Greek Life Director and Expansion
 

My school's Greek life is small but growing. Total was raised by 10 in the fall and all chapters are over that and have been very successful in the past few years. There has been talk among the college panhellenic of opening up the school for expansion.
Our director is an alumna of a sorority that is not on campus, and she passively mentioned to one of my sisters that she has discussed this opportunity with her sorority's HQ. I think her trying get her sorority on this campus shows that she would be biased if they wanted to come here and if they were chosen to colonize. I had been under the impression that the Greek Life director has no say in who presents and who is chosen, and that it was up to the school's panhellenic group. Am I wrong?

ARe you sure she meant that she actively is attempting to bring them to this campus? Or did they reach out to her as a resource asking about the campus as a fit? There is a difference. Also, ultimately (at least from my experiences) many campus leaders, groups, and campus life employees were asked to contribute to the matter and any who wanted could come to the open presentations and fill out a card regardnig their opinion on the groups whose presentations they attended. One person is not going to be able to force XYZ down your throat and you need to be open for expansion first.

We are not open for expansion yet, so I find it at least a little unlikely that her sorority would know to reach out to her for information about our campus. My sister said the director's exact words were "I'd love to have xxx here. I've talked to nationals about it!"
Our director is a very very proud alumna of her sorority, but I (and the members of the other sororities on campus) feel that her sorority's presence on our campus would affect her ability to be unbiased during recruitment or Greek Games, etc. She has not been around that long on our campus and is overhauling a lot of things, so yes, she has a lot of power and would definitely be able to give one sorority an upper hand during those events. I don't wish to say how because I would like to remain anonymous and don't want to give details about my campus' recruitment or Greek games.

Basically my question is: what is the role of the Greek Life director during expansion?

She can put a bug in their ear, but they might not want to come to the campus. Or if they do and get picked to present, everyone else might hate them and vote for another group.

Even if her group did make it on campus, it's not a guarantee that she would favor them...quite frankly, it often ends up being the opposite. The chapter doesn't live up to what her chapter was (as far as she's concerned) and she gives them 10x the amount of crap she would give the other chapters. I say "she" here, but this applies to guys too.

If you feel that she's making too many changes too quickly that are affecting the campus and Greek life adversely, talk to your NPC area advisor or to her supervisor. Is she younger? She honestly sounds like she has the GA version of "neoism" i.e. being way too gung ho because it's all so shiny and new.

Thank you 33girl. I guess I just wanted to confirm that it was the sororities who choose who would present and colonize. My guess is that her org would not be chosen to present as long as she is here because the other sorority members feel the same as I do- even if some directors at some schools end up at odds with their own chapter. To be honest, I really don't think it'd happen to her. I used to deal with her on a daily basis and she told me her chapter was "bottom tier" (honestly, that term doesn't even exist on my campus and it's beyond me that she'd actually say that to a student). Not really much to live up to there.

Oh, and you completely pegged her. She's still in her 20s. I didn't mean to imply she was changing too much too soon. (None of her changes are really working out anyway). BUT she chooses judges for the dance competition during greek games, which is the biggest event and decides the winner. Last year, her pledge mom was a judge. That sounds silly to bring up now that I write it, but there's people in every chapter who care about winning. I was more concerned with how she'd be with recruitment. She chooses which sorority's parties are held in what room, and they don't rotate through the week. Some rooms are definitely better than others in size, layout, and decor and can affect a PNM's perception of a chapter.

As someone who is in a similar situation, I completely empathize with you!!! Sadly that's about all I can say outside of a PM :(

Ahhh this makes sense. She wants to rise above her chapter's status in her org and be "the awesome sister who brought XYZ to Supergrowing U - gee let's nominate her for national council." I will also tell you from seeing it firsthand that these wannabes will always be wannabes, no matter how much butt they kiss and how many people they throw under the bus to try and "advance."

If she is showing favortism in rush re room assignments (our parties were held in the science building, so I'm more than familiar with good rooms and cruddy rooms) then you definitely need to go to her supervisor. You should be drawing rooms out of a hat or something like that.

This sounds exactly like my campus except we are already open for expansion and presentations are currently happening (in fact, the sorority the director is an alum of is presenting). Ultimately she does not get the sole choice in the matter. The opinion you have right now is very similar to the opinion on my campus. If others are feeling the same way, then you shouldn't have much to worry about.

Edit: I should add that the rumor going around is that XYZ sorority is going to come because our greek advisor is a XYZ. Whether it's true or not, I haven't a clue. But I can see why the OP would have general concerns, as people on my campus are being (whether valid or not) slightly paranoid.

I completely understand that you are all frustrated and I empathise with you all, but I would really advise those students currently describing their extension process to use some discretion when describing your situations.

Many GCers will be able to tell what institutions you attend, and often times, many of them are part of extension teams for their national organizations. Airing dirty laundry on your campus is not attractive, per se, and extension is a mutual selection process just like recruitment. I promise you, national officers are active here and may even lurk here undetected. Don't jeopardize this new opportunity to strengthen your community by leaving a bad taste in someone's mouth about the men and women who are representative of your campus. Just because a national organization is invited to colonize a new chapter does not mean that they will accept that invitation.

So, trust in the process! If your chapter representative on this committee is a good one who cares about this new group making an impact, your voices will be heard. Similarly, if you are free to attend that presentation, do so! Ask questions. Make sure they are a good fit for your campus. And try not to be biased, even though it is difficult with your present situation. A national organization is not representative of one person, as much as that person would hate to hear that. They can bring a lot to the table and to your community outside of this poor example who happens to be leading the way. It all works out for the best - it just takes time and research on everyone's part.

Um, whoa. Methinks you doth protest too much.

And if I was on an extension team, I certainly would APPRECIATE knowing that while Boobleboo State is growing like gangbusters, the GL advisor is showing favortism and trying to influence the vote and I might not want to waste my money coming to present just to get shot down. The only people I don't think would appreciate these posts are the extension team for the sorority of the GL advisor. Maybe they need to tell her to chilly willy will before they end up looking bad.

--->lane swerve<---
I wanted to post earlier but was too busy. Unless there was some info shared via PM not shared in this thread it seems like the OP is assuming a lot about her GL advisors intentions.

Could she not have talked to her nationals about the possibility of opening for expansion at the school and if they might be interested should that be the case. I guess I didn't read "I've already talked to nationals about it" as she made it clear that she wants them and only them.

Also, it seemed the OP was assuming she'd assign the best room to her chapter and make sure they'd win in Greek Week, without making it clear in her posts that the GL Director had already shown a prediliction to being unbiased. Idk, maybe I didn't read well enough, but it came of as the OP and the other sororities on campus were already showing a bias against the directors sorority on the chance that maybe she will be unbiased given the opportunity.

i find it hard to believe in this day and time, when jobs are so difficult to come by, that someone would jeopardize her job by working every angle, even bending or breaking rules to get her sorority on campus.

does the panhellenic council not do anything, but occupy space at their meetings? they should be the ones voting on the expansion issue, deciding which sororities give presentations and ultimately which one is invited to colonize.usually the greeklife advisor can break a tie vote-at least on the campuses i am familiar with.

as for what room each sorority has during recruitment, why are you all not on a rotation basis? this year abc gets ballroom 1, def gets ballroom 2, gh gets the mascot room and ijk gets the alumni room. next year def gets ballroom 1, gh gets ballroom 2, and so on and so forth.
go by the chapter founding date to decide who has first choice, or draw names out of a hat, or flip a coin. take ownership.

All I can say is - once you've been around one of "these" you know the signs. They think XYZ and only XYZ is the best choice for everyone and everything and if a few people or groups get trampled in the process, well, tough beans. They weren't XYZ so they didn't matter anyway.

I'm not saying that Greek Advisor isn't crazy, I'm just saying, Big Sister is always watching. I'm completely speaking from experience. I agree - someone needs to step in with this administrator and have a convo with her to remind her that perception is reality, but it's never a good idea to come on here as a collegian and be so open with your situations. NHQs are pretty aware, and so are GCers.

Especially because the extension committee has the vote, not the Greek Advisor. The Greek Advisor can push her agenda all she wants - if the committee disagrees, it doesn't happen. Period. It's an issue of a community not being educated on the process, and a Greek Advisor who is not going to do it and hopes she gets away with it.

Protest? GMAB.

And again - I don't think that any group is going to be upset knowing that they are going to a campus with a Greek advisor pushing her personal agenda. That's good information to know if you're going to spend your money and time there. You can choose to do as you see fit but the more you know going into a situation the better.

I'm not sure whose "Big Sister" is to be feared - the OP's? I wouldn't know why, she's airing a problem that needs remedied (the favortism during rush) and that she did not create. Sometimes Big Sister needs a kick in the ass to fix things that need fixed. If you consider a collegian wanting more info on a process (because obviously her Greek advisor isn't going to be straight up with her) and a Greek community wary of favortism "dirty laundry" you have an awfully low threshold of, umm, dirt.

33girl, I tried to PM you twice. My sent messages still says zero though. I'm not sure if you're getting them, but I don't want to plug up your inbox in case you are. Please let me know.

I guess this goes to the heart of my original question in this thread. Is it a problem or are these girls going to assume it would be a problem because she's young and "over enthusiastic" and has certain powers (that all GL Advisors have). When reading the OP I felt like it was full of she could do ABC and XYZ but the OP never said this woman actually has actually done something against the rules, in favor of a group already on campus, etc.

I think where sigmaceli is saying, is that despite the fact that she thinks she may be anonymous, she has in fact affected the situation should said GL Advisor be able to figure it out/find this thread. As such, particularly if this woman is supposed to be as horrible as she seems to be trying to make it out to be, anon5 has posted herself/her chapter/all the chapters on campus as having an issue with this woman without having gone through the appropriate channels. If her current actions are so suspect, then shouldn't Panhel approach her in an appropriate (read non GC) fashion with their concerns. If issues are still existing then shouldn't they have gone to her supervisor to air their grievances? And this is all assuming there are grievances to air and not a bunch of assumptions of things she could/might/have yet to do.

Please remember what it was like to be a collegian. You're afraid sometimes of approaching the person directly for fear the situation will get worse. This GA IS doing things that she shouldn't be - choosing rooms for recruitment just by her preference (this should be done via lottery) and a couple other things that were shared w/ me via pm. (anon5, I got it, thanks :) ) These things have occurred, she isn't just "proposing" it.

I have the feeling that even if this GA read this whole thread, she'd have NO CLUE it was her anyway. People like that are rarely very self-aware. If her boss sees it and calls her on it, cool beans. It doesn't sound like the collegians approaching her on their own would make a dent.

That wasn't my collegiate experience. And it isn't an NPC vs. NPHC thing.

Some things only happen because people are suffering in silence. This gives the person in question way more power and influence than the person would have if people would respectfully confront the person directly and/or go to the "powers that be" (which aren't difficult to find and access) and handle it. TRYING to make a dent is always better than just typing about it on GC and assuming that you won't/can't make a dent. :)

anon, have you all entlisted your alumnae advisors to speak with the greek life advisor? or the national officer directly over your chapter advisors?

The situation makes a bit more sense, but I still think the OP is putting herself, her chapter and the other sororities on her campus "at risk" so to speak. We have a bit of information about the situation, 20 something GA, where her GA chooses "chapter rooms" during recruitment, and the campus can possibly open up for expansion soon. Given that information, sorority leadership/campus based Greek leadership has easy knowledge via networking, professional groups, etc. to narrow down the list.

I agree with Dr. Phil, this was not my experience as a collegian. And if the rooms should be given out based on lottery, where is panhel/the sorority leadership at with respect to voicing their concern? The OP indicates that her sentiments are widespread in her Greek community, a the very least among the sororities, so isn't part of Panhel's role to address this concern.

Alright, just to clarify my last post, I referred to "Big Sister" in the metaphorical 1984 sense. Not the OP's big sister. I can see where that wouldn't make any sense, lol.

Continuing my response, ch2tf, you said exactly what I was thinking and are way more eloquent. I don't believe that I have a "low threshold for dirt," or that the OP's concerns are not valid in any way. But there is a better way to remedy the situation in this case. I think it's great that the OP has been able to confide in you about her situation, but this really is not a convo for the Internet.

And as for additional posters in similar situations who are already in the extension process who have taken it upon themselves to be the GC rep. for their institution's proceedings, well, I feel being so vocal about those issues can make things more difficult to fix.

Dr. Phil, I agree with you in the fact that the best course of action is to turn to the powers that be regarding this - chapter advisors, the Panhellenic Council/Association and NHQ representatives are the ones who have the power to remedy the situation, regardless of whether the campus opens for extension or not. There is obvious concern in the entire community regarding LOTS of issues, and they need to take action to rectify the situation rather than let it get worst.

Regardless of all this, I am not on that campus and I can't make assumptions. So, anon5, I wish you the best of luck in the situation; I encourage you to see what you can do to empower positive change in your community before it's open for extension, making it more difficult to see the results that you and your community want. Read the NPC Manual of Information (Green Book) to understand what your rights are as a chapter and as a Panhellenic Council. Talk to your chapter leadership and see if they can make partnerships to take control of your Greek community.

Good grief. Did you honestly think I didn't get that???? SMH.

So glad I could be of service...:rolleyes:

Just as an aside, tone-deaf and foolish people have continued to jeopardize their jobs right and left through this recession, even as their co-workers are laid off around them. Speaking from personal observation. I don't know if that's the case with this Greek advisor, but the recession doesn't make it any less plausible to me.
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