Could BSP be placed in another category other than "greek", once you acquired the requisite number of members, per campus requirements?

You might be permitted to set up a table at Target or a grocery store for your fundraising. You would probably make more $ too, since you would not be limited to soliciting from poor college students!

Yes. We would fall under the "Campus Life" category.

Super. So your turn down is not terminal, just temporary, right?

No, it's not.

Methinks it's the women-only part that's going to be the sticking point.

Oh...dad gum, I forgot about that aspect!

Yep.
It seems to be: Beta Sigma Phi is not a member of NPC/IFC/NALFO/NPHC. No actual title IX exemption stamped by the US Department of Education.

Since we don't have the first, we couldn't be recognized as Greek. If we're not recognized as Greek, then we would be unable to use a Title IX exemption, even if we had one in hand.

The organizations that exist as Greek on campus were grandfathered in before these rule changes.

Another suggestion that was offered to us is that we petition to affiliate with a different Greek Organization that meets both criteria.....the mere mention of that resulted in *That look* from myself and my sisters.

Why?

I agree. First of all, I understand you are excited about BSP and the FV, and you are really excited to be in a sorority after the disappointment during your fall NPC recruitment. You found a great organization in BSP, regardless of whether you would have joined an NPC.

This isn't intended to sound harsh, but here are the facts. You haven't been a BSP for very long, so I think you're being a bit dramatic about your loyalty and love for the organization. I'm not saying you don't love it or you're not dedicated to it, but you've only been a member for a few months and you've been pretty much on your own with a few friends who have agreed to join or who are excited to join. If, out of 80 interests, 33 women who were offered bids declined (except one who's on board in name only until her schedule improves?), that should tell you that there isn't that kind of demand on your campus for this group. You're also trying to shoehorn a community sorority into your vision of an NPC, and clearly the infrastructure is not there and that is not BSP's intent.

This suggestion to affiliate doesn't impact your membership one bit. You have only a few members and your membership isn't compromised by the suggestion. Additionally, even if your group were absorbed by another, you could all retain membership in BSP/recruit them for BSP. BSP is not a local; it's a national non-collegiate sorority and its members may have dual membership in an NPC or other national collegiate organization.

If you're looking for an opportunity to recognized by campus, this is the way to go. A national collegiate organization would provide the stability and support you felt was lacking in BSP. I would follow their advice. You have absolutely nothing to lose and it won't affect your current membership because you may have concurrent membership.

It may be a possibility....and I can definitely see it that way.

Good points all around. The marketing of the sorority is a biggie. Beta Sigma Phi is probably a new concept for most college women these days. AND I like what you are saying about training. When I first joined BSP, there was a pledge training video series available for purchase from the Gift Shop. I bet a video series available online would be well received by our younger members.

I'm confused again. How were you just able to do all that recruiting on campus if this is so?

Glad I'm not the only one feeling a bit confused about all of this.

Another club put the tabling under their name on our behalf and let us use the table. Which, as we were told today...isn't actually allowed. So, we couldn't go that route again. Non campus recognized orgs have to pay $120 per day to table in front of the Student Union and are required to have an insurance policy. We don't have either of those.

I had to pay the university to be allowed to have our fliers and info cards on campus....in fact, the cost of recruitment (paying for Zumba entrance, the Starbucks and Einsteins Bagels for rush events, the copying and posters) totaled several hundred dollars of my own funds, and while much was learned....it was disheartening to put all that effort and funds forth in return for not much success. I'm out of money.

It seems to me like you're putting a TON of effort and money into a population that is VERY small at your campus (students your age looking to join a greek organization). Are there nearby schools that you could try to find non-traditional students at? (in a less expensive way?) or a way to appeal to other mid 20's - mid 30's members of the community at large?

there is a community college in town,which has a large population. That's where Sophie is a student. I'm not sure of the demographics there, but assume a larger population of non traditional students.

The weird thing is that our other student members are traditional students and are all 21 and under.

The others are a recent graduate who is also in her very early twenties, Sophie who is slightly younger than I and Michelle who is even older than I....but only by a few years.

International did send a list of our registered local legacies (contact info was out of date for them....hello hours on the telephone) , a list of locally registered members at large, and a short list of women who are interested in joining Beta Sigma Phi to use in efforts to meet additional potential members. We are using these lists, and hopefully...some good will come out of them.

I'd like to contact our city council and get some feedback from them.

The lists given to us from Intl were great - I have 4 members of my chapter from the list, and it is also how I met Jamie, one of my best BSP friends <3 when Erica and I founded the Pgh chapter.

The main issue that others have seen with the MAL list has been that 99.9% of it consists of higher degreed sisters who have been Beta Sigma Phis for 20+ years and some even longer than I have been alive and are considerably older. We could definitely use the expertise and wise counsel....but at the same time....we really would like our chapter to be college focused. Of course....part of us says.....why not? They can get involved with Beta Sigma Phi again, we can meet new Beta Sigma Phis and together we can grow our FV.

Only two numbers on the Legacy list were accurate, and both women had no interest in becoming involved with Beta Sigma Phi at this time.

I'm still waiting on hearing back from the women listed on the Prospective members list. There are three.

That all sucks. I'm sorry. You can't advertise through the school, but doesn't social media rule the world these days? You absolutely have to stop paying money from your own funds, but I would think you could market heavily through Facebook et al, and have your events wherever you can get away with it. And use what makes BSP different to your advantage. You aren't restricted to undergrads or students at other schools and that can be a good thing. You are going after a more "seasoned" student and they don't have the opportunities your 18 year compatriots do. And the good news is you can see the difference so they're easy to target! You can start a whisper campaign using your sorority and fraternity friends and get a lot done in terms of exposure.

Best of luck. You know we're all rooting for you!

Does your school have any clubs or orgs specifically for non-traditional students? Consider reaching out to these clubs to attract members.

Maybe I am just dumb, but I can't figure out what kind of group you are trying to be there. You say you want to be recognized as a student Greek organization but almost half your current members aren't even students at your school. I think you are trying to be too many things and that lack of focus is part of why you are having trouble attracting members?

I also think it is starting to sound like you are not speaking very nicely about your national organization here in public and blaming them. Sorry but it doesn't look very professional to me.

Why would the city council care? What does it have to do with city affairs? That's a little dramatic I think.

City council in BSP is actually a local governing unit for chapters in a geographic area. It's not a city council in the sense that you are thinking, like a mayor, etc. Maybe do a little research before you criticize.

Reno has a Beta Sigma Phi City Council.

While I am certainly sorry for the misunderstanding, I don't understand why in the world you would think anyone would even think to research a common use term like that? It would have been clear if she put BSP City Council but she didn't. I think you should worry a little more about the way one of your members is portraying your organization to the outside world than one outside person's misunderstanding of an inside term being thrown around in a very public place by someone who has shown a bit of a knack for drama in the past. Maybe these internal issues should be handled in private? I'd certainly be upset if a sister were complaining about my sorority in public like this.

This entire process has been extremely confusing for more than one GC member to understand. Read through the comments and see. The colonizing process, the recruitment efforts, the bidding process, etc. It's all been quite convoluted, and I'm not sure if it is BSP's lack of foundation for chartering at a college or the OP's lack of guidance for chartering or simply OP trying to turn BSP into the equivalent of an NPC. We're not hip to your group's terminology any more than we would be to army lingo or another NPC's internal names for things.

I don't think Old_Row said anything most of us weren't thinking. Seriously, no one is going to start researching every sorority's internal governance council's names. People need to be clear when they are posting, or they open themselves up to questions and criticism. I had no idea what an "FV" or "Friendly Venture" was until it was clarified, and I'm certainly not going to waste my time researching it. People are trying to help here with suggestions to help OP promote her organization. That we are certainly capable of doing. If your members aren't happy with your internal policies, take it off Greek Chat. You're not doing BSP any favors here and I would certainly never criticize my sorority so publicly.

If I'm not clear on something, I take two seconds to google it. It takes as much effort as it does to criticize. @Oldrow, I'm not a member of Beta Sigma Phi.

I should have been more clear.

My frustration (misplaced, by the way) is that my organization is NOT a Collegiate Social Sorority and in my selfishness, I wanted to create a Beta Sigma Phi chapter that worked as such. I had no business accusing our international of being unsupportive, when they are in no way equipped to deal with what we were trying to do....because its not that kind of organization.

That is my fault.....and not my organizations issue. I'd delete what I said...but I don't think that's possible. I was cruel and insensitive.

I didn't have any reason to think I wasn't clear on it.

I agree. Most people would think that referring to the "city council" is a local city government, and not a sorority governing board. Kudos to anyone who picked up on being otherwise. I'm actually not being sarcastic.

You could delete the thread. That's one option. I think you have the right attitude. I'm really sorry Greek Life hasn't worked out the way you wanted it to on your campus. You are very determined, and you've worked really hard. Keep up with BSP off campus, utilize social media, advertise to other community women's groups/women's church groups/student groups at the community college, etc., and maybe see what's available on your campus where you can make your mark in a student organization there. Please don't let all these recruiting efforts and chartering efforts take away from the big picture: you're there to do well academically and graduate. Good luck!

I agree. I think it's time to stop trying to make "Fetch" happen and either accept the organization for what it is (and isn't), and/or move on to other pastures.

I did feel a little uncomfortable with how our organization was being portrayed. That's why I jumped in to clarify, but I think misscherrypie's feelings are normal. And she was just letting her thougths roll. I don't fault that.

Sister, your apology was very gracious.

I didn't realize Reno had a City Council. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!!!!! In a major metropolitan area, a City Council is going to have great events. They probably have a very formal Founder's Day event. They are likely to have a Valentine Ball. When I FV'd back in 2002, we didn't "join" the City Council, but we did attend their Founder's Day. It was SO inspiring to see the older sisters, and we made many positive contacts that way. You can learn so much.

You're going to have to decide what you really want, and I think even the BSP sisters who have volunteered to help you can see that BSP might never meet your expectations. That's okay. If you decide not to worry about campus recognition and just love the BSP experience, then you can relax about recruiting for a bit. As long as you have sent in your forms for seven founding sisters, you can move forward. Conduct your pledge ritual per International's design (it's lovely!), and then as you are developing your sisterhood and doing your pledge training, you can be gaining new members as you go.

ALL of my FV members came from word-of-mouth. We did do a table once, and we did not gain members that way. We were on a college campus, but we didn't try to affiliate with the university. We tried hard to never look like we were trying to compete with the campus Greeks, and I think it worked to our advantage.

I truly wish you the best, sister.

Was a little surprised that this thread has been going on for so long.

misscherrypie, the bolded says it all, and those are your words (which others have also thought and written). In another thread, it was suggested that you step away from the entire sorority issue for a while (paraphrasing, folks). I think that would be a positive step and would give you some perspective on what this is really about.

ETA: still confused, are you actually initiated? and do you have a chapter charter?

Yes, I am initiated. Our charter is on the way. ( international in all likelihood has received our paperwork by now.)

We've resolved to have me step back for a bit....as in the words of Grace: "Just let things happen." I believe that we have a very capable and strong chapter as it stands today and we're going down the road of Beta Sigma Phi together....which by definition, will be an interesting journey.

I'll keep everyone posted once we have had the opportunity to hash things out.

Here's what can happen in big projects like this. One person gets the ball rolling. Does ALL the work for months, takes everything way too seriously, and burns out, quite possibly dropping out completely. Stop yourself now before it gets to that point. Hand the reins over to someone else, let them use the help that is there (this "city council" seems like a great idea), just be a member, and then maybe figure out how you can get back into the swing in 6 months or so. Otherwise I can picture the embarrassing blow up that happens in a public place (THAT was a good night) or the leader just quits out of frustration and loses a bunch of friends in the process.

Mcp,

Did you have a pledge ritual and go through your six months of pledging and then have your Ritualnof Jewels? The RoJ is your initiation for BSP!

Like everyone has said, enjoy BSP for what it is, a different kind of sorority. BSP is not a collegiate sorority, however if you want to go that way, GET IN TOUCH with the few collegiate chapters ASAP. Some of them do well and can give you some pointers. But remember, BSP gives you opportunities that a collegiate sorority does not, ability to recruit from outside of the school and grad students etc!

You are doing great, keep moving! Remember the love you feel for your sisters and think about how they're looking up to you!

Definitely get an advisor from an older chapter, they will be a huge help, especially during ritual, maybe even buy you supplies!

So, I wanted to update....it's been just over a month since we were chartered, and we're having a ball being Nevada Nu.

The chapter decided to keep trying to pursue campus recognition. We've made connections with the other orgs on campus, and even participated in a Philanthropy event with one of the other organizations, have had socials, philanthropy events, a fundraiser, a few road trips and are planning our formal for Founder's Day on April 30th. We're having a blast and I am so very happy being a sorority member. It's everything that I've hoped and everything I've dreamed it would be.

After a month, we decided the following:

A. Our school says that since our National Org is not an IRS 501 c 3 organization, we would be unable to exist as a sorority on campus without it. We are beginning the process to apply for that 501 c 3 immediately for our chapter....with no guarantees that we will receive it. Hopefully, this will pan out. Although it is looking like the process may still continue past when about half our student members graduate....we'd still like to put forth the effort knowing that we tried every avenue possible.

2. We ended up forming a co-ed student social club organization called "Beta Budds" that pursues the values exemplified by Beta Sigma Phi.

Half of the Beta Budds are sisters of Beta Sigma Phi. We also have members of Beta Budds who are not interested in becoming members of Beta Sigma Phi, but appreciate the values that the sorority stands for in its open motto.

So, we have two distinct organizations that are going on: Beta Sigma Phi- Nevada Nu Chapter that will go about its usual business, albeit off campus and Beta Budds that will be an way for us to organize as a group, along with other like minded students and serve and socialize on campus in an official capacity. Not the most ideal situation, but it is an acceptable one for both sides.

We made contact with the Beta Sigma Phi- Reno/Sparks City Council, and they have been wonderful with us and we are planning to join the council. They ended up hosting and conducting our pledge ritual, and had a lovely reception afterward for us. Our Vice President said to me "I hope that we'll be as cool as they are when I'm older!" Indeed. I really like them too.

I'll keep this thread updated as the saga continues. Either way, I think that things are going fine.


On another topic, I was approached by several women recently and asked to consider going through NPC recruitment again in the fall. After what happened last fall, I am a bit wary...but am willing to give the idea a fair amount of proper consideration.

Seeing what you've done with a ground-up organization, your age may seem less important than your leadership skills. It's too bad they didn't see your value sooner!

I'm wondering, with all the proclamations similar to "It's everything that I've hoped and everything I've dreamed it would be", would you go through formal recruitment again?

What would you do if you received a bid to an NPC sorority?

Congratulations! You really are a go-getter. Speaking of leadership skills, what office do you hold in your new chapter?