Sororities at a new University
 

Hi everyone,

I am going to a new university in Germany (International University Bremen), that just opened last year. We are still missing loads of things here on campus, and i was wondering if anyone could tell me a generalized site on the running/setup of sororities. I feel that my University needs something of the kind, and i was just wondering if anybody could help me out on this with suggestions, etc...

i would really appreciate it....:)

You would need to contact the National Panhellenic Council (NPC at www.npcwomen.org) about the possibility of starting a colony at a European school. Some sororities are "international", but this usually means they have chapters in Canada (there may be some Nationals that have chapters in Europe).

You do not always have to start a chapter with the intent of going National....you could alway start a local. I don't know of any established sites that detail the process, with the exception of this one! Seriously--read some of the older threads following locals and new colonizations, and don't be afraid to ask questions!

Good luck, and let us know what happens!

It can be tricky doing ANY kind of business oversees... Founding a GLO included. You run into things like conversion of currency, different laws for incorporating, taxes and the whole bit. I'd be willing to bet that most GLO's aren't too keen on going to the extra expense of funding such endeavors.

However it may be different if the University is considered US Territory like the American University of Paris is...

It's worth looking into.. Good luck.

You are in LUCK!!
 

I know for a fact that Sigma Sigma Sigma has installed the first European collegiate chapter at the University of Maryland, Mannheim, Germany:
http://www.geocities.com/amanda_sigma/etamu.html

You should PM TriSigmaTX...she is awesome and so knowledgeable about all things Tri Sigma!!

Thank You
 

Thank you so much...

i'll check out all of that...suggestions are still welcome though at all times...

i'll give you an update on all the things that happen here.:)

Yes, but isn't that Tri Sigma chapter in Germany located on a US military base? AS ktsnake points out, that is considered a US territory.

Funny this topic came up. As some of you may have picked up, I am currently living in England studying at the University of Bristol. In general, there is a huge drinking culture here as far as university students go. Now, hehehe...I know that many of you would be like, "woo hoo!! party!!", but there are students who feel out of place when nearly *every* society on campus has mega drinking socials.

How obnoxious is it? I visited the website of another university's archery team (I'm an archer myself) and THEY have an event where they do archery and have drinking games...at the same time!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: (Hello? can we say dangerous??)

Anyway, What if you don't like to drink? What if you don't like to go clubbing? What if you still want to make friends and have a good time? Well, you'll feel out of place because it's the "thing to do".

I thought about the situation a bit and thought I'd rather start a new society on campus and make sure that it's not meant to be a binge drinking free-for-all. I wondered if a sorority would be an idea to consider. The problem is that the university has policies forbidding discrimination. As you all are aware, so does the US; but, fraternities and sororities were exempted from that when the law was passed in the 70s. This isn't America - so, even if a sorority was started here, I don't think we could get university recognition because of the gender discrimination factor.

Of course, being an American, there are classmates who are curious about my culture and background. To my surprise, they think that the American university system has some excellent points. I think that a sorority might be able to do well here... and we might look into starting one.

So hey, tannedcandycane, PM me if you want to start a new international sorority!! :) :)

.....Kelly :)

I think somewhere over in Cool Sites (I'm not going to go look) there is a link to a German fraternity... I've seen a webpage for one once. They looked like an American GLO but no Greek Letters or anything like that... So maybe you have a shot.

there are NPC groups who have alumnae chapters overseas..I think Delta Gamma has an alumnae chapter in London and we were fixing to install one in the Netherlands.

But there are lots of "societies" on european campuses which is basically like a fraternity...think of the halls/houses like they have at Harvard and it's basically the same thing. It's not greek in the sense of having greek letters and greek principles...they're actually more feudal with coats of arms and such.

A few points:

1.) They do have fraternal societies in Germany, but they call them "Student Corporations", not fraternities. They are not Greek Letter in name, but they do do stuff like dueling (yup, with swords). I actually visited a "fraternity house" in Heidelberg...that corporation (i.e. fraternity) was called Vineta.

There used to be a dude on GC called Matthew who was into this topic...if you do a search, you will find some of his old posts.

2.) You don't really need to have university recognition ...Canadian Greeks have been operating without recognition from their universities for years. They know that we exist, but they just sort of turn a blind eye to the whole thing.

Corportion means differnt in German. Its okay to call them fraternities