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Help?
Hi Everyone!
I, along with several girls at Duquesne University, are interested in starting a chapter of Pi Beta Phi at our school. I have read over the website in detail and love everything I have read so far! From the philanthropy and story of the Fraternity to the colors and carnations, it seems as though you all have a wonderful organization I would be honored to be a part of...also, my cousin was a Pi Phi while she was in college (was chapter president at one time) and loved it. I have set up a meeting with the director of Greek Life within the next couple of weeks to discuss whether or not the school is open for expansion, amongst other things. I was just wondering if you all had any idea what the colonizing/chartering procedure entails (length, etc.). I understand there may be things that cannot be discussed with someone that is not a sister but I would just like an overview of what happens if at all possible. Thanks so much in advance! |
I'm not a Pi Phi (the Pi Phi mods don't stay up as late as I do), but the expansion process GENERALLY works similarly for all of the NPC sororities. I can tell you something about how it works and some things you should keep in mind:
Before any chapter can come to a campus, your school must be declared open for expansion. It looks like you already know that. I am not sure if Duquesne is open at this time. The administration has to see a NEED for a new sorority. Generally, the current sororities on campus need to be at total for a couple of years before a school will take a look at adding a new one. This is a big thing too: The EXISTING sororities on campus must VOTE to approve an expansion. Meaning, they need to agree in order for a new sorority to be added. If the school is open for expansion, they will take interest packets from a number of sororities. They will let all 26 NPC sororities know that the school is looking for a new group, and they'll decide whether they are interested, and send packets to the school. Depending on whether they are interested in your school or not, Pi Phi may/may not submit materials. From those materials, the school selects 2 or 3 sororities to come to the school and make presentations to the school's Panhellenic. From there, they will select one sorority to establish a colony at that school. Like I said before, the school has to be open for expansion first before anything else can happen. Also, IF your school is declared open, every sorority has different things that they consider when determining whether they are interested in having a chapter there. I'm certain that Pi Phi gets contacted by a lot of interest groups and such every year, so they have some criterion they use to decide whether want to have a chapter at a school (again I'm not a Pi phi so I don't know what that is). But every group or school that contacts them obviously doesn't become a Pi Phi chapter/end up with a Pi Phi colony on campus. It's great that you're interested in Pi Phi, but keep in mind that there's no guarantee that Pi Phi would be interested in your school, or that they would be chosen to present if your school did become open. But talking to your school would be the first step with this, so that must come first before a new chapter can be started. Best of luck to you! |
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Thanks for the information ladies...it's greatly appreciated! I know this will be a long and tedious process but I can hope for the best.
KSU, the information you provided was very helpful as insight into the process I may be going through if the school is open for expansion. AST, the link was very helpful! I have looked into Pi Phi for about a month now and feel that it would be a good addition for my campus...I just hope the school wants to expand and Pi Beta Phi would want to colonize. Does anyone know how long colonization/chartering generally takes? |
Quote:
Most sororities generally shoot for a semester time frame, with colony recruitment at the beginning of the semester and initiation and installation toward the end. This all of course depends the colony's needs and how things are going (it can take longer if needed). Again, I'm not a Pi Phi so this is just general knowledge. |
It would be in your best interests to not set your sights too strongly on one NPC group. Pi Phi may not think Duquesne is right for them, or vice versa. Also, what you read on a website or your cousin's experience might have nothing to do with reality...not that Pi Phi isn't a great group, but there's a big difference between clicking with a website and clicking with actual humans. This applies to EVERY sorority.
Considering there was a big thread on here about the problems the Greek system there is having I honestly doubt that the existing sororities are going to be in favor of a new group. Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but it's the truth. |
Mississippi Gamma just went through the colonization process at Mississippi State. We actually had Bid Day less than a month ago. So, before I begin, take this with a grain of salt. I was on the outside looking in, so I don't know all "the behind the scenes" details.
From what I know, MSU declared expansion and sent out bids. 3 sororities were chosen and Pi Phi was chosen as our new sorority on campus April 2008. This is where I'm hazy on what is done here (I'm sure a lot of paperwork and whatnot) but I heard that Pi Phi came to formal rush to be apart of the whole process (but did not participate in rush, just to see how rush is done here). Interest meetings started around the end of October until mid-November then started back up in January. Pi Phi's rush started towards the end of January and 4 days later we had our first Pi Phi girls from Mississippi State! As of now, we're all going at this a little blind (no offices or committees yet, just chapter right now) but we are getting initiated in April. Hope this helps! P.S. As for a college declaring expansion, MSU has not added a new sorority in almost 20 years and a large name NPC sorority since the 70s. It seems to be a tough process, so good luck! |
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