Weeding out chapters
 

I started thinking about this when I was posting to another thread.....

Have any of you members of a National GLO ever experienced a time when it seemed like your organization was shutting down a lot of chapters at once?

I'm kind of noticing that in my org....and it seems to have come at a time when we're colonizing a lot of places. So maybe that's why..

I saw your other thread and agree with what you said - when nationals close a chapter; it is hush hush. So, I can't really remember when a lot of chapters closed all at once because no one talks about it. I know we've had this discussion before- it seems when the numbers get low in a chapter- it closes. I'd rather see nationals come in and try to rebuild with $ and alum participation than just close the chapter. I'd also like to see our group expand to different parts of the U.S. - not just the Midwest and South.

I have not really noticed a major difference in losing chapters in Betas Broad Domain. It seems as though Beta either shuts down or loses about 5 chapters per year, but colonizes at least that to make up the difference.

From what I notice, Beta has been recolonizing at schools where we were at in the past, rather than just jumping from school to school to find interest groups. (EX., we just recolonized at William and Mary 125 years after it was shut down. Cool thing about it, is that the original 10 or so founders were the only people ever to be initiated there, and the new re-founding fathers got to sign the same roll book, starting with roll 12 or something. The original book has the original founders signatures. How cool would that be?)

Overall, I think that General Fraternities/National Offices are standing for a lot less bullshit than they did in the 60's, 70's and 80's. That way the greek system is better and hopefully will lose its bad reputation.

Hello!

Sometimes I don't think one has to do with the other even though it may appear on the surface to be that way. Often chapters that are closed are due to an unexpected standards issue (risk management, hazing, alcohol etc) or due to the fact that the chapter had been weak for an extended period of time (and often that has to do with a chapters size in relation to other groups on campus).

It never seems fair when a national group closes a chapter, however often times that national has done everything in its power to save the chapter. Sometimes issues are too large for even the best national to resolve on that particular campus, during that period of time.

As far as colonizations, I expect this trend to continue based on the "baby boomlet" and that quota is going up on many campuses. Also during the late 80's and early 90's there was not much expansion. We are seeing a boom now and probably for the next few years.

Just from what I have seen, it seems that some Panhel organizations are more likely to just pull a charter when a chapter runs onto hard times while others are more likely to send in the "big guns" to get things rolling again.

I know I've mentioned this before, but three orgs who seem to do the latter (at least as far as I have seen) are Sigma Sigma Sigma, Tri-Delta and Theta. In the past 10 years or so (not all at the same time), all three organizations at my school were dangerously low in numbers and on the verge of folding. Instead of letting that happen, their nationals either recolonized or sent officers in to help with recruitment.

I personally think that each chapter of a sorority is important and Nationals should always do anything they can to help out. If a chapter is in danger (and I am talking about things like numbers, not hazing and things like that), every effort should be made to save it. Afterall, they are sisters just as much as the members of a 200+ chapter are.

The same happened to Delta Gamma on my campus. They were very close to getting their charter pulled the year I came through recruitment. They had lost their house as well (AZD ended up buying it). They didn't participate in formal recruitment during Fall Rush '99. Instead, they did informal recruitment a month later. Their nationals really helped them out. I'm almost positive that they had sisters from nearby chapters (USF, UF) come and help with recruitment. They worked very hard to get girls. There were DeeGee signs everywhere on campus, other sororities helped, and they called girls who were not in a sorority asking them to come out to their parties (I know this because my roommate received a call). They have since greatly improved their numbers and were close to making quota the past two years during recruitment.

Well said, Tracy!

Is what you're saying is that as your group closes old chapters, it is opening new ones? I would say the two probably aren't related. A lot of Nationals will close chapters, not due to low numbers, but due to hazing, risk management issues, and the like. Most nationals will go in and work with chapters who need recruitment and membership help before they close the chapter. After all, all chapters are an integral part of the revenue chain of the sorority.

I suspect that whether a chapter is closed or Nationals "sends in the big guns," to save it depends on the reason it is struggling and how likely it is to be saved. It's not smart to throw a lot of money at a chapter with repeated standards violations, etc.

Delt tends to colonize or recolonize about three or four chapters a year. Our traveling Chapter Consultants are key in this process, and that seems to be the number they can handle without depleting the attention they can give to the rest of their duties.

Preference can be given to former chapters where the Fraternity has a relationship with the university administration, although there are other factors which can easily overcome that situation, including a strong interest group and strong area alumni support.

By the way, there's nothing particularly "hush hush" about our chapter closings. At Karnea (the every two year international conference) a couple years ago, in the opening ceremony, the Consultants were asked to remove the banners of all of the chapters closed since the last Karnea. There were eleven of them. That was sobering -- no pun intended. All of those were for alcohol or hazing violations. For the rest of the conference, those gaping spaces between banners were a stark reminder of how much we had lost. We've been a little luckier since then, hopefully because demonstrations like that one send a wake up call to the other chapters.

One final observation which is not at all scientific. It appears to me that most of our colonization (where we haven't had a chapter in place in the past) is being done at smaller colleges with higher academic and social standards as opposed to the larger schools. I wonder if that isn't a wave of the future.

I hadn't thought of that, DeltAlum, but it seems true! Didn't y'all just colonize at Belmont Abbey? (I think I heard that from a Delt friend of mine who went up there for the colonization.) I'd definitely say that college fits those criteria... Interesting point.

Brown Eyed Girl,

First, I love that song. It reminds me so much of my years in college because a lot of the verses match stuff around the campus. And there was this Brown Eyed Girl named Sandi...

But that's another story.

Yes, we have colonized at Belmont Abbey. We recently chartered a colony at Chapman University in California. We're also colonizing or recolonizing at Virginia Tech, Penn and KSU among others at the moment. I think we also have older colonizations going at Whittier and Cal Irvine, but I'm not sure about that. I'm also pretty sure we're going to try to recolonize UCLA and/or USC.

Which would seem to back up my comment about recolonizing bigger schools and new colonies at smaller colleges.

It's almost always easier to colonize on a smaller campus. I think of the efforts of strong nationals to come in on large Southern campuses as say, the 15th sorority...so many have failed, even if there were clearly enough women who wanted to fill a new chapter.

It's the name recognition thing, I think. We've been discussing how LSU needs more sororities but I don't blame the sororities not on campus for saying, "Not me, buddy!" At large Southern universities, so many PNMs say that they will pledge (Name 4 sororities) or nothing. Why shell out thousands , probably in vain, trying to change that mindset? Heaven knows, Panhellenic can't even do it.

My take on this topic...
 

All our organizations need to keep growing, and not stay stagnant. Ever forward, as Tri-Sigma says. But you also have to know your limitations. (as Clint Eastwood says) What good does it do to crow about the fact that you opened three new chapters, if you had to close 4 old ones (and upset alums) because all your resources were going to help the new groups? If you try to do too much, you'll be robbing Peter to pay Paul.

This next statement excludes groups who have lots of chapters at schools where the admin just has a bug up their butt about the "classist, elitist" Greeks. If a GLO is closing large amounts of chapters on a REGULAR basis I think it's a sign that something is wrong in that GLO on a larger level. Somehow, the ideals on which the GLO was founded are not filtering down to the collegiate level. Whether it's careless membership selection (which often leads to RM issues), communication difficulties or colonizing pell-mell at schools that can't support GLO's, it has be laid on the table and fixed before things get worse. And expanding while you are going through that kind of thing can be disaster. It's like having a baby to try and save a troubled marriage. The marriage gets worse, if anything, because not only do you have the problems you started with, but you have this little human who demands all your attention. And that makes it very hard to get to the root of the things that were wrong with the marriage to begin with.

If a chapter is in trouble, don't give up...pull out all the stops (especially regarding alumnae and inter-chapter involvement) before breaking a lot of hearts and closing it. These aren't just names on a roster, these are your brothers or sisters. Aren't they?

gawd. if only some members of international and national headquarters actually read what we're typing here. and by that i mean ALL chapters not just a couple. i sometimes wonder if the people in charge forget why we/they are actually here.

marissa

About Nationals "pulling out all the stops".....I think it's wonderful what KillarneyRose pointed out about the 3 sororities that really help out their struggling chapters. When my chapter was struggling to stay open b/c of numbers (we're still on shakey ground, mind you), we begged and pleaded for a National officer. We were told "Sorry, you are not upholding your end of the bargain. Having a National officer in is a GIFT."

This is bullshit imho! They go to the successful chapters...what do the visiting officers do, pat them on the head and tell them how great they are??!! It makes no sense for the thriving chapters to get national officers in every semester, but a chapter who needs help can't get it?!

*taking a deep breath* Ok, I'm finished now.*:)