want to bring a Tri-Delta chapter to my university!
 

My school doesn't currently have a DDD chapter, and I just don't feel like any of the orgs we have now are right for me. I did my research on NPC orgs and fell in LOVE with tri-delta, so I'm hoping to start a new chapter at my school! I contacted my greek advisor, two local alumnae chapters, and the national headquarters so far, but I'm waiting to hear back from most of them still. Has anyone chartered a chapter at their school? Any advice? Thank you all so much!
Samantha

Is your campus open for NPC expansion?

Did you actually go through rush at your school?

Is anyone other than you interested in starting a new chapter?

Unless you can answer "yes" to all three questions...forget it.

On another note, no matter what chapters are at your campus, the girls who go there are the girls who go there. If (example) they all play sports and hate dressing up, you're not going to end up with a chapter full of girls who change their clothes and makeup 5 times a day just because they're in Tri Delta.

Unfortunately it doesn't work the way that you are hoping.

First, your campus panhellenic has to be open to extension. In other words, they have to vote to add a NPC sorority to your campus. At that time, any of the NPC organizations (there are 26) can submit packets declaring interest in chartering a group on your campus. From the packets submitted, your campus panhellenic will narrow it down to a few groups (usually around 3) to come to campus to present. Following that, the campus panhellenic will vote on which group to invite to colonize.

It is pretty rare for there to not be any groups on a campus that would be "right" for someone. All chapters are made up of many different individuals. Have you gone through recruitment? Since there is virtually no chance for your dream of bringing Tri-Delta to your campus then I would encourage you to look again at the groups already there. You may surprise yourself.


ETA: 33 beat me to it

As far as I know, my school is still waiting for a formal decision on NPC expansion, I did rush my freshman year, got two bids but turned them down, and no I am not the only person interested in bringing DDD to my school.
I just don't really know what to do from here. Am I supposed to just wait to hear back from people? I started assembling a packet according to my universities expansion procedures but its just tough having not heard back from my advisor or nationals yet.
I agree with 33 on her example, but when I mentioned the already present sororities not feeling right, I didn't mean I don't feel like I fit in with the girls, they all seemed plenty nice. What I mean is that I don't feel that I can identify with the purpose and ideals of the orgs themselves.

QFP.

How did you end up with two bids?

Lets say hypothetically that you did get DDD to charter at your school. How do you know that you will fit in the other girls chosen to be in your school's hypothetical chapter of Tri Delta? You could love DDD till the cows come home but if you dont get along with your sisters whats the point?

I find it unbelieveable that you cant find at least one chapter at your school to identify with..all the NPCs are values-based orgs and if you take away rituals, colors, symbols and a few policies here and there, they are a lot (although not exactly) alike.

I would give yourself a timeline..what is your class standing? I would say by your 2nd semester soph year or 1st semester junior yr if DDD hasnt been able to establish itself at your university then I would try recruitment again. It will be your only shot at being in a sorority.

Refer to this thread:

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ansion%2C+beta

Which means (sadly) she probably won't be Greek at all.

Yeah, that is strange.

Seriously. Can't identify with purposes and ideals? The only thing I can remotely think of would be some of the orgs that were orginally founded with a faith basis. But really? I still can't fathom that the OP can't identify with some aspect of any of the groups on her campus.


Yeah, I don't know about this either. Depending on where the OP is, by 2nd semester of sophomore year she may as well show up with a walker and blue hair dye, as she will have aged herself out of recruitment.

Okay, well thank you all for your input. I appreciate it.

True..it probably wont work out, (depending on the school too..I rushed as a junior and got a bid) but I think if she wants to be Greek badly enough and the DDD thing doesnt work out it could be a "last chance" option..

Not only that, sometimes when a sorority comes to a school, they opt not to take all the members of the interest group or they do additional recruitment so the colony is at the same level, numbers wise, as the other groups on campus. This means the national reps will be picking girls - and they might pick girls you can't stand.

(Not saying any of this is stuff I know DDD does, just using it as an example.)

As I mentioned earlier, its nothing to do with fitting in with the girls. They all seemed very nice and I'm actually friends with a few from different groups. I only have three panhel orgs on my campus, the rest are local. Not that I see ANYTHING wrong with the locals, but I don't intend on staying in this town for my whole life, and I like the idea of having alumnae chapters around the country. Of course all the groups have similar purposes in that they're women groups for support and friendship and character development etc, but if they were all so similar then why do you only fall in love with ONE of them? Of course i can fit in with the girls in the pre-existing sororities, but aside from loving my sisters, I want to really love the letters I'm representing. I hope that makes sense. But I guess if its hopeless then well..that's that.

I don't really understand what you mean by this. Is your school considering expansion? If so, who is waiting on the formal decision? Or do you mean you're waiting to hear back on whether you school is open for expansion at all?

At this point, I don't think there's really anything to do besides wait and see what responses you get. If I were you, I don't think I'd be contacting additional people. You've reached out to alumnae groups, national headquarters, and school representatives and expressed your interest...so that's that for now. Maybe you could search around greekchat a little more to build a stronger understanding of how NPC expansion works.

Also, I think there are things to love about every NPC group, and if, as you said, you really get along with women currently in the sororities at your school, it's hard for me to understand why you wouldn't "love the letters."

Maybe I am not reading your intent well, but I am failing to see what it is about Tri-Delta that has you intrigued that you are not feeling with the existing chapters.

As for the part that I bolded... it is very possible to fall in love with several chapters during recruitment. I did. It took me over an hour to fill out my pref card because I loved all three of the chapters that I visited for pref. That is not uncommon at all. Many PNMs give the ranking order long, careful thought, because they had such positive experiences in multiple chapters. THere are other PNMs who have lukewarm feelings after pref round, but choose to give a chapter a chance.

Once you join a group you become immersed in that chapter, so of course the bond that you feel there will only continue to flourish, and that is where the "love" comes into play.

You haven't shared too much of your recruitment experience except that you received 2 bids. (guessing that one of those was a local?) Did you accept either bid?

What does Tri-Delta offer that the three on campus groups do not?

When I rushed we did informational sessions, went bowling with one group, pool hall with another, there was a slumber party and an ice cream social, a community service event for each...and a few other events. It was fun and that's how I actually made friends with a few of the girls, and sometimes I do wish I just accepted one of the bids, but..shoulda coulda woulda..
I am waiting to hear back from my greek advisor and from nationals for information and whether we're open for expansion because I don't know if our website is out of date or not because it says "the college panhellenic council is still pending a formal decision for expansion." I do not know who is making the decision or when.
As far as why DDD has me so intrigued; their partnership with st. Judes really hits home for me. The reflections program, fat talk free week, the history of their founding..I did a lot of research on NPC sororities and I guess DDD just really stood out for me.

Maybe she went through informal recruitment and that's how she received more than one bid?

.....Kelly :)

Quite frankly, the majority of members in NPC sororities don't join because of the national partnerships, the national philanthropy or the mission statement. They join because they like the girls in the chapter at their school. Love for the sorority as a national entity comes later. I'm sure the sororities would totally dig it if everyone was like you and looked primarily at the things you're looking at, but the fact is that would require an enormous culture change. Recuitment, pledging, everything would have to do a 180. What you're doing with researching is more akin to the way women who are interested in NPHC organizations choose a group.

Even when women are picking a sorority to colonize with, often times the group who "looked good on paper" gets there - and is not at all what the interest group thought they would be. Case in point.

Also, if the majority of the groups are local and have been that way for a long time, it leads me to believe that either the campus is not one NPC groups have found desirable as far as expansion, or that NPCs are a new thing being added slowly so as not to overwhelm the system, or that the majority of the students prefer the local groups to the nationals. You might want to check this thread out - find your school, and see if there have ever been any other NPC groups at your school besides the three you mentioned.

Often, probably more often than not, the lasting love of the letters is a by-product of the bonds with one's sisters (or brothers).

I'm curious about what you mean by this last sentence. In my experience, the old saying "people don't join organizations, people join people" (or something like that) has always held true. I did a lot of research on the organizations on my campus before going through recruitment. Based on the websites, I was convinced I wanted to be a DG. I loved the colors and symbols, and the line of the DG purpose that stated "Its aim is to foster an atmosphere in which women will develop a deeper love and consideration for mankind, a more profound understanding of the purpose of life, and a basic wisdom upon which to build their lives" really spoke to me. But, when I went through recruitment, I realized my true home was KD. Even though the DG sisters at Wittenberg are a fantastic group of women, I didn't feel that "click" with them the way I felt with the KDs. I became a Kappa Delta because I felt a connection to the women in my chapter. Sure, it's nice to have philanthropies I really care about and colors I look good in :p, but I take pride in my letters because of the sisterhood they represent. (And for what it's worth, as I look back I realize the line that so spoke to me on the DG national website is echoed in my own sorority's object: "The formation and perpetuation of good fellowship, friendship and sisterly love among its members; the encouragement of literature and education; the promotion of social interest; and the furtherance of charitable and benevolent purposes." Sure, they aren't exactly identical, but the intent is the same.)

So I'm curious to learn more about your situation, since it seems to be so different from my own! In my experience, the purpose and ideals of many GLOs (at least the ones I've run into) seem remarkably similar. If I've learned anything from GC, it's that behind the letters, mascots and philanthropies, we're all more alike than different. I'm still not really clear on what makes DDD so different from the orgs on your campus, or any of the other 26 NPC sororities for that matter! Why is DDD the one for you? What are you unable to identify with for the other organizations? I'm not trying to attack, I'm genuinely curious! :)

I haven't felt that "click" with any NPC orgs on campus.. A couple people, yes; but never the groups as a whole. I also find that I look primarily at what the org represents, rather than the sisters first. Someone mentioned earlier that the way I'm looking at the whole thing is more identifiable to that of those looking into NPHC orgs, which I've never looked into before..its a little intimidating but maybe I should look into those before waiting around for DDD.

I think we're all just a little confused as to what exactly was involved in your evaluation process when deciding that DDD is "right" for you.

You're friends with some of the girls in the chapters, and that's great. You're not all supposed to be best friends on day 1. And 99% of the time, girls aren't best friends with ALL of their sisters.. ever.

I think it's just difficult to understand why/how you feel that you can't identify with an NPC's ideals. If you read the creeds and/or purposes of all of them, I'm pretty sure you'll find declarations of love for the sorority, and for fellow sisters. You'll find statements about the importance of education, and of helping others in need. And you'll find messages about values to uphold and morals to live by.

If you like the idea of being associated with St. Jude's and helping children with cancer, there's nothing saying that you can't do that if you're a member of another organization. And I guarantee that if you joined another NPC, you'd probably find out all kinds of fun and interesting things about them as the process went along that you probably can't find on any website. Private rituals being a prime example of that!

If DDD was already on your campus and it was an option for you to join through recruitment, that's one thing. But attempting to bring them to campus because you did a little research and ONLY see yourself in that organization, it's just a little out of reach. And as has already been said, there's a very good chance that you'd end up in a colony made of up girls that you don't know... bringing you back to square one.

I didn't mean that you should look at NPHCs - especially after so openly proclaiming your "affinity" with DDD - rather that "research and then pursue" is the usual M.O. for joining them. The big difference is that there are FOUR NPHC sororities (as opposed to 26 NPC sororities), they have far more chapters than the NPC groups, and joining after graduation from college is a well established part of their selection practices.

I think I know what campus you're on, and with the economy the way it is and with the majority of the groups being local, it seems the school is taking NPC expansion VERY SLOWLY. No group wants to come to a campus, open a colony and then have it either take forever to charter or end up failing and having basically wasted a ton of money. It would be one thing if they made all the locals go national at once, but that apparently isn't happening. So if they continue on the route they're taking, it's going to be a LONG wait before any more NPCs show up on campus.

It may be because I am a DDD, and, hence, always flattered when someone wants to grow my GLO, but I think you guys are being a little harsh and pessimistic. I agree that starting a new chapter is certainly very tough, but with effort and purserverence it can be done! OP sounds like she needs more education. OP, I would consider reading some of the threads on here about expansion and colonies. Also, if you have a group of girls who are interested in bringing DDD to your school, you should start having meetings for that purpose. Many colonies start out of "interest groups." National orgs like to see that there is a base of support for the chapter and a need for their national organization on campus. They won't come to your school unless they feel there is a void to fill.

Also, regarding expansion, you need to speak with your campus greek office to learn more about the system. Are they considering expansion? When was the last time there was a new chapter? Are the chapters at or above total? Are there a large number of girls who withdraw from rush, get dropped from rush, or who don't accept their bids? Do the other organizations have houses and would you need one to compete effectively? You need to find these things out to know if your campus can support another organization.

Expansion is tough and you have to be willing to knock on a lot of doors and have many rejections. It may not work out exactly the way you envisioned or at all but if our founding sisters thought like these ladies, we probably wouldn't have sororities at all. :)

No we're not. We're being realistic. As I said, if her school is the one I think it is from her username, they're being very cautious with national expansion which is probably the right road to take in this economy.

It also seems like she thinks DDD will bring a type of woman to the Greek system that isn't there, and no matter how awesome the organization, 99 times out of 100 that simply isn't the case, especially if you're participating in panhellenic rush with a mix of locals and NPCs.

I'd say the same things to her if she wanted to start a colony of my sorority in the same circumstance. We need to take care of the sisters we already have, not go OMG EXPANSION if the opportunity is not a good one.

This is an especially great point considering recent news that two colonies at UA-LR are closing. Expansion can sound like a great idea, but it is not a simple low-energy process no matter the org.

As far as that situation was concerned, I think they had the right idea, and it might have worked out OK if the current economy wasn't such a cluster. The OP's situation is a different matter though. They HAVE a Greek system with a good many orgs...they just happen to be local ones.

I wasn't going "OMG EXPANSION." In fact, nowhere did I say that I thought this was a great expansion opportunity for DDD. I also never said that starting a chapter was easy or likely.

I do, however, think that when we are answering a person's question, we should be helpful. Saying, "forget it, it will never happen" in post after post is not helpful. Even if something is difficult doesn't mean you shouldn't try and doesn't mean that we can't give her the best advice we have. Especially since the OP never asked us to weigh in on whether starting a chapter was a good idea, she just asked us to give her our best advice and to tell her our experiences, if we have any, with this situation. Is our best advice really don't try it's too hard?

It's also not just that she wants to bring a new group to her campus. It's that she seems to have a very overly romantic notion of how it happens.

I would understand "most of the groups at my school are local and I want to bring on another national." She shot on past that to "I am in love with this sorority solely due to the contents on a website and I don't think any other sorority could ever give me the same feeling."

Anytime you build something up that much, you're likely to be disappointed afterwards. If I'm coming off harsh, that's not my intention; I just hate to see people look past opportunities in front of them for those that are a zillion miles away.

This.

If she generalized her statements and simply wanted to bring a new NPC on campus, that's one thing. But we've already seen one too many threads here where girls have said, "My friend is in this sorority at another school, so I want to be in it, too!" or, "I only like that sorority, so I need to figure out how to get it here."

Expansion simply doesn't work that way.

Why would it have been better if I generalized my statements just to bring any NPC sorority to my school? Just any sorority with no knowledge of what they stand for, any group will do? I don't really have a romanticized idea of what expansion is, clearly; I came here seeking help from people who may have seen it and been through it, but the majority of the responses I've received really do sound (to me anyway) like "don't bother, its too hard."
If all the NPC groups were the same, your own founders never would have started new orgs, and you probably wouldn't be wherever you are now. Thank you to those who were supportive, but I guess I can't get help here. Thank you anyway.



Edit: also; I've already stated before; my reason for wanting to bring a new chapter to my school has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO with hoping everyone in my chapter or colony will be my "BFF". I do not 100% support and identify with the already present sororities philanthropies, mission statements, and purposes. I simply felt I found a more appropriate match for me and yes; it is based on the contents of a website, but isn't that how most people expand??? There would be NO PURPOSE for expansion WHATSOEVER if all groups were, as more than one person mentioned, "basically the same".

Again, thank you.

You didn't really have a strong understanding of how expansion works. Clearly.

When people tried to tell you about the process (which is difficult, particularly if you have your heart set on one particular group, we're in an economic recession, and your campus has unique circumstances), they weren't trying to be Debbie Downers who just want you to take the easy way. They were trying to paint a realistic picture of the process.

I am curious which school this is...or actually, which NPC groups are presently there.

From her name, I'm guessing she is at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA. If I am right, then the NPCs that are presently there are:

Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Phi
Sigma Sigma Sigma

This leads me to also think that she must be a complete airhead. All three of these organizations have something great to offer. Both AGD and Alpha Phi were founded at Syracuse University (a very good school-I'm bias, though because my boyfriend attends that school). Tri-Sigma has "The Robbie Page Memorial (Providing play therapy for terminally ill children" as their philanthropy.

Alpha Phi supports American Heart Association's "Go Red" philanthropy, as well as, they have their own foundation.

Alpha Gamma Delta also has its own foundation.

Each of these NPCs has great tag lines and incredible chapters nationwide. I am annoyed she thinks she is too good to join any of these GLOs.

You have no idea what you are talking about. Most sororities were founded because of a group of women who wanted a closer bond with each other. Maybe they didn't like the women in other groups, maybe there wasn't another group on campus. Maybe they were denied for various reasons. Regardless of when and why a sorority was founded, honesty the values they hold are similar. You ever hear of the four pillars of Greek Life. They are called so because those four virtues are what most orgs at their heart care about, whatever their mission statement might be.

I don't think saying you didn't feel a connection with 3 chapters, which isn't exactly a huge number to choose from, is the same thing as saying you're too good for them. The OP may be being a little "orthodox" insisting that she completely connect with the chapter's mission, philanthropy, values, etc. but she never disparaged any of these groups or said she felt she was superior to them in some way.