Want to re-activate a dormant chapter
 

I have been doing internet research about my idea and google led me to you fine people so I hope you can help. I am in my mid-thirties and was in a sorority in college. A few years after I graduated my chapter closed for alcohol violations/hazing. I continue to do some volunteer work for my org on the National level and have since I graduated.
After my company downsized I was laid off so I decided to change careers. I am going to get my Masters in Student Affairs and I start the program in August.
It's been close to 15 years or so that the chapter closed. I would like to see it re-opened. Would that be the same as colonizing? Would I have to form an interest group? Since I will be working in student affairs I think this would be great experience for me to really get inside the operations of expansion, plus I would love to see my chapter re-open. So the question I have is this- is the process the same, or since I am already a member and there is a closed chapter at my school, would the process be easier/different? I am not looking for an easy way out and I know this will be challenging I am just looking for the best way to go about this.
PS- I have already talked to council members about this and they said if the campus is open for expansion they would like to see the chapter active once again.
Thank you.

So, let's just say they are open for expansion (I am not 100% about this, but I think they are, and I plan on contacting Greek Life to see) Would I have to find a group of 30 some girls in order for this to work? Since I will be a grad student and not living there, I don't see that happening. Has anyone ever run into this? Perhaps I could attempt to organize an interest group and assist in the process. What are all of your thoughts?

Exactly. More detailed information about the process is usually on the private side. Good luck!

slight hijack...
 

How does this process differ if a group has been told they will be allowed to return after x number of years, or other similar situations of which I have heard? Do those chapters get to automatically return/recolonize after that number of years if their NHQ would like, or is it that they have "first dibs" if the campus opens for expansion after that said amount of years?

They have first dibs.

Even if they could override the normal NPC expansion rules, no group is going to want to recolonize if the campus conditions are sucky.

I contacted the university's greek life office and I was told that "although they are not against expansion at this time, some of the current sororities have low numbers." I followed up on whether or not it would be worth a try. So we shall see. If she says I can give it a try would I just contact someone at our HQ to send a packet? Or, would i approach Panhell first?
The only info I can find on my org's website is about interest groups trying to go NPC. I have an alumnae event coming up so I will ask the ladies what they think.
Thanks for your help. I am just trying to have a strong arguement and do all of my homework first so I don't end up looking like a fool.

You know, this thread got me thinking. Ideally, we'd all like to see our closed/dormant chapters re-opened again.

Obviously you can't re-open a chapter whose campus has closed or gotten rid of Greek Life. But what about chapters that only lasted a few years? Chapters that got the sorority in heaps of trouble? I can't help but wonder if I/HQs intentionally stay away from certain campuses (either "ok, that might have not been the best idea then...maybe now's not a good time to try again" OR "yeah, we're never going back") where they had former chapters, even if that campus has opened up for expansion.

Also, sororities could have a "bad taste in their mouth" about how they were treated by the Panhellenic community and do not wish to return to a campus because of that reputation. I personally always love to see former chapters re-established if at all possible but sometimes it's not possible.

Still have questions
 

Maybe you misunderstood. She didn't say yes to expansion nor did she say no. She said they are not against it. She said some have low numbers and I think I know which ones she is talking about. There are two groups that come to mind that just want to stay very exclusive and small, while the other 5 are at or near total. So I am not giving up. If she says they can't expand at this time then so be it. I will let it go. But I am not sure that is what she said. Once she gets back to me I will assess the situation and go from there.
There are tons of alums from that chapter that I am friends with through volunteer opportunities, facebook (older alums mainly), and my alum network. They all want to see the chapter re-opened as well. It's been nearly 15 years so we are all older and wiser. I do think this is possible, and a new sorority is just what that campus needs to unite the greek community.
I just don't know where to go from here. Like I said, I want this to work so I want to seem like I know what i am talking about. I have emailed others weeks and months ago to get this rolling but email is slow at times that is why I decided to do more research on my own.
So- please help me here. Let's just say the college is interested in expanding. What is the next step? Do I approach Panhell with the idea or do I immediately notify the person at HQ to do this?
Again, thanks so much!!!

KSUViolet's post was very right on, so I think you're the one who might've misunderstood.

If the campus is ready to expand, I'm afraid there's nothing you can do. The proper procedures must be followed, regardless of support for one particular sorority formerly on campus.

Plus, there's a difference between "We are open for expansion" and "Although we are not against expansion, some of the chapters have low numbers." That would indicate that although the Greek Advisor and Panhellenic Council are not against expansion, they can not open to expansion at this time.

It sounds like they might like to but they can not open yet.

Yes and yes.

And in both cases, sometimes a change of leadership either at the GLO's national level or at the college can turn the situation completely around.

Expansion news
 

The coordinator for Greek Life got back to me and said they are looking to open for expansion within the year. She didn't say they are open for expansion at the present moment but they are hoping to open by Spring semester! She also told me that there is no guarentee that they will open so I know it may not happen.

As far as whether or not it would be a good idea for my sorority to re-open, personally I think there would be a lot of people with mixed feelings because there was a lot that went down when they closed. But that was so long ago and people have grown up, moved on and changed. This all happened in the early 90's which as much as some of us hate to admit, was a long time ago.

I think a new sorority is what the campus needs. I am not sure Greek life has a positive image on campus, and I think a lot has to do with the fact that unfortunately, the stereotypes have stayed the same throughout the years. There are so many girls who would have made great sorority women who were too intimidated or just misinformed. I personally think a new sorority would make the school a bit more competitive and entice girls to go through recruitment.

So, if someone could clarify but I wasn't quite clear with an earlier response- since my sorority is the only one with a closed chapter, would we have first priority over other NPC's that have never had a chapter there? Or is it fair game for everyone?

It is suggested that dormant chapters have priority but that is not always the case.

Some campuses give them first consideration. Some campuses consider everyone.

While it's quite wonderful that you have these ideas and opinions on what the campus needs, it really doesn't mean anything if your HQ isn't interested in going back to that campus.

Thanks so much for the clarification!

I do know that back in the early 80's when the school was open for expansion (the last time it was!) a sorority which closed in the early 70's was re-chartered. They gave that group first priority. I know they have done this with the fraternities as well.

Hopefully this will be the case for us!

Freeverse, one more thing to consider is that your graduate school experience might be significantly more demanding and time-consuming than your undergraduate experience. It depends on the program. You might want to talk to some students in the program (if you haven't done so already) in order to get a feel for the time commitment that will be required.

I, personally, would be very leery of taking on a huge outside project at the start of a new grad program.

Freeverse, at this point there is not much you can do. Other GCers have outlined the process pretty well.

If Extension might be right for this campus at this time, Panhellenic won't need you to tell them. They'll know. They'll take the steps needed to open for extension.

You can step in if the Panhellenic Association decides to open for extension AND your sorority expresses interest in recolonizing AND the Panhellenic Association chooses your sorority to present. Your sorority will most likely want alumnae interested in supporting a potential colony to be there for the presentation.

The Green Book does suggest considering NPC groups that have had a chapter on the campus previously, but the Panhellenic Association is in no way obligated to choose your sorority.

I was on a Panhellenic-appointed committee to research and present a recommendation for Extension when I was a senior at Maryland. Feel free to PM me if you want.

In the event they do open for expansion, I am very much interested in being a supportive/active alumna. I know there's nothing I can do at this point. I am just expressing my excitement.
As far as being in grad school and volunteering, I can do it. I already have a Masters Degree so I know how demanding it is. Honestly, I think my undergraduate work was harder. This will be my second Masters and I will be studying Higher Ed so it kind of goes hand in hand.
Thanks again for everyone's input!

I was on an NPC extension call recently and this came up - the campus is to give "consideration" to dormant groups but that is it. This means when they open, they invite 3 groups to campus to present and often, the dormant may get an invite (in the case of Bucknell, there were at least 3 dormants and I'm not sure any of them got invited).

I have seen a couple of cases where, once presentations happened, the dormant group(s) did not get the campus and the group who had no history there did. Previous campus history does not give a group a definite "in".

Extension in the 80s was different than today. Today, larger NPC groups are vying for the same campuses as smaller NPC groups. Larger groups have more resourves and often, it comes down to a financial commitment from a group such as a dedicated chapter consultant to live on/near campus for 1-2 years. Some groups just can't afford to do that.

Hi all.

I havent posted very much on the boards but I feel the need to chime in here. This past fall, Adelphi University added Phi Sigma Sigma to it's list of NPC Organizations on campus. The school was against adding another sorority, and myself, along with other deadicated women fought hard to reopen the Epsilon Chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma December 6th, 2008. We werent "open" for expansion either, and remained an interest group for a little over two years, and now our dream became a reality.

I share my story with you to let you know that there is hope. Perhaps there are low numbers in the other organizations because the women are looking for something new or a different perspective on Greek Life. If you can become involved or if you know a woman who is interested at your Alma Mata do not give up hope.

Best of luck!

Also, I forgot to mention - the whole point of my post. Our Greek Life Advisor sat down with the interest group and asked us which organizations we were interested in. He suggested that we look out dormant chapters which used to be on the campus because of the rich history and support of alumni. This was a very unique case. When we opened, we recieved information from many of the dormant chapters and it was very excited, we ultimatley choose Phi Sigma Sigma and they chose us, and it is a wonderful partnership.

And there's the rub.

You had an interest group of COLLEGIATE women who stuck together. The OP has a group of ALUMNAE women who apparently believe they know what the campus needs better than the students who are already there.

Sorry for the bitchy tone, but this thread has been bugging the crap out of me. I think every alum of a closed chapter wants it to reopen - but if you don't care what the current students want, you're not going to get too far.

Speaking as an alumna of a closed chapter, I think the best thing an alumna can do is be an active alumna of her GLO and support her alma mater. Everything else is simply not in her control.

My initiating chapter closed after I graduated, so I understand where you're coming from! You will definitely want to check with your inter/national headquarters about this. There is probably a specific staff member or volunteer who is in charge of extension but anyone on staff should be able to direct you to the correct person to talk with.

I know that my organization does not want alumnae to individually contact the college Panhellenic because it could reflect negatively on the inter/national organization. If multiple alumnae are contacting the college Panhellenic to ask when their chapter will be re-established, it could give a bad impression of the organization as a whole or it could lead the college Panhellenic to believe that the organization is interested in returning, when in fact that might not be the case.

Regardless of whether your initiating chapter is re-established, I highly suggest that you look into volunteer opportunities in or near the city that you live in now. I have been volunteering with my sorority for the past five years and have worked with four different chapters in my area. This has definitely helped to fill the void that was created when my initiating chapter closed.

Good luck!!

Unless I'm reading it wrong, what's exceptional in this case is that the alumna, who has worked with her GLO since graduation, here will be a current grad student at that school in a field where working closely with student organizations and campus life would dovetail with her studies.

Sure you all are right that typically one individual doesn't drive the expansion process, but oddly, it does kind of sound like the campus had merely been complacent about their number of groups and Freeverse's interest is at least causing them to examine the status of their system.

And honestly, I'm not sure it is typical for expansion to be initiated by students on campus. I think it's probably equally as likely that it comes about because Greek Life staff are well versed in the desires of NPC groups to expand and they see that the campus numbers could support another chapter. I can't think of an SEC expansion that started with an interest group, for instance. And I'd be somewhat surprised if it was the school undergraduate Panhellenic members that got the ball rolling. I suspect that it depends a lot on the size of the system and if the school even has full time greek life employees.

It's usually a combination of things but CPHs should be evaluating extension possibilities every few years anyway. If an interest group of 30 women pops up, they are hard to ignore. However, I agree that sometimes a CPH can get complacent with the status quo. Sometimes it is because of comfort with chapter size but also some CPHs know that they cannot physically accomodate (i.e. house) a new chapter.

There have been IG driven expansions at SEC schools but those were more than 8 years ago.

That's different than the average school. I think the students there (who don't already know it) are inoculated after a semester or so to know that it's a big big big undertaking.

Just some of the things the OP said threw up red flags for me - like Greek life doesn't have a good image and she thinks having her GLO back on campus would fix it. If she really is going to be in SA, she should realize that fixing what is already there is of more importance than bringing something new in - my favorite "having a baby to save a bad marriage" analogy.

Like AlphaXi1997 mentioned - she's kind of overstepping regardless of what her major is. She needs to worry about getting her degree, not recolonizing her sorority.

I know it's a hijack, but where and how did they happen. It blows my mind that it would even be possible. Was it a case in which Panhellenic was open to expansion and sort of went the interest group route?