Sororities more common in one area?
 

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Certain chapters are much more prevalent in certain parts of the country. If you look in the rush threads for the Southern schools you'll see a lot of them mentioned.

I've been told that XO, Phi Mu, and KD are all concentrated in the South.

I know that my sorority, D Phi E, is very prevalent in the northeast in NJ, PA, and NY. Mind you, we have chapters all over the place, and more coming this year, but we have like 8 in PA, 8 in NJ and A LOT in NY. You can check out the national websites and see if any of them have a concentration in a specific area.

Sororities in general seem to be more concentrated in the South/East/MidWest than in the West.

Good question!
 

I've observed that usually where a sorority is founded has the highest concentration of chapters, and it kind of branches out from there. For example, Delta Zeta was founded in Oxford, Ohio, so we've got lots of chapters around the Ohio area, and we spread further in all directions as the years passed.

Another example: Phi Mu and ADPi were founded in Macon, GA (my hometown), so the majority of their chapters are in the Southeast, although they too have spread out through the years. When I got to school, DZ, Phi Mu and ADPi were the only 3 sororities on campus and Phi Mu and ADPi were the two that rushees were most familar with because they are the "southern" sororities, as opposed to Delta Zeta which is more of a "northern" organization. I'm sure that the tables would be turned up North with rushees not knowing much about Phi Mu or ADPi, but being pretty familar with Delta Zeta.

So, I guess that there isn't one area that has a large concentration of all GLO's -- more like one area that has a large concentration of a few particular GLO's. Does that make sense?

Hope this helps! :)

ASA is more concentrated in the mid-south and midwest than in any other area. We only have 2 chapters in the west (Colorado).

Plus, there are certain sororities that are in a lot of what used to be called "teachers colleges" (they are all full universities now) and not at private schools, and vice versa.

I don't think that where you are founded is necessarily indicative of where you are concentrated. AGD was founded in NY and we are actually pretty spread out evenly. There are more chapters in KY and MI so maybe that is our area.. I am really not sure.

i would have to disagree - while it may not hold true for all sororities, where youre founded and where youre heavily concentrated could be related because the closer you are to nationals, the more suport you could recieve from them and all of the alumnae that are in that area. Of course all of the chapters that were established there may ceases to exist b/c chapters close for reasons beyond anyone's control.

The majority of AEPhi chapters are in the Northeast. We were founded in New York, national HQ is in Connecticut, and there are lots of alums who've settled in the Northeast as opposed to the rest of the country. So AEPhi tends to colonize at Northeast schools because there are lots of nearby chapters and alums for support. But we have chapters all across the country, of course.

AEphi and SDT are really common in the northest

Phi Sigma Sigma is more common in the north east. We were founded in NYC, and have more chapters in NY and PA than anywhere else. Our Central Office, however, is now located in Boca Raton Fl. :)

Though my national sorority is the smallest one, we are prevalent in the mid-west. We also seem to have a lot of chapters in NY and Pa. I don't know how much importance that has to the local chapter except for name recoginition. I could honestly say that I have never heard of Theta Phi Alpha when I went to college, now three years into college I can't get away from it (though that is not a bad thing mind you).

Something I've noticed (any AOPi's out there please correct me if I'm wrong) is that AOPi, although founded at Barnard College in New York City, seems to be strongest in the Southeastern part of the country.

ZTA, ADPi, DG, Tri-Delta, and KD have the most chapters in Florida out of all the sororities.

I've heard that in Texas the big sororities there are ZTA, Kappa, Theta, Tri-Delta, Chi-O, and Pi Phi.

From a Californian's point of view...
 

In California, there seem to be few, or no chapters of the following:

AGD
ASA
Phi Mu
DZ
ASA
Phi Sig
AOII
ZTA
KD
SSS

:(, especially for KD, since I'm a legacy!

There might be more sororities that aren't very prevalent in CA, but I can't think of them right now.

On the other hand, there seem to be many (or more than a few) chapters in Cali of the following:
Theta
Kappa
Pi Phi
Chi O
DG
Tri-Delt
A-Phi
ADII
Gamma Phi
Sigma Kappa
Alpha Chi

Can you tell that I'm procrastinating from writing an essay? :p

dzrose,

I'm not sure if you are still reading this thread, but have you ever been here to Miami University where DZ was founded? I just read your post and it reminded me that I drive by your headquarters/museum everytime I go back to my house from the rec center.

Brian

I know that AZD is much more of a Mid-western/Northern Organization, however it seems that it seems to be streaching further south then any other direction.

At one time, there were 7 chapters of Alpha Gam in California. Unfortunately, only 3 remain active at this time, all in Northern California. Luckily, the Alpha Gam chapters that remain are doing very well on their campuses.

I hope that someday, we can reactivate the other California chapters. In the meantime AGD has a thriving alumna base that we use to continue sharing our sisterhood.

Alpha Xi Delta in CA
 

It seems that AXiD has few or no chapters in CA, too :(.

Nationall I know Tri Delta has the most chapters and is the strongest in Texas, and surronding southern states, and California.

There are definitely "strongholds" for certain chapters, but there are also chapters that seem to transcend all of these....they are almost everywhere across the board. I would say Chi O is definitely one of these. Also, DG and Tri-Delt seem to be everywhere.

DZ is very large in Ohio.....there is definitely some truth to that!!! I see DZs everywhere I go.

Gotta say, though, when you think of Southern sororities, you tend to think of Phi Mu, Kappa, Theta, and Chi O. So you guys are right.

I absolutely agree - the biggest sororities in the South seem to be Tri Delt, ADPi, ZTA, and KD. I've also noticed that Chi O seems to have really strong chapters everywhere! How do they do that? ;)

Hey Brian,

I haven't had the opportunity to visit Miami University yet. However, our 100th anniversary is next year and our National Convention is being held in Oxford to commemorate our 100th year. I made my hotel reservations a couple of weeks ago! :) I'm so excited! What's even better is that I'm sharing the room with one of my best friends who I don't see often since she and her husband just moved from Atlanta to Florida.

Since you're familar with Oxford, can you tell me some good local places to check out? We're only staying for the weekend (in July) so we don't have much time... but I'd love to see what I can of the town.

Thanks! :)
Carrie

I think part of that has to do with the fact that our national office is in Nashville. I would also have to say that sororities are overall more popular in the South than any other part of the country--for example, during the 'anti-greek' years I'm going to make the generalization that very few greek chapters in the south closed in comparison to the rest of the country. Overall, regarding AOII, including all the closed chapters, we are pretty well dispersed over the county.

Regarding AOII in California, we have chartered at 10 schools and still have chapters at 6 - including our oldest active chapter (Sigma at UC-Berkeley)

Sarah
AOII - Beta Gamma

Thanks for the compliment, BrownEyedGirl.....but we are hardly the only ones to have that distinction!!!! Not to pick out specific chapters but just for an example I have never seen a weak Kappa or DG chapter......there are others too. The basic fact of the matter is that the fantastic chapters of NPC rock pretty much across the board as far as I'm concerned!!!!!!:)

Oh yeah Pi Phi's are all over California! LOL Anyway, it seems that we're the strongest in the mid-western states. I don't know if every sorority is strongest around the area it was founded, but it seems like we're kind of centered around Illinois.

in Texas ZTA has the most chapters with about 14, Chi-o is next with 13 and AXO is third with 12 chapters. I am not sure if we have phi mu down here or AST, ASA, SSS, I know there are a few SK and gamma phi chapters

I think AXO is pretty well spread out except a few southern states-MS, Ak, and Kentucky

I go to school in TX and I have gone to two schools here with greek systems. One with a really big greek system and one that is small. I can tell you that I have seen weak chapters of the sororities you are talking about. I will not tell you which of the two schools they were weak because I don't want to specifically call anyone out, especially since chapters have weak times and strong times...it's just how things work. Anyhow, I have seen Phi Mu, ADPi, Chi-O having EXTREMELY diffucult times. ADPi actually lost their charter, which was really sad :(. On the other hand, there are very strong chapters as well! That's why you can't really say that AAA is strong as a blanket statement, even if you are only talking about TX. The fact that a group has a historically strong nat'l doesn't guarantee success for every chapter.

And DZ has 12 chapters in TX, which I guess would tie AXO for 3rd. And yes, there are 4 Phi Mu chapters in TX, ASA has 2, AST has 1 chapter, and SSS has 2. I think those are mostly midwest groups though.

I think that it is really hard to describe how strong some chapters are. Over the past 3 years at ASU, ADPi grew from about 50 to 150, the largest sorority on campus. But if you go down to U of A or up to NAU the chapters are small and not doing as well. I was at Florida over the summer and I noticed that ADPi is huge out there. Is it as big in California?

are there ANY npc chapter on the upper east coast. ie-maine, connecticut, massachusetts...etc. and hows 'bout vermont and new hampshire.

marissa

Squirrely Girl's Question
 

Delta Zeta Sorority has chapters at the following New England schools:
University of Connecticut
University of Rhode Island
Bryant College (RI)
Plymouth State College (NH)
University of Massachusetts
Northeastern (MA)
University of Maine

In case any of my sisters are interested, Pennsylvania has the most chapters with 17 :)

Marissa,

AEPhi is very strong in the Northeast - particularly Connecticut and Massachusetts - MIT, BU, Yale, Northeastern to name a few.

They are there at most all schools, but smaller - Greek life in general just isn't as huge as it is in the south or midwest.

I need to find an alumnae chapter in Rhode Island. Does anyone know what their age demographic is? Some alum groups are all old ladies and some are mostly younger alums...

I would advise contacting your national executive office and obtaining a list of DZ alumnae chapters in RI. Then you can contact the one for your area and see what the age demographic is like :)

Well here in TN, all of the NPHC sororities are common, however in my opinion AKA and DST are the most popular, however it does depend on the school you attend.

Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi and Sigma Kappa are rather popular.
AOPi, DZ,and ZTA are popular as well.

Marissa--

Delta Phi Epsilon has chapters in many of these states including:

Phi Eta Chapter at Northeastern University
Epsilon Tau Chapter at Bentley College
Alpha Pi Chapter at Southern Connecticut State University
Alpha Upsilon Chapter at Johnson & Wales
Beta Psi Chapter at Brandeis University

just to name a few :) I know we had a chapter at University of Vermont way back in the day, too.