I don't really understand what you mean by this. Is your school considering expansion? If so, who is waiting on the formal decision? Or do you mean you're waiting to hear back on whether you school is open for expansion at all?

At this point, I don't think there's really anything to do besides wait and see what responses you get. If I were you, I don't think I'd be contacting additional people. You've reached out to alumnae groups, national headquarters, and school representatives and expressed your interest...so that's that for now. Maybe you could search around greekchat a little more to build a stronger understanding of how NPC expansion works.

Also, I think there are things to love about every NPC group, and if, as you said, you really get along with women currently in the sororities at your school, it's hard for me to understand why you wouldn't "love the letters."

Maybe I am not reading your intent well, but I am failing to see what it is about Tri-Delta that has you intrigued that you are not feeling with the existing chapters.

As for the part that I bolded... it is very possible to fall in love with several chapters during recruitment. I did. It took me over an hour to fill out my pref card because I loved all three of the chapters that I visited for pref. That is not uncommon at all. Many PNMs give the ranking order long, careful thought, because they had such positive experiences in multiple chapters. THere are other PNMs who have lukewarm feelings after pref round, but choose to give a chapter a chance.

Once you join a group you become immersed in that chapter, so of course the bond that you feel there will only continue to flourish, and that is where the "love" comes into play.

You haven't shared too much of your recruitment experience except that you received 2 bids. (guessing that one of those was a local?) Did you accept either bid?

What does Tri-Delta offer that the three on campus groups do not?

When I rushed we did informational sessions, went bowling with one group, pool hall with another, there was a slumber party and an ice cream social, a community service event for each...and a few other events. It was fun and that's how I actually made friends with a few of the girls, and sometimes I do wish I just accepted one of the bids, but..shoulda coulda woulda..
I am waiting to hear back from my greek advisor and from nationals for information and whether we're open for expansion because I don't know if our website is out of date or not because it says "the college panhellenic council is still pending a formal decision for expansion." I do not know who is making the decision or when.
As far as why DDD has me so intrigued; their partnership with st. Judes really hits home for me. The reflections program, fat talk free week, the history of their founding..I did a lot of research on NPC sororities and I guess DDD just really stood out for me.

Maybe she went through informal recruitment and that's how she received more than one bid?

.....Kelly :)

Quite frankly, the majority of members in NPC sororities don't join because of the national partnerships, the national philanthropy or the mission statement. They join because they like the girls in the chapter at their school. Love for the sorority as a national entity comes later. I'm sure the sororities would totally dig it if everyone was like you and looked primarily at the things you're looking at, but the fact is that would require an enormous culture change. Recuitment, pledging, everything would have to do a 180. What you're doing with researching is more akin to the way women who are interested in NPHC organizations choose a group.

Even when women are picking a sorority to colonize with, often times the group who "looked good on paper" gets there - and is not at all what the interest group thought they would be. Case in point.

Also, if the majority of the groups are local and have been that way for a long time, it leads me to believe that either the campus is not one NPC groups have found desirable as far as expansion, or that NPCs are a new thing being added slowly so as not to overwhelm the system, or that the majority of the students prefer the local groups to the nationals. You might want to check this thread out - find your school, and see if there have ever been any other NPC groups at your school besides the three you mentioned.

Often, probably more often than not, the lasting love of the letters is a by-product of the bonds with one's sisters (or brothers).

I'm curious about what you mean by this last sentence. In my experience, the old saying "people don't join organizations, people join people" (or something like that) has always held true. I did a lot of research on the organizations on my campus before going through recruitment. Based on the websites, I was convinced I wanted to be a DG. I loved the colors and symbols, and the line of the DG purpose that stated "Its aim is to foster an atmosphere in which women will develop a deeper love and consideration for mankind, a more profound understanding of the purpose of life, and a basic wisdom upon which to build their lives" really spoke to me. But, when I went through recruitment, I realized my true home was KD. Even though the DG sisters at Wittenberg are a fantastic group of women, I didn't feel that "click" with them the way I felt with the KDs. I became a Kappa Delta because I felt a connection to the women in my chapter. Sure, it's nice to have philanthropies I really care about and colors I look good in :p, but I take pride in my letters because of the sisterhood they represent. (And for what it's worth, as I look back I realize the line that so spoke to me on the DG national website is echoed in my own sorority's object: "The formation and perpetuation of good fellowship, friendship and sisterly love among its members; the encouragement of literature and education; the promotion of social interest; and the furtherance of charitable and benevolent purposes." Sure, they aren't exactly identical, but the intent is the same.)

So I'm curious to learn more about your situation, since it seems to be so different from my own! In my experience, the purpose and ideals of many GLOs (at least the ones I've run into) seem remarkably similar. If I've learned anything from GC, it's that behind the letters, mascots and philanthropies, we're all more alike than different. I'm still not really clear on what makes DDD so different from the orgs on your campus, or any of the other 26 NPC sororities for that matter! Why is DDD the one for you? What are you unable to identify with for the other organizations? I'm not trying to attack, I'm genuinely curious! :)

I haven't felt that "click" with any NPC orgs on campus.. A couple people, yes; but never the groups as a whole. I also find that I look primarily at what the org represents, rather than the sisters first. Someone mentioned earlier that the way I'm looking at the whole thing is more identifiable to that of those looking into NPHC orgs, which I've never looked into before..its a little intimidating but maybe I should look into those before waiting around for DDD.

I think we're all just a little confused as to what exactly was involved in your evaluation process when deciding that DDD is "right" for you.

You're friends with some of the girls in the chapters, and that's great. You're not all supposed to be best friends on day 1. And 99% of the time, girls aren't best friends with ALL of their sisters.. ever.

I think it's just difficult to understand why/how you feel that you can't identify with an NPC's ideals. If you read the creeds and/or purposes of all of them, I'm pretty sure you'll find declarations of love for the sorority, and for fellow sisters. You'll find statements about the importance of education, and of helping others in need. And you'll find messages about values to uphold and morals to live by.

If you like the idea of being associated with St. Jude's and helping children with cancer, there's nothing saying that you can't do that if you're a member of another organization. And I guarantee that if you joined another NPC, you'd probably find out all kinds of fun and interesting things about them as the process went along that you probably can't find on any website. Private rituals being a prime example of that!

If DDD was already on your campus and it was an option for you to join through recruitment, that's one thing. But attempting to bring them to campus because you did a little research and ONLY see yourself in that organization, it's just a little out of reach. And as has already been said, there's a very good chance that you'd end up in a colony made of up girls that you don't know... bringing you back to square one.

I didn't mean that you should look at NPHCs - especially after so openly proclaiming your "affinity" with DDD - rather that "research and then pursue" is the usual M.O. for joining them. The big difference is that there are FOUR NPHC sororities (as opposed to 26 NPC sororities), they have far more chapters than the NPC groups, and joining after graduation from college is a well established part of their selection practices.

I think I know what campus you're on, and with the economy the way it is and with the majority of the groups being local, it seems the school is taking NPC expansion VERY SLOWLY. No group wants to come to a campus, open a colony and then have it either take forever to charter or end up failing and having basically wasted a ton of money. It would be one thing if they made all the locals go national at once, but that apparently isn't happening. So if they continue on the route they're taking, it's going to be a LONG wait before any more NPCs show up on campus.

It may be because I am a DDD, and, hence, always flattered when someone wants to grow my GLO, but I think you guys are being a little harsh and pessimistic. I agree that starting a new chapter is certainly very tough, but with effort and purserverence it can be done! OP sounds like she needs more education. OP, I would consider reading some of the threads on here about expansion and colonies. Also, if you have a group of girls who are interested in bringing DDD to your school, you should start having meetings for that purpose. Many colonies start out of "interest groups." National orgs like to see that there is a base of support for the chapter and a need for their national organization on campus. They won't come to your school unless they feel there is a void to fill.

Also, regarding expansion, you need to speak with your campus greek office to learn more about the system. Are they considering expansion? When was the last time there was a new chapter? Are the chapters at or above total? Are there a large number of girls who withdraw from rush, get dropped from rush, or who don't accept their bids? Do the other organizations have houses and would you need one to compete effectively? You need to find these things out to know if your campus can support another organization.

Expansion is tough and you have to be willing to knock on a lot of doors and have many rejections. It may not work out exactly the way you envisioned or at all but if our founding sisters thought like these ladies, we probably wouldn't have sororities at all. :)

No we're not. We're being realistic. As I said, if her school is the one I think it is from her username, they're being very cautious with national expansion which is probably the right road to take in this economy.

It also seems like she thinks DDD will bring a type of woman to the Greek system that isn't there, and no matter how awesome the organization, 99 times out of 100 that simply isn't the case, especially if you're participating in panhellenic rush with a mix of locals and NPCs.

I'd say the same things to her if she wanted to start a colony of my sorority in the same circumstance. We need to take care of the sisters we already have, not go OMG EXPANSION if the opportunity is not a good one.

This is an especially great point considering recent news that two colonies at UA-LR are closing. Expansion can sound like a great idea, but it is not a simple low-energy process no matter the org.

As far as that situation was concerned, I think they had the right idea, and it might have worked out OK if the current economy wasn't such a cluster. The OP's situation is a different matter though. They HAVE a Greek system with a good many orgs...they just happen to be local ones.

I wasn't going "OMG EXPANSION." In fact, nowhere did I say that I thought this was a great expansion opportunity for DDD. I also never said that starting a chapter was easy or likely.

I do, however, think that when we are answering a person's question, we should be helpful. Saying, "forget it, it will never happen" in post after post is not helpful. Even if something is difficult doesn't mean you shouldn't try and doesn't mean that we can't give her the best advice we have. Especially since the OP never asked us to weigh in on whether starting a chapter was a good idea, she just asked us to give her our best advice and to tell her our experiences, if we have any, with this situation. Is our best advice really don't try it's too hard?