Richest Fraternity or Sorority
 

On your campus, which fraternity/sorority is the richest and has the most amount of money in their budget? On my campus, we are better off than the rest of the sororities because of our alumni support and the many fundraisers. I know that the SAE's at UT-Austin have $100,000 to play with during rush. Plus, they have this huge house ($10 million) currently being built with each room having its own kitchen.

I can't ever imagine a $100,000 rush and a $10,000,000 house. :eek: When I was in school, we had dues of $65 a semester which were raised to about $115. We didn't have a house.

How in the hell can you possibly spend 100k for rush???

Our rush budget is like just over 7 thou, and half of that is used for our rush brochure. The rest pays for food, and b/c we have summer rush and rushees have to be visited the Rush chairs get paid per mile of driving they do...true we usually use every penny of that budget and to have a little bit more would be great, but 90000 more??? Amazing...

What do they actually do with all that money?

At Nebraska, I'd say that all the houses are fairly equal...the only really well known budget anomaly is SigEp's homecoming budget...Which is around $7000 to $8000 compared to most other houses being at $1000 to $1500.

I do know that at Missouri, Beta Theta Pi would have to be the richest...they have one house for pledges/sophomores and another for juniors/seniors. Of course with alumni like Sam Walton, the guy who founded Hidden Valley Ranch, and the now infamous Ken Lay they got a lot of huge donations for a long time.

That seems to be a little inflated??...I would be interested to see this $10,000,000 house too. Not that I don't believe that, but where does a chapter come up with that? There must some serious, serious, serious alumni donations coming in. Either that, or their member dues are $10,000 a year.

I could spend 100k on rush. Hell, I could spend $10,000,000 on rush.

A nice house doesn't mean anything. Our house is worth about 4 million- any house in Amherst with more than 2 square feet of yard is worth a small fortune, and we have a couple acres. We're actually the poorest fraternity here- we have a total budget next semester of $33,000, but $31,000 of that is for mortgage payments and house repairs, so we have an operating budget of $2000. Our rush budget is $200. And to answer your questions, yes, we do just fine- rush here isn't the big pageant it is other places.

The richest fraternity at UMass is SigEp, whom I refer to as 'The Republicans'. The last semi-accurate rumor I heard had their rush budget at around $2000- blue-blood for around here, but peanuts for most other schools our size, I know. Our Greek system is small and relatively poor, because most students at UMass are relatively poor- if they had any money, they'd go to a good school.

The 10 million estimate is a bit high. There is a link somewhere on the web which has information regarding the construction of the new house....and the first 2 phases were estimated at 1.5 million (this does not include the actual bedrooms). I believe UCFPhiDelt knows where to find it...

the richest phi psi chapter is ucla, cal epsilon. they also claim to be the richest fraternity as well. in a way i would believe them. they have some of the most succesful alumni. jerry nelson who is like a billionair is their direct alumni. he is the guy who has the 30 million dollar compound in cabo san lucas that he invites phi psi to stay at for spring break.

a $10 million house?
 

Agreed... my sorority has a brand new house that cost the university about $4 million. It's very nice, but I wouldn't say it's like a mansion or anything. It sleeps 20 girls (mostly in double rooms) and has a kitchen and dining room, formal living room, chapter room, tv room, housemother's suite. It's not extravagant. And land values around school have to be practically nil. Ten million sounds high for a frat house, but if land values are high and it's a fairly luxurious house, that doesn't sound ridiculous. And it's not necessarily the case that the Texas SAE's came up with that money straight out of their dues. I know for sure that my sorority got our new house through the school, it's not like we had to come up with the money on our own right from the get-go. Still I'd be interested to hear how they manage to spend $100,000 on rush! That's a lot for sure.

Wow, our Rush chair was given $150 for a full week of rush and our dues are $150 per term (thats fall, winter, and spring for us). That seems like a lot. I think we'd rather have a house though. In Portland (our university is in the middle of downtown) I can easily see how they could spend that much on a house for that many people. But then again, it seems weird that a university would build it for them. Ours never would, no matter how much we begged. (We can't even get a little office room!)

I wouldn't doubt it that the UT SAEs have that kind of money - and they sure aren't getting a cent from the University. The fact of the matter is, the members as well as the alumni are just plain rich.

$100,000 for rush?? Holy cow, we make do on less than $1000.

The richest sorority on my campus is definitely the Kappas. Heh. That's what their stereotype is all about at my school.
Richest fraternity...I don't know, probably ATO. Their alums just spent $400,000 renovating their house (which used to be the president of the school's mansion) and building them an annex for parties.

It didn't even occur to me to think about which sorority was richest. It's definitely the Kappas, though. INCREDIBLE house- huge, brick, with the white columns in front, it looks every inch the sorority house. (Almost every other Greek house is a wood-frame former farmhouse.) Room for like 50 sisters, great parking, and right on the edge of campus.

That figure just seems a bit inflated to me. I dont doubt they are rich. But I know SMU and UT run on the same level for rich ass students, prolly SMU moreso. ANd the most I have ever heard of at SMU dropping on rush, Phi Delt, SAE, Lambda Chi was like $15,000.

UT-Austin's SAE may have $100,000 for rush budget, but I was told that they don't actually use it all. Its just there just in case they need it. There dues are about $4200 per year, times that by 150-200 because of their membership and there you have it. JACKPOT!!! dgtxalum is right, the guys are rich and so are their alumni

Missouri
 

On my campus, Missouri, our Kappa's are definately the richest sorority. They always go all out on EVERYTHING, it's crazy! And their house, oh my! It takes up almost an ENTIRE street block, I kid you not. It's AMAZING, and it's sooooooooo beautiful!!! And like Betarulz pointed out earlier, Beta Theta Pi is our richest fraternity here. Their annex, oh my goodness, looks like a very upscale apartment complex and it's sooooo big!! Their house is gorgeous too, they also have a nice basketball court out on the back of their house, which I haven't seen anywhere else......and they have soooo much money to spend on things like Greek Week, whichever sorority gets to be their partners for these things is mighty lucky I tell ya! ATO is the runner up for fraternities, they have a parking lot outside as WELL as an under ground parking garage! And their house like Kappa's, also takes up an entire block! :D

I go to a small school in Louisiana. DZ has the biggest budget, but they are very good about keeping records of it. As for the fraternities. PKT has alot of local rich alumni. But since we are a bigger organization we have more money. Plus all our Alumni are from New Orleans and they have alot of large business' . But we are also the only Fraternity on our Campus with a housing fund.......Which we have alot of money in also.......Blaise

We had the biggest house at UNT...mostly because of great alumni support over the years. Alumni has a lot to do with having great financial support. Dues were fairly cheap...1000 per year but having a large chapter did help with other costs. Some of the Best looking Greek houses I've seen have all been in the south, especially our house at N.C. State which used to be a hotel for god sakes and is a registered landmark in NC.

Re: Define Rich?
 

Well said! (Had to be .86 cents huh?) ;)

Re: Richest Fraternity or Sorority
 

I think that is a BIG misallocation of funds, besides i thought NPC guidelines regulate how much is spent on rush. I thought rush was to be "no frills" now???

Who really cares who is richest or not, that sounds very superficial. You can be rich but not have a good bond. I dont think it matters.:rolleyes:

true.

but it can allow you to do more things as a group....true you won't bond by struggling through things together, but you don't get to go do fun things together as much either...we're a poor (financially) chapter...

but granted it says nothing about your bond

Hmm..on my campus, probably Phi Kappa Tau has the most $$ as a fraternity. Although they live in a college-owned fraternity house, they have done as much as they can without altering the structure. They can pretty much do whatever they want, thanks to alum donations. And I have heard that their recruitment is really, really impressive.


As far as sororities go, it is between Zeta and Alpha Xi.


Money isn't something that means a lot in sororities & fraternities at Bethany because well......no one really has a lot of it. We pay too much in tuition to spend a lot on Greek things.

It's amazing to hear how much money some fraternities and sororities spend on rush and houses! At Montana State, greek life isn't nearly as big of a deal as some other campuses, and we definately do not spend as much money as a lot of other big name schools! Though I would love to see that $10 million SAE house, let alone live there!

this all sounds pretty sad too me....did any of you happen to know that the SAE's at UT are also well known for their drug use, mostly cocaine...hate to spread rumors but most rich kids don't spend their time and money on feeding the poor.....

Why would you want to spread unkind rumors about your brothers?:confused:

SAE1955

Your comment was ignorant, inappropriate, and smacks of jealousy. I cannot BELIEVE it came from a 'brother' of Sigma Alpha Epsilon!


Land values in Austin are ridiculously high. Property that is anywhere near (within 4 mi. of) campus and big enough to build a fraternity house +parking on would easily run a few million. In fact, a few of the sorority houses at u. texas do carry value estimates into and above the 5 million mark.
u. texas is smack-dab in the middle of the city of Austin. Usually, if anyone wants to build, they must purchase land and whatever building already exists on it, tear it down & build their own.

Back to the topic.

ANYWAY, as far as the housing goes, Iowa State Theta Chi's new house supposedly to be the most expensive house in state of Iowa (hey, this is IOWA), worth $1,500,000 (only for the structure). Their original structure was burned down back in 1996, and the new structure was finished in 1999.
SAE's house called the Maytag Mansion, because Maytag gave big donation to the house. Maybe SAEactive can comfirm this?

Wealth and a big house do not necessarily make a good chapter. Just as money does not necessarily make a good person.

I must admit I'm a little troubled by this thread.

Ballanced finances, not a big bank account, are one mark of an outstanding chapter.

Back to the topic.

ANYWAY, as far as the housing goes, Iowa State Theta Chi's new house supposedly to be the most expensive house in state of Iowa (hey, this is IOWA), worth $1,500,000 (only for the structure). Their original structure was burned down back in 1996, and the new structure was finished in 1999.
SAE's house called the Maytag Mansion, because Maytag gave big donation to the house. Maybe SAEactive can comfirm this?>>>>>>>

Nice to see someone from Iowa State on here! :) I have to agree with you. Theta Chi has a nice house, rather boring I would say, but nice. It is Iowa and the houses are not NEAR as extravagent as they are in the South, but then again IT SOULDN'T MATTER. I hate thinking of parts of our house a "selling points" during rush. The selling points should be the sisterhood or brotherhood.
As for reps, Kappas are definitely known as a rich sorority.

At my school Kappa Delta spent the most on rush, ADPi spent the most on things like Spring Sing, or beauty pageants, AOPi spent the most on dues. So I don't know, or care who has the most money.
For fraternities SAE has the most money from Alums and also spent on housing (the president of our university is an alum of the chapter so that doesn't hurt any). Kappa Alpha Order has the nicest house, due in part to their old one being burnt down three years ago. Lambda Chi spends the most on philanthropic events... so again, I don't know who has the most money, nor do I care.
There are three houses at my school that do ask your parents if they can financially afford the sorority or fraternity for their children: ADPi, AOPi and SAE

You're right on par with the cost of this house (a few of my buddies from school were actives in Theta Chi before the 'reorganization')- but it's not even the most expensive fraternity house in the state of Iowa (if I recall, there are a couple houses at U of I worth more, maybe Phi Psi right off the top of my head) . . . and not even close to the most expensive house in the state period . . . not a bad house at all, though.

I don't care who is the richest!! I have more lipstick than all of you put together!! So kiss my big white butt. :D

Money value doesnt and shouldnt matter in a GLO and sometimes it can hurt an organization rather then help. We just built a brand new house in 99 for a little over 3 million. Our house is beautiful thanks to our nationals and alumni support. It sleeps 37 girls in double rooms, dining room, kitchen, t.v. room, formal room, basement (somewhat unfinished) and an apartment for our House parents. But our dues are through the roof! We pay just over $700 a month which includes housekeepers 3 times a week and a cook who cooks 2 meals a day. But that doesn't include dues, housing furnishing fees etc. Sometimes it really hurts us during rush when most girls are forbidden by thier parents just because many cannot afford it.
The money is completely worth it when I come home from a bad day to 36 of my closest friends!!

Whoa ... someone from Iowa State :) Welcome to the Greek Chat :cool:

33girl,

Well, as usual, you've gotten down to the bare necessities.

UT SAE RUSH
 

My boyfriend is currently going through rush at UT and tons of my friends from high school go there allready, and are SAE's. The house they are building is being built on the land where their old house that burned down was, but as for being 10 mil... I would estimate maybe 5 after cost of tearing down the old and building the new. As for rush goes, I know their budget is outragous. This summer allready, they have taken 2 trips to New Orleans where they have rented charter buses for most of their fraternity, probally 20-30 rushees, and 20-30 girls who wanted to go. While they were in NO, they rented out a bar and the beer tab alone at the end of the night was around $1500, that not including the bar cost. Last weekend we went to a "carnival" type rush party where they had enough crawfish to feel the US Army plus enough beer for the whole night...not to mention the huge blow up carnival toys that 20 people can get in and jump up and down in...Every weekend is something outragous like this... I know their dues are 4000-5000 per semester, and they have a very large alum fund also!

haha
 

LMAO thank God for people like you!

I know UK's sorority dues are outrageous especially when compared to the fact that our dues for Sigma at Murray State University are only $220 a semester. That includes a house budget too. The nine girls who live in our house pay $165 a month in rent. True we have a small house, but we are the only sorority on our campus with a house. So, that's nice. As for who's the richest? Well, Murray's not exactly a rich school to begin with it's very regional, but I'd say maybe AGD or AOPi. True we have a house, but when I went through recruitment, their dues were the highest. As for allocating money for Rush, our Panhellenic sets a limit to how much each chapter can spend, I thought most panhellenice counsels did this.

Courtney

The richest house is prob ZTA at my campus (and boy some of those snobby girls sure don't let you forget it). They live in this HUGE mansion. (other ZTA GC'ers do not get offended...only some of the girls at this particular chapter are somewhat snooty...all the rest of the ZTAs that I have met on here are awesome :) ) Problem is though, their house is the ONLY one that is like ridiculously expensive. Everyone else just has a normal medium to small house. Our house is pretty small (our chapter is small) but we love it anyway.

Oh gee can we be any more stereotypcial? Let's talk about the poorest houses LOL--
If fraternities/sororities are spending so much on houses they are going to have to find members to pay for this-- are there that many rich people in the world?!!!!!
Imagine paying dues/rent, but unable to help pay for school Applying for loans-sample application
I paid extravagant dues just to live in a mansion when I was in a sorority or fraternity and so i was unable to afford schooling. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

alpha sig, i totally agree. Some houses can be so snobby about how much their national gives them or whatever. Still, it all depends on the chapter, on the national and such. Plus what should matter is how strong your sisterhood or brotherhood is and what kind of members you have in them. and yes i know many a girl or guys who either can NOT join because they can't afford it but would have (which means these places with wonderful houses are losing out on someone that could be a great addition) or join only because they want to live in a mansion or whatever (which means your getting a lot of people who aren't great additions).