Honest question: Why now? Is this a recent issue that you're looking to change? Otherwise, what inspired you to join this chapter? What about them compelled you over the other sororities?

Before you go about recruiting new members, you as a chapter must assess yourselves and how you want to grow. If the majority want to remain a chapter that keeps to themselves, you're not going to really be able to branch out. If the majority are interested in self-improvement, I'd then recommend that you have a sisterhood retreat where you set goals and establish a calendar of deadlines to meet those goals, as well as committees and chairmen to help work toward the completion of those goals.

By setting timelines and actively engaging chapter members in bringing about change, you will meet your goals and establish the positive mindset in the chapter that you are seeking.

Have you spoken to your advisers about this concern? More than likely, they can assist you with developing a PR campaign to improve external chapter image, and morale, as well as goal setting for the chapter as a whole for the year (IE: Target GPA, recruit X members at formal recruitment, attend 5 other GLO philanthropy events, etc...)

One thing that you really need to do in order to branch out is stop being in 'cliques' with in the chapter. It's ok if you have girls you prefer to hang out with but before you branch out and have your reputation improve with the other chapters on your campus, things withing your own chapter has to be delt with first. I agree with adpiucf have a chapter retreat in which the chapter as a whole will set goals and figure out what they want for chapter.

After that I would suggest maybe planning some socials with another sorority and two fraternities, or philanthropy project, or something. Go to events put on by other chapters and make friends.

Put this in big font. Print it. Post it. And live by it.


Seriously though

join other orgs. on campus. you meet other people and it gets the sorority's name out there. people get to know you as "concerned sister", not just a member of abc sorority. membership in other orgs. makes for a more interesting and well rounded member and also looks good on a resume.

attend and support other philanthropy projects on campus. wear your letters when you do. people, in turn, will begin to think what a great bunch of girls you all are, always supporting other greeks events, and you all will be having fun doing so.

if you have a chapter house and dinner is served there, invite a sorority over for an exchange dinner. basically "x" amount of your girls attend dinner at the other sorority, and the same number of the other sorority attend dinner at your house. have your best rushers be the hostesses for the other sorority-they will be able to make your guests feel at home and they will go away with good feelings about your sorority. invite a different sorority the next month. when it is working well with the sororities, invite a fraternity over for dinner.

one day a week wear your letters. sit togther in the student union for lunch or coffee.

does your chapter have a sisterhood chairperson? someone whose role it is to foster good will and plan events just for the chapter? ask her is you could help her plan a sisterhood event-something interactive would be best. play 'the newlywed game", pictionary, cranium, have an olympics day-some event where sisters can be RANDOMLY paired off, so that they are partnered with someone they might not ordinarily gravitate toward, and an event where they have to interact and learn something about their partner. play "abc" bingo-draw a bingo board and fill in different things in each square. for example, in square one, put"someone born out of state", square 2,"someone with the same color car as you",square 3,"someone with the same major as you", etc. print off enough copies for everyone to have a sheet, and let them go. we did this at a recent officers training(we advisors even played) and we had so much fun we did not want to stop. have a small prize for the winner. these games encourage team work, cooperation and you find out things about your sisters you may not have known!


for grade improvement-divide the chapter into several groups, as equally proportioned as you can, and assign each group a name. assign each group a leader(preferably someone with a high gpa) who will keep track of study hours and test scores. the leaders job is to report on a weekly basis to your scholarship officer. each group is trying to achieve the highest gpa amongst the groups at the end of the semester, and the winning group is treated to a pizza party by the other two groups. again, this is encouraging team work, and grade improvement.

finally, do things that are fun and instill sisterhood. if you all look happy and like you are having a good time, people will want to get to know you.

This thread has been heavily edited. Please stick to the topic at hand and leave racial and sexual orientation slurs out of it. thank you.

Thank You amycat!

This is a person who has requestd help not sly/snarky comments as it were, so act like it is Your Organization who may be in the same situation.

We have all been there in one form or another.:(

If an image sucks, then it's because of the people that are part of the organization. An excellent example would be as follows: A sorority full of girls that go home with guys after one drunken night to consumate their relationship will convey an image of sluts. Or, perhaps, a fraternity of guys that is constantly sniffing and getting nosebleeds might be considered cokeheads. It is crystal clear, image = a representation of the members of your GLO.

Okay. Did you even read the thread?

off topic

"David Allen Coe" sounds familiar but I can't put my finger on it. Wasn't he on "In Living Color" back in the early 90's?

/back on topic

That's David Alan Grier. David Allen Coe sings, "You Don't Even Call Me By My Name."

Oops! lol Thanks, Tippie!

Tippie got something right.

It's really hard to change a chapter's image on campus, especially if you have members that don't want to try. (been there, done that) Even if every single one of your members sign on, the rest of the campus doesn't change their opinions easily. For example, if one GLO is known as heavy partiers and they then go completely dry, the rest of the campus will still think of them as partiers. Often the results of an image overhaul won't really kick in until after a college generation, meaning when the current students graduate.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. Even in a small chapter though one person can't do it alone. You need to have a core group that not only agrees with you, but are willing to work for change. It's most effective if those people are officers too.

Then sit down and take an honest, possibly even brutal, look at your current on campus rep and why you have it. Then devise a plan of action to change things. Since you haven't really provided specifics, it's hard to give specific suggestions. You need to present, or maybe sell is a better word, this action plan to the rest of you chapter. Not everyone will agree and some may even try to undermine it. But you can't let that deter you. One of the best things you can do though is to recruit like minded new members.

As I said, it's going to take alot of time and effort but it can be done. Keep in mind though that you may not be around to reap the benefits. Your only satisfaction may be that you made things better for those that followed you.

One thing to remember about chapters too - image can change with each new member class. Each time you bring in a group of new women (and especially as others graduate) they have their own ideas of what the chapter should be like. You know what you want the chapter to become so you need to recruit like minded women.

In the five years since my chapter was founded I have seen it change. Sometimes I've wondered about the changes and the image the chapter may have on campus. Yet within a few months of that they would have a new group of women who bring something different to the chapter and the image has changed again. All I have to say is that so far at the five year mark I love where I see my chapter has been and where I see it going.

Carolyn

My previous post on promiscuous women and drug abuse was an extreme example of how anegative image can be conceived. However, Zillini makes a good point that changes in the campus-wide image of a GLO takes a great deal of time, and the good standing members of today might be around to see their hard work pay off. Also, the national image of a GLO can be both beneficial or detrimental. Utilize nationals to aid in your efforts to add to the positive image you have begun to create. I'm not a fan of nationals at all, I think they stick their nose in the business of chapters when it doesn't belong. But I will say, that they can be helpful if their power and resources is used correctly.