college visitation etiquette
 

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What I would do is find some kind of way to get in contact with the other chapters. Basically tell then you are a sister from XY chapter and that you are going to be in the area and would like to pay them a visit.

My chapter sisters (we don't have a house either) just show up and take the pictures. According to women from other chapters (that I have asked about it) they are very used to strangers taking pictures outside of their houses. As long as it's obvious what you are doing, I don't see the harm. Maybe you can just wear a lettered tote (to make it obvious).

or to go with what babypink said .... instead of a lettered tote, what about your jersey??? or a tshirt with your letters on it??

My chapter contacts the chapter a few days in advanced.

Check to see if your GLO has a listing of chapter presidents and phone numbers.

Wow! When I was in school, we had to give a two weeks notice and get a confirmation before visiting another chapter. I don't know if that still holds true or not.

i don't know what the current etiquette is--certainly we didn't have email back in the day, lol--but we had plenty of Pi Phis dropping in, mostly from northern chapters on their way to Florida or Florida chapters on their way up north.

A particular surprise visit from some Florida State sisters sticks in my mind because I was waiting in the lobby for a date and these girls walked in and introduced themselves and just then, somebody rode a bike out of the hall and down the dorm steps, screaming, "Toot toot! Toot toot!"

Our president.:o

Thats funny.

I expect as much when Alphas or APO brothers are coming to DC and want to hang out or need a place to crash.

It's not official protocol though.

From my experience, most houses are closed over the summer anyway, so there might not be anyone there to notice you're taking pictures.

Yes. I've always felt that some of the traditional standards of etiquette come off a bit awkward these days. I mean certainly if your whole chapter is visiting another chapter, you need to email and call the President well in advance - I would say 3-4 weeks. But if it's just you and you drop by and identify yourself I think the sisters would usually be cool with it. The picture thing might make it weirder, but you could introduce yourself first if you liked and then take the pictures.

Anyway, I'm almost sure it's a moot point anyway, as most houses do close over the summer.

Of course, when I was in school there was no mainstream internnet. We did appreciate sisters calling in advance, but that didn't always happen.

Since our school was such a busy place on football Saturdays, we set up a rotation for someone to "house sit" in case anyone wanted to tour the house, take pictures or just say hi. It was very common to see other chapters pop right before or after a home game.

Since you are going to be on the campus during the summers, better make sure the house is open.

Well...she's not really VISITING the chapter, is she? Just taking a picture of the outside. If we got an email from someone saying, "Hey, I'm an AST from _______ Chapter and I want to come take a picture of your house! But don't worry, I don't need to talk to anyone or tour it!" I would find that over the top and unnecessary.

If I was her, I would just go and take the dang picture. It's not a big deal.

I took the "need" in her post a bit more seriously. Taking a photo of ANY fraternity or sorority house would be public domain, wouldn't it? Yet, it would still be nice to ask permission.

FYI, I was about to take a picture of a historic house once when I realized that people lived there. When I asked if they minded if I took a photo, they couldn't have been more pleased.

By "visiting", do you mean passing through and stopping by to see the house or staying in the chapter house?

If an alumnae or sister from another chapter wanted to see our house, I'm sure the SA would like a little email...maybe something as simple as:
"Hey, I'm Jane Doe from ABC chapter. I'll be visiting State University next weekend, and would like to swing by and see the chapter house and take a few pictures. Would you mind? Will anyone be there?"


If not, just knock on the door and introduce yourself....if no one's home, snap away.
:-)

Both. It was felt that every chapter has the right to let out of chapter sisters see theirs in the best of lights. Not every chapter has a house mother and/or cleaning crew.

I've got to say that I've consistently felt that some of the recommendations given by some members in terms of visiting houses are a little overzealous. I really think that calling X number of weeks in advance if you're just stopping by to take a picture is overdoing it and might weird out the members.

Yes, if it's a formal visit with a lot of people, you do need to do that. Just you dropping by for a 5 minute visit? I don't think it's necessary.

I sort of wonder if it's an age gap thing.

I'm older than you and I totally agree. If someone had called us to ask if they could take a picture of our house I would have thought she was a stalker freakazoid.

However, if someone would have walked up to the door, knocked and said "Hey! I'm an ASA from State U. My brother's here doing a college tour, and I just wanted to stop by and say hi. Do you mind if I take a picture of the house to show my chapter sisters - all we have is a dorm and we always wonder what other chapters' houses look like" - that would have been fine.

And like ISUKappa said, most houses will probably be closed over summer anyway so it's a moot point.

Exactly. People did this with our chapter a bunch and I have done it myself. There was never weirdness, and I've done it at schools where the house is very formal, etc.