WVUalphaphi and DGQueen17, you two sounds like long lost sisters :)

I wouldn't have minded being an Alpha Phi if it hadn't worked out with DG, so I'll take that as a compliment. :D

Haha...yup....I like that one;)

LOL I preffed alpha phi and DG. maybe we are long lost sisters! :p

Re: How easily do chapters change stereotypes?
 

There are four variables:
1) Did the GLO actually change?
2) Region
3) Time period
4) Fraternity or Sorority

If a GLO doesn't really change, good PR might work, but it depends on where it is. PR alone won't cut it in the South.

If a GLO truly changes, it will take at least two years for the reputation to change. I'd make that at least four years in the South.

If its a sorority in the South, its almost impossible to change reputations. This could take decades with a serious effort.

I think it's very difficult to "move up", so to say, than it is to move down. I've seen both happen over the years, but I've also seen groups that show great improvement move absolutely nowhere in the perceived chain.

For instance, my alma mater has 6 fraternities. The fraternity that I would have considered #2 my freshman year is dangerously low on numbers and had to move out of their house because they didn't have the members to support it. However, I've seen another fraternity that has gone in numbers, but gone up in quality, and they're still considered a lousy fraternity. It really is sad for both of the groups who I used as examples, but it just goes to show that it's pretty easy to plummet, and very difficult to pull back out of it.

The only time I've seen a group do the opposite is because they started dirty rushing and got tons of guys. My freshman year, my boyfriend's roommate didn't even realize that we had that fraternity on campus, and he was his chapter's IFC Rep. I don't really think they should be considered such a good fraternity because of the way they did it, but if people are going to ignore the methods, then oh well.

I don't think stereotypes hurt anything if you are successful in rush and get the girls you want. Which the sororities here do. And I'd rather be in a sorority known for having good GPAs than being slutty anyday.

Even though theres a lot of stereotypes at my school, we all get along with each other. At least all the NPC's get along.....locals, well thats another thread.

Sometimes I think stereotypes are harder to change among the sororities themselves at my school than on campus as a whole. My sorority has done a complete about face from haivng a hard time in recuitiemtn to making quota consistently and having around 90% return rate to our preference party. It has taken almost four years for the other greek organizations to start to see us as a very involved organization. (it probably helped that we've swept our greek awards the past two years).

Generally though it's hard for our sororities to lose their "ranking" in the campus' mind, unless something massive happens to them, like a lot of sister's deactivating and being vocal about it, or a lot of arrests happening to a certain sorority. I think because our school is so small everyone has kinda found the niche they fit into and almost embrace the stereotype they have whatever it may be.

A sorority at my school used to haze really bad years ago, but their nationals came and "cleaned house"(we don't have houses here), and now they're known as the "fat girl" sorority(not nice or true) who don't haze at all.

There is one group in particular at my school that has increasingly pledged higher and higher quality women over the past four years, and I think it would be safe to say that they went from somewhere in the middle to one of the top sororities on campus, no questions!

Define higher qauality. Did their GPAs shoot up a whole point or something? Or they dominated in student government? It doesn't seem like anyone would really notice that though . . .

She means not letting in people who sucked. Meditate deeply on your own chapter. Now, is there anyone who if you had your absolute way in universe, that would not be there? They stopped letting in those people. STop letting in people that fulfill a certain sterotype and then you will not have that stereotype. Sharp is my stereotype. Its a microcomponetsystem. :)

some things never change....
 

HA HA HA!!!! I know EXACTLY which chapter you are talking about, and I graduated in 1999!!!!

Re: some things never change....
 

Ohhh I guess some things never change in Motown. :D :D

Sterotypes can change, I've seen it happen at a small school like Allegheny. However oddly enough just with the sororites. I think the guys probably didnt care as much and just grew into their sterotype. I also think it might have something to do with girls being a lot more critical and prone to feel like everyone should have a classificiation. Anyways when I started my freshman year there was a sorority lets say ABC that had the reputation of being the fat sorority. They always got the lowest number of new members and by my sophomore year they were down to about 20 some odd girls. There was talk of charters being pulled and the greek advisor started shopping around for another sorority (even though in our NPC bylaws it stated that another sorority can not be added unless all 4 sororites were at total). Something happened that year and the following year because they got higher numbers during recruitment and got girls that did not fit their previous sterotype of the chunky girls. Fraternities started paying more attention to them, and by my senior year they were tied with another sorority as the largest sorority on campus.

There are a lot of key factors that came into play here
1- Willingness to change
2- Good Recruitment skills
3- (most important) the PR that was generated by the mixers and events they began to have with the fraternities