Interest in new chapter
 

I am an alum of the Theta chapter (University of Tennessee, Knoxville) and a former alumni advisor for the Tau chapter (Clemson University)(while working on a Masters). I am now at the University of Idaho (working on a PhD) and have finally gotten settled in. There is no Sigma Alpha chapter here. I want to find girls here that would be interested in starting a chapter. I received an information packet from nationals about interest groups and I was also wondering if any of the newer chapters would share things that they did to find interested girls. I am planning to hold an informational meeting at the beginning of the Fall semester and hopefully undergraduate girls will get involved immediately after that meeting. However, not being an undergraduate myself makes my situation a little different, but hopefully your suggestions will get me pointed in the right direction!

Thanks!
Erin Mosley

One thing we did to recruit is get the addresses of all the girls enrolled in the Ag college. We would send a postcard will an invite to the house and or a rush event or pizza party. It may be expensive to mail out something to all of them. Also use the office of student activities to help you. Ours sends out weekly emails. You could even call ag teachers in the area and ask them to encourage their graduates to look in to SA. I would aim for the younger girls because they are often more enthused by new organizations. Good Luck!:D

Word of mouth and one-on-one conversations worked the best for the Alpha Eta chapter when we got started. All the professors supported the effort by announcing the new organization in class or allowing a student to make the announcement. We also posted signs EVERYWHERE! Even though our department is tiny compared to most (only about 350-400 ag majors), we had over 30 women at our first info meeting. Encourage any interested person to bring a friend even if she's not an ag major. It's a lot easier to walk into a room when you're guaranteed to know someone and the friend might even decide Sigma Alpha is for her.