979 so that’s before us that would make them the first because we’re known as the second um
And then i got into some uh some social circles some group chats you know we greek we love groupies um and i got had some sands that were which are people who pledged the same semester and here as me um that were part of phi or the alpha
And you know we throw shade and things like that and some little group tests they were talking uh fire with alpha saying they’re the first them to defy saying they’re the first um and so it’s important to understand that if i’m going to get this correct the history of phi iota alpha
Can be traced back to 1868 at a college in troy new york uh with five latin men um unfortunately there isn’t like that much history documented at that time because who knew how to do that during that time period and so things were lost in translation things were lost over time
And so when 1975 comes around and lambda theta phi and lambda theta alpha are establishing themselves as the first latin fraternity in the first latin sorority that is why that is how history has been written because for a while we did not know anything about you know fire to alpha in 1868
Um so for me two things can be true at one time um and so i think that from a time period that these things were documented i think that they’re did that that that they’re both true but more traditionally we were informed that we have been told that
Uh nem theta phi uh and lambda data alpha are the first latin fraternity in latin sorority which i know we both have uh chapters at stockton university so the three fake the three phases of the movement for latino fraternal organizations are principal suezo and fragmentation that is what that word
Means i do not want to mispronounce it um and so principle foundation what what foundation of it and so that’s when you think about them theta five and beta alpha you think about uh phi or alpha you think about lambda sigma epsilon uh these are organizations that were part of like the foundation
Of the latino fraternal movement uh and then comes uh the force so that’s what fuezzo means the force behind it and the force behind it is um they created new energy created new um ideas new initiatives new things and so that was what the creation of kai absolute segment national lands already incorporated
Uh and lambda upsilon lambda and so the reason why we highlight lambda usually lambda is because lambda usually lambda was um was founded at cornell university so the same college that uh alpha alpha was founded at but that was big for latino agriculture because similar to alpha phi alpha being the first black
Greek letter organization of you know in general but found that they’re at a pwi a elite ivy league pwi institution that was the same thing for lul uh so orlando usually lambda is the first latino based organization that was founded at an ivy league institution
Um and then kind of wrapping up some of the force behind that and during this time period latino fraternities and sororities were very popular in jersey new york southern pennsylvania very very popular not um not far out west and things of that nature and so uh that’s when sigma sorry
Ah beta sigma lambda beta sorry i gotta draw a blink on a name real quick some sigma and the beta fraternity incorporated came into play uh in the midwest and then kappa delta kai was founded out in california and they’re both latin based organizations and so that was why the
Force behind the movement that’s why it’s called that because they started opening up avenues and things like that and then the fragmentation of the movement had some successes and had some failures and why we say that is because more latino students were getting involved um and wanting to come to college campuses
When they were coming to college campuses they were looking for greek organizations to join expansion may not have been happening as fast as possible for some of the orgs that were already in place so thinking about lta ltfi lsu things of that nature they were not
Moving as fast and so during this period of time in the movement of latino fraternal organizations um there were two fraternities created and then 17 sororities and you think about that like 17 sororities is a lot of sororities but these these women were coming to campuses not finding what
They were looking for or not finding what they thought was going to be there and so they were creating their own um to this day i don’t i don’t know how many of them are like still active and still like you know do membership and have conventions and things that
Nature but during that time period uh which would be which was like like late 1980s um i think so even almost at the early 2000s um was that time period and that’s 17 17 latin based sororities were founded at that time um so a lot of them you won’t hear about
You won’t know about um some of them are uh based out of new york so they have chapters up there and flourishing but may not be as like global or like as like as nationwide um when you think about uh sigma lambda beta going back to them real quick they
Are the only organization in our council that is known as an international organization uh they they do not have any chapters internationally uh puerto rico they do have traffic in puerto rico but puerto rico is a uh territory of the united states um but they had that in their identity
Because of the makeup of their founders who came from mexico who came from cuba who came from el salvador and so that is why they have that they are international fraternity the creation of nafo uh was created in 1988 and that was created simply because we needed a force behind all of
These latino fraternal organizations that were coming together we needed a force behind it and we needed you know something similar to the npac something similar to the panhellenic council something something something similar to the inner fraternal council we needed something similar for that as well
And so that was the creation of nafo um and then moving forward a new sigma absolute already incorporated is the first multicultural greek letter organization in our nation and the reason why that’s important to understand is because new sigma epsilon sorority incorporated was founded by five latina women
And so because they are connected with the sigma upsilon latino of attorney incorporated people just assumed that because we’re a latino fraternity that makes them enlightened sorority or latina sorority and that absolutely is not the case uh they were a multicultural sorority census inception so it wasn’t something that was developed over time
Uh and that’s important to understand that you know sororities like omega phi kai and then limited omega things of that nature were founded after mu sigma ups line and then i know uh five sigma phi uh was also uh the first multicultural fraternity uh but again msu was the first
Multicultural greek letter organization in the nation uh and then the national multicultural greek council was founded in 1988 also again the same year as now folk again to have the council to have that support to have that leadership in place to have that professional development all of that fun stuff
Uh so then so that’s a little bit of history about the nafo and multicultural greek council uh what we also want to highlight is that again through this kind of thing and i can speak for my own organization and saying that you know yes now i am proud
I was very happy that i was able to pledge and be openly gay and be able to tell people that i don’t know if that was happening in 1979 when my organization was founded you know and so we had to think about that in the creation of these organizations
While we hold them so near and dear to our hearts what does history tell us and at that time history tells us that you know hiv and aids was rampant but being a part of the lgbtq community was something that was so taboo that people didn’t talk about it they treated it
Very similar to teenage pregnancy you kind of stayed hidden you stayed in the closet and it wasn’t something that you were out and open about um and so understanding that now our organization has been progressed since then and we have we have plenty of brothers who are a part of the community plenty
Assessors of our different sororities who are part of the community uh but at that time in history that was not something that was widely accepted and we have to acknowledge it yeah so i just like to throw in a little bit of theory uh here and this is just four parts to
It something that’s very very quick um but the identity development theory is something that i think is important when you talk about the creation and development of greek organizations because there’s so much that plays into you developing your identity as a student and some of this plays a role in high
School even before you get to college but then when you’re in college that’s when some of that nurturing uh happens and you are able to kind of understand and go through like the four uh parts here which is like diffusion foreclosure moratorium and achievement and so fusion is when
You know you haven’t set you haven’t set place on an identity you’re kind of it’s like an exploration phase you don’t really know what it is and things like that and sometimes you know for some of us not me specifically but some some people who maybe people of color
Could have perhaps grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood and so their culture may not have may have been something that has been suppressed for them their entire life until they get into a collegiate atmosphere and see people who look like them and identify with them who are so proud of their culture
Who are so embedded in their culture and so that kind of helps them explore that and understand moving forward to uh to foreclosure and then and then a moratorium so you think about a moratorium you think about what stop right think about you think about stop that’s we all know what moratorium
Is in terms of greek organizations i think we’ve all seen a couple happen in our time as being a members of our organizations so stop so you stop you stop exploring uh you don’t stop developing necessarily but in terms of you trying to understand what makes up your identity
Uh you you kind of stay put in a little bit of like almost discomfort to kind of see what it is and what what makes it up and things of that nature and then you move forward to identity achievement is when you have understood what makes up your identity how you identify
Um and then like how you’re going to utilize that so like you know put yourself and put your best foot forward so just think about that when you think about um recruitment and things like that where are your potential new members at in their identity development theory uh or in their identity development
Sorry i don’t like to just make people theories that’s kind of weird we shouldn’t do that to people uh but the theories are in place for a reason because research has been done and things like that um but think about potential new members where are they at in our identity development uh what
What exactly um how are you going to add to their identity development when it comes to this um whether you’re a culturally based organization or a traditional organization uh real quick tip about that uh i know when i was an undergrad i used to say mainstream like mainstream were the more traditional organizations
And i belong to a minority serving organization didn’t even know culturally based was like the proper term to use um and i went to a conference and where someone asked us a question and we had somebody has said oh well it was a member of a culturally based org but they said
Mainstream so-and-so and the presenter was a zeta and she has said you know we have to get out of saying that there are mainstream organizations because mainstream just means national uh so majority of us are national organizations we have chapters across the united states so that makes us all a mainstream organization
Uh we just have different um different influence influences and different goals and things like that but what we highlight and so that’s why we say culturally based organizations and then more traditional organizations that encompass some of the ifc and panhellenic sororities all right so moving forward from that um
So i know that joe has sent um out an article uh to you all and i just kind of want to take a couple moments to discuss that uh and just kind of hear your thoughts um on the article that joe has sent us uh about it
Because i know starting with the title you know his attorneys and severities are starting to like you know take ownership of their racist past like starting with the title alone i was like wow uh so what what were some of your thoughts about the article that you read
If you wrote it because i don’t i’m not sure who read it and who did oh thank you joe yes joe just put the uh the article in the group chat so ellis this is joe um you know i’ll speak to it for a moment i i think it’s really important and you
Said it earlier um you know it’s it’s not about you know if i’m a member of an organization that you know might have been started by members that were um you know slave owners after the civil war or you know our organization had a had a problem with
Certain things whether it be racism or something like that over the course of our history you know i i don’t think that that necessary you know by us talking about it and saying that it’s important that we acknowledge these things it’s not about being ashamed of our organization or being embarrassed
Of our organization or you know that we should somehow feel bad about that because we joined an organization like that you know the reality is we we need to acknowledge these things just as we need to acknowledge that you know our nation in itself has a very racist past
You know that because we we don’t know where we’re going until we know until we know where we’ve been as you said um you know it’s important to acknowledge these things so that we know what we what work we still need to do you know to to be more inclusive organizations
To really live up to the values and the mission of our of our organizations um you know and our our founders might have thought they were living up to the to the mission and values of the organization at the time right because these things these things kind of transfer you know
Kind of transform over time the you know the meaning and uh you know you know i’m a member a proud member find me delta fraternity and um you know you you actually advised our chapter up in new hampshire um but we uh you know the university of vermont
Which is where um our organization was founded has a history on their campus where for a very long time the fraternity and sorority community held minstrel shows and i know for a fact my chapter which is our first chapter participated in those right and that’s actually become an important part of history
For that chapter when when the new members are going through the new member program because i think sometimes it’s really easy to think your organization is the best and you know can do no wrong and okay you know and i think it’s important to acknowledge that like
Man we really messed up in the past and we can’t act like this was hundreds of years ago this stuff still happened 30 40 years ago um you know so if our our dad was in the chapter or dad might have you know so it’s not like it was that
Long ago i think it’s important that we acknowledge this history and um you know what can we learn from it you know because we like to think that things like that you know still don’t go on today right but racism sexism homophobia transphobia xenophobia these things kind of uh show
Themselves in very different ways in different time periods you know so it’s really easy for us to say like we don’t have any racism or sexism or anything in our organization anymore right it’s really easy to say that but i think unless we are you know having these conversations
Really understanding our history and talking about it can we really acknowledge and really move forward in a way that’s that’s more helpful you know um so i think that’s you know i think this article really gets to that uh with everything that’s been going on the past couple years
Um so hopefully hopefully that for those who did read the article it was it was a good precursor to this conversation we had today thank you joe definitely um i know for me i mean joe and i our friends on facebook and you know have developed a great
Friendship since you know i graduated from stockton um i was very very vocal on facebook when you know things are going on and you know black and brown people are being murdered by the hands of police officers and it’s just like so much civil unrest in our country and
I’m looking through social media and looking for my ifc brothers and my panhellenic sisters like what’s going on like where where where are you like where are your voices at where is the where’s the outcry where’s the solidarity um and i was vocal about that through my social media
Platforms because i think it’s important to understand that you know we’re not here just for your like pleasure and your enjoyment when you want to see a step stool or salute or you know when you when you want to see that kind of stuff you know like we
We have history we have things that are still happening to us and we need your allyship um in order for us to get progress forward in order for things that matter to us and things that pertain to us and things that happen to us to be to be progressed forward uh so i
Think that uh what you said is absolutely right i know i can give an example quickly about my own chapter i’m very proud of my chapter and the things that we have done um and there was something that happened uh before i became a member
That i was made aware of and once i’ve been made aware of this i made a personal commitment to myself to never let it happen again and so there was a a student in stockton i won’t i don’t remember the name but i wouldn’t say it anyway out of respect to the student
Um who was in a wheelchair and we um was in a wheelchair and if you know anything about intake for culturally based organizations you’re like you have to learn how to stand in a certain way to recite information and like sometimes it requires you to be someone that’s able to step or someone
That’s able to like you know dance or whatever the case may be um and so obviously with him being in a wheelchair he was not able to do those things and so as an organization i don’t even know if he ever got sent up or sent
Out for regionals or nationals to take a look at to see how could we even include him in our in through our new member education process you know and so he never got a chance to become a brother of our organization and so we have to think about that now
And this was before i became a brother so i came i became brother in 2012 that was before that and so nine years later um i still have that commitment to myself to make sure that that never happens again and i’ll tell you how it comes full circle
Uh spring 2019 um i got a call from one of my brothers omar chambers who is a brother from saint peter’s university and he called me at the time he was our regional intake officer and he said i need you to do rutgers camden for expansion
And you know you everyone i’m sure on this call i’m sure joe can attest to this everyone has those people that when they call you you just answer and it’s usually just a yes without question um and omar was one of those people for me and so
We start the the process of getting things in you know making sure we have admin picked out uh you know people who are going to do their education making sure we have like you know their big brothers picked out all of that kind of stuff
Um and then i found out that one of them i actually had a physical disability and so in my brain instantly clicked this is my chance now to make sure that that mistake that happened before i became a brother doesn’t happen while i’m a brother um and so he went through the process
Uh was able to participate with his line brother some adjustments were made and things of that nature because he was number two of five um but there were things that we typically do in our organization that we were not able to do at a probate out of respect to him because we didn’t
Want to single him out we didn’t want to make him feel like he was not a brother of our organization um and so i was so proud of myself in that moment to have saw all five of them through the finish line but definitely him because of the challenge that came along
Uh with him having a physical disability so again like i said you know we have to own the fact that the history is not always the best in our organizations and i’m not saying it’s the worst um but it’s not always the best and we’ve made mistakes in the past
And so once we learn of those mistakes once we become aware of those mistakes how are we adjusting our methods how are we starting new initiatives how are we starting new committees to make sure that those mistakes are not happening again anyone else about the article
Well i hope you all do take time to talk about that at maybe a group council meeting or if you have like a dei representative meeting and things of that nature a committee meeting i’m sorry uh just to have that conversation about it because it’s some really really good stuff in that article
Okay i’m not sure what’s happening here yes so takeaways uh again history is not always pretty uh and i want to make sure that we understand that you know when you think about history in the history books when you’re going through k through 12 education uh and even sometimes in a in a
Collegiate classroom we’re not here to butter it up you know i will tell people all the time if you want something sugar coated go to the candy factory this is not the time for that we have to be able to talk about history no matter how ugly it is and understand
That that may not be where we are now but that is definitely where we came from and where and we don’t want to go back to that place um so history is not always pretty understanding your roots will make way for a better tomorrow
So by that i mean again in order to know where you where you’re going you must know where you come from and so understanding your roots take time to understand the history of your personal family take time to understand the history of your fraternal family and your fraternity sorority that you’re a part
Of take time to understand the history of other organizations on your councils at the campus because that’s also going to be important for you as well i say this and i say this all the time privilege it is not your fault but it is your responsibility and so whatever privileged identity you
Hold and everyone on this call holds a privileged identity because you’re all getting a college education already have a college education and so that puts you at some sort of like level up in society so everyone holds a privilege on this call it is not your fault but it is your
Responsibility and it is your responsibility to do something with that privilege for those who are marginalized and oppressed it is your responsibility to make sure that you’re just not going to sit back and benefit from the privilege without doing things to to help out those who
Do not have the same access to resources that you do due to identities that they were not they didn’t ask for they were just given up on birth i understand your weight i understand the way your grief letters carry and the influence you have because of them i cannot tell
You how many times people just do not take the time to teach new members to you know to have that educational moment that your letters carry so much weight um and i mean that and like sometimes it could be they could be heavy and just heavy in
Terms of i had these others across my chest and now there’s a stamp on me and sometimes the stamp is not always oh they did ten thousand hours of community service and raised twenty five thousand dollars for their philanthropy sometimes it’s oh there was a fraternity
Or sorority that had to pay a party off campus and somebody got drunk and sadly passed away and now that’s the that’s the stigma of all fraternity and sorority life here at the institution so understand the weight that your greeks let letters carry but also understand the influence that you have
Because of them so because you have greek letters you have influence you have power and you have the power and potential to influence others i mean that was one thing that i learned you know i’ve been fortunate enough to be new member educator four times since in
The nine years that i’ve been a member and i’m so proud of the the people that i brought into my organization because i understood the influence i had over them at that time of making sure that they became productive new members of our organization um so again recognize the influence you
Have be it on campus be it in a committee uh be it in a greek council at all be it in your respective council so npac or ucgc all of that kind of stuff understand the influence you have and then utilize it to progress forward so you never want to retract you
Always want to be proactive as possible which is why i think the creation of this committee is absolutely amazing so that way you can do some of this education up front and not hopefully not worry about things happening and then you have to be reactive and then do and then do things
Retroactively so understand the weight your letters carry but then also understand the influence you have because of them and i know this is difficult sometime uh especially for those of us who belong to culturally based organizations uh but don’t be afraid to start something new go against the green please please please
Understand that yes organizations have traditions yes we have rituals yes there’s there’s a cultural aspect to every organization in my opinion um and also it is nothing wrong with creating a new norm so we’re in 2021 if something is if something happened in your organization that could have been offensive that
Could have been something that was not encompassing that was not inclusive and let’s say it happened in 1989 why is that same thing happening in 2001 i would never understand so don’t be afraid to start something new don’t be afraid to go against the great and by that i also mean
When it comes to holding your brothers and your sisters accountable don’t be afraid to do so uh that was one of the things i’m most known for in my organization in my chapter and in my organization regionally and nationally i will i go off on people when things just don’t make no sense
And that they and we and when people and people choose to remain ignorant we cannot do that so i call people out it’s you know it’s one of those things that i have that commodity with most brothers in my organization that i can have that type of conversation with them
And they won’t get offended they’ll understand what i’m saying and why i’m saying it uh but if you have that relationship with that brother or that sister or if you’re in that meeting for business they should understand that at that time during business we have to talk about some difficult topics it shouldn’t
Impact our personal relationship outside of this um so again don’t be afraid to start something new or go against degree this is the questions comments or insights but i did want to point out that i do have sources as well and i’ll send this presentation to joe
Uh in case anyone wants it like their chapter or something like that um but any questions or comments and i’m gonna stop sharing my screen now any questions comments or insights from anyone on the zoom meeting well this is joe again i’ll just say um you know there’s there’s definitely
Chapters um that are probably on right now that are doing some really great things in their chapters um you know shout out to organizations like uh zta i know that they did they had a huge effort this year to really um sigma delta taw you know organizations that are really putting a
Huge effort to to focus a lot on dei issues um and do some programming and education their chapter meetings i know for a fact that the vast majority of your headquarters your national organizations um are doing some really great things make sure you are taking advantage of those
Um if if there’s doing programs at national convention or doing stuff online to make sure your members are participating in those and then whatever resources you can get from them that you are having those discussions within your chapter you don’t have to reinvent the wheel a lot of your organizations will basically
Provide you program outlines that you guys can do you know have conversations within your your chapters um and and not have to rely on you know bringing someone in like ellis to do a program you know you could start the conversation on your own um so you know make sure you utilize
Resources you have in front of you yes absolutely absolutely yes this it was a pleasure to come do this absolutely because you know joe had mentioned i was very involved in a great community when i was at stockton um and still involved in my chapter you know just doing alumni advisor work and
Things of that nature but i think it’s important for you all to understand that everything doesn’t have to be this broad conversation or like this broad scale program it can be something if they give you an outline hey do your own research you know i although i knew some of that
Stuff that i talked about i had to do some additional research to make sure i was given accurate information during this presentation um so do your own research and be able to have that conversation is definitely that’s definitely possible well if there are no more uh questions uh thank you joe
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