other chapters
 

so has anyone ever visited other chapters to see what they're like? My chapter is really small and I seriously want to go elsewhere to see bigger ones with huge houses and see how they live. I always imagined a cross country visit, stopping at houses along the way... hehe :)

AGD
roses.pearls.crazy squirrels

I haven't yet, but hope to! I would like to be an LC one day and visit all the chapters, The AGDs on IUs campus are amazing girls, One of our girls has a tiwn in AGD so we are very close to them. Also i hear all the time about the AGDs at purdue, and how amazing they are (I have a lot of guy friends at pu, they swear they are the hottest thing to ever walk the earth)

One thing I love about being in a smaller organization (11 active chapters and averaging ~20 active members per chapter) is that we end up having a lot of interaction with our other chapters to help each other out and to keep the chapters strong. There is one other East Coast chapter and we try to hang out with them at least once a semester...alternating between us driving down and them driving up. We also have girls from the West Coast chapters fly out to see us (helping us out, getting to know us, seeing what our campus is like, sharing ideas from their chapters). So far, all of our national conferences have been on the West Coast. I had gone to four as an undergrad. I got to meet lots of my sisters. We don't have houses :( but they did take us to see their campuses. It was really interesting seeing what the UC schools were like. This year is going to be my first time going as an alumna, and we're having our first national conference on the East Coast (in DC). I am super-excited. :D

i've been telling myself that i am going to visit other cities to visit chapters. not that i am going to see their houses (cause we dont have any), but to see how chapters (and greek life overall) are there.

ive only been to north carolina, boston and virginia. im really interested in seeing midwest and west coast chapters cause theyre supposedly rolling deep out there.

If you can answer this, in what kinds of facilities do you hold things like initiation, and chapter meetings if you do not have a house? Just curious.

We don't have a house, so we've been having initiation in Key Biscayne in a sister's dad's condo's general room (think kind of room you might rent for a small business meeting, or community event, nice carpeting and stuff w/ a small kitched attatched).

Chapter meetings are held in classrooms in various buildings (which can make PR rounds quite a chore!)

Recruitment the rooms vary by night, each group takes turns in each of the six rooms designated for rush and it is in the ballrooms, the faculty lounge, the infamous "chicken room" which is tiled annex of a cafeteria (really loud and annoying and SMALL and we're trying to get the school to let us not have to use it anymore), and another 2 conference rooms!

We held recruitment events/Initiation in the Campus Center meeting rooms as well as the Student Services Faculty Lounge. The Faculty Lounge doesn't sound like a lot, but it's actually quite new with a lanai that gives amazing views of Diamond Head and the ocean. Great background for picture taking.

Chapter meetings take place at the Campus Center.

I'm thinking that chapters who don't have houses pretty much use whatever meeting rooms are available on campus. Where else are they going to go?

To echo BP_FL and OTW, you pretty much use spaces you can get through connections or where you have relationships with. For example, my graduate chapter does a lot of community service events at a community center in Brooklyn, so if we need to have a meeting or event, then we will use that space. it's great for visibility, since there are a lot of teenagers (hopefully college bound) there on the weekends.

a chapter soror of mine works for Brooklyn Academy of Music, so we tend to have chapter meetings in a space she books for us there. again, great location in downtown Brooklyn and easily accessible, and of course good visibility. though seeing 30+ women wearing assorted greek paraphernalia is not the norm around here, it definitely gets some looks from passersby. there is a local daycare center we use for meetings, inductions, etc. we have had a relationship with them for a while as well.

My undergrad chapter advisor is a university dean and she will rent out auditoriums, conference rooms, classrooms, even dining areas if we are to have events, meetings, inductions, step practice, whatever really. and then there are sorors who open their homes to such things, lets say there is a committee meeting or a soror get-together.

so yeah, while it would be nice to have a house to be able to do all these things, you would hope that your chapter members are that connected enough to make a space happen, and often more than one. i know chapters that have meetings in churches, schools, rec centers...

when there is a will there sure is a way.

I've always been jealous of my boyfriend's fraternity. I don't know if it's common for fraternities in general, but his chapter always goes on a roadtrip with each pledge class to a different chapter for a weekend just to meet the brothers and see some of their traditions. I really wish we did something like that so frequently.

I remember we used to go stay at the TKE house at UM Rolla for St. Pat's weekend.

I've been inside University of Maryland's Alpha Phi house and have seen the ECU chapter as well, but didn't go in. Both gorgeous houses!

I really want to go visit some of the SK houses around the country. I've seen the Purdue SK website and it's jaw-dropping. I also want to go visit UMD.

I'll be going to the Alpha Kappa Chapter at Kansas State (100+ memeber) at the end of the month. Well I'm going for a conference for SHPE but hey there is a chapter there and an opportunity to meet some sisters and all for free.

My chapter is about 30 members.

On the show me your chapter house thread below, I posted a link where you could pull up the SK house at UMD. You know it's on the Row and you can see it in St. Elmo's Fire- the movie?

Damn the page is broken right now. I met some KKPsi's from UMD and I was all about their awesomeness.

I've visited several ADPi chapters, but not in the past 5-6 years. Each of them did have a house or chapter suite of sorts. It's terribly interesting to share ideas and to see how the other half lives!

I've visited:

Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Kansas (dormant now. boo!)
North Texas
Arkansas
Central Arkansas
UCLA
Nebraska

Good times....

KKPsi was not at all social with NPC/IFC chapters while I was on campus. In fact the band was intstrumental (pardon the pun) in having an IFC chapter undergo a membership review where the chapter was purged, charter pulled, etc. All of the PHC chapters have houses, and I believe most of the IFC chapters have houses as well.

I was able to get the link to work here is the Sigma Kappa house at Maryland: http://www.facilities.umd.edu/building/pictures/135.jpg

Gorgeous!

Just realized what the sidewalk was painted and that's awesome!

CZAXO, is it just me, or do all the Maryland houses look pretty much like the same building plan? Especially the fraternity houses. I wonder if they all have the same number of columns and square footage.

Red brick and white columns is the look of the entire campus.

All of the houses on the row are pretty much the same- w/ the exception of the #1 and #13 on the row (I believe it's KA Order and ZBT.) Those end houses are a little larger.
The layouts on the inside were all fairly similiar when I was there. I believe that all of them have been renovated now- so many the sororities (AEPhi and SK) had their houses laid out slightly differently on the inside?

The houses on the Graham Cracker (7 sororities) are all different. My house doesn't have columns and has a balcony, no other chapter has a real balcony. DPhiE & SDT look v. similiar to one another, as do ADPi & PhiSig - again all red brick and most have columns.

The houses that aren't university owned are all different- I think all but one- Kappa Delta- are red brick.

I love the building all keeping the same look as the other buildings (red brick). That is classic and looks wonderful.

I am very bias- but I think we have a beautiful campus. It's very large and they are still building new structures, but they have done a very good job of making sure the new buildings complement the existing structures on campus.

http://www.urhome.umd.edu/marylandim...mage/fs/70.jpg

http://www.urhome.umd.edu/marylandim...mage/fs/74.jpg

I've visited... Let's see:

UF Colony
USF Chapter
Stetson Chapter
University of Cincinnati Chapter (where I'll be transferring)

All of those chapters/colonies have a house of some sorts, which makes me really jealous since my chapter doesn't yet. It was fun though.

I have visited The Kent State chapter a couple of times. I'm thinking of going to visit them before the end of the semester.

I have also visited The Sig-Tau Chapters at Carnegie-Mellon, U. of Illinois, Pittsburgh-Johnstown and Akron U. Both Chapters at Johnstown and Akron are Closed now.

Sigma Kappa at Missouri State:


http://www.sigmakappamostate.com/images/house.jpg


And for KSUViolet here's the Tri-Sigma house:


http://msutrisigma.org/images/upload...d76cc6a172.jpg

You should see the inside.

my chapter is really close with our surrounding chapters. when my chapter chartered last year, our Northern Arizona and San Diego chapters came to watch. it was really nice having everyone all together, like a family reunion. Just the other day me and a brother were traveling to San Francisco from ASU and we stopped over at the San Diego house and participated in their philanthropy. its real nice having other chapters close by. i really want to check out some of the DU houses over on the east coast where DU is really big. i saw pictures of the Indiana house and it is ginormous.

I am drooling overthat one... the BALCONY!

/deprived

ETA: 4000th post :D

I have stayed at the DG house at Mizzou since we used to do our last Rush School there before our Formal Rush (they start later in January than we do). I know my chapter uses the DG house at Illinois now, but I haven't seen that (despite being from IL). I've also been at the DG lodge at Colorado College.
I have seen the outside of the DG house at Michigan, but didn't go in.

In terms of other chapters, I've stayed at the Sigma Kappa house at Michigan (it's gorgeous!). I was also in the AXO house at Northwestern a lot in high school because my math tutor lived in the house.

I was in most of the fraternity houses on my school's campus in undergrad, but I've also been in the Kappa Sigma house at Michigan and the Sig Ep house there as well (plus a few more I was in during a visit in high school, but I can't remember which ones! TEP I know for sure--which has since gone dormant--but there were 2-3 more I was in).