Deactivation - please help! :(
 

Hey everyone,

I’ve visited GreekChat many times over the last two years and finally decided to make an account, because I’m struggling to decide whether or not I want to stay in my sorority and would love to hear your advice :confused:. Before I elaborate, I wanted to say that I’ve already read a lot of articles and forum threads before coming here, so hopefully this won’t be too repetitive! From other posts on GreekChat, two common opinions were that the OP needed to spend more time in their sorority, or should try to get more involved (e.g. leadership positions), and I don’t think these suggestions fit my description so I hope you’ll be able to help ☺

I just finished my sophomore year so I’ve been in my sorority for about a year and a half (my school has deferred rush). I was hesitant as a PNM and pledge, loved the beginning of my sophomore year, and am now considering deactivating. During this time I lived in the house, held several positions, and made big improvements for the chapter, so I really did give it my all.

Cons:
- Advisers/Nationals
After working with advisers during my leadership positions, I have no respect for them. As a freshman I was being groomed for president or another big position, but after dealing with these people I just couldn’t apply for the executive board. I feel that these women often lack common sense and don’t have the chapter’s best interests in mind. This year we had some huge issues with Nationals kicking girls out of the house and threatening to take away memberships, which we had to fight because they were completely unreasonable. I find it hard to be in the chapter when these people micromanage and control everything we do. (It’s part of being in a sorority, I know, but it seems like the other chapters at my school don’t have this problem to the same degree.)

- I’m starting to think it’s not worth my time
I spend a lot of time on school, which means things like chapter meetings and formals aren’t my priority so I don’t really like paying for them. Let alone the time recruitment requires. There are also a lot of members I dislike, ranging from fake girls to drama queens to our power-tripping president. I'm involved in many other groups and have leadership positions, so I don't rely on my sorority for extracurriculars or resume building.

Pros:
- Friends
Though I dislike a decent amount of the members, I have made some of my best friends through the sorority and I don’t want to lose those connections. I’m living with two of them next year, and these girls plan on staying in the sorority. I think I’ll be able to make the friendships last if I put in the effort. This especially applies to my "little" – I love her and feel guilty for ditching her, even though I would still be around and actively help with pledge mom week and stuff. In fact, I feel like I would have more time to spend with her and my other friends since I'm not wasting it at these other meetings. If you have experience with this, I’d appreciate your input.

- Network
The sorority is really convenient for selling furniture, sharing apartments and cabs, finding people to hang out with over the summer, and more. People also talk about the benefits of an alumni network, but judging from our advisers I’m pretty sure I would want to get involved in that anyway. Again, any experiences would be greatly appreciated!

- And finally, I have a weird attachment to some of our tshirts that I can’t really describe or understand, so I’m not sure what that’s supposed to tell me. As I was unpacking from the school year there was a lot of stuff I want to donate to my grand-little, but there are some things I can’t part with and would probably still wear. I don’t really know what this means!

Sorry for the long post, and thank you so much for your time. I've talked to my friends in the chapter but haven't been able to make a decision, so I hope I'll find some suggestions here. :) I feel really torn about this and would love to hear any advice you might have. Thanks again!!

UPDATE:

Thank you all so much for your responses! I appreciate your time.

You use the term "deactivate." Not all groups have that classification and it's not permanent with those who do. Do you actually mean resign your membership? That's a different thing that being inactive. It will mean you never can come back and your daughters would not be legacies as well. Perhaps you could just be one of those members who never run for office and never attend non required events like formals, etc?

Quit whining. You had an opportunity to be the change, and you flaked out.



Time management is an important skill that will do you well to learn it now.


Guess What? That's easier said than done. While, yes, it's possible to remain friends with some girls once you "quit," (regardless of any lame excuses) some members may take it as a slap in the face and you may end up with a situation where you DO lose those connections. I cannot think of a single former member of my chapter that I'm still in touch with today. Maybe that's just me, maybe I'm a witch like that, but my viewpoint on it is that if she flaked out and left us high and dry then obviously she didn't value my friendship that much, so I wasn't really going to put that much effort into trying to maintain it. I essentially viewed it as her "breaking up" with us. Again, maybe I'm an oddity around here, but I know I wasn't the only one in my chapter who felt that way.

I'm not sure if there was a typo here or not, but if you're planning to quit, then you cannot be involved as an alumna advisor. Additionally, even if your advisors are as crappy as you say yours are, that doesn't mean you have to be like them. Some of my very best friends who are sorority sisters are those that I met at conventions, and in my alumnae associations. If you quit, you will be losing out on this networking, and trust me, alumnae networking is worth it. Finding housing, finding jobs, meeting new people in general, recommendations for places of worship, finding social activities in a new town you may move to, etc etc.

:rolleyes: Typical. You want your cake and eat it too. Sorry sweetheart, it doesn't work that way.

Suck it up. Either cut ties and don't look back, or put your big girl panties on and be an asset to your chapter. Quit being a whiney ass.

LIKE !!!! ;)

Not sure I would have said it like that -

Sounds like you just bit off more than you can chew as a sophomore.
The pros still outweigh the cons.

I would recommend trying to just back off for a semester - dont be an officer or a big. If the drama that is recruitment stresses you out - apply to be a recruitment counselor or in the back of the house.

Key thing to remember - deactivating is permanent! You have to give back your letters - your pin, all of them. Also, helping with the new member is a big fat no-no. If I was a member educator, I would only want shiny happy members around, not grumbly, its-not-worth-putting-any-work-into-it, quitters.

Wow, ramsey! Where did you come from? I nominate you for best newbie!

The two women I know who resigned membership while I was in college regret it to this day - 35 years later. Another, who never resigned but who dropped out of school and didn't rejoin the chapter when she returned, doesn't feel anyone would want to get back in touch with her.

Now, that's minor anecdotal information, but it highlights the fact there is absolutely no going back.

There is no way you can know what the future will bring. Four years of collegiate membership cannot prepare you for alumnae membership, where you have support and connections wherever life takes you. Not all alumnae groups are micromanaging, and not all alumnae are involved in advisory groups.

Not knowing any more about you (including whether your chapter is 35 and you'd really be missed, or 250 and others pull your weight), I'd recommend resignation as a very, very last resort -- if you cannot imagine ever wearing your letters or symbols again.

I just read a really interesting article about advisors through a tweet. I just found it here http://tjsullivan.com/sorority-chapt...ut-of-control/ Some of us are nutty but we are there to help. If you don't want to work with us don't. There are other girls who will. If your National organization came in and released girls there was probably a good reason for it. Most general members wont know the "true" story just the "story" the disgruntled girls are telling you. There are ALWAYS 2 sides to every story. I'm pretty sure you are just hearing 1.

I'm sorry you don't think belonging to a group that has been around for 100 years is not worth your time. I'm here to tell you it is you just don't know it yet because your only 19 and your brain is not fully developed (not being mean it is the truth)

You have 3 pros and 2 cons. I think maybe your looking for a reason. It is summer time. Enjoy your summer and go back to school and have fun. When you get out into the real world you will thank all these women on here who gave you sage advice. Cause you'll get that first job because of your sorority affiliation. If you happen to find yourself in a new state with no friends working that new job, guess what? You'll have an instant connection with that sorority alumni group and make friends with people you don't know but whom you share a common bond with. TRUST ME on this.

This is ABSOLUTELY the truth.

Indeed!

People who need to seek GC counsel (from people who are not in their GLO, nonetheless) on such matters would be doing their GLOs a favor by deactivating/depledging.

Lots of people have issues with Nationals micromanaging or, to put it plainly, wanting the chapter to be something different than the actual members want it to be. Trust me you are NOT a unique snowflake on this. If your advisors aren't being helpful, the chapter needs to tell your national council that their actions are harming the reputation of the chapter on campus and that membership numbers are going down because of it. Some advisors and national volunteers are not well prepared and don't know what they're doing. Unfortunately, they are often the ones who end up consulting chapters who need advisory and volunteer help the most. I'll probably get raked over the coals for that statement but it's the truth.

That being said, it sounds like you joined the sorority more for a quickie resume builder than for true sisterly relationships. You hate meetings, you hate formals, you hate rush, you hate most of the members, and you appear to think the main positive of membership is that the sorority serves as a mini Craigslist. Pack up your t-shirts and donate them to the little and grandlittle you claim to love so much (although methinks the work of the relationship has mostly been done on their ends) and submit your resignation.

Don't. Just don't.

You have friends in your sorority. It will affect your friendship if you quit. Stay for the sake of those friendships. You can't take it back once you quit. These friendships have the potential to be lifetime friendships. When I look at my FB feed, it's full of my sisters from when I was a collegian. We've been in each other's weddings. We are god mothers to each other's kids. We loved and supported one of our own while she had breast cancer. We grieved with another one of our own when her twin was killed in a car wreck. We've celebrated promotions and passing our professional licensing exams and lots of other stuff. We've been closer and farther apart at different times, but they are a constant in my life over the last 25 years. They know me and they know my history and they're the ones who have been there for the whole story of my life.

Right now, it is a huge time commitment. It's going to continue to be a huge time commitment. However, the mandatory part of this is experience is going to be over in 24 months or so. You have 2 more recruitment seasons and you're done. I know college seems like it's forever, but it's really over very quickly. Just do what you have to do and graduate. Once you have graduated, you can decide how much time to spend on your alumnae experience. You can decide how involved to be. If you want to walk away and not be involved, you can do that pretty much without penalty. If you want to stay very involved, you can do that. If you want to advise a chapter, you can. If you want to join an alumnae group, you can. Being an alum is a much less stressful experience.

24 months of hassle is worth it for a life time of sisterhood.

My $.02:

this is pretty much what I have witnessed over the years in terms of cognitive development. The OP is acting pretty much like I have seen other 19 year olds act. Me-me-me-me-me, and lots of finger pointing, and lots of focus on the superficial.

A year from now, when those frontal lobes have matured some more, and you've gotten some more life experience under your belt, you're going to see things in a completely different light. Don't make any rash decisions that hold the potential for massive regret.

There's some most excellent advice provided to you in the replies above. Give time time; let yourself grow up a little. And, as an advisor, come and sit with me and look at yourself through MY eyes. I'm willing to wait you out until you grow into the woman I believe you are capable of becoming; that's why you were selected for LIFETIME membership, right?

I think that a lot of posters are being really harsh on the OP, and I really don't believe not one of you ever had a time when you were so frustrated that you seriously considered leaving.

I don't have much to say that KDCat hasn't already said. Step back a bit, don't take on a leadership position, and just have fun with your sisters this coming semester.

OP, I can promise you that if your nationals recently held a membership review, that there are serious problems nationals felt needed to be addressed. National officers don't sit around at headquarters throwing darts at a map and then say, "Oh, the dart landed on Problem University. Let's book our flights, go down there and make their lives a living hell"- they don't just swoop down on a chapter without good cause. Most often before the situation becomes one that warrants a membership review national office has tried to work with the chapter to solve the problems while they are still manageable. Your national officers could have pulled your charter and shut down the chapter-consider yourselves lucky.

You may be stuck with the advisors you have because they are the only ones who will give up their personal time to your chapter. There is a lesson to be learned in every situation. Working with these alums., who you say are difficult, may help you gain insight and skills that you will be able to use if you ever encounter a difficult superior when you join the work force. Plus, your advisors may be coming down hard due to the problems the sorority is experiencing right now. It may not seem like it, but those ladies do have the good of the sorority at heart. It is just that they are probably looking at the big picture, while the collegians are more concentrated on their chapter.
Did you know that advisors are not paid? They volunteer their time to serve their sororities. Just telling you this because sometimes collegians have the misconception that alumnae advise because of the pay!

I forgot that this is in the NPC Sorority Recruitment forum.

Most of the responses would be like ramsey's if this was about the NPHC.

Pardon the lane swerve.

Further, if they've been around for a while, they see things through a historical perspective that collegians don't have if they are only there for four years.

Now, my collegiate chapter had a lot of problems with collegians, alumnae, and HQ not being on the same page, so I would never boil it down to "alumnae are right, collegians are wrong" or vice-versa, rather, I think there can be a lot of talking past one another when trying to explain why and how things are being done.

Yes, it's obviously different. Being in an NPC chapter that is not performing up to the national standards, for whatever reason, can be SO stressful that, I'm sorry to say, there can be a lot of "unsisterly" behavior between the collegians and the alumnae.

Exactly. Dealing with a chapter that has issues severe enough to expel members is not a walk in the park. The actives will never know the truth about the situation and the advisors will all look like big meanies. What you call micromanaging is them trying to make sure your chapter doesn't get shut down.

Well, that is no different than NPHC GLOs. We also have some underperforming chapters and sometimes have poor relationships within collegiate chapters, between collegiate chapters, and between collegiates and alumnae/alumni/graduate chapters.

How members respond to this (and how other members react to the members' responses) is highly related to GLO culture.

Honestly, y'all?

It sounds less like she is upset that her sisters lost their membership (which is what usually ticks people off the most in situations like this) and more like she can't believe that someone didn't agree with her because she is so incredibly incredible.

The Tracy Flick is strong in this one. It's great to have strong campus leaders around, but not when they martyr themselves over it or think they should get special privileges. Next.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...LJuLHmGi9s2G6n

/lane swerve

I agree, 33, and as soon as she realizes that she doesn't know the whole story behind the actions of her organization's national body, she can work to move things along. I bet you $1,000 this is about risk management issues.

I thought the same thing. This isn't a new member who just received a bid 2 weeks ago.. She's an involved sister who has serious doubts about sticking it out in a sorority that she's currently not completely happy being a part of.

That being said...

Why were you hesitant as a PNM and pledge?

What made you love the beginning of your sophomore year? What changed between then and now?

You need to be honest with yourself about why the national organization got involved and was threatening to kick members out of the sorority. And remember, you might not know the whole story. You were a new member as a freshman - did something happen with the chapter then, and the national staff dealt with it the following semester? Sisters tend to try and shelter the new members from trouble/difficult situations, and you might have been kept in the dark about these things.

In terms of advisors - what gives you the impression that they don't have the chapter's best interest in mind? Also, how old are they/how far removed from college are they? If they're fairly young, perhaps they're still trying to make decisions for the chapter based on what they would have done as an active, and they're not allowing the current active members to run the chapter? Or if they're much older, maybe they're under the impression that the the chapter members aren't old/mature enough to make rational decisions.

Or maybe they're not as knowledgeable about sorority policies as they should be?

Are you the only member who feels this way?

It sounds to me like youre able to manage your time (contrary to what other posters here have suggested), but you just don't want to attend some of these things.

I agree with those who have suggested stepping back a bit - don't take on any huge positions next semester, and do the minimum. Of course there are certain things you'll still have to go to, but don't throw yourself into everything that's thrown at you.

And I don't know if formal is mandatory for you, but if it isn't, and you truly don't want to go.. Don't.

You're living with two sisters next semester that you like.. This is a good thing, and I wouldnt suggest dropping out at the start of the school year. This could turn them off from living with you. And living with them might make you realize why you joined in the first place.

However, I have stayed friends with girls who have dropped. One of my pledge sisters dropped a few weeks after initiation, and she ended up being one of my best friends through college. So it's not impossible to keep some connections. It's all in how you carry yourself and handle the situation when you leave, should you choose to do so.

Just keep in mind that your little will still be going to these meetings that you're not going to, and she'll most likely be taking on more responsibility in the chapter as time goes on. So while you might have more time to hang out with her, she might have less time to hang out with you.

Don't bash the alumnae experience just because you aren't fond of a handful of sisters. It has many benefits, and you're not dealing with weekly chapter meetings, and recruitment, and homecoming, and mixers. It's a great way to stay active as an adult, meet new people in new cities, and attend social events with adults - an important thing to do occasionally when you have kids at home and spend most of your time at soccer games and PTA meetings.

Not everyone is involved as an alumna, which is fine, but don't judge it based on what little you've seen of it.

If you drop your letters, that means returning every t-shirt. If you want to stay friends with some of the sisters, the last thing you'd want to do is lose them all over a piece of clothing.


Good luck in making the best decision for you.

The issue is that for some groups/chapters, the cost of the formal is included in your dues...so you pay for it whether you go or not. (I only learned about this through GC.)

Haha, thank you.


By helping with the new member, do you mean my little? Just wanted to clarify. Thank you for your response!

Ah, I see. Yes, I learned something new, also.

You said:

If you terminate your membership, it would be as inappropriate for you to help her in an active fashion as it would be for you to (example) write a bill for her to submit if she was a student senator. Can you bring her dinner when she's going crazy trying to figure out a schedule for pledge mom week? Yes. Can you go decorate the house with her? No. She should have a committee or at least an assistant pledgemistress to assist her with those things. Even if the two of you are still cool, be aware that if you terminate, there will be some sisters that don't want to see you within a mile of the house - especially if they hold you in the same regard as you appear to hold many of them.

That kind of brings up another question. How DO the majority of the members think of you? Did they just elect you to positions because they thought you would do a good job, or are you genuinely popular in the chapter? I say this because it almost sounds like they have NO CLUE that you regard most of them as drama queens, fake etc. and that you've put forth a very successful "super sister" facade.

A lot of the posters have highlighted benefits of being an alumnae, which I wasn't very familiar with before reading responses to this thread.
Thank you for your insight!!

This year we had two instances where girls were removed from the house, and releasing a girl was considered but didn't happen. I don't think one of the cases was justified, but the other was reasonable. I recognize I still have some bias, but I didn't mean to imply that every punishment we received was cruel and unusual. Thanks for the article, and I apologize for making a general statement about advisors!

This is a good point, I'll mull it over. Thank you again!

Trust me, I know.

This was well said. Though there are many girls in my chapter that are unhappy with our advisors, we were afraid that complaining would only result in more disagreement/conflict. Hopefully we can use your idea to make some improvements!

Sorry, but that's not true. Because I already found true sisterly relationships (granted, not with everyone, but still), this was the least of my concerns. I thought I'd be able to maintain these relationships regardless of my membership in the chapter. The relationships are a given so the rest of my pros/cons involved the factors you underlined (e.g. mini Craigslist). Also, I joined because I was looking for sisterhood; a sorority is a far cry from a resume builder.
This is just for the record, because a couple other posters had similar comments. Again, I appreciate your response :)

Thanks for the wisdom :)

That is not what happened. The girl whose membership was in question ultimately got to stay in the sorority. This issue was just one of many we've had with advisors in the past. The other issues came from working with advisors as philanthropy chair. They put a lot of pressure on us to raise more money, and then reject all of our ideas. I admit this is warranted in some cases. However, it's frustrating to have your idea rejected and then see your sorority at other colleges use that idea because their advisors approved it. (And for the record, these weren't all of my ideas -- it takes a chapter to plan a week of philanthropy events.)

I guess I haven't been around long enough to get the Tracy Flick reference.

No, risk management is the least of my concerns. Issues with programming, specifically with philanthropy, were the catalyst for all of this. The most recent incident indirectly involved risk management, but that was essentially the last straw.

Can you be more specific about the good philanthropy ideas that the advisors turned down?

Yes, but that was the issue with your National organization. This is often a area of conflict between collegiates and advisers. Collegiates sometimes have a hard time seeing how their actions may effect the reputation, legal standing and health of their members, chapter and entire organization. That is where your advisers and national organization come in. It is their responsibility to make sure that you consider those repercussions and follow the regulations set forth by your group. These issues are NEVER about a single incident. That is why we tell you to realize you know only part of the story. National officers have to make very difficult decisions, and none of these women go in thinking "Yippee, I get to yank letters away from some collegiate bitch today."

Thank you!

As a PNM my sentiments were similar to a lot of posters on GC -- I didn't know a lot of the girls, I felt like I was being rushed into sisterhood and it didn't feel as automatic as I thought it should have, if that makes sense. I became philanthropy chair and it was frustrating to be pressured by advisors to raise more money, yet they rejected all of the committee's ideas. To be fair, I can see why some of them were rejected. However, there were some ideas we had borrowed from the national sorority's facebook page, which other advisors accepted but ours still rejected. In the end, I couldn't make any changes as philanthropy chair besides increasing donations.

Living in the house sophomore year helped me find my best friends, and I thought I had the "sisterhood thing" figured out. I signed up to be a recruitment assistant of sorts, which meant designing and creating the decorations for one of the days of recruitment. My co-chair and I had a committee of volunteers, and no one came to help us for the several months we worked on the project, so we were both very frustrated with our sisters and the idea that we were supposed to be there for each other. We had to spend something like 300 hours doing the work on our own.

There are also frustrations with things like attendance. Of course attending chapter meetings and such is important, but my excuses (submitted 24 hrs in advance and all of that) were rejected multiple times and no one notified me until I was a member in bad standing. I had to be excused because I have a fellowship, which is like a job, and had to argue to get my 'good standing' back. I don't mean to undervalue the benefits of a sorority, but things like my fellowship are really important for my career path, and I wonder if I should direct my time else where.

So, there have been some highs and lows. Through it all I've had my handful of best friends in the chapter. I've talked to them about quitting the sorority, and whether or not I'm a member won't affect our friendship. This makes me wonder why I'm going through the motions when I only do it for these friends. (Again -- I don't mean to knock sororities because I do think they can be fun and productive, I'm just not sure it's helping me get to where I want to go in life. Other poster's comments about the alumnae network have been helpful, though.)


This issue happened at the end of my sophomore year, to one of my best friends and future roommates. At the time my roommate in the sorority house was on Exec. so I got to hear most of the details regarding the issue from Nationals's perspective. It's likely I don't know the whole story, but from what I discussed with the members of Exec and my friend, there were just flaws in the system that we couldn't clear up without risking more punishment. There was another incident where a girl was kicked out of the house, and that was reasonable. I'm trying to be fair, though I'm not sure if that comes off in these posts! :)

No. The majority of the members strongly dislike our advisors (I don't mean to knock all advisors or make them feel unappreciated -- just ours haha). Dinner conversations often mention how we love the other members but hate XYZ sorority. A lot of us wish we could just quit and then spend time with one another.
Granted not everyone feels that way. Our president doesn't have a problem with Nationals, which has caused a whole load of other issues haha.

Thanks. Yes I can manage my time, it's just an issue of choosing my battles and getting enough sleep.

I appreciate your advice. Last semester, I stepped back considerably, and thankfully I have two more months to decide if I want to drop before the school year. Your insight about the alumnae network was really helpful -- that's not something that's discussed often so it's good to know that information. Thank you again for your time and thoughtful response, and I'm sorry mine is so long!

Wow...I can really read the resentment for your national organization in your posts. You also sound very frustrated by the experiences you had trying to make changes. Realize that that is the nature of the beast in large organizations. Advisers and members may be set in their ways OR may know that a program wouldn't work on your campus. Not all campuses are the same, and a program touted on the national FB page may be wildly successful at State U and fall completely flat at U of State. Who knows...we don't know the situation. The thing that you should think about is that this is a learning experience. Navigating these situations successfully sets you up to handle similar situations in your job and adult life. You will NEVER get yOur way just because you have a great idea and it worked somewhere else. There will always be a boss who thinks they know better or is an ass. You will always have to know how to deal with people who are difficult to work with. Life is not a bed of roses. The fact that you hate XYZ is very short sighted. XYZ is not just the national officials who came in to fix a problem that you are not looking at critically (trust me when I say that we all know that they turn a blind eye to lot of things until they are pushed) because you like most people who are punished put on blinders and refuse to see the issues for what they really were. XYZ isn't just a group of pushy alums who volunteer their time to make sure your chapter stays strong...chapters without alum support tend to die off. XYZ is your sisterhood, and you made an oath to her and your sisters. It would serve you all well to wake up from your funk and just move on with the business of being members and making your chapter a great chapter.

"This issue happened at the end of my sophomore year, to one of my best friends and future roommates. At the time my roommate in the sorority house was on Exec. so I got to hear most of the details regarding the issue from Nationals's perspective. It's likely I don't know the whole story, but from what I discussed with the members of Exec and my friend, there were just flaws in the system that we couldn't clear up without risking more punishment. There was another incident where a girl was kicked out of the house, and that was reasonable. I'm trying to be fair, though I'm not sure if that comes off in these posts!"

No, you were not seeing the issue from the National perspective, because your best friend on exec. was not privy to the National perspective, even if she thinks she was.

Did you ever try to cooperate with your advisors? Did you ask their advice on what philanthropic events they had in mind for the chapter to sponsor? Could it be that your chapter were in the running for some national or district or province award if you were able to raise more money? Could it be that the lines of communication between advisors and collegians has broken down? Have you asked yourself what you could do differently to improve the relationship between the advisors and the collegians?

Fair enough :)

Did you ever try to cooperate with your advisors?
-While I'm not on exec, the philanthropy committee accepted their rejections and carried on with our jobs.

Did you ask their advice on what philanthropic events they had in mind for the chapter to sponsor?
-We did, but they didn't have suggestions. We do a lemonade stand, so their only idea was to have more locations. While we sold lemonade for an additional day, we couldn't have multiple locations due to the size of our chapter and available volunteers.

Could it be that your chapter were in the running for some national or district or province award if you were able to raise more money?
-That could be the case, but I think they would have said something. I'm aware of one award that nationals gives to strong chapters, but membership retention is the only issue that is keeping us from winning it.

Could it be that the lines of communication between advisors and collegians has broken down? Have you asked yourself what you could do differently to improve the relationship between the advisors and the collegians?
-There is miscommunication but I'm not sure how to fix it. Our advisors and exec seem to work against each other rather than together, even when advisors help with recruitment workshops and things like that.
-I have asked myself this question, and it seems like joining the exec board could help. However, our president refuses to listen to members (including members of exec), so we have big issues with how she represents the chapter as a liaison between us and Nationals. If you've had any experiences with this, or have ideas on how members can help improve this kind of situation, I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Thanks for taking the time to read about a random girl's concerns! I appreciate your help.