A&A, you just made my day! I am a 27-year alumna of Delta Rho chapter of KKG. I was at Ole Miss when Alpha Xi Delta left and when Theta colonized.

Why did Alpha Xi leave Ole Miss?

I would guess they went off campus for the same reason our chapter left there: sheer numbers and a lack of a VERY strong tradition of Alumnae sending their kids to join.

Again, just a guess. Maybe Katherine (OleMissGlitter) would know.

When I went through rush, they had very few members, I would say between 20 and 25. I'm not sure how many pledges they got that year, but I don't think it was over a handful.

Hello everyone:
I have some news, which shocked me last night because I didn't think it would ever happen while I was around but....



OLE MISS Panhellenic is taking a poll tonight to see if current sororities would be interested in a new sorority joining our campus! I attend our Leader's Council meetings and last night we discussed this. Our panhellenic has not asked an sorority to come yet or anything like that. They are just entertaining the option of expansion. Ole Miss has already accepted (doesn't mean they are coming) 150 more students and with last year's 900 women who went through recruitment, the numbers are expected to rise to about 950. Therefore, a new chapter would be a great addition. Now, no names have been mentioned yet and obvsiouly like mentioned in this thread before, this sorority would have to be willing to spend LOTS of money, have a great alumnae base near Oxford, MS, and put on a HUGE PR Blitz. Also, they would not participate most likely in Fall 2004 recruitment, but have deferred recruitment most likely. Anyway, this is just the latest news so far. Oh and they are about to hire a new Greek Life Director too, our former one moved to Jackson, MS to take on a job Gov. Haley Barbour. Just wanted to keep ya'll updated! I know our Leader's Council was happy to hear this and we think it would be a great idea!

I think that is great.

HOORAY!!! The new member classes are so huge now with the numbers going through rush. It is so hard for a new member to get to know everyone in her class, much less the active members. I bet a new group will be welcomed by the groups on campus already. Is a house available? It's been a while since I was back in Oxford :-)

OK, so who has a great group of interested & active alums in Memphis (the closest big city, an hour away)?

What would be wrong with bringing back one of the groups that used to be there? I know it was mentioned that Alpha Xi was there, and I think someone mentioned ZTA was also there. What other groups were there? I think someone also mentioned that a lot of the alumnae of those groups now have college-aged daughters who might be looking to be legacies...I think that would help give the new org. a head start. But then I think it was also mentioned in another thread that the former reputation of not having thrived on the campus would hurt the group more than help it.

Any thoughts?

It seems that the consensus is that the onus of having to live down the reputation of having left campus outweighs the leg up they would get with lots of legacies.

OleMissGlitter...let me know how the meeting goes. I was in Oxford this weekend and didn't hear anything about it. Kepp us updated please ;)

But if the campus is wanting a sorority to come to Ole Miss, and they chose a group that had been there in the past (AZD or ZTA), would there be such a big deal in the previous reputation (if it's been a while since they were there).

Seems like if the sororities voted to bring another group on campus they shouldn't be bad mouthing the group they choose themselves. I don't see how it would hurt their chapter numbers any if another group colonized. Sounds like they could colonize TWO groups and be just fine!!!

PsychTau

Yes. Unfortunately, change comes slowly on a campus like Ole Miss (or my alma mater, for that matter), and bad reputations are extremely hard to shake.

ZTA just left in 1999.

If you read the thread from the beginning, you can see a lot of these questions answered.

Ole Miss is not like any other school I know. The Greek culture is completely different than at most places.

I don't think AXiD, ADPi, or ZTA should consider going back ANY time soon. DZ, I think, has been gone for such a long time that they could stand a chance (IMO).

I don't know that the sororities would be 'bad mouthing' the group they choose to bring on.
I think that the past reputation will live on. I know that is what happened on my campus. When a sorority left , years before I went through rush, we all heard of the reasons, etc. Who knows if the 'reasons' were true, but we all know how rumors fly.
I think it may be better to start fresh, and to pick a group with a strong alum base near Oxford.

Every word absolutely right, XOAlum. None of the existing groups are going to bad mouth a new GLO.

There are several challenges to colonize at Ole Miss, but a major one here is going to be alum support. Oxford is such a tiny little town, it really exists to support the University. The population is pretty small, so not many alums of any group right in town. Jackson is the largest city in the state and has a number of alumnae, but it is 3 hours south. Memphis is only an hour north, which makes a big difference in drawing alum support.