sisterhood bonding?
 

My sorority has been having a lot of problems this past year with sisterhood, i.e. we have none! THere has been a lot of internal conflict, a lot of sisters dropped out, and no real bonding to get us to cooperate and work together again. When I go back to school in a few weeks I want to have a list to present to my fellow officers, hoping they might take the bait... So I was wondering if you could tell me your best suggestions for bonding with your sisters, what events did you do, where did you go, etc. We don't have a huge budget, so renting a boat for a day may be out of the question, but we do have some...anyway, I would love to hear your specific ideas and what worked the best with the most sisters participating... Thanks so much!:)

you might have a mary kay lady come in and do a workshop. we had one come in and do a foot one and it was great! she also gave a discount to the sisters if they bought anything. we paid her, but she didn't expect it.

One thing that we do every semester that creates sisterhood throughout the chapter is to do a secret sister event. The name of every sister is placed in a hat or box and it gets passed around until each name is drawn. For the next week, month, or whatever works best, the sisters name that you drew is your secret sister. You are responsible for making her cards, writing her letters, buying her her favorite candy....whatever you can think of. However, you can't get caught in the act. It's a really fun time and it makes everyone feel special when they get a surprise.
At the end of the month we all reveal who our secret sister was and we usually present her with an inexpensive gift.

Something that can just add to trying to encourage sisterhood is a picnic. I know we had one, and it was just fun because we did it at a near by park and just played. Then our exec board surprised us, because they brought water balloons. Acting like a kid sometimes is just a great way to break away from the hum drum of life.

something great that i love to do is a unity function where you get a small brown paper bag for each sister and a stack of index cards. everyone must write a little note with something positive to say to every sister. its great to look at on your down days, is inexpensive, and makes for lots of hugs :) i always do this one at every available oppurtunity!

along the lines of what kappatarzan mentioned we've done something at our retreat where each member has a sheet of paper with their name printed at the top. all the sisters have an alloted amount of time to write (positive) messages to one another (we took the weekend of retreat), and at the end of the time, but not before! you can read your paper. makes for tears and smiles and hugs. if not reading the sheet of paper is too hard, have each sister bring some type of personalized container (shoebox, etc) which notes can be deposited in that have been written by the other sisters throughout the weekend.

also we did an activity called a penny for your thoughts. half the group (sister a) gets a penny and must find a sister without (sister b). sister a gives the penny to sister b for sister b's (positive but truthful / sometimes constructive) thought. these thoughts can be completely random from, you're the reason i wanted to be an adpi, to i love it when you speak up for the underdog, to you're always so positive and that makes such a difference to the chapter. they don't necessarily have to relate to the sorority but can be just general character traits that are appreciate d and valued.

if you are really lacking in sisterhood, a good idea might be to have a workshop on your goals for the group. if you are lacking in a clear set of common goals for your group, then that makes in 100 times harder to work together towards a positive end. if you need to preface this with a w orkshop where you all get together and tell why you originally wanted to be a member of abc, what you've gotten out of your membership, what you would like to achieve personally, or you can go over your creed/mission statement and what it means, how it sets you apart from other groups and what it means personally to the sisters, it might help set up a sense of community and sisterhood again.

sorry this is long, i have lots more ideas (!) so feel free to pm me if you'd like... hope some of this helps!!! :)

We did the same...only it was a sister that sold Mary Kay that did the program (and she did her program on lips ;)).

These ideas sound like so much fun! I'm not in a sorority yet but me and my friends can still do these fun ideas. For my friends b-day she had a mary kay lady come and that was fun ( i love getting made over), plus picnics and the secret sister event would be awesome. Thanks for the bonding ideas:) lil sister

If you are worried about the "sisterhood" of your organization only in terms of enjoying each other's company, or in regards of being amiable, then I agree you should encourage "sisterhood events" and such, but if you feel the tear between sisters is serious enough to affect your Recruitment, I urge you to call your National and tell them about the situation. They will be more than happy to aid your chapter. SISTERHOOD lies within the core of any organization, and PNM can also feel/see tension between sisters. In order to prevent a potential problem, one has to face the issue, I know it might seem a bit drastic to call your National Office for help, but they honestly know what to do and what steps to take according to each situation. Use your National wisely, they only want their chapters to prosper and will take all the steps necessary to mend any tears your chapter might have.
Good Luck & Keep Me Posted!!
Carolina

I was thinking along the same lines as Random...maybe you guys should have a candle passing and get everything you're feeling out. Activities are great for an afternoon of fun and bonding, but if the problem is deeper, a retreat will do nothing for you.

I was sisterhood chair for a little while in my sorority..

One thing we did..

During one meeting we made bags... we decorated a brown paper bag (lunch bag size) with our name and other stuff.. We then hung it in the chapter room. During the week of Rush, we put notes of encouragement in the bags, as well as candy and such.

As part of my job, during meeting, I passed out little cards, and each person was asked to thank someone or put a little note to someone on the card. Then I read all of them aloud during meeting.

It created a lot of unity and love within the group.

We also had sisterhood retreats.

I agree with everyone that said have a candle pass/retreat for sisters and get everything out on the table. It might stir up some old wounds but it sounds as though there are a lot of things festering that need to come out.

Something that always helped us was gathering at the house before we went to events whether they were mixers, educational events, whatever...it's nicer than everyone just dribbling into the event on their own (also makes you look more unified to others) and if you need to talk to somone you can do it within the confines of the house instead of a) making a big public scene or b) holding it in because you don't want to make a big public scene.