Disaffiliation
 

Has anyone noticed a higher rate of disaffiliation after initiation lately? As a collegiate member back in the 90s, we never had one woman disaffiliate from our chapter, and I don't think we had more than 2 in the 7 years I advised. Maybe it's just my thought process, but part of me thinks that the young women today see the sorority as a bit disposable at times. Thoughts?

Yes. It was so rare back in the day! Now I'm even seeing a noticeable number of women leaving the "really desired" groups on campuses with little reason.

Oh god yes. I think it is an effect of the millennial generation not understanding that building relationships takes time and that not everything in the world is unicorns pooping rainbows. They have gotten to the point where they don't want to have any kind of uncomfortable conversation - with anyone - that they will just quit rather than working through any difference. For a group of young adults that is supposed to value "open-mindedness", I think that often means only open-minded if you agree with them.

Yes, agree! I also think it has to do with women not being as able to balance multiple things at one time. Maybe it's because parents are helping to fill this need while the student is at home?

And (beating the dead horse) the shortened new member period, IMO, contributes to attrition. This has been discussed in other threads vis-a-vis possible reasons for same. I don't have statistical data to support this statement. It's an opinion.

Would like to see NPC do research on retention rates for the member groups, but there's a snowball's chance in hell of that happening.

Wow, THANK YOU! You all confirmed what I thought might be an anomaly. I get it that greek life won't be for everyone, but like you said carnation, it's a noticeable number now. How do we change that? Is it something we can change? I'm just looking for some ideas and thoughts.

You aren't imagining things. I was the last pledge class of my chapter to do the full semester, so I was there for the before and after. There was definitely a different mindset of my class and those who were older versus the 3 classes that followed me.

I have data for one chapter of one organization, so obviously nothing that can be extrapolated or be deemed statistically significant. However, there has been a sharp increase in resignations over the past 20 years. It's gone from <1 year to some years with as many as 15-20. Average each year maybe in the 8-10 range. What could account for this? Personally, I think it is multi-factorial.

1. I agree that a shortened new member period is fully in play. You don't give up on something that you waited much longer and worked harder to get.

2. The culture and attitudes have changed. Women of my generation wouldn't think of resigning- it was so rare. Those who did resign just disappeared and we truly never heard from them again. Present day? As number of resignations have increased, the stigma of dropping out has decreased. Members now can resign yet still socially be in the mix. No one thinks twice about it. It's just not perceived as negative by those in the chapter.

3. Larger pledge classes. There are many advantages to our growing member rolls, but maintaining the close knit fiber of a pledge class is lost. Not only do we see less loyalty to an organization, but it next to impossible to feel loyalty to a class of 80 instead of 20. And I don't mean loyalty in the "duty" sense, I mean a close, personal relationship type of loyalty to each individual member. It's easier to fall to the background, and then fully fall out of sight when you are 1/80 instead of 1/20.

4.Purpose in joining. 30 years ago I think women joined for the sisterhood. Yes, there was what today would be called hazing, but most of those activities focused on get to know you tasks. Today, I think the motivations for joining has broadened. There are still those who seek sisterhood. Others join for philanthropy. Some because all their friends from high school are doing it, and a few simply because they view it as a t-shirt club. There are also the kids for which their entire lives/means of meeting people have been structured and it's the only way they know to make friends. The problem with all these new reasons: they can be fleeting: there are other ways to be involved with charities, and if one gets too busy for volunteer work then the sorority has lost its shine. The t-shirt crowd was never there for the right reasons. The structured kids finally make friends and don't need the outlet anymore. And as referenced above, there is no negative social consequence for quitting.

5. Time commitment. These kids have had to overachieve from a young age. I see it in my elementary kids lives. The pressure is there to not just take dance, but be on the dance team that goes to competitions. Not just play baseball, but be an 8 year old who travels. What it took in my day to get into college vs the activities required now is out of control and they have all been doing it for 10+ years. Now the competition is to get in to grad school/law school/med school is off the charts. Something has to give, and for some it becomes sorority membership. I disagree with their decision, but do acknowledge the broad range of activities, leadership, research, etc., happening in these young women's lives, and also that at some point they reach burnout state where enough is enough.

Personally, I think the shorter NM class is the original root of the increase, but as society has changed over the past 20 years the other factors have played a role too. Who knows what membership would look like if it were still a semester? perhaps we would still have these newer factors contributing to a small uptick, but count me firmly among those who believe those who wait an entire semester are going to think much longer about quitting.

I know we have said this over and over- would be interesting to see Chi Omega's stats compared to everyone else. Doubt that will ever happen but wouldn't it be fascinating?

I was going to mention ComradesTrue's #5. Many of these students may initially feel a need to be involved in everything. And then perhaps they realize they don't need to be. Or maybe the time commitment for the sorority is so large, that they could instead spread their time and effort over different organizations and stack their resume. Let's face it - the job market right out of college for those entry level positions nowadays is extremely competitive.

Also, with the larger pools of PNMs comes less room for legacies. It's more difficult to get your legacy chapter now, then say, compared to 20-30+ years ago. I think this would be another interesting item to research - how many of those dropping are doing so because they didn't get their legacy chapter?

Also consider the "ease" of joining now. Back in the day, PNMs needed recs, they had to dress appropriately, they had to have great conversations. That hasn't really changed. However, getting recs (and finding an alumnae panhellenic) sometimes requires no more than a few clicks of a mouse. YouTube videos are teaching PNMs how to dress and what to say. Heck, we've even seen the posting of questions drastically drop here on GC. And when something is that easy to sign up for, it can be just as easy to drop.

I think I've said this before, but when I went to school, I honestly thought that anyone who wasn't in a sorority or fraternity had tried to join, but didn't get a bid! It was special, without being elitist, and I'd like to see that aura return.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.....to all of the above.

Lack of financial wherewithal also comes into play. Scholarships can be lost due to grades or discontinuance by government and by organization. A parent or the student herself may suddenly lose a job.

Over the past ten years some NPC orgs have spent a good deal of money on new/remodeled homes, and initiates must pay the heavy price.

Panhellenics, campuses and individual sororities try to do a good job informing PNMs concerning sorority member costs, but even with that information women who are excited to belong on Bid Day can eventually fall into debt and consider dropping.

Time commitment is the major issue I see. Greek life is a major time commitment, and if you're on the fence, it's easy to question how much time you're expected to give.

It also seems like mandatory attendance at a variety of events, merit points, study hour tracking, and fines have played a part in discouraging enthusiasm with some. These tracking systems have increase exponentially since I was an active, and they can feel overwhelming. We have an app for tracking everything now. Again, if you're not 100% committed and feeling the love, these can be "one more thing to do" that isn't very fun.

And considering current tuition costs and the amount of debt students are finding themselves in, sorority dues are probably the first expense be cut when financial struggles become a reality.

I see #2 all the time. The women drop so that they aren't paying dues, but they still live with their pledge sisters, attend events, etc. It is no longer a big deal to drop.

(Until their biological little sister goes through recruitment and isn't considered a legacy and member that dropped freaks out)

From my lane, also yes. I don't think our financial burden has changed that much and tuition is still only about $5,000 per year at our school.

What I like about GC: so many eyes and minds on a problem/situation/question. Makes me think.

Thank you, GC hive.

Wow! WKU is $4,741 per semester in state, $12, 066 for out of state.

I'm going to take a stab in the dark here, and it's not meant to judge anyone's programming, but maybe our programming that we all have is a bit outdated too. I mean, if you were a part of something providing meaningful experiences, you'd be less likely to drop out of it because the things you would have to sacrifice for it were worth the experience. Again, it goes back to the "loyalty" bond. The other thing is that NM programming is so lax. I mean, it's basically like a meeting or two a week, and that's it. Then you become active and you're expected to do philanthropy, recruitment, sisterhood events, socials, etc., PLUS attend a meeting a week. That's a big jump from what you had to do as a NM.

I don't know. This whole thing has started to bother me as I advise a chapter now, and it's a new chapter, so there's always a bit more attrition with a new chapter than an already established one. As an advisor, I feel like it's my duty to see these big picture things and try to work on them, but I'm at a loss right now.

Nearly two decades ago my org asked for major feedback regarding expectations, financials, sisterhood, activities, etc. provided to and expected of both collegians and alums. I responded with a polite, detailed response as to what I thought were outdated collegiate modules and trainings noting many were already provided nationwide at a high school level. My feedback concluded: who would want to join our collegiate org if we only provided the exact same trainings and experiences?

Looking back on the time since their inquiry, while it was great our HQ asked for feedback and they wanted to change it took a decade of spending money 'studying the problem' and seven years of 'testing their theories' before they came up with their 'solutions'. It's swell to want to change, but IMO it isn't coming fast enough to keep our women interested and involved.

I think a huge part of the problem is the insistence on integrating the pledge class too fully into the chapter too quickly. You need to learn to work with 20 people before you can work with 100. It's too overwhelming and completely opposite of how every sociological study ever has shown how people make lasting friendships.

I think that varies from campus to campus. If you're in one of these huge systems where everyone has a philanthropic event (often very traditional and beloved on a national scale) and everyone goes to everything, even fun things are going to get old. At some point everyone needs to get together and figure out a way to lessen the overprogramming - like maybe everyone only has their particular event every 3 years. I know that's not something the national HQs want to hear though.

Not to mention the enormous new member classes that many of our chapters are forced to take now....not that I'm complaining about meeting quota (whatever that means now) every single year.
But mass quantities of pledging a lot of times results in the experience being rendered cheap and, therefore, disposable.
I've asked this question of my own chapter and have never gotten an answer of any sort.
No studies seeing if shortened NM periods have resulted in higher resignations...no studies seeing if bigger NM classes result in higher resignations...surely somebody could just look at numbers and percentages and draw some conclusions.

As far as the big NM classes....maybe it's time for those campuses to take another look at putting more emphasis on a secondary recruitment in the off semester as a way to spread out the numbers going through and, as a result, lower the numbers of the NM classes.
Then again, that might make it even more difficult to get to know more sisters.

We always had 2 pledge classes a year and I think it did help in integrating women into the chapter (this was a relatively low key rush and chapters under 70, so factor that in).

But considering the zeal with which national Panhel has tried to stamp out this practice - even if it was working for the school - I don't see it happening at any of the bigger colleges any time soon. The excuse is usually that rush is too time consuming and intense to have it twice a year. That's part of the problem - PC terms aside, we are still holding "rush" and for 90% of the systems out there are nowhere near "recruitment. "

And re the ever growing NM classes...a lot of that can be attributed to RFM and guaranteed bidding (if you follow the rules). Both these things look great on paper and inclusive, welcoming etc...all things that are great to dispel the "Greeks are too selective and snobby" stigma. But if disaffiliaion is increasing as well, are these things really helping our groups?

SEC style recruitment IS very strenuous, but so is the pressure to COB up to quota. I've been there and sometimes it's just better to step back, say "we're done" and go start doing the fun things that draw us together and build sisterhood.
But I've also seen a sort of "formalized" COB. This was at U of Georgia. A fairly early second semester that had a sign-up period, beginning, middle and end with a bid day. The PNMs came for dinner at the house and conversation each night. I don't think there was a skit or anything but dinner...some rotation groups at the beginning. And after that bid day, with a few late additions, they were done and could get on with the rest of the year. It was much more relaxed...it picked up those transfers and girls who didn't go through in the fall and became more intrigued with sororities during the semester. I always thought it was a great idea.

As a survivor of the early 1970s when we could not for the life of us pledge quota and had women quitting left and right, I would NOT want to go back to the bad old RFM days!
RFM is still, I think, the best thing that happened to NPC sorority systems!:D

True. RFM saved/brought back many Southern chapters that I can think of. It also pushed a lot of women at big schools to take a serious look at the chapters they had left, and many of those women became leaders in chapters they never would have considered before.

As a recent graduate, I'd comfortably say >85% of our disaffiliations are related to financial concerns. They'd have trouble paying for school, housing, extra-curriculars, and as someone said earlier, first thing to get cut is the sorority as it was by far the most expensive, second maybe to housing.

The economy wasn't kind to many of us since 2007 as I'm sure so many of you know. From a student perspective, our parents were getting laid off, we were working to pay for school, some took on extra jobs just to stay in the sorority. I went to a public flagship university that was touted for its affordability, but that doesn't mean the debt didn't pile on for many classmates. Greek Life got more and more expensive as our housing needed to be renovated, expanded, etc. Rather than go into more debt, they made the financially responsible decision they needed to make. I've cried with sisters who had to disaffiliate and/or drop out of school from financial burdens. They wanted to stay.

Sorry for the ramble - it was painful to lose so many sisters to something that felt out of our control.

Good point, but I will say that on several occasions I saw girls who told us advisors that they could not pay their monthly dues- an unhoused chapter, so dues ran between $100-200/month- out for dinners and drinks at nice restaurants where the typical bill per person would average $40-50, and FB photos of said girls living it up at the clubs, where they easily could have dropped another $40-50.....therefore, had their priorities been different, could have paid their dues by missing one or two nights of entertainment.

I have noticed this among some LGLOs and MCGLOs also, but not so much BGLOs.

THIS. This is what drives me insane. We have chapters of less than 30 here (meaning that pledge classes *might* be 10 if its an exceptionally crazy year) and there are STILL girls quitting because they apparently can't afford dues but can afford to go party 2-3 nights a week.

I know that I'm an oddity- I joined for ritual and tradition. I completely understand that everyone joins for different reasons. However, does our organisation mean so little to you that you can throw it away after a year? I find it incredibly disheartening, and I wish that there were longer new member periods with more meat in the programming (like others have said). I don't think that anything is going to be changing, unfortunately.

I personally think finances play a huge roll in women leaving. I work with many younger veterinarians that are six figures in debt and will be this way for many years to come. The enormous debt will have a say in every aspect of their lives, from getting married to even having children. Tuition continues to rise and financial aid continues to diminish. I can see very tough times ahead for some of these organizations as I think some students will have to decide on whether it is worth taking out more loans to join.

Just because there are pictures of you out and about doesn't necessarily mean you're spending money there. I recall many times when people would be drinking pop or water at the bars simply because they were too broke for anything alcoholic, and their cover charge was paid with coins dug out of the couch.

I know there are those people who are doing what you say, but please don't paint everyone with the same brush.

(This argument would be more foolproof if we were discussing men instead of women, incidentally. )

And this is where Honor Board/Standards should have a chat with the young lady to discern the facts and advise her on this behaviour.

We once had a young lady who was continual in arrears financially and told us the family was having difficulties. PH put on an event where fraternity men auctioned off their help - yard work, car washing, cooking dinner, etc - for philanthropy. I had to send our president over to this lady to tell her she had bid/bought her last auction item or I'd see her in Honor Board. She had money - it's her priorities that were the problem.

AGD did a study around retention and contacted members who had resigned for various reasons to find out the real reasons, several years later. Finance is the easy excuse to quit because nobody can really say no to it, especially if you just stop paying dues. In most cases, you will find the time and money to do something that is bringing value to your life. If the organization is meeting your expectations, you find a way to make it work. Are we selling (in recruitment) something that we are not providing (in the real experience as a member)?

I have, frankly, not seen retention issues in "healthy" chapters. Retention issues require a better look at the chapter as a whole, assessing whether we are meeting their needs/expectations and adapting if we are not (if possible).

In my day, when a member's parent was laid off, the rest of us all kicked in a few bucks to pay her dues. That was sisterhood.

FSUZeta - I'd add to the list of "priorities":

paying for spray tans, manicures/pedicures/hair coloring/clothing/shoes/purses/jewelry (all high end name brands),weekend trips to Vegas,daily Starbucks drinks, etc - but sorority dues? Nope.

I saw it all and then some.

No concept of budget. No concept of financial priorities and obligations. It's all form, no substance.

Please don't generalize my comment. I was speaking of specific (former) members. And give advisors some credit: we don't make judgements from photos. The photos lead to an investigation of those members. It was proven that they had chosen to spend discretionary income on nice dinners and partying, rather than paying dues. They were sent to standards and relieved of their memberships. And this wasn't a one off- it was a pattern over several months.

Absolutely!

This!

This sounds like a bad Buzzfeed* article. "I Got Kicked Out Of My Sorority Because I Bought A TKE To Do My Laundry. "

*Redundant.

33, I think you should write it! There have been some doozies lately, and I suspect you are up to the task :D