Southern?
 

On the Greek Life board there is a lot of discussion on which sororities are considered more "Southern." AOII is frequently mentioned as one of them. We were founded in NYC so this seems strange to me. Do we have more chapters in the south, perhaps? For some reason I always thought we were heavy in the north. Anyways, I was wondering if you all thought of AOII as "southern." (?)
(Also, if anyone knows of a website where it lists how our chapters are dispersed around the US, that'd be great!)

I think that one reason we might be considered Southern is that IHQ is in TN. I also cut the list from our website (www.alphaomicronpi.org) into an excel spreadsheet and deleted the states that are not considered Southern and out of 101 chapters listed there are 49 in Southern states. . . . . I think that percentage is also because sorority life in general in the south is bigger than up here in the north. . . . Just my thoughts at 6am on a Sundaymorning ;)

Roses!

Sarah

I don't think of us being a "Southern" sorority, in terms of founding. Even so, our 2nd and 3rd chapters were established in southern states (LA and TN). Like Sarah said, we've got a huge Southern presence these days. From the international website, it looks like the 3 states with the highest number of chapters (and I believe all of these are active chapters) are Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. Here's the breakdown

Alabama--8 chapters
Arkansas--1 chapter
Florida--5 chapters
Georgia--4 chapters
Kentucky--6 chapters
Louisiana--4 chapters
Maryland--3 chapters (although I never think of Maryland as South, apparently it's classified as "Southern")
Mississippi--1 chapter
North Carolina--3 chapters
South Carolina--0
Tennessee--7 chapters
Virginia--1 chapter

That's 43 chapters in 12 southern states. Since Sarah got 49 chapters in the south, I'm sure I'm missing a state or two in there somehow :).

In the north, we've got 5 Canadian chapters (in Alberta, Ontario, 3 Quebec), 4 in NY State, 4 in Pennsylvania, and 1 in Maine.

Kind of interesting, isn't it?

Roses,
Christin

I think one reason that y'all might be considered Southern is the strength of some of your chapters in very strong Greek schools!

The UGa chapter is often said to be the strongest sorority on campus, according to many who like to rate Greeks. I have heard the same said about the Birmingham Southern chapter. Auburn's chapter is definitely top-tier there and I'm pretty sure the one at UTK is too.

I think I included Oklahoma and Missouri as Southern States. . . To some extent it all depends on where you live as to where North and South are. :) Same with Midwest. . . (I don't consider Missouri, Kansas, etc to be Midwest). Oh well, it's all perspective. :)


Sarah

I don't really consider AOII southern, but I guess if you look at the perspective of headquarters being in Tennessee *yay* :) then I can understand why some people would say that. Although, I don't consider Maryland souther. My old roommate and I got into a discussion about that---it's only considered south b/c it's below the Mason Dixon or something like that line--maybe it's Mason Dixie. I dunno.

I'm not an AOPi (a legacy though! that counts a little...) but I think one of the reasons that they say y'all are a 'southern' sorority is because of the stronghold of the South Eastern Conference chapters. I'm an Alpha Gam and I know our chapter along with the AOPi chapter at Auburn are huge. Chi Omega is also grouped into the southern strong group. Its funny how all of these sororities are usually found together on the same campus.

my wonderful ex-roommate/best friend went AOPi when we rushed together - lots of love for y'all from AGD :)

Actually C, it's Alberta, Quebec, and 3 in Ontario ;)

Some of the above posts are correct - we have some terrific chapters at very strong greek campuses in the South. If you look mapwise, we are a bit more sparse in the north from Idaho to Illinois. And my hubby wonders why I come home with a wee bit of an Southern accent from LI or Convention!

Roses,
Shala
(a proud AOII Canuck)

My apologies! At least we know that we ARE International! :D


I definitely agree with MereMere's post, we do seem to have quite a strong showing at every SEC school that has an active AOII chapter. I know we used to have a chapter at LSU, have we ever had one at Arkansas or South Carolina?

BTW== the schools in the SEC are:

Florida (Gamma Omicron)
Georgia (Lambda Sigma)
Auburn (Delta Delta)
Alabama (Alpha Delta)
LSU (Alpha Omicron--closed)
Arkansas
Mississippi (Nu Beta)
Mississippi State
South Carolina
Tennessee (Omicron)
Vanderbilt (Nu Omicron)
and
KENTUCKY!! (Kappa Omega)

As far as AOII having a "southern" flavor, I think you also have to look at the alumnae base in the southern states. I can't speak for all of the southern states but I know that there are approximately 1200 AOII alumnae living in the Middle Tennessee area alone. That may explain why headquarters ultimately made its way to the Nashville area. :) I can remember helping out at headquarters when it was a little cottage-like building in Green Hills. I think there is now an ATM machine where the old building used to be. Boy has AOII come a long way in the last 20 years!! All of us AOIIs from coast to coast and from Canada to the US have a lot to be proud of!!

Wow, if there are that many alum in that area I should feel right at home again! *haha* I'm originally from the Johnson City area, but out here in Colorado there isn't that many ladies that are alum. :(