CMU Expansion
 

Thought you guys might be interested!
Greek love,
Jamie

http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/student-life/greek/

How wonderful for the Carnegie Mellon Greeks!

Anyone familiar with the campus know about its Greek history? If any NPCs were previously on campus but have since closed?

AFAIK, AGD has never established a chapter at Carnegie Mellon.

That's really great news! I wonder which NPC sorority will end up colonizing there? I'd like to see Delta Zeta but since that would make 4 chapters within miles of one another, that might be a bit of DZ overkill.

This was touched on in the "what can be done to help smaller GLOs" thread which went on many o' tangents. (BTW - can someone split that thread please - thanks.)

The thing I'm most curious about is whether they have any desire to be part of XO again or whether they would tell them to go jump in the lake.

P.S. TRACY I LOVE YOU!! Since your prince has already come...can you do something about my lack of prince situation...LOL.

I looked at the history of Zeta Psi Sigma (the group that wishes to be "adopted" by a NPC group) and the founders of Zeta Psi Sigma were once Chi Omega "pledges" - but the chapter closed before their initiation so they started Zeta Psi Sigma.

I think it'd be super cool if Chi Omega came back there!! I believe Chi Omega closed there in 1992.

That would make it seem as if it's a lead pipe cinch that ChiO would have the fast track towards the colony.

Yet, if they like their Zeta, they may go with Zeta Tau Alpha. Or just go another way.

I just hope we present! The Pitt ADPi chapter has mixers with the CMU fraternities already...

ChiOs also have a very strong chapter at Pitt and a lot of alumnae in the area, so those are pluses.

CMU is a very unique school, it'll be interesting to see which way they go.

It would've been fun to have another KD chapter in the area as an undergrad. I'd love to have one as an alumna, but I don't know that that'll happen.

I'm guessing nearly every group will submit a packet. The cost of colonization would be low- no uge house, rush isn't fancy at all, not extremely competitive. Potential alumnae donations are high- in general, CMU grads make VERY good money- it's an excellent school.

Actually the web page for that local states that the founders were initiated members of Chi Omega. Soon after initiation, their chapter was closed. They left Chi Omega and founded the local. I would think that scenario would make Chi O the least likely candidate.

http://www.zetapsisigma.org/history.php

I'm interested to see who they chose. From the "smaller orgs" thread, it was pointed out that several of the "smaller" NPC's have chapters at PA schools and at some of the Pittsburgh schools.

Is Duquesne holding presentations at the same time or is there a bit of a lag between presentations? What are the odds of one group getting both CMU and DU (or doesn't it work that way?). Does the local have the "majority say" of who they affiliate with or is it done by the Panhel council or a combo of both?

The last time I saw a colony form, the people interested had their numbered list of which sororities they felt comfortable with, and Panhel had theirs. It was then matched much like bid-matching, yet Panhel was very aware of the first and/or second choice(s) of the colony - WHEN it was a group asking a NPC sorority to come in.

It's different when an NPC sorority colonizes on a campus - the Collegiate Panhellenic ask NPC for letters from all sororities who may be interested. The CPC then narrows the list to those they'd like to hear presentations about. From those presentations, the choice is made, and then the full-blown colonization process begins!

This is slightly off topic...

What exactly is in an expansion packet? Is it basically a letter that says "ABC Sorority would like to expand to your campus," or do they send a nice folder filled with information for the campus to look at?

It's that, only much more intense. Usually a video is included, along with any information which you can possibly imagine on the sorority - colors, mascot, creed, philanthropy, costs, headquarters - you name it! It's one of the greatest sales presentations that you'll ever see!

Oooohhh, I want to see one now! (I wonder if my school has the DZ laying around...)

Ours isn't easily attainable, but I hope yours is!

Dusquene is about a month ahead of CMU's schedule at least. Dusquene's presentations are next week.

For CMU, Groups have not been selected for presentations yet. The deadline is coming up tho.

The local at CMU was formerly a Chi Omega chapter. The chapter disbanded due to #s and the local was formed. It was about 1995 so there are still plenty of local alums who can be initiated by new NPC. No idea if Chi O is interested. Time will tell.

Denise

They might. Schools usually save them for reference but if it's been a while, it may be in File 13.

Has anyone heard anything about who applied at CMU or who was selected to present?

which one?
 

Central Michigan U?
Central Missouri U?
Central Montana U?
Central Methodist U?
Did Zeta Psi colonize at Bob Jones?

Erik, check the beginning of the thread. It's:

Carnegie Mellon

thanks, NutBrn
 

Thanks for clearing up the CMU question. I always enjoy hearing
from Chi O's!

I believe they used to have AEPhi there but I could be wrong. I got a piece of mail from them for my old landlady and she went to CMU.

I haven't been on here in a while, you can put away the tissues for today!

Hey, we missed you something fierce!! Maybe there's some time next week for a Burgh get-together?

I heard rumor Phi Sig is submitting.

Quote:

The local at CMU was formerly a Chi Omega chapter. The chapter disbanded due to #s and the local was formed

My old GA was in the Chi O chapter at CMU. They closed over the summer, and just sent a letter to the alums after the fact. I remember she was pretty upset over it. However, its one of those things where the alums are upset but when I talked to her more she was one of 2 people in her pledge class to get initiated....so the closing probably shouldn't have come as a surprise.

I am a bit older and was in in one of the other 4 houses at CMU. At my time in the late 80s, Chi O did suffer very weak numbers which was really a shame.
Since then all the national houses have gotten quite large. The other 4 houses alphabetically are DDD, DG, KAT and KKG. I think CMU should only choose a really strong national such as PiPhi over KD which is not as big in the Northeast.

Why? If you're going to say something like that, give some reasoning to back it up. CMU is the perfect campus for ANY NPC to colonize on because any group would have a pretty fair chance. It wouldn't take a lot of money and it's a pretty low key greek school.

Since you named PiPhi, why would they be a good choice as opposed to anyone else? They have one chapter nearby- at Washington & Jefferson. There's not a big of an alumnae base as some other orgs that could potentially colonize there. They also have roughly the same amount of chapters in the Northeast.

I'm certainly not picking on PiPhi, but if you're going to name two groups like this, give some reasoning to back it up.

ChiO is a huge national org with a lot of chapters in the vicinity, yet they didn't make it. The size of the org nationally really doesn't have much of an effect at schools where greek life isn't like a huge deal.

The majority of women at CMU are extremely focused and career-minded. The university will want an organization that has a strong national reputation to provide networking sources for their graduates in addition to the CMU alumni associations.

The rushees (prospective members) are by far not all freshman, many don't know about references and legacies, and they can pretty much get into the house they want. If a student does not get her top house she won't have worry about making an error in joining any group because even if the chapter isn't "good" the national level is incomparable.

Look at all the Ivy League and other schools like MIT etc. These academic powerhouses are all somewhat hesitant about greek life (a bias on their part) and thus tend to only allow chapters with very strong national reputations.

As a CMU Greek, I would like to see Pi Phi because of their reputation. We need to have a national that has the resources tol truly support their colony and young chapter.

Oh please. Yes, Pi Phi is strong nationally, but I can think of many other NPCs who would love to colonize at CMU for the reasons kddani previously stated.

I really hate how your statements are giving off that "the other NPC sororities aren't good enough for CMU" vibe. :rolleyes:

But whatever.

Thanks, Sandy. Alum, you may not mean it that way, but your posts are coming off very anti-everyone else. And why the anti-KD sentiment? Why did you name KD specifically? BTW, for your information, KD has more alumnae associations than any other NPC group.

Pi Phi may not even want to apply to CMU. There are plenty of groups that would do very well at CMU. Pi Phi isn't strong or well-known in this area at all, either. All groups have areas of the country where they are stronger or weaker. All groups have have strong and weak chapters. And not every chapter at CMU is super.

Also, from what I know of CMU, you're certainly looking at the greek system through rose-colored glasses. One of my best friends advises one of the sororities there, and I went to school down the street so i'm fairly familiar with it.

None of the groups there are "incomparable" on a national level. You have a lot to learn about being panhellenic. Every group has their strengths and weaknesses. I could easily point out the weaknesses of many of the groups that are already there, but what is the point?

I don't know if you got a lump of coal in your stocking from a KD or what, or if a Pi Phi gave you a great gift or something.

OTW, kddani, you both make great points. I have no idea who alum is, or what she does or doesn't know. I just know that what she's saying is NOT what I've heard. I have nothing against Pi Phi, but when there are 26 NPC sororities, and 22 left to choose from, I'm not sure how any one person can select ONE sorority over all the others, without presentations and such.

My remarks seem to be misinterpreted. I have no vested interest or bias in the colonization process at Carnegie Mellon other than that of a graduate. My point is that the academically elite universities, especially those in the northeast, that don't have a large greek system usually tend to pick only the GLOs that provide the strongest national support. Get on their websites to see which groups they have.

Somebody mentioned the number of alumnae as a sign of strength. Although that is certainly a factor, Chi Omega is one of the largest sororities in terms of actives and alums and that was the chapter that ended up deactivating.

I am a Zeta Psi Sigma alum and the groups that have been invited to present have already been chosen. The groups were narrowed down by both the campu greek community and Zeta Psi Sigma. They where chosen for a variety of different reasons, ranging from there creed to the level of national support that could offer the new colony. They will be presenting in January. I'm not going to post here, to keep it from turning into a pick XYZ or go ABC type of thread. If you are interested in knowing PM me.

I dont really care who presents or is chosen as long as there is Expansion at C M! It may even give some importance to many of the other Schools at this level.

And Yes, beleive it or not, there are a lot of factors that will go into the selection process.

So Your GLO is not chosen, it is not the friggen end of the world!

Are not many NPC More Regional than others? So, guess who may be chosen over others.

There are more schools out there to present to.

Maybe OVER THE US Chi O is one of the largest, but around this immediate area, as in alums that can get in their car and drive down the street to help, not so much. That was the point Danielle was making with Pi Phi. I'm sure they've got alums around here from their Penn State chapter too, but EVERYBODY from Penn State has alums in Pittsburgh.

And to be blunt, comparing CMU and the Ivy League schools just doesn't work. It's not just because the Ivy League schools are academically challenging that they have their reputation, it's the old boy network (or the perception of its existence) you get from those schools too. I would not say the same thing about CMU.

Plus, the Greek systems at U Penn & Cornell and the Greek systems at Harvard and Yale are WORLDS apart. Harvard doesn't even recognize the sororities officially.

Carnegie Mellon Grads don't stick around Pittsburgh after graduation, even the few who are actually from Western PA. Because CMU doesn't necessarily have strong alumni associations in every major city, it is important that both the men's and the women's fraternities (and at CMU most of the female groups ARE women's fraternities) who are there are known for alumnae networking.

And completely irrelevant but necessary to know, there were quite a few Harvard bigwigs involved in our colonization process. We don't place chapters that aren't in accordance with university administrations.

You're not doing KKG or CMU any favors with taking such a snotty tone.

I really think You said it all in a Sentence!:)

The Acceptance By The School is Prominent from the Get Go. It does not depend on How Each GLO feels about being on a Specific Campi!

Manytimes, We as GLOS have Proved Our Stupidiity to Schools and They Have turned against Us.:(

No kidding.

I don't know how many times my eyes went :eek: after reading her posts.

Me, too...before I rushed or knew much of anything about sororities other than the one my sisters are members of, I did recognize the names of a few. I had no idea who Pi Phi was, but I knew Kappa Delta.

That said, no one sorority is "better" in terms of quality than the others, and I wish nothing but the best to the ones who have been chosen to present. :)

As I said, I don't have a bias. Whatever new GLO that is selected will be accepted. But for the alums that have a preference, we will continue to put our opinions in with our chapters and with the school administration.

In terms of people who may be biased against CMU, 2 years ago kddani wrote the following in regards to Carnegie Mellon
on a different thread in Greek Chat.

"The student body is largely foreign (it's very easy to walk across the entire campus and not hear English spoken even once)... it's a very "nerdy" school- a lot of very smart and very geeky people.

Most of the "normal"/ "cool" kids joing a GLO b/c they want the socialization. So there's not really a whole lot of GDI's out to get them or anything.

It's a very interesting campus culture...."

Quite a few broad based stereotypes are in that quote.
Pitt and CMU students very rarely interact. We each have our focuses and they don't overlap so there is minimal rivalry. Several of the GLOs have chapters at both campuses but rarely host joint Pitt/CMU events. There are international students but after 9/11 that number has decreased. We are not simply an engineering school, we have a phenomenal fine arts and drama school. The Economics Department has more Nobel Prize winners than any other department. I could go on but there is no need.