New colonies?
 

I'm a very recent alumnae from the East Coast and I just recently moved out to the West coast where there's only a few chapters.

First, why are there so few of us out here? How difficult would it be establishing colonies out here? I imagine it's probably a strenuous process, but I want to remained involved in DPhiE.

Im not sure why we have so few chapters on the west coast. but being a west coaster myself I would love to see more chapters out here - especially in washington and oregon.

We used to have chapters at UCLA, USC, and Berkeley, but they are inactive. A former International President was from Beverly Hills, CA. I'm sure that there are alumnae living on the West Coast. I checked the Alumnae Association section of the International website and see that there is a California AA chapter. If that doesn't help, maybe you can start an AA in your area if you are feeling particularly industrious. You can always contact Headquarters for info. Good luck! :)

There is a chapter in California at Humboldt State. I don't know how close that is to you. Depending on your interests, you may be able to volunteer in region 3 (CA/Western Canada).

I'm in the Seattle area, so there really isn't anywhere to volunteer around here. The UBC chapter is kind of far.

I would love to see a DPhiE chapter at the University of Washington.. they have such an amazing greek system there.

I know one of the ways to form a new colony is that a group of girls, such as those in a local sorority, ask nationals to join, but what about the other way around? Can nationals ask a school if they can create a new chapter? I am just curious as I know Delta Zeta just established a colony at UF.

I totally agree :). And it's close to UBC (with the current closest chapter to us being 2 days away, 3 hours seems like such a treat!)

No our National organization can't colonize without the "proper authority" ie campus request or panhellenic request.

Check out www.npcwomen.org, I believe that is the correct website for NPC, they have the rules of expansion on there.

Just because you can't work with a chapter doesn't mean you can't volunteer!! There are plenty of positions that involve day to day stuff that HQ needs people for. You know like writing for the Triad etc. Don't let the fact that there isn't a chapter around stop you!!!

DPhiEAngel--

Unfortunately, no NPC sororities can seek out schools to colonize at. In most situations, a campus decides to expand their greek system and undergoes the expansion process. Whether there's an interest group on campus or if the sorority will start from the ground up, the campus decides to expand.

For instance, at USI in Indiana, we have a colony that started from the ground up. We went in, did presentation, were chosen by the campus to colonize, and did our recruitment for our core group. Then, we COB for women.

At Texas A & M Kingsville, an interest group seems to already exist, and they will start as the core group.

I hope this makes sense to you. As fire said, there are lots of opportunities to volunteer without working with collegiates directly. I encourage you to contact HQs or the Director of Volunteer Services for volunteer opportunities.

TAMU-K
 

I actually talked to the girls at Texas A&M- Kingsville just yesterday. They are still fundraising a ton and getting ready for the upcoming colonization! They are all very excited :)

edited to include: formal recruitment on tamu-k begins sept. 15

Re: New colonies?
 

You're singing my song - I normally live in Los Angeles, and I felt very alienated from the whole sorority thing becasue there are no chapters in Southern CA at all.

I wish there were local L.A. chapters, it's really hard to be living so far away from it all.

I encourage any of you on the west coast to start your own alumnae association. Expansion can't happen without alumnae support in the area where you want to go. We had this problem with Indiana...no alums. It's SO much easier if alumnae are in the area. I encourage you to start your alumnae association with the intent of meeting with other D Phi Es. If the alumnae support is there, HQs may choose a colonization on the west coast.

How would I go about starting an alumnae assocation? I'm sure there are quite a few DPhiE's in the Seattle area.

Thanks for all your help!

I'm doing that right now in the D.C. area - the first thing you need to do is go to:

http://www.dphie.org/alumnae/alumnae.htm

and get the paperwork, and a list of alumnae in your area. Then you can contact the local alumnae to see if there's any interest, and take it from there.

I'm quite excited as I found a handful of alumnae in my area who are interested, and it looks like we're moving forward.

Alumnae Associations are probably your best bet (start your own!). I think DPhiE would be more likely to start a new group in an area that had a lot of volunteer support to help them out.

Iris