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.