Alpha Tau XI

We all hear of Greek organizations dropping members for focusing all their attention on their RL - but how often do we hear of Greek members supporting one another with RL, when one is too busy to log onto IMVU? Not much at all. But here, we have Alpha Tau Xi who do that, and much more! Verve X takes a seat with Alescia to find out more.

Can you start by giving us a brief introduction?

Alescia: I’m Lala, and for those who don’t know yet, I’m a co-founder of Alpha Tau Xi, alongside Myesha.

What is your line name and when was ATX founded?

Alescia: I’m soror Authentic. ATX was founded June 30th, 2013.

Why did you go inactive or low-key from the hustle and bustle of the Greek Community?

Alescia: ATX is proud of it’s members. We are all 20+ women and respectably, ambitious. Last summer, opportunities sprung left and right for our women and we couldn’t be more proud. With so many members pursuing careers and their college studies, it got harder to keep the pace we were at. ATX was on top of her game because she had so many hands. With most of those preoccupied, the load was heavier than expected. Balancing it was hard so we had to step aside, collect ourselves and protect our sisterhood from falling apart.

So your current sisters are most important to you?

Alescia: Sisterhood is why we exist. ATX was formed so that we didn’t have to follow the drama cliche with everybody at each other’s necks. We just wanna chill, laugh, and be there for each other because while we’re away in school, or living alone, we don’t always have our families in the next room. We have each other and that’s what’s most important to us.

Would you say you are different to most sororities on here?

Alescia: I think we’re all different. If we were all the same, we’d be one unit. ATX is different as we stride on a more unified and personal level. We’re involved in each other’s real lives as well as ATX.

It sounds like you don’t drop your members for having a life outside of IMVU!

Alescia: I would definitely say that I care for my sisters. We’re not about dropping members for having a life. That’s not what we do. Now if you’re online and you forget I’m your sister, not some random on IMVU, then you don’t have to sit with us because we gone sit with each other. We bond. If you don’t wanna, then don’t. Be happy elsewhere.

What sparked your interest and made you start your own sorority?

Alescia: Cliques. I’ve been in a few sororities, and each left me more disappointed than the last. If we’re sisters, don’t come to me with “Oh, you don’t talk to such and such” or, “You only hang out with certain sorors.” Nah. Squash that. You grown, talk out ya differences. Meme and I were in the same sorority and she witnessed first hand the cliques and how they worked against each other. It wasn’t cool. So for hours we thought of how we could form an environment that thrived off unity, off encouragement, off love and ATX was born from it. If ATX was to disband, I couldn’t see myself affiliating with another organization because I already know, I won’t feel the bond like an ATX bond.

How did you come up with the name ATX?

Alescia: Alpha for being the leaders we are, IMVU & rl. Everything else just rolled off the tongue.

If you had to describe ATX in a few words, what would you say?

Alescia: ATX only needs two words, my sisterhood.

What are your colors?

Alescia: Tiffany, our main color for classiness, sincerity and honesty. We’re very high maintenance but not too bourgeois where we feel better than anyone else. Just high standards, and we’re honest, not just with ourselves but our sisters. White for purity and humbleness. We’re very honored and thankful for the compliments and admiration we’ve received over the years but we don’t let it get to our heads, we just strive to do better with every year. Silver for maturity, intelligence and modesty. We take pride in how we handle a lot of our situations, as well as ourselves. And black, for power, elegance, and sophistication. All words that can describe any member at any time.

[Alescia smiles]

You mentioned that you take pride in how you handle your situations. How would you handle a difficult situation, for example another Greek organization was talking bad about you?

[Alescia laughs]

Alescia: We’ve had that. That’s not our priority. Everyone and every Greek is entitled to their opinion on us. What they say about us says more about them, than about us. I can honestly say, we’re not drama filled. We don’t have bad blood. Individuals may feel indifferently towards us but who we are and what we represent require us to be better than petty. So we take it with a smile, forgive and encourage peace, no matter who it is. But if issues escalated to public bashing, i.e another organization being nasty about ATX, we not having that. Please speak with us or not at all. Talk all you want, that’s your mouth, or in this case, fingers that’s being stressed, not us. We got sleepovers and bonding sessions to worry about.

Very well said. How would you handle a situation if one of your sisters were to entertain such petty actions?

Alescia: So one of us fell short? Everybody else’s job is to mentor her before it can happen again. We aren’t perfect and we’re not all to that point where we can be above the drama so it’ll happen. But it can’t un-happen. It can only be prevented from happening again. One person’s action can’t be the image for a whole group so all we can do is ask the sister to hash it privately with the person they have an issue with and leave it outside of ATX. No nonsense.

Why don’t you have any alliances such as a brotherhood?

Alescia: We’ve thought about it. Pros and cons to it. Cons outweighed the pros. Although the matching outfits and event partners would be nice, ATX is very organized and proud of business professional personality. Out of fear that male counterparts would encourage drama, tension and worse of all, a reputation that might reflect on us, we rather be just us for now.

Why don’t you have titles in your sorority?

Alescia: Myesha and I created ATX together, no one a step above the other. When power gets introduced to any environment, it can tear it down. We function better when we work as a team, as equals. Yeah, the founders do a bit more, i.e communicating with other greeks, meeting plans, etc. but we’re a team so we move better together.

How do you delegate jobs and tasks among sisters?

Alescia: We need help in all areas of ATX so typically sisters work in different depts. The mechanism we’re trying now is training and preparing those who wanna work in specific depts.

How often do you run a pledge line?

Alescia: When the previous line is ready. After our sisters cross, we immediately start teaching them how we do things, how we work together and before we can introduce new sisters, we try to make sure everyone is comfortable and hanging out before new people show up, so no set timeline.

Do you have anything else you would like to say?

Alescia: Keep your eyes peeled for what ATX might have in store.