EW,

I am still trying to follow your logic. You say Phi Mu would do better b/c it is a "traditional southern sorority" yet they have tried twice and have not succeeded-why would it work a third time? And I personally would not say Theta is a southern sorority.

Congrats to AOPi-wishing you years of success at Arkansas.

Thank you all for your warm wishes. Our new members are very excited and so are we.

Thank you to everyone who wishes AOII such great things at Arkansas! I know the new members of the new colony are the best of the best! I also know many of their advisers and the colony is in good hands with some of the best alumnae! GO AOII!

I have two questions: (1) Can someone identify the "traditional Southern sororities"? (2) Is my daughter's sorority Delta Zeta (DZ) "strong" in the South in terms of tradition, geographical presence, and alumnae support?

As a former history major, I appreciate learning the history and dynamics of traditional institutions, such as sororites, societies, and other organiztions.

BamaDad,
I don't consider DZ a traditional southern sorority in terms of chapters and alumnae support, however it does have some good chapters in the SEC (I know a few of the DZ girls at bama a year above your daughter, all good friends).

No, I would say Phi Mu would do better because it has alumni, along with Theta and DG. Not necessarily because it is southern, but because it has history and tradition on the campus however spotted it may be. However, AOPi has no tradition on campus.

Partially the reason I consider Phi Mu, Theta, Chi-o, traditional Southern sororities, is because their chapters dominate on campuses throughout the SEC, Texas - Big 12, and Mid-Atlantic of the ACC. Consider Phi Mu at LSU, Chi-O at Arkansas, Theta at SMU (if they're still on anymore). I could go on and on, those sororities tend to dominate the Southern social scene. That's why one could consider KA and SAE traditional Southern fraternities. (however theirs are more multifaceted, founded in the South, still respect the Old South, so on). SAE and KA dominate in Texas and throughout the south.

Just a note - sometimes you get better results with no "tradition" than with spotted "tradition".


ETA: Thanks for all the well wishes everyone. From the photos I've seen and the things I have heard we have an excellent group of women at Arkansas, and a lot of dedicated Alums.

You heard that they MIGHT think about it. Any sorority going on there has to ask the university a multi-million dollar question: "Where do we build a house?" It would have to be close to the other sorority houses, and have some visibility...there just is no place right now. And odds are that with the successful opening of the new stadium entrance, the university will gobble up the land that the Thetas and AOPis are sitting on...not now...but probably in the next 5 to 10 years.

BamaDad DZ -

Without trying to open a can of worms, I will try and answer your questions. Know that these are my thoughts and opinions, others on here (especially the ladies since this is the sorority recruitment section) might disagree.

#1 The "traditional Southern sororities" are usually considered the ones found in the "traditional South" (ie those that lost the War of Northern Aggression).
The ones that come to my mind are: Phi Mu, Alpha Delta Pi, Zeta Tau Alpha, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta, and Chi Omega. I also consider Alpha Sigma Alpha and Sigma Sigma Sigma since they are part of the Farmville Four (the 4 sororities founded at Longwood College in Virginia. The other 2 are KD and ZTA). I am probably forgetting one or two (or 3 or 4) sororities.
Others consider the "traditional Southern sororities" to be sororities that have a very strong presence at schools in the south. That would include the above list in addition to Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Alpha Omicron Pi, and others I am sure that I am forgetting (my apologies to anyone I have left out). Traditionally, most sororities do very well in the south.

#2 - Delta Zeta, while founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, has done very well in the south. They have strong alumnaes everywhere. Of their 165 chapters, 46 are at schools in the south. Like every sorority (and fraternity), they have very strong chapters, smaller chapters, and chapters that struggle. Everyone has them. DZ is a great sorority and your daughter (from your posts) is justifiably proud for joining a great organization.

An interesting note: the "traditionally" Southern Phi Mu chapter at an SEC school just took in an entire pledge class from the state the school is in. Every single new member! Any guesses to which school it was???:p

Aggie, I've heard people include Theta, AXO and Kappa when they say "strong southern sororities." Isn't that weird? Theta and AXO were both founded at DePauw and I believe KKG was founded in IL.

So what is it? Are you considered a strong Southern sorority if you have a strong presence at SEC/southern schools (and old chapters, as most of the Southern chapters of Theta/Kappa/Alpha Chi are)? Or do you have to be actually founded in the south?


It's very interesting to think about. Best of luck to AOPi as well :)

Florida? (A school geographically in the south but full of no'theners 'cept Jeb)

DC
from up north

It was actually LSU :p

Bama Dad DZ-

There are several old threads about "southern" sororities. It is really kind of silly because there is no definition of what a southern sorority is. Is it where you were founded, are headquartered, have the most chapters? For example, AOII was founded in New York City (like the Pace picante commercials) but we are frequently thought of as southern. One of our 4 founders was from New Orleans, and went to college at Barnard/Columbia in NYC after attending Sophie Newcomb/Tulane briefly. Our headquarters is in Nashville and most of our largest and most successful chapters are in the south, including our oldest at the University of Tennessee. That being said, we are not exclusively southern, and to say so would be disrespectful to our wonderful chapters in other parts of the US and Canada.

I think DZ and Alpha Chi Omega are good examples of how it is difficult to define a southern sorority. Both of these groups have some wonderful chapters in the south, but would probably not be thought of as southern sororities for whatever arbitrary reason. But, despite lacking "traditions" and whatever else was mentioned as being so important, DZ had a great colonization at Florida a couple of years ago, and Alpha Chi has very competitive chapters in the SEC and other southern schools. Others like Chi O and Kappa are frequently mentioned as southern but really have a strong presence everywhere. It really just varies from campus to campus and state to state. I think if a person had attended say Georgia rather than LSU, for example, he would have a totally different perception of what sororities are "southern." Like the poster who thinks of Phi Mu and Theta as more southern than AOII and therefore a better fit for Arkansas - actually AOII has active chapters at 9 SEC schools - more than Phi Mu (8) or Theta (7). But, in his opinion they are more "southern" - so you see it is just personal opinion. Phi Mu and Theta are both wonderful organizations, and of course the number of chapters in the SEC is only one example of a way of rationalizing. As long as your daughter is happy, it doesn't really matter if her sorority os "southern" or not.

It's also important to note that there are other big schools in the South that aren't in the SEC conference.

Thank you for the history and geography lessons, ladies. Much appreciated. Besides my DZ, I have a sophomore in high school who is looking at FSU and Ole Miss, but who the heck knows what she will want to do regarding school or sororities with so much time between now and then.