Welllll, we haven't left for our ski trip yet. My grandma fell and is in the hospital with a broken hip and upper arm (humerus?) so we're still at home. We may go up tomorrow, or our trip might be canceled. Luckily for you, that means more of my story!

Our president did most of the communication with the NPC about arranging visits. It was complicated figuring out parking, conference rooms, etc. I also know that Gamma Phi must have had to approve of us going national, but I didn't hear how it happened. They were invited to come to the presentations, but I think their adviser and a few exec board members only came to one. I didn't hear about the inner-workings of that. Oh, our on-campus adviser also came. I'm glad he got to learn about the process with us.

Even before we met them, we were really excited about Theta. Every time our president talked to their representative, she gushed about our chapter. She was very impressed by us and so excited to meet us.

Our first presentation was from Kappa Kappa Gamma in mid-January. My sisters and I met up at our VP's dorm room really early to get ready and make sure we all looked okay. (Our outfits had been pre-approved weeks before.) We had glittery posters explaining what we were all about (as a local) and binders filled with information (some useful, most not). We walked down a hill together and had our first meeting with a group of about a dozen women. Our president introduced herself to the extension directer, Joanie, and we all loosened up and started chatting. Then we went upstairs and started the presentation. They told us all about their founding, new member period, expansion procedures, etc. Meeting the international president was amazing. We were in awe by her presence. When it was Q&A time, I think a lot of us didn't have questions because we didn't know WHAT to ask. They stayed and chatted a while after that, and we had refreshments. When it was time for them to leave, we all hugged. (Yes, we hugged international advisers and general muckety-mucks of the fraternity). Then we let out a huge sigh of relief and took our painful shoes off!

Isn't she fabulous? She has done so much for the Fraternity!

This is like Rush @ UCSC the sequel.

I was thinking the same thing! It's sad the NBO tried hard for SO long and didn't end up affiliating and this group seems to have taken barely any time at all to affiliate. This story just makes it sound so much easier than how NBO had it. Very interesting read though since I just read wishinhopin's thread a week ago :)

What's NBO? Are you referring to another thread about expansion? Sorry I'm so clueless!

And yes, honestly, it was pretty easy! I don't know how to (or feel the need to) justify that, but it was pretty easy. Maybe it's because we only have one NPC that came on the campus 19 years ago.

NBO was Nu Beta Omicron and it was a local started back in about 2003 with the intention of affiliating. They went through a long and hard process and tried to affiliate with AXiD and then with Theta Nu Xi but ultimately folded. I heard Alpha Psi was started with the intention of affiliating with Alpha Phi and tried to around the same time that NBO was but neither was successful. I'm glad that your group had an easier time with it and that there are now two NPC groups on UCSC's campus :) I guess it just wasn't the right time for NBO...

You mean Alpha Psi at UCSC? Yeah, I've heard the same thing about them and Alpha Phi. I don't think NPC will let you do it that way (pick one group to affiliate with) but instead have presentations like we did. They have been on campus for longer than Gamma Phi, but I really don't know what's up with them and national affiliation. IMO, they would probably rather stay local. If they did go national, they would have to wait a few years now because we actually have panhellenic on campus now. My chapter has a few years til we're up to quota. :-)

Yes, Alpha Psi at UCSC (did I spell it wrong...?) Anyway, I had heard that their original intention when they formed was to affiliate with Alpha Phi - hence their name being so similar. I'm not surprised that their attitude may have changed since they've been on campus for a bit now and also since you now have an actual Panhel Council and not just the Student Life guy and an intern like when NBO was trying this.

Ok, time for me to continue! We had our presentation from Kappa Alpha Theta the following weekend. (They were a week apart). This meeting was a lot longer and more drawn out because we met them for lunch before. We met in a beautiful room by the ocean. I'm glad we got to share another part of Santa Cruz with the Theta women. We met national representatives (including their president) as well as undergrads like ourselves. (Kappa also had undergrads with them, but I forgot to mention it in my other post.) Lunch was nice, but we were pretty nervous. I remember thinking the meal I ordered (a sandwich) wasn't very "sorority-like" because the woman next to me ordered a salad. Haha whatever!

We then hopped back in our cars and drove to campus for the presentation. Theta's president was very southern and proper - equally as awe-inspiring as Kappa's president. I remember she had a HUGE Theta kite necklace on. Major bling. I'm pretty sure Gamma Phi didn't have any representatives at this meeting. I can't remember if our campus adviser came.

Immediately after they left, my sisters and I sat down to discuss the presentations and vote on our (potential) affiliation. We were all still stunned by Theta's performance. I'm not afraid to voice my opinion, so I piped up right away. I said that Theta seemed much more put together than Kappa and they had so many programs. (or something to that effect...)

(I've read other expansion stories, and I noticed one difference I'm very happy about. Both Kappa and Theta said they would take our entire chapter if they chose to offer extension to us. Basically, they wouldn't do interviews to decide who to keep.)

However, one of my sisters pointed out that Kappa was "put together" just as well. We had seen their presentation the week before and it was the first, so we didn't know what to look for.

I've read something similar in regular recruitment threads, and I think our decision came down to this: we felt more at home with Kappa. We hugged them after they left, but this wasn't the case with Theta. The general consensus of the group was to go with Kappa, but we still voted on it. We each wrote our preference on a piece of paper and passed them in. I'm not entirely sure, but I think about 3 girls (out of 19) wrote Theta. I'm glad they still voted the way they wanted to after our group discussion.

I'm pretty sure an official letter was written up, but before it was sent out, our president called the extension director (Joanie) to tell them we had chosen Kappa. Apparently, she started screaming! (Side note: Joanie is ADORABLE. I want to visit her in Colorado someday so she can make cookies for me.) We also wrote a letter to Theta to let them know our decision. I believe that if another group choses to pursue national affiliation at UCSC, Theta has "first dibs." Joanie was already able to tell us that we would be accepted as they had voted on it a day or so after their presentation.

We became a colony at the end of February. We were inducted (what is the right verb for new member initiation??) by the international president with many alumnae in attendance. We then took on Kappa's name and symbols and held our first recruitment under their name. (Very unsuccessful, but that's another story.) We were officially installed on April 28, 2007 at the Pi Province Meeting at UC Berkeley (our Pi chapter). That weekend was AMAZING, and I am so very much in love with Kappa.

We held our first formal recruitment with Gamma Phi Beta this fall, and we took on 13 new members. We now have 28 members, which is pretty good for UCSC! Winter recruitment starts in a little over two weeks. I'm so excited!

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/phot...18196_7184.jpg
(In case you're wondering, I'm the second from the left.)

Thanks for reading, everyone! If you have any questions about expansion that I can answer, please ask!

Kristen

P.S. Lucy is my dog's name. :-)

What a cool story!

Thank you for sharing! I have not heard an expansion story before on GC, and the fact that it is for one of Kappa's new chapters makes it that much better. I am glad you have had a great KKG experience as I think Kappa is the best (but I am biased of course).

Best wishes for winter recruitment!

Very interesting insight into expansion. Congratulations to you and Kappa, and best of luck to you (and my sisters!) during recruitment! Hope both groups get fabulous pledges!

Great story!
 

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us! For those of us who joined the standard way, it's interesting to read how a group goes from being a local to a national.

Yes, she is! I think I want to be her when I grow up. :D I have learned so much from her, and the way that she is so gracious, warm, and kind to everyone.

im sad you didnt go with dphie, but that okay as long as you are happy! <3

is that what usually happeneds when a local is given an extension to a national group? the national chapter votes and who to let stay and who has to go? im not sure how i feel about that...

Yeah, D Phi E backed out before we arranged a date for the presentation. Not sure what happened with that.

I know Kappa and Theta both said they would take our entire chapter if we became affiliated with them. I've read that other orgs may not necessarily do that. Which way are you not sure about? We would have been really hurt if they excluded some members of our chapter.