this whole thread has me wondering why panhel decided to allow extension at that time. Dont get me wrong, Im VERY glad they did, seeing as I wouldnt have been a member of my chapter if Zeta HADNT been colonized, but seems like a lot of chapters were struggling then. I know that UMD lost Alpha Gam, AZD, and Pi Phi (we ended up getting Pi Phi's house a few years later) pretty shortly thereafter. Im pretty sure that Kappa was always pretty huge and got their charter revoked for risk management, and then Gamma Phi left in 2000 for numbers too. Just makes me wonder a bit.....................and reading your code it is HILARIOUS how different a lot of these chapters are now from your initial impressions during recruitment.

Panhellenic decided to extend in the fall of 1987 after a school record-breaking 1,322 PNMs registered and a quota of 54. There had also been an upward trend in registration and quota, so it made sense. There was probably a desire to lower chapter size because the chapter houses only hold 33 to 60 women, with most holding around 45.

You could make the argument that extension would help smaller groups by lowering quota to make it more attainable. Except that was before release figures. I really can't blame the ZTA extension for those chapters closing. It's remarkable that the smaller chapters lasted as long as they did without release figures IMO. There was no incentive to go back to a smaller chapter since it was very common to get invited back to almost all of the 18 chapters.

I would absolutely LOVE to hear how the chapters have changed since I left.

I would also say that Zeta definitely not was responsible for the smaller chapters to close. Zeta really struggled at first (kinda of) because we didn't have a house and then struggled for other reasons. But I hear they are thriving now and that is such great news.

What I find interesting is the rapid change of the greek system as a whole at Maryland. Chi Omega was on campus for a blink of an eye, took over the house Gamma Phi Beta had, was about to renovate it and colonize (Chi Omega, in my opinion were going to do it right -- house first and then colonize but that is an entirely different story) but then they left.

I'm very very happy the greek system seems to have its head on straight. Because it's such a beautiful campus with fraternity row and the graham cracker and I know the greek system did wonders for me.

when there were that many chapters, i guessed UMD and when you said "the castle" and then gave that brief description of the sorority, i KNEW it.

i actually disagree with zetagirl on this one-- i think it's amazing how many of your descriptions of the chapters still stand nearly 20 years later. seems that reputations often stick around even if the women aren't deserving of them any longer.