<p>Does anyone know much about the MT sorority? My D is rushing this week and I wonder what it is about and if anyone is in it, or knows of someone who is in it who can tell me a little more about it. My D is very impressed, but I have questions.</p>
<p>I know a bit about it. Alpha Psi Omega is a national theatre fraternity that also has sorority subchapters associated with each fraternity chapter. My D joined last year as a freshman and went through rush week. This year, she is a "big" mentoring a "little" through rush week and your D probably attended a meeting/social gathering at my D's apartment (my understanding is that there was upwards towards 30 students there between "bigs" and "littles"). Rush week is very benign - lots of quirky, creative and often funny activities and tasks to do. Last year, in addition to social gatherings, the members also did service projects for the school, like painting all the studios in Terra over a weekend. In addition to the social fun, it's a great way for freshmen to meet upperclassmen and together with the "big/little" pairing provides ongoing mentoring as freshmen navigate through their first year.</p>
<p>If you have any specific questions (like what the secret handshake is ;) ) let me know and I'll ask my D.</p>
<p>Normally I despise the idea of frats, but this sounds like more of a college branch of a professional society.</p>
<p>Michael, when you say "benign," do you mean the sorority refrains from humiliating pledges (or whatever they're called) and is not centering the social gathering around a beer keg? Given the packed schedules of MT kids, does the sorority suck up much of your D's time? Also, is everyone allowed to join? Or is it exclusive, with voting up or down on pledges?</p>
<p>My son also went to a gathering last week at the home of 3 guys. He knows his Dad and I were not frat/sorority college students. We were both music majors and all music majors were there own "fraternity" in some way. Like theatre majors, we were always busier in our majors than others at college. After classes and homework, there was always hours spent in the practice rooms and in rehearsals, etc. My son highlighted the community service part of the fraternity and the networking opportunities. He told us about the painting at Terra. I goggled it right away after our conversation.</p>
<p>I think "college branch of a professional society" is a great way to characterize it. While there are certainly social aspects to the organization, the focus of its activities is to promote performance opportunities, connections between the school and the community and perform service projects on behalf of the school that benefit the theatre program. There is a faculty sponsor and the organization interfaces regularly with the admin in planning activities that are school based or related.</p>
<p>Alpha Psi Omega is not just limited to the MT kids but is open to anyone in the School of Theatre Arts. It does seem, however, that most of the students involved are MT and Acting majors. The pledging activities do not in any manner involve hazing. Last year, the way it worked was that each pledge had to score a defined number of points from a menu of activities, tasks or projects. They could choose which ones to do to meet the point total. Easier ones had fewer points and those that were tougher, more time consuming or more complicated were worth more. Some were silly and funny but none were humiliating and if a student was not comfortable with a particular activity, the student was free to pick others from the menu. Any one who participated enough to score the required points became a member. It's not a popularity contest with pledges being "voted up" or "voted down". I think what they are looking for are students willing to devote a reasonable amount of their time to make the organization work and the point tally was simply a way for the student to demonstrate their interest and willingness to invest some time. </p>
<p>The social activities are not in any manner "keggers". "Pot Luck" dinners at students' apartments, occasional dance parties with Dj's are more the norm. My daughter had no problem balancing her school commitments with her involvement with Alpha Psi; since all the participants are from the School of Theatre Arts, they are all in the same "boat" and everyone understands that school and shows come first.</p>
<p>This sounds awesome.</p>
<p>Yes. Thanks for all the info. I feel better as I was concerned it was like the other college sororities I had heard from. My husband and I too were not involved in "fraternities/sororities" either as we were very busy with our own majors. So I'm glad to hear of the emphasis on community service using their performance talents.</p>