An answer for the larger groups not wanting to decrease total-----remind them that they can still recruit and extend bids to make quota, even if it puts them over total.

FuzzieAlum:

Sorry..it took so long....I hadn't been on this board lately. I believe that it would still be possible to lower if they can get through total through COB, but it would probably be less likely to occurr. I can see the arguement against being, "Well, we do get to total through informal, so maybe we just need to work harder during the formal recruitment period to get those women."

I guess it's kind of a touch and go situation, and it's hard for me to give a more confident (and probably benifical) answer without actually having the experience of being on your campus and the whole culture of the orgs, campus, students, etc. But I hope I was somewhat helpful.

Thanks for listening.

This Is Fascinating To Watch
 

I honestly mean no disrespect. I realize that I'm sticking my nose in where it's not welcome, and I expect to be told so. Still...It's fascinating to read this thread and contemplate the oceanic gulf between the ways men and women think. You're having serious discussions about holding back and dampening the success of some sorority chapters because other sorority chapters are not as successful. If someone told the leading fraternities at a public university that they had to cap their membership because some other fraternities were offering nothing of value to potential members and could attract no new pledges, there'd be an avalanche of lawsuits filed in Federal court. Guys assume that their chapters are successful because they are aggressive and accomplished and offer value to the members. They assume the fraternities that cannot attract members fail because they have nothing to offer that rushees want. The idea that men who are rejected for membership in a successful group will turn around and join one that is not, simply because it has Greek letters, is completely foreign to the way guys think.
I have never seen a decent-sized sorority system that didn't have at least one struggling chapter. The theory I suppose is that, until some more women join the unsuccessful group, the system will not admit another sorority that might bring needed enthusiasm and value to the campus. Instead of holding the successful ones back, why not let them grow and prosper as they will, creating an atmosphere of great enthuiasm, of dynamic and exciting chapters that will attract greater numbers of members campus-wide. Let the ones that offer no real incentive to join fall away, and let new ones come on and prosper.
Obviously, the system that sororities operate works well for them, and we men surely have our problems. But my goodness!, we certainly see our world through different eyes.

Yes. Thank you. You obviously do see things differently. Allow me to direct you to the "Sorority Quotas" thread and the "Rho Chi/Gamma duties-- venting!" thread, both located in the Rush forum. I trust you will find them informative.

And now back to your regularly scheduled topic.

There is one thing I have to question in that logic ... if EVERY decent sized sorority system has at least one struggling chapter, and NO school will expand without all chapters doing well, how does any sorority system ever expand?

Obviously, we manage to! We're not quite as draconian as that. If every chapter but one is doing well, a school might well decide to expand. Panhellenics aren't as dumb as men seem to think sometime. They recognize very well that a chapter may fail for its own weaknesses.

It's when several chapters are doing poorly - that overall interest in Greek life is waning - that we don't expand. If fewer women are rushing (and this country does go through cycles like that), it's not the moment to make every chapter even smaller. That's one time the women's system really shines. There's always a men's group waiting to come on campus whenever they please, and I've seen it happen - when they do so during a "down" time, some other house always loses, and a house can go from top to bottom in two years.

Unfortunately, we women do have more of a herd mentality than guys do. Let's say Big U has ten fraternities and ten sororities, and normally 100 of each gender pledge, 10 to each chapter. Obviously that's simplistic. But next year only 90 of each gender rush. What probably happens to the men is that 9 men join each chapter. Over on the sorority side, 10 women join 9 chapters and one is screwed. Which chapter is that? The one who was one girl smaller to begin with, or the one with the plainest house, or the one the fraternities were spreading nasty rumors about ... not necessarily the house with the worst rush tactics or the biggest problems. If we had a system like you guys did, we would end up with one house on campus with 500 girls in it! Our system protects US from our failings.

If one group really wanted 500 members wouldn't they vote against expansion in the first place?

If some chapters can attain the total that is set on campus, lowering it wouldn't really be an option. NPC rules state that total should be reevaluated when NO chapters reach total in several years. It sounds to me as if you have a few groups that do, so this wouldn't really work to lower total.

I understand your dilemma, trust me though. Bloomsburg has a quota that only a very few meet, but you keep plugging away in hopes that you get there. With some sororities hitting the number, not allowing them to take the women they want isn't really fair either. If you're having huge numbers problems, I encourage you to look for interest groups on campus who want to start new sororities. Those are a fantastic place to find PNMs if the campus isn't willing to do extensions.