Mmm... Stove Top stuffing at the Delta Chi house at 3am...

YMMV, had our mixers not been loud, alcohol infused dance parties I might have gone to more of them. It seems silly to say that I, or anyone, missed out because I don't like to dance. That wasn't a reason why I joined, so I couldn't have wasted any money. And yet, somehow, I remained active every semester.

And feel free to tell the sisters I knew who were engineering students or nurses that they weren't managing their time well. They were seniors, not freshmen, and very familiar with the program. It's more than just "studying." Seriously, that's just ignorance.

I just have never understood the concept of joining ANY group (that includes a country club or anything where you pay dues) and only doing a few of the things involved with it. We had a few sisters who only went to weekly meetings, rush and ritual. They made very few close friends in the sorority, and yet they kept on paying their dues. I guess I just don't see the point, but then, I was raised by Depression-era parents who impressed upon me that if you buy something, you use it thoroughly and use it until it's gone. Memberships included.

As far as nursing students, if they were in a clinical program, wasn't there a professional status/lowered dues option? Ditto engineering students, if they were in a co-op or something similar.

Sorry your mixers sucked from your POV, but again, if I had rushed at a school where a big facet of Greek life was something I didn't enjoy in the least and didn't plan to participate in, I probably would not have joined. I would have felt too guilty about wasting the money.

LOL. 33girl, having Depression-Era parents doesn't make or break this discussion. That's just how your parents raised you and how you applied it to your GLO membership.

Members have different personalities and preferences. Every chapter has at least 1 person who doesn't want to do the EXTRA things that other chapter members want to do. Some people do these things anyway to build a bond and/or shut everyone up. Some people do not. My chapter had at least one Soror on every Line who did not like to attend social events. It was baffling at first but we understood that different personalities and preferences are a part of the Sisterhood. The Soror would only get told about herself if she tried to act like she was holier than thou. As for our own chapter's social events, Sorors knew that hating to dance or hating loud music doesn't keep them from collecting money at the front desk for a few hours or organizing the event in some other capacity.

And years after college, we're all still very close and no one gives a damn whether the Soror liked to attend social events in college or not. A few of them didn't begin attending social events until we were all in alumnae chapters. The collegiate events just annoyed them.

So many things like that are baffling to me...like the dorks around here who live in a suburb and act like crossing the bridge to downtown or the college area is like being Laura Ingalls crossing the prairie. They'd rather stay in their closed little hamlet with the same old people they've known since birth. I mean, if they really want to live like that, they can move to my old hometown and pay hella lower property taxes.

For the most part...the women who didn't socialize in college...are still the women who don't like to socialize very much. I know it takes all kinds to make a world and that, but it still baffles me.

Mixers didn't suck, I just tended not to go. They weren't a huge part of Greek Life, just a part of it. It is, like DrPhil said, just about preferences. And as other people have pointed out, senior participation in the partying part of sorority life declines for many reasons across different types of campuses. Sometimes it is purely a choice - they'd rather drink at home or at the bar for a shorter period of time than go out for an event; sometimes it is due to the necessity of managing their time; and sometimes it is just purely a case of senioritis and not feeling as involved or wanting to.

And since going to mixers involved - for the vast majority - buying alcohol at high prices it wasn't necessarily more cost efficient to go than it was to stay home. Not that anyone was thinking that, but I doubt anyone was really thinking about getting every last drop of their dues in partying time either.
Exactly. And in a chapter of 75 people you have all sorts from over-partiers to the hard-core academics. Amazingly you can all get along.

The same goes for a chapter of 10. :)

No way! ;)

I don't think that senior attendance tapered off at mixer because we didn't like to socialize; we just wanted to do it differently. Like, going to a campus bar got to be passe, and the off-campus events could be huge time commitments. I wouldn't say I didn't go to any senior year, but less frequently.