this is actually something i have been thinking about....what makes one group more prominent in an area? i am sure that alum support helps, but i think that some groups may be better suited for different areas. do you feel that your group's philosophy helps to keep a stronger foothold in an area? any other reasons why one group prospers in one area and not in another?

for phi mu, we have 84 chapters in the south...and 14 in the northeast. pa has 6, me has 2, ct has 1, and oh has 5. ma, ri, vt, nh, nj, de and ny have zero!!! i know in the past few years, we have lost 4 chapters that i can remember. i wonder how much of the difference has to do with being a southern sorority. i remember meeting chapter consultants who were in shock about our rush processes. rush is very different in the north! i think they had a hard time giving us info that would work in our particular circumstances. i love phi mu, but i am totally bummed that there are no chapters in my state!!!

do you think that your group is good at adapting to the needs and "culture" of each area of the country?

so I thought about why Phi Mu would be primarily southern, and here's what I came up with:


* Phi Mu was founded in the antebellum period, specifically 1852, which was before 1864 (the start of the Civil War.) "Gone With the Wind" takes place abut 1862-1867.

* something I've heard since I joined was the emphasis on the "Phi Mu lady." Something we've always battled is the label of the princess, or the priss -- the dark side of the lady hood coin.

* Phi Mu in general appeals to the Girly Girl, which is a huge thing in the south. Our colors are rose & white, etc.

In the late seventies, I knew the president of Mississippi State's Phi Mu chapter very well. She was a girly-girl--sooo Southern and sweet! She asked me to write her a rec to be a traveling graduate consultant and I did and she made it. Several months later, she came back to visit and she was so funny! "Oh, y'all, the Phi Mus around the country are so different! I really thought we were just feminine ladies and oh my gosh! We're not! We have jock chapters!"

She went on like this for hours and we in the Greek office were rolling in the floor!!!!!

Having lived in Oklahoma (but not a native), I can agree with that. The southeastern part of Oklahoma is sometimes called 'Little Dixie' which generally covers the counties south of a line from Fort Smith to Ardmore. A couple of minor battles in the Civil War were fought in Oklahoma (at the time only a territory) near Atoka.

Phi Sigma Sigma is primarily a northeastern sorority:
New York: 21 chapters
New Jersey: 9
Penn: 17
Mass: 5
Maryland: 4 (I DO NOT consider myself a southerner!!!...but no hatin on those who do ;) )

This is just a handful. My friends that go to school in the south thought Phi Sig was local because we have no chapters at the traditionally "southern greek schools" but when I go visit my boyfriend in jersey I see Phi Sigs everywhere :)

I always think of AOII as being especially strong in the south so I was astounded to find that it was founded at Barnard College in NYC

geographically MD might be southern, but it lacks the "southern mentality" that is discussed very often on these boards. i'm going to veto MD as a southern state.

The Mason/Dixon Line was set by two survouers(SIC) who set a Boundery for the then known States of America and nothing more.

This was all brought out during the Civil War, or war between the States. Yes Maryland was a Souhtern State. But take into context, Mo. was a Deep South State, while Kansas was a Free Rights State (Northern). The Gettysberg of the West was fought in Kansas City. The Last Oficial Battle was in Pea Ridge Arkansas. With Maryland being so near the Northern area, I am sure after the War it became closer to the Northern way of thinking as it was more industrial than the Deep Southern States who were agricultual. What basically seperates Maryland and Virginia is Wash. DC.!

I think a lot might have to do where the Orgs. were originally started and spread because of the proxcimity of getting to other areas.

LXA started in Boston , Mass. All new Chapters were also close. It was decided back when that the best way to expand was to go as far West as possible. A chapter was initiated in California to show that LXA was Country wide.

I cannot remember for sure what states we are not in except Hawaii. I think we may be in all even Alaska which we just colonized last year. I would have to do some research to make sure. Lenoxx who is on site would be the best to know I think!

Dont know if this makes sense to you but what the heck!;)

This is the general reaction my chapter gets from the CC's...
:p

Huh. I hadn't thought about KD. They're southern?

First of all, the remark about the "jock chapter" is priceless! Definite sig line material!

That being said, just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is the "Southen Sorority". Sororities as a whole are more important & larger in the South than in the North, and I'm sure there's a good rationalization. Personally, I've always considered ADPi, Phi Mu, KKG, Pi Phi, and ChiO as "the" Southern sororities, with the Farmville Four thrown in for good measure. It probably has more to do with family members who were greeks than anything else (although we have no Phi Mu's).

Just my 2¢

honeychile

DU has 81 chapters, 2 colonies and 5/6 interest groups. DU traditionally has been very strong in New England , the northeast and big 10 schools. DU did not install a southern chapter until 1922.
The decline of Greeks in the Northeast has hurt, DU has lost chapters at Bowdoin,Colby, Dartmouth, Middlebury, Williams, Brown, Wesleyan, Union and Cornell in the last half century, most of these losses were due to a rising tide of anti greek feeling by College Administrations, although Brown Bowdoin and Dartmouth went local (ALL 3 HAVE SINCE EXPIRED). At one time these chapters were all very strong,interestingly DU returned to Harvard in 1999.
DU is still strong in Pennsylvania (8 chapters, Ohio 8 chapters, Illinois 7 chapters and is represented in all of the big state schools in the midwest and on the great plains.]
IN MY OPINION BEST CHAPTERS INCLUDE:

OU, MISSOURI, ILLINOIS,WISCONSIN, PENN ST., MIT, COGATE, HAMILTON, KANSAS, K STATE ,OREGON STATE AND WASHINGTON

Semi-off topic, but A Phi has only 2 chapters in Florida... Barry and Florida Tech. We were also only chartered within the past 13 years. It's kinda rough to be so isolated, but we have such great alumni that help us out that it doesn't seem so bad sometimes.

Alpha Phi is definitely strongest in the Midwest and West. I'm from Chicago, and tons of girls that I went to high school with joined Alpha Phi at Midwest colleges.

TRI- SIGMA is also like that. We are generaly North East and are making efforts to spread westwardly.:D

This relates in that AOII expanded to Sophie Newcomb College in 1898 (2nd chapter and a year or so after AOII's founding!) and that one of our founders (Stella) was from Louisiana. In a way you could say that we are Northern born but Southern at heart. . . :) You can also take into consideration that approximately 1/2 our active chapters are located in Southern states (49 out of 101)!

Sarah