Has there ever been a sorority system started from scratch?
 

I was talking with one of my friends about this recently and we were both pretty curious. Has there ever been a case (in modern times) where a university opened up its doors to sororities and multiple groups expanded at the same time? I'm 75% Pepperdine did this, was wondering if that was true and if this has happened on any other campuses. How did that work? Was it like rush or did they all do separate expansions? It would be really interesting to see a full scale recruitment WITHOUT any tent talk, preconceived notions, etc (although it's likely that groups of girls joined up to pursue one over the other).

University of Arkansas-Fort Smith established Greek Life just last year. Gamma Phi Beta and Delta Gamma were the first two sororities on campus.

Clayton State (Georgia) is starting up this year. Theta Phi Alpha and ASA will be the first 2 sororities.

Valparaiso kind of. I believe there were locals that simultaneously went NPC,; they had "mutual selection" to match up locals' and NPCs' preferences. Maybe ValpoKD or polarpi could tell us more?

ETA: I just read elsewhere on GC that John Carroll also had locals that all went NPC together.

On another note, it makes me sad that certain schools are so anti-Greek (cough cough Colby) that they are unwilling to give Greeks another chance. The risk management policies are definitely not what they were in the 1980s and starting a new Greek system gives the students and the administration the opportunity to make it what they want. Fraternities and sororities have so much good to offer and part of their beauty is that they are different at every school, yet they are bound by the same values. It's a real shame that some administrations fail to see that.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi colonized 3 NPC groups (DDD, AGD and GphiB) in fall 1998 as well as 3 NIC fraternities at the same time (Phi Delt, Beta and SigEp). The school also offered the opportunity to AKA and they waited a few years to colonize. We just added Delta Chi (NIC) last fall and the women are going to discuss NPC expansion this semester too. We have also added several NPHC and NALFO groups with mixed success.

Prior to 1994, the school was upper divison only, just jrs, srs and grads, so Greek life obviously not an option there. The school actually started in 1947 as small Baptist school, 4 year, and had a few NIC and local chapters for several years.

Darn. You beat me to the Valpo comment. So far, so good with their NPC Greeks!

These may not be as recent examples as you would like:

Previously all-male Washington and Lee admitted women as undergraduates for the first time in 1985. I believe Kappa, Theta, and Chi O were allowed to colonize in 1989 and then Pi Phi and KD were added at 2 separate times in the 90s. W&L has had a long history of male Greek Life as several of the male fraternities are single letter chapters and have been at W&L for well over a century.

Wake Forest had all local sororities yet national fraternities. They had each of these local sororities affiliate with an NPC sometime in the late 80s/early 90s. There was a GC thread a couple of years ago about one of the Wake groups keeping too many of the local traditions even after 15 years of NPC affiliation.

When starting a brand new greek system at a university, is it more common to have 2+ groups colonize at once or just colonize one group at a time? I figured it would be more practical to see how one group would fair then add more, but I have no experience in the matter. What's the norm?

Yes, UT-Tyler did this - but you forgot Gamma Phi Beta! They all three colonized at the same time.

It really depends on what the administration wants to do. When Tusculum opened a few years ago, only one NPC group colonized and it didn't seem to take. No further efforts have been made. On the other hand, UT-Tyler decided to add three groups at once because they felt that that was best for them. It seems to have turned out great.

IIRC, the colonization recruitment process there was a little different then other multiple colonizations that I have seen. The three groups held recruitment at the same time similar to formal recruitment but a bit more involved with interviews. The process was detailed on the UT-Tyler web site so I am sure that it is in cache somewhere.

Sorry I missed this - the merging of the local sororities with NPC organizations happened a little before I started school at Valpo (and 2 years before I joined). adpi*violet would know more than I did, as she was a charter member of our chapter, but what you describe sounds right :)

I'll try and get adpi*violet over here to check in on the discussion :D

Pennsylvania College of Technology is opening for sororities in the Fall of '09. They currently have 2 fratenities (Phi Mu Delta and Sigma Nu) and are adding another fraternity this semester (Chi Phi). No word on how many sororities will be invited to colonize.

Probably not as modern as you were thinking...

Twelve of the thirteen locals all went national within a 29 month period at Texas A&M University - Commerce (then East Texas State College) back in the late 50's early 60's.

5/11/59 - The Friars merged with Vanguard Club affiliated with Delta Sigma Phi (inactive)
9/21/59 - The Tjas Club affiliated with Sigma Phi Epsilon (inactive)
12/5/59 - Marpessa Club affiliated with Chi Omega
3/12/60 - Les Choisites affiliated with Alpha Phi
3/27/60 - Kaidishan Club affiliated with Kappa Delta
5/14/60 - Artema Club affiliated with Lambda Chi Alpha (inactive 1991)
6/60 - Cavaliers Club affiliated with Delta Tau Delta
11/19/60 - The Paragon affiliated with Kappa Alpha
3/11/61 - Kalir Klub affiliated with Alpha Delta Pi (inactive early 80’s)
5/2/61 - Ogima Current Events Society affiliated with Pi Kappa Phi (inactive 1994)
10/1/61 - Tooanoowe Social Club affiliated with Gamma Phi Beta

Valpo
 

The story of Valpo
In the '97-'98 school year, the Valpo sorority system went from 8 local sororities to 8 (inter)national NPC colonies and then chapters. At that time, all the fraternities on campus were already (inter)national orgs and had been so for awhile (20-30 years maybe?). All but one of the 8 new NPC colonies became full fledged chapters by the end of that school year.

Although the chapters were all local, they were all long established ('20's- '40's?) with many traditions. There was also a fully functioning Panhellenic board, comprised of members from each sorority. I don't know if it was solely a Panhellenic Exec Board vote or if the entire sorority membership voted to affiliate. Either way the decision occurred in the Fall of '97 or maybe earlier, possibly that prior Spring?

I didn't rush (it WAS rush) until January '98. Those of us who rushed and pledged then, did so with the local groups. However, at least for our pledge class, (don't know about the other groups) we were never initiated into the local. We did the initial Pledge ceremony, but then were in limbo as perpetual pledges until our local affiliated with ADPi.

Affliation Process
Many NPC orgs came to present at Valpo throughout that January. I can think of 3 NPCs for sure that presented, but never affiliated. I'm thinking we had somewhere between 12-15 NPCs present (for the 8 locals). Chi Omega was the first group to affiliate (and I seem to remember they had already done so even before rush, perhaps that last November, so maybe they were the ones that started the whole "Going National" trend.)

Every sorority member and pledge was invited to attend the presentations of each NPC. Each local sorority was also given a packet to look through (stuff like the open mottos, creeds, history, etc). Then from there, each of the sororities voted on which NPC(s) they wanted to hear more from with the intent of possibly affiliating.

The NPCs that were "invited back" after the presentations, so to speak, held interviews (I'm assuming by the expansion team) with the Exec Boards of each sorority interested in pursuing affiliation with them. Since I was a lowly pledge I don't know much about what went on in those. I don't know how many NPCs my local interviewed with.

I know eventually, we held a chapter meeting to vote on our top 3 choices for affiliation. All the other locals also voted and everyone submitted their choices to the campus Greek Life coordinator. She in turn let each NPC know which (if any) of the local sororities wanted to affiliate with them. If there was more than one local interested in a particular NPC, it was up to the discretion of that NPC's expansion team to pick which local they wanted. Also, if the NPC group did not desire to affiliate with the particular local group that wanted them- or had decided that Valpo as a whole wasn't a good fit for them, they were able to say no. I know there was at least one local that was "mismatched" per se and wasn't chosen in that first round, but quickly voted on and affiliated with a different NPC (who had already presented.)

So basically it was similar to mutual selection in recruitment.

Every sorority was notified of who had picked them at the same time. Each NPC had different requirements for becoming a colony and then for initiation. I know we held our Alpha ceremony for our entire local in February, but I'm not sure when each of the other groups officially affiliated.

The whole process of presentations to affiliation only took a month and a half to two months.

Local sorority name (name prior to any reorganization) to NPC:
Chi Sigma Xi (Sigma Theta) - Chi Omega
Phi Beta Chi - Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Psi Omega - Kappa Delta
Alpha Xi Epsilon - Pi Beta Phi
Gamma Phi - Gamma Phi Beta
Alpha Phi Delta - Delta Delta Delta
Delta Chi Epsilon (Phi Omega) - Alpha Delta Pi
Delta Phi Kappa (Kappa Tau Zeta) - Alpha Sigma Tau (colony disbanded)

Hope that helps answer questions. PM me if you would like more info.

Gamma Phi just became the first NPC at Lake Erie.

I also remember 2 years ago, Kappa Delta and Sigma Delta Tau started the Panhellenic organizations at Pace University in NYC.

Can this be classified as a 'system' though? I only ask because my chapter was the first NPC on campus. 16 1/2 years later, we're STILL the only NPC on campus -- which means no Campus Panhellenic, no quota system, etc.

Interesting!

alum has already given the W&L example and is correct on her info (KD, Kappa, and Chi-O all started from scratch in 1989). I think University of Richmond also did this in the 80s... anyone?

I have a few more details that I will add when I have more time, but it is actually Alpha Xi Epsilon - Pi Beta Phi. Sorry, adpi*violet, I noticed that this morning and wanted to PM you before anyone noticed. breathesgelatin beat me!

Fun fact...adpi*violet, polarpi and I all overlapped during our time at Valpo!

:)

In 1993-1994 Cal. State - San Marcos opened for colonization. Alpha Xi Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, as well as (if I remember correctly) Zeta Tau Alpha, and Alpha Phi all presented to the two local sororities that had formed.

Centre College (Danville, Kentucky) in 1980. The three original sororities being Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Kappa Kappa Gamma.

The newest campus of The University of California system, UC Merced, is in the process of building it's Greek system.

Greek Life of the Table at UC Merced

And as far as I know, only Sigma Chi has a colony.

Sigma Chi Colony Puts UC Merced on Verge of Greek Life

Also not particularly recent, but in 1959 Emory simultaneously chartered all of its interest groups as NPCs. The ceremonies were conducted all at once so that no one group would be first or last. I have a yearbook from that time, and if I'm remembering correctly the groups were:

Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma

Ooops my bad! I was trying to type all that out quickly!
Yes, the local that affiliated with Pi Beta Phi at Valpo was Alpha Xi Epsilon. (Actually that was the org my freshman roommate joined during our rush.)

Furman Univ. (SC) -- in the early '90s as I recall -- all of the locals went National.

Oh, and what's the engineering school in Terre Haute (eta: Rose-Hulman!)

Texas A&M, in 1975.

I was the extension consultant assigned to recruit for Alpha Gam. It was quite a semester. Greeks were not sanctioned by the University administration at the time.

Wow! That's a story I'd love to hear.

The Pepperdine Story
 

In 1995 Pepperdine told its local sororities and fraternities that the system would be going national, apparently due to risk management reasons. So the campus was flooded with info. packets from, what I'm told, nearly every NPC.

From what I know, the local sororities were told to choose a few sororities (each) that they wanted to present. In the meantime, one or two interest groups popped up in addition to the local sororities that had been there for years. I'm not sure how the matching went, but when all was said and done, 7 NPCs were chosen:

- Alpha Phi
- Delta Delta Delta
- Delta Gamma
- Gamma Phi Beta
- Kappa Kappa Gamma
- Pi Beta Phi
- Sigma Kappa

I was later told by older girls that for our local, it had come down to Gamma Phi and Chi Omega.

Fast forward to fall 1996, the first NPC recruitment for the campus (which was in November that year), and my rush as a freshman. At this point all of the 7 NPCs had established their colonies, some with more members than others. Recruitment was formal, with all rushees set to join colonies at the conclusion - they would be initiated with the original colony/local members.

It was also the only year that had FRILLS. I remember a lot of fabric and painted paper up on the walls, a ton of balloons, and hideously cheesy skits that you could tell the girls were being forced to do by their national consultants. I also remember that alumnae consultants and advisors were allowed in the room and could talk to rushees - I asked a couple of them questions, including one that was in the org. I joined. A couple of the groups had also brought in girls from nearby chapters to help out. I had a fun recruitment, and I can't remember many girls dropping - everyone seemed to have their favorites, but I remember most girls liking several of the chapters. There wasn't really any gossip beforehand, because frankly I think the older students were still confused about which local had affiliated with which national and therefore couldn't really spread rumors and stereotypes. Plus, some of the chapters were brand new. I only remember hearing things about two of the groups beforehand, and that was because they wore their letters all over campus. Anyway, if I recall correctly, everyone's pledge class was around the same size at the conclusion of bid day.

Our new member program was really interesting. We learned about Gamma Phi Beta from the national team, but the girls who had been in the local taught us about their symbols, motto, songs, etc. too, and Gamma Phi was supportive of that. In fact, the candle pass song my chapter sings to this very day is a song that was written by the fiance of a local member for her sisters to sing to her at her candle pass long ago. Our "chapter colors" became blue, green and silver (the colors of the local), and our chapter motto took on the local's motto.

A month or two later, the last local finally completed the process to become Pepp's 8th NPC colony - Kappa Alpha Theta. The local had been informally seeding/rushing girls all semester, so some girls opted to hold out for Theta rather than go through formal recruitment.

Come January, all of the colonies held their installation and initiation ceremonies within a couple weeks of each other. Very nice installation ceremonies, btw! Ours was at the Bel-Air Bay Club and we had many members of International Council and nearby chapters present. Initiations were performed for the mostpart at our "sister chapter" houses at USC and UCLA.

All of the chapters had live-in consultants for the next year or two, and I know at least in my chapter's case, we had many visits from province/regional officers and advisors.

The next year, we moved to no-frills rush, and I think everyone was relieved. When rush is done in classrooms, decorating is a pain in the butt...there's just no time. And since our rush was after school had started in the fall, the last thing we needed/wanted to focus on was skits and painting construction paper. We kept the songs and some balloons, and went all-out on decorating for pref, but the other stuff went away.

The year after that (my junior year), rush was moved to late September, which helped minimize some of the gossip and stereotypes that had already formed for each of the groups. One of the chapters was significantly smaller than the others, and it was forced to leave campus a couple years later.

Now fast forward 12 years after I rushed, those 7 groups are still there - coincidentally, the 7 founders of NPC! The campus is still no-frills, chapter sizes and reputations have shifted, but all of the chapters appear to have found their niche. Gone, however, are all illusions to the local sororities who were there before.

Around 1970-71 at West Georgia, the local sororities and fraternities went NPC/IFC national/international.

There were 5 sororities but I don't know how many fraternities. The fraternities seem to come and go and come and go but the same 5 NPC sororities and now 1 more have stayed.

*bump*
 

I wanted to bump this thread. Does anyone know of any recently established (i.e. last 10-15 years) greek systems at smaller (<5,000) universities? My school is in talks of starting a Greek system and I was hoping to present some information at a university committee meeting. Thanks!

Cal State San Marcos started its greek system from scratch about 15 years ago. They started with 2 fraternities and 2 sororities ... The 2 sororities are still there and both are doing very well.

Embry-Riddle Aero. Univ in Prescott, AZ started their sororities about 17 or 18 years ago .. I think the fraternities had been there for a few years before that. This is a small school with, I think, < 3000 students.

Delta Gamma and one other group colonized at UC Merced. DG's installation is this weekend....congrats to our Eta RHo chapter!

There are two very recent ones I can think of because of our Gamma Phi Beta chapters installed there. The total student enrollment at each school is a little over 6000.

-University of Texas at Tyler with three sororities (Gammma Phi Beta, Alpha Chi Omega and Delta Gamma) installed in 2006.

-University of Arkansas at Fort Smith with two sororities (Gamma Phi Beta and Delta Gamma) installed in 2007.

I was going to mention Penn. We'll be colonizing in the fall as well. They recently added the fraternities when they went to a four year.