Tri-Delt expansion possibility at UCR
 

Hey everyone,

I just thought I'd throw this out and get some opinions. Some ladies on campus are interested in expanding Tri-Delt onto UC Riverside's campus. I work for the office of Student Life, which is basically in charge of our Greek affairs, and my boss, the "Greek Advisor" (not his actual title, but he assumes the role) has asked me to look into whether Panhellenic is interested in allowing Tri-Delt onto campus.

I was not at the last Panhellenic meeting where the chapters and officers were to give their votes on whether or not to support Tri-Delt into expanding, but my chapter's PH delegate filled me in. She said all 6 NPC chapters voted no, and the reasons given were as follows:
1) we're supposed to invite Theta back to campus first (not sure if this is true- they're the only chapter that's lost a charter at UCR since Greek life began in 1975).
2) not all houses are at total (total is 70- 5 houses are over and the other is very close at 55-60).
3) The PH officers believe that another chapter will decrease numbers for everyone else.

I, as an employee who deals with Greek life and as a member of an NPC sorority on campus, do not feel that these reasons are legitimate to disallow Tri-Delt from expanding. Adding them to our currently small, yet increasingly stronger Greek system would be a huge help in getting Greek life more appreciated and recognized by the administration and would allow numbers to go up more, as well as promoting Greek unity.

For all of you moderators, advisors, and alums out there who know a lot about expansion (and pretty much everything else!): Are there any NPC rules that stipulate whether or not those reasons are valid/invalid in allowing Tri-Delt to expand onto campus? Are there any resolutions to the NPC greenbook that would make those reasons valid (we can't find anything in our greenbook, standing rules, or bylaws that states we have to have all chapters at total, allow another chapter to come back, etc)?

Please let me know what you all think. I'm personally unhappy because my chapter did not discuss our chapter vote at meeting, yet somehow it ended up as a no- which I disagree with wholeheartedly. I would love to take any information back to my boss also so that we may discuss this with the ladies interested in Tri-Delt.

Thanks! :D

i dont know anything regarding NPC rules, but i just wanted to say HEY to a fellow UCR greek!!!!

GOOD LUCK!

PrettyPoodle6
Sigma Gamma Rho - Xi Rho chapter
UCR, Spring 96

As far as inviting Theta back first, I don't think you HAVE to, but it is a nice gesture to all the Theta alumnae from the school.

Whether this vote is a "good" one I really couldn't say without looking at rush figures, retention figures, projected enrollment etc from past years. What I DO know is that this should have been discussed with the whole chapter, and been the chapter's opinion, not just the Panhel delegate's opinion.

If the situation with Theta is how you described, you probably DO need to invite Theta back to campus first -- as we all know, Greek alumn are more likely to donate than non-Greek alumn, and there are no Tri-Delt alumna to irritate over this issue yet, anyway.

That said, I do think it sounds like you guys should extend an invitation to Theta. If they decline -- or possibly at the same time -- Delta should get an invitation, as well.

UCR would be lucky to get either group of you girls.

If the chapters voted not to expand then that is the decision that stands. Their rational seems to be there. I have seen expansion voted down for a lot less!!!

Also a lot of time small local interest groups spring up and assume they can become a chapter of XYZ national group. However, Riverside could vote to expand and invite DDD on but in reality DDD has no desire to expand onto Riverside at this time (unless you or the local have talked to DDD national already)

Hey,

I would think you would have to invite Theta back first (at least for respect). And I can't remember what you wrote, but I think you said 6 out of 6 sororities voted no.. So, you have to respect the vote. Even if your sorority would decide to vote No, the majority would still be not to have another house come on campus. Also, wouldn't it be better if every sorority was at total before bringing in another chapter (they would be taking away numbers from the underdog, not to mention other chapters that are already at total - for next year).

The communication between the chapter and your panhellenic rep may need some help.. Usually, the vote for another chapter to come on campus is a pretty important topic. So, I would think your rep would have forwarded the information to your chapter.. You might want to have a word with her.

Maybe it'd be a good idea to work up some information on expansion. I think most sororities (unless their member are on GC!) don't realize it can be a GOOD thing.

Work up the information, pass it out to the sororities. THEN have another meeting.

Thanks everyone for your responses! My boss has been discussing this issue with the appropriate people (Panhellenic, our local alumnae, faculty, etc) and we haven't really come up with anything yet. I do agree with everyone who says we should invite Theta back for purposes of being respectful to their organization- they were one of 3 orgs that founded the sorority portion of our Greek system in the 70s (Gamma Phi and Kappa were the other 2 and we're still strong!).

Also, for those of you who were concerned about our PH delegate not discussing her vote with the chapter beforehand: I spoke with her privately and she apologized. She's going to mention it at our next executive meeting and we'll discuss it then. I'm sure our chapter would have voted no anyways, but still- it should have been discussed as a chapter.

Thanks again for your help!

I know I'm just a frat guy with no standing to discuss this issue, but
what I observed during my days as an undergrad is that PH will come up
with numbers to justify the position that, given a campus with a
female undergrad population of X, and the desire to keep quota at Y,
they can only have Z number of NPC sororities, and Z always equals the
number that currently exist. But no one will ever openly discuss the
math behind this. The only way you are going to win is if you
challenge these assumptions.

My alma mater is Cal Poly (the one in Pomona not SLO). They had four
NPC sororities charter in the early 80's, and in the 20 years since PH
has not let a single one join them. The result has been a fertile
ground for the asian and chicana sororties to take root. My personal
opinion is that PH orgs don't know jack about how to market sorority
membership and as a result take a "protectionist" attitude, and hurt
themselves in the process.

Yeah, as APhigal said, if the Panhellenic votes no, then you're pretty much stuck with their vote. If you're interested in getting them to change their minds, you should try to gather concrete evidence of expansions on other campuses and how they positively impacted the numbers. This way, they'll have some facts to take back to their chapters. For all they know, this group may come in and take all their NMs, and that wouldn't be good (this could be what they're thinking, is what I mean!).

Good luck!