University of Texas colonization
 

I know there is an SAE that posts here that goes to the University of Texas. Anyone else?

Just curious what your thoughts are about fraternity colonization on that campus. Are the established GLO's open to it? We just had our recent Delta come out (Sigma Nu magazine) and it mentions that July 2008, we are having our national convention in the beautiful city of Austin, Texas.

It seems to me that this is a sign that nationals, as well as the Texas alumni groups are more determined then ever to get our Upsilon chapter back up and running down there (originally established there in 1886). It used to be a monster (before being booted for Hazing).

Thoughts? And thanks a ton beforehand for your input.

As we Alums know, all GLOs want to be on major Campuses!

Un, Tx would be one of course!:D

From what I hear, it is a tough campus but with a lot of Money Alums in the background.

Many Chapters are having some problems but all want to be there!:D

If SN is going to try to get back on campus, I just want to wish them and you the best!:)

Very difficult for brand new chapters or chapters that re-colonize to compete with the top four fraternities.

How many members do the top 4 houses have?

How many members do the middle/average chapters have?
I looked at a few chapter webpages and they had around 30-50 members in most cases. SAE didn't have a site that I could find. Beta looked like they have a large chapter there.

Sigma Nu Upsilon chapter has 2,055 initiated members at that campus, which is a pretty dang big alumni base.

thnx for the info.

I think we closed due to numbers though.

At any rate, I suspect that if we do colonize there, the alums have already lined up a lot of money to get the chapter started out right. Also, for what it's worth, our recolonizations at SEC schools have been very successful lately.

I don't think it really matters how many initiated members came from the old Sigma Nu chapters down here. They would struggle coming back on campus. Sorry if that upsets you. Having alumni to provide a good amount of funds would help, but it still would be hard for them to compete during rush with the top 4 or 5 houses. All the top houses have large numbers.

Just curious, but do you know what the difference in size is between the largest chapter(s) and the middle or smaller chapters?

Maybe I'm naive but I always thought that fraternities, the HQs, were less concerned with being the top chapter. I figured as long as they were stable, membership and fiscally, then everything was copasetic.

Well, I never said that being a top chapter was the most important thing........although I can't imagine chapters themselves not wanting that. It's awfuly hard though to be stable fiscally and in membership when you have to compete with 4-6 other chapters for a large majority of rushees.

Thanks for the info. I'm getting some more information on it from a Texas alumni in PM's.

Mac, don't be silly, that doesn't upset me. It's your opinion. :)

Kevin, that attempt wasn't what they do nowadays. For these old chapters, it's important to have them back. I know these days they even send in national reps to live with the chartering groups (in some cases). I know for a fact our recolonization process is light years ahead of where it was in the past.

Oh God yes.. you have no idea :)

Back in '99, they essentially came to our campus, hooked us up with local alums, did LEAD Phase I, sent us all the free literature we asked for, and wished us luck in meeting several milestones, compiling a petition for charter (the only real guidance there was that they provided us a copy of the petition from the Colorado School of Mines), and recruitment. Not a lot of further advice or support was offered except for annual visits from a consultant.

In '01 or thereabouts, after we'd been spinning our wheels, taking two steps forward and one step back, they came up with VBR, a completely different colonization plan, etc.

We started on that path and finally had our charter granted in '02. We were Rock Honorable Mention last year, so I guess we're doing okay for a new chapter.

At any rate, yes, things are different, we're actually good at putting in successful colonies in. HQ has really broken the code there. Whatever they're doing now is working.

"Rock Honorable Mention last year"

Wow. Yeah, I'd say you guys are doing fine!

Pray tell, who are the top three or four or five fraternities on the UT campus?

SAE
FIJI
KA
Sig Ep

How is Beta at UT?

We all are trying to grow there as glos!:)

As I said, We all want to be at The biiig Schools.:D

Pretty sure they were good before my time. Not so much now. I know back in my dad's time at UT he had quite a few really good friends that went Beta. I think they were really good back then.

They were struggling for a few years, but were kicking things back in gear a year or two ago. Not sure how they are doing right now.

That's good. The more I look into it, U.Tex is an "odd" fraternity setup. It's just not like you see in the big SEC schools.

Beta at Texas was a very large chapter from the 60s-mid 90s. I was graduating just as the numbers started to slip, and unfortunately they slipped fast when they did.

Rush is critical at UT, as is maintaining solid relationships with sororities- and when that gets neglected for even a year a chapter at this school can sink very quickly.

I am a bit biased as an advisor and all, but I am really proud of how the chapter is doing today. Growth is hard coming from the 20s (it was in the teens around 2001!), but we are just over 30 now and summer rush has already been really solid.

The chapter today also puts more emphasis on scholastics and philanthropy than when I was there, and they have worked hard to develop a solid social reputation. You need numbers and budget to do many things socially, but you are never too small a chapter to develop a good reputation on which to build.

I have to say that as much fun as I had in college- I am not sure I would have wanted to be an advisor for my chapter as it was at the time. These guys today have our same spirit and still have a good time- but they also take care of their grades, their bills and our chapter's reputation. And there were not many of us doing that in my day.

Banditone- UT is different even from other SEC schools, and I think it comes down to money in the end. Cost of living is very high- and far worse now with the rezoning. Plus bands and rental of hotels/clubs for chapter and alumni events are astronomically expensive here. I have been to my share of parties at Georgia and Auburn- plus visits to a few other places in the South- and nowhere have I seen the level of investment that is required at UT. Most other chapters look at our dues and are astonished.

A chapter at UT needs a $100,000 budget annually to get by ($200-300K is better)- and that creates a lot of pressure to bring in the numbers. In fact, you will find many larger houses are not all that great. The best from a social position perspective (I pretty much agree with macallan's list except I would replace Sig Ep with Kappa Sig) do have numbers AND quality- but many houses here have numbers and are low quality. And a few, Beta among them, have quality but low numbers.

How that shakes out in the long run remains to be seen- but in my time you could label 6-7 chapters at Texas as top tier socially (with SAE and FIJI back then being the clear top 2), where today it is really just 3 undisputed (SAE, FIJI and KA)- and there are fewer fraternities of any viability overall.

Editorial for those who are going to ask: He isn't saying that UT is in the SEC, it is in the Big XII, but is often compared to the SEC regarding Greek Life.

In regards to (re)colonization, the perspective of I/NHQ in regards as to what makes a chapter successful and "top" in their eyes may be different than what the GLO members on a campus would define as success. Most (NIC/NPC) HQs today want involved, active, values-based, intelligent, diverse members who are interested in brotherhood or sisterhood. A (NIC/NPC) HQ would consider a chapter successful if it isn't struggling numbers wise and was a high achieving chapter.

Just because a recolonized chapter isn't a "top" chapter in the eyes of the established Greek community (for example, they're not old Southern money) doesn't mean they can't be successful in HQ's eyes. If any HQ thought "We will be the top chapter on this campus (as described by macallan25) or we won't come on", then there would be very little extension anywhere.

As stated before, Texas is a different kind of animal with regards to successful fraternities on campus. Texas Beta made a very good point also with regards to IFC voting on new chapters.

Also, I didn't exactly say that the top chapters at UT are the only ones that are successful. I said that it would be very, very hard for a recolonized/newly colonized chapter to even get to the point that someone could consider them successful.

While UT is of course in the Great Big XII conference (:D), as has been said, maybe there is some comparison to SEC Schools as in Old Money and time of Chapters there.

I have followed Betas with deep interest as well as LXA. Well, we are both Greeks and when you know Brothers in each one it is always interesting to see what is happening.

In each of all GLOs there, there are ups and downs yearly or maybe a little farther period of time.

It can happen, Hair today, Bald tomarrow!:(