How would your school handle this....
 

So here at Tiffin let me tell you what has happened in the past two years and let me ask you how you would handle it...

One of the sororities on our campus had a few members go inactive, well those members began a new sorority, then this year two ex-fraternity members of an international fraternity on campus decided to branch off and form a new fraternity, and while the rest of us in Greek Life tried to fight this from happening with Greek Council it is still happening.....how would your school have handled this? I always thought that it was common sense that if you were in a greek org. you can NEVER join another one, let alone start one!

Our school wouldn't give two craps (re the joining one, never join another thing). That would be left up to Panhellenic and IFC.

Did your Greek Council recommend against this and the school basically said "tough beans"?

Re: How would your school handle this....
 

Thats true in the national sense. If I quit Pike I would not be able to rush Sigma Nu the following year because of the fact I had been initiated in Pi Kappa Alpha. But if I STARTED my own fraternity "Sigma Upsilon Kappa" that could be different. I could make my own rules for SUK and nobody could tell me what was right or wrong, for I would be a founder.

Basically yes, because we have a Greek Council with the President and another member from each organization on the Council. We took a vote on the new organizations and they were unanimously no but the school over rode us.

We made an amendment to our constitution explaining the common sense rule of if you were once in a greek org you can never join another Greek Organization or begin one but our Greek Advisor told us that she lost it and that she didn't remember it ever existing and the individual who was supposed to do the minutes for the meetings never did!

Oooohh.........Conspiracy!

Unless you're at a private school, these kids can join or create whatever organization they want to and there's not a damned thing you can do about it.

Now, whether it's recognized by IFC, Panhellenic, etc. is another story entirely. Good luck to them and their 2 member fraternity ever getting recognition.

With any luck, these 'founders' will lose interest and give up within fairly short order. Especially if someone explains to these 'founders' the huge amount of liability they're taking on by founding and running their respective organizations. I hope for their sakes that no one gets hurt.

Ahh, yes, one of the flaws of local membership.

Otterbein had an attempted 7th sorority (a refounding of one of the originals), but it ended up not working out, just logistically, the numbers weren't there to support it. The last fraternity expansion we had was in...2000? 2001? when Alpha Sigma Phi colonized due to the demand of students. Sigma Delta Phi also re-founded in 2000-2001, due to demand.

We don't have the rule of "never joining another". You may re-rush after pledging/depledging/deactivating, but honestly, your chances of getting a bid are next to nothing. It's one of the checks and balances of membership, I suppose.

But yeah, I'd get your sorority council board on this asap. And unfortunately, sometimes your chapter ends up being the bad guy. If the council refuses to do anything, make as big a stink as possible until something is put IN WRITING to set precedent. It's not to say that these new groups aren't good/needed/worth it/ whatever, but there NEEDS to be rules set out for this sort of thing, and there NEEDS to be guidelines on expansion/new chapters/associate membership.

Good luck.

Re: Re: How would your school handle this....
 

SUK = Great Frat! Nice one.

If I got pissed off that I quit my fraternity I doubt I would want to make a second one. But if I did, no one could stop me really. What would they do? Raid my dresser and steal my new letter shirts?

Maybe there was something in the group dynamic that you didn't click with and were looking for an improvement.

We have a sister who was about to be initiated into a local on campus and then at the last minute walked out due to what they had asked her to do. We also had a pledge who defected and joined a group that was pettioning an NPC for membership. They have formed a local (in hopes of eventually colonizing).

We threw a fit in the beginning, but it really got us no where. You best bet might be to make the standards higher for orgs on your campus and really challenge these newer groups. At the same time...sometimes it is better to at least have some control and checks on rogue orgs than to have none...

I'm not too sure that there really is anything you can do at this point. If the school overrode you you just might be SOL.
However I agree with the idea of making it a NEW rule so you don't have people deactivating to join this new sororoity, that can just cause problems all over like them taking some of your sororities secrets and transfering them to this new sorority.

I went to a private university with a dean who already hates greek life and wishes we would all disappear so i know there is no way they'd let another local sorority appear. Especially with six national sororities on campus.

The above University is private, so they could possibly forbid these local organizations. If they haven't, however, you're SOL.

The most likely scenario is that these organizations will fall flat on their face and fail. If not, they must have something to offer, and perhaps it's your time to adapt?

Based on the numbers you're talking about, if I were in your position, I'd just ignore it -- pretend they don't exist and move on.

Those people didn't initiate. The people AndreaJo is talking about did. BIG difference.

I realize that, but the rest of it made more sense with the background info.

I hope they fall flat on their face, well at least the fraternity....not out of spite or because it is pur ignorance what they are doing, but because they took their old fraternities pledge book changed the picture and words to make their own :( The sad thing is, the school I go to (which is private) is more clueless about Greek Life then the individuals leaving organizations and joining new ones.

The school and administration aren't concerned with this. You campus IFC and CPC can deny these groups admission to their governance. But there's really nothing to stop them from operating as a student group either with the sanction of the office of student activities (heck if they prove their case, they could receive funding for their activity!) or just as a local interest club that functions outside university jurisdiction.

You can't join multiple national sororities in the NPC and NPHC or even conference to conference. Locals are not bound by this rule, unless one local has stated in their bylaws that if you were an initiated member of another sorority, whether it be local, NPC, etc., you may not be bidded or initiated into our sorority.

So regardless of whether these are local former members or national formal members, they've formed their own club and that means they have their own rules.

So if former members have formed their own locals and are recruiting outside of your Greek Council bylaws and are not members of your campus Panhellenic or IFC, they're not really doing anything wrong... they're just annoying you.

If you can demonstrate they are hazing members or committing crimes, breaking laws or injuring the reputation of the university, then you would have cause for some sort of disciplinary action.

If it was an "underground group" that was a revoked-charter chapter, then the university would likely step in and make a statement against being involved with the group and publish material/statements that involve actions that would be taken toward members of such groups or anyone who pledged such a group.

with this, i would contact the international fraternity and let them know their stuff is being stolen. they won't much appreciate that and will probably send a cease and desist order. they will most likely question how you know the information is the same, so try to collect some real evidence before calling.

one small problem: all local campus...no international fraternity.

Even if this was applicable, it probably wouldn't work. There are lots of former chapters out there who still use 'bootlegged' symbols, songs, rituals, etc.

One sorority, Alpha Iota and one Fraternity, Phi Theta Pi(the fraternities whose items have been taken) are both international Greek Organizations!