Thank you. Many campuses do not have any sorority housing or meeting facilities (including my alma mater), so they meet in school facilities instead.

Oh, and seven sorority chapters is not considered a small system.

This decision by Zeta, IMO, is likely more a reflection of the Tulane campus and the attitude of women on campus. Not the interested candidates in Zeta, but the other greeks (and would be greeks) in the system. On some campuses, the sororities may say they welcome another sorority, but really they just see that chapter as the new bottom chapter on the totem pole. On some campuses, women think there is a stigma with a new sorority, so they won't even consider it. No sorority wants to be the "bottom" house, and no sorority wants to subject its colony members - who are often outstanding women who could/should be in any chapter - to a trying process on a campus that really isn't going to hold them up and support them.

Ditto! PeppyGphiB.

If you are in a sorority you understand that membership selection is private and not to be discussed. The decision by Zeta to stop the recolonization is similar. It's their private business - they get to select what campuses have a chapter and they get to select their colony members. If they don't feel its a good fit - for whatever reason - it's their decision.
Speculation about why they decided to stop the colonization process is about as productive as a PNM speculating why they didn't get a bid.

WORD

I don't think its speculation that numbers were not what ZTA anticipated. Their press release indicated as much.

To summarize all of HonestTheia and nolagreek's posts....

Tulane told ZTA what to do. ZTA didn't listen. ZTA sucks.

Why on earth, then, would you want them to charter there and bring more years of suck to more girls? That is why we are saying "better to get out now than later."

Some GLOs just don't fit with some schools. Some GLOs fit GREAT when they charter and suck 25 years later. Some GLOs don't fit the first time they look at the school, and fit great when they come back and present 15 years later. It's not a reflection on the group or the school, just that the fit is not there.

In my collegiate tenure, my school had 2 different groups try to bring Tri Delta to campus. Tri Delta turned them both down - not because the girls weren't great, but because our campus is very far removed from what (at the time) the type of schools where the majority of DDD chapters were. They didn't want to put expectations on girls they knew would never be able to fill them (like housing corps and mothers' clubs) and I would never say that they were awful or mean, just honest and realistic.

If Tulane's Panhellenic is that upset by the decision, they can hold a special re-rush for those 150 women and declare them "freebies" for chapters that may want to take them.

And sophomores and juniors can rerush, why on earth would you say they cannot? Their pledge to ZTA has been broken by ZTA's decision, if another group wants to offer them a bid today they are eligible.

I think that our officers made the decision not to colonize prior to bids going out.

ZTA waited about a month following formal recruitment to start thier colonization. COBs were done right after recruitment when total was recalculated so there is very little chance of a bid this semester. Anyone committed to Zeta is free to go through recruitment next January. This does not solve the problem of the large sizes of existing chapters which is why extension was recommended in the first place.

Any chance that AOII might speed up their colony?

ADPi (not AOPi) is the next group scheduled to colonize between 2014 and 2016. When they colonize depends on their other commitments but I think spring 2014 would be the earliest. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I do find this situation very interesting. 150 members is not a bad start for any group. ADPi took somewhere in the 90s at Mississippi State and AOII took somewhere in the 70s at TCU, both of which are not really near total, and I'm sure there are multiple examples of other groups starting off not at total.

Obviously it's different strokes for different folks, and not all GLO's share the same philosophies when it comes to colonizations. It just feels like this was still a pretty big number to carry on with, but you just have to assume there is more to the story.

Just to clairfy what 33girl wrote - I never said anything about Zeta "sucking" - those were her words not mine. One of the reasons that everyone is so disappointed in the failed colonization is because expectations were so high for ZTA. PhiMu was a great addition to Tulane's greek system and within a year or two was taking quota and near total. ZTA is a great group but obviously not right for Tulane at this time.

How big did the chapters get before Panhel finally gave the greenlight to extension? This is something that doesn't happen overnight and everyone involved should have been aware of that. In other words they didn't go from 100 people last fall to 220 this fall. The only time that happens is when there's a monumental change to the whole institution (i.e. it adds a new school of study or something) or when a similar institution for some reason becomes undesirable to large numbers of new students.

When PhiMu was colonized in 2010, total was around 120. This was in the fall before recruitment. Tulane opened for expansion again in 2011 and selected ZTA and ADII for a stacked extension. Total was around 150 in the fall of 2011 and over 160 this past fall. Quota is has been been just below 70 for the past two years which brings total to over 200 after recruitment especially when quota additions are included. The issue is that PhiMu just brought more people into the system and did not really reduce total. Quota dipped for one year and then shot right back up to where it had been before. The large chapter sizes did not happen overnight but then it takes a while for the whole extension process. The percentage of women who are interested in being Greek has increased with extension.

President Cowen explicitly discussed ending the Greek system at Tulane when he first joined the university. He wanted to make Tulane more like Rice. Many alums thought he would follow through. But he seems like he changed his mind, much as he did about ending the football program. Tulane is now building an on campus stadium.

I never thought my chapter (Phi Mu's Delta chapter) could return. However, I was one of the alumnae who wrote letters and campaigned when extension was discussed.

So the change is with the administration. BTW I served on several Tulane/Newcomb committees and the Newcomb Alumnae Assoc board till I had too many kids to fly down regularly. This is not hearsay.

He might have gotten the memo about donations to the university and Greek members. And for as much as football/donations/university funding annoys me, even I can't deny that football increases exposure.

I hope this doesn't put a damper on ADII's plans. Any chance they could speed up their plans?

I'm sure ZTA had very valid reasons and it was not a decision made lightly, but it really sucks for those PNMs. I doubt ADPi will speed up their plans. Expansion is such a big deal, and especially in light of these events, ADPi or any other colonizing sorority will want every "i" dotted and every "t" crossed before they come to Tulane.

Curious about the COB after recruitment. Was there not a moratorium on no COBing with Zeta coming on? I would think that would have used up some of Zeta's potential new member pool. Total was recalculated down or up after COB? Is it normal to wait a month after recruitment to start a colonization process? Seems like a long time and your captive audience wouldn't be so captive any more?

Yes, but the Bitter Betties are also probably a lot less bitter. The last thing you want as a new colony is a bunch of women who come into it 2.5 minutes after not getting bids with the attitude of "ABC didn't want us, so screw them, we'll all join the new colony and show them." You would hope the people doing the interviewing etc would be wise enough to catch that, but you never know.

Mardi Gras fell between recruitment and the colonization start so that may have been a factor in the timing. There was a moritorium on COB for just over three weeks during the Zeta colonization period. Three weeks is the maximum specified in the NPC. Total is recalculated each semester as the average of all groups and total did go up because of the new members. I don't know if COB was a huge impact since all of the groups were within 5% of total in the fall and everyone took quota. My impression is that there were not many COB offered.

Here's an article from the school paper

http://www.thehullabaloo.com/news/ar...tml?TNNoMobile

"Monsen said she did not understand why potential new recruits have already been cut from ZTA in the last week.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Monsen said. “The decision was made by nine women on ZTA’s executive board.”"

^That is how it is done.^ I wonder who she thought would make the decision?

And it does appear that I was mistaken, and that some bids were distributed.

Average chapter size of 236 and 150 bids makes it difficult for the colony (chapter) to catch up with the established groups.

^^^ You might not be mistaken, b/c in my experience, newspapers frequently get things wrong. The bottom line is that, like Chi Omega at another campus (name escapes me), Zeta Tau Alpha assessed the situation and determined that it was best not to go forward at this time.

That is a sizeable gap in membership size (150 v. 230+). Better to stop now than to struggle, struggle, struggle and eventually fail. A successful colony must come on at full strength, IMO, and continue at a very high energy level/pace.

I was looking for this, because it helps paint a more complete picture. If ZTA had colonized with 150 members, and average chapter size is 236 they are 86 members down, IF they retain all their colony members (which rarely happens). Trying to COB up to average chapter size is doable when you need 10 or so girls, but 86 is a difficult task, and you would not want to put the burden of continually holding COB events on your new colony.

The poster said that quota has been just below 70 for the past 2 years. Quota typically takes a small dip the formal recruitment after a colonization, so lets say that next years quota is 65. Providing the established chapters all pledged quota and ZTA pledged quota too, ZTA's membership numbers would still be significantly lower than the other chapters which would eventually be detrimental to the chapter. Unless Panhellenic allows ZTA to snap bid and they can snap bid up to the new average chapter size( which would be difficult to do), it will always be a catchup game for the chapter.

What I find almost incredible is the rapid growth rate in the last 3-4 years there. That's mind boggling. I almost wonder if they wouldn't have been more successful numbers wise if they had colonized in the fall. It may not have mattered, but it does seem as if the timing was challenging.

I giggled at the freshman's quote, too.

The 236 number quoted by the Hullabaloo was the size of the largest chapter - not total. Total was set at 220 this semester. However, that number includes seniors and will be smaller in the fall. I would be surprised if there were many seniors in the 150 committed to Zeta because they will be graduating in two months. Fall total will probably be somewhere around 170 - 180. The new colony would have been smaller but not by more than 50. Phi Mu colonized in the fall and it worked for them but required lots of support to colonize and then be ready for formal recruitment a few months later.

nolagreek, total is set after recruitment. It has nothing to do with departing seniors. You have no idea or way of knowing what total will be until recruitment is completed. For now, it's 220. And chapter size will dip in the fall, that is correct. But not total! The CPC has to vote to raise or lower total.

FSUZeta's points are all valid and stand on their own merits.

amIblue, FWIW, quota at AZ went from ~60 five years ago to 80-something this past fall (check irishpipes' thread) with most chapters taking quota plus. CRAZY.

That's what I was wondering. Most spring colonizations do not take graduating seniors, so ZTA wouldn't be losing an entire class like the other chapters would. If they retained even 140 of the colony they wouldn't have been that much smaller than the average chapter from the sound of it.

Case in point: two chapters at AZ are significantly below total and have been for several years. One chapter has closed and recolonized at least twice; they recruit/do COB virtually year around and have not yet been able to "catch up". It is exhausting to do multiple recruitment events, not to mention new member education programs, and multiple initiations in an academic year. No one wants that for a colony/new chapter.

ADPi recolonized with the full support of the other chapters on campus, started out at (then) total and has been able to make quota every year since recolonizing. I expect the same for AXO, who will recolonize this Fall.

Let me do the math again. Hypothetically speaking: ZTA has 140 next fall, all the other chapters have 170-180. That's a gap of 30-40 members. And with total at 220, they would have to successfully recruit 80 new members, while everyone else needs 40-50. That's HUGE. And a lot to put on a colony.

It's most difficult when total keeps getting raised, due to increased numbers of PNMs. The gap widens and doesn't decrease.

Wow!

I've been following this thread with quite a bit of interest. ZTA made a decision that was well within their rights and sovereignty as an organization. Discussion beyond that is really moot point.

Since discussion persists I will say that looking at these numbers it's plain to see that results were not conducive to having a competitive chapter. I won't make a judgement call on the party at fault for that. If you think 150 could have been competitive I don't believe you have an understanding of the inter/national perspective, or how things work at the headquarters level.

Not to sound like I'm on nolagreek's side, because I'm not, but it looks like "At Tulane total is reset to the average chapter size each semester." Source.

That sounds like floating total to me, and would be affected both by number of recruits and average class size of departing seniors.

I don't agree with much of nolagreek's attitude, but I will say that she sounds somewhat knowledgeable about the situation. Hint to nolagreek: play nice and you'll get a better reception.

What a nightmare to reset total each semester!

This is recommended now for campuses using RFM.

Did not mean to come across snarky or testy, and if I did, I sincerely say I'm sorry for snarkiness or testiness. Should have used "we" and not "you" in that sentence.

Oh, I thought it was once a year after formal recruitment. My mistake.

I don't want to split hairs with anyone but I wanted to clarify that this is a two-tier total situation that is reserved for deferred recruitment campuses only. It Is not really a nightmare because when a CPH passes the two-tier model they typically stipulate "fall total will be set to X (usually average chapter size) at Y week of school" etc, then we reset again using the NPC recommended methods after formal recruitment.

When it was first discussed at NPC I didn't see the value, but this option is very helpful in achieving parity on a deferred campus.

Actually it does make sense at a deferred recruitment campus.

Yes, at Tulane total is set twice a year to average chapter size - once after recruitment and once in the fall. The CPC does not vote each time - this is set in their by-laws which are voted on each year - not each semester. It does help to achieve parity but because an average is used about half of the chapters can offer a few COB each semester if they choose to. Sorry if I offended anyone but I thought the actual numbers at Tulane might be interesting to some.