help
 

My school is in the Big 10 and has a relatively large greek system.. about 13 sororities... about 4 years ago the chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta closed it's doors... my mom was an alpha gam and I am really interested in following in her footsteps.. what are some steps i could take to bring the chapter back to my school? i assume i'd have to talk to the nationals...

Do the sororities on campus regularly take quota and stay at total? If not, it will be a while before any new sorority comes to the campus. But since you're at a big 10 school..I'm going to kind of assume they do...

2 things could happen:
1. Your school's panhellenic decides to open for expansion, and contacts AGD.
2. You and 60 of your closest friends begin an interest group with the idea of bringing AGD to campus.

Ask your mom to contact AGD's expansion director. That is probably your best bet. Good Luck!

p.s. this is very rudimentary, hopefully some of the other helpful Greeks on this board will think of things I missed!

at my school, every house but one is at campus quota and they generally stay that way too...

It sounds like the houses are pretty full right now. Do you know how many women do not get placed during formal recruitment? If the number is around half of campus total, that may indicate that opening the campus to another organization is beneficial.

Talk to Alpha Gamma Delta to see if they would even be interested in colonizing on your campus. If they say yes, you need to talk to the Greek Life Advisor and the president of the college Panhellenic Association. Tell them that you want to bring another NPC group to campus, specifically AGD. The college Panhellenic is responsible for approving the addition. If they do not approve it, there will not be expansion. In that case, gather together interested women and become a registered student organization. Grow the organization and next year, approach Panhellenic with the same request.

Your Greek Life director will have the exact process required by the NPC for expansion. What I've written above is an extremely condensed version.

You don't mention what school you attend, but you are correct -- you would need to start by contacting the Alpha Gamma Headquarters. (Information is on the website at www.alphagammadelta.org)

There are many reasons why a chapter that is resolved does not reopen. It may be housing--a chapter has to be able to have quarters (whether a lodge, suite, or full-fledged residence) comparable to the other NPC groups on the campus. It may be the Greek system at that school. It may also be the alumnae -- in some college towns there just aren't enough alumnae to do the work, or they got burned out during the chapter's decline.

Neither AGD nor its sister NPC groups charters chapters lightly, nor do they close chapters unless they've done all they can to keep them open.

That said, how wonderful that you'd like to plant new red and buff roses on your campus! (The AGD flower.) I hope your efforts are successful. But if they aren't--why not go through rush and pledge? I'd rather have a woman have the benefit of Greek life than hold out for any one NPC group and never pledge.

Hey-
I don't know what big ten school you are at but I actually work at U of M where there is a AGD chapter that had to recolonize this year after a lot of problems with recruitment. I think you should talk to AGD IHQ and also to your office of greek affairs. Find out if the charter was pulled or if they just went under. Recolonizing is actually much easier that starting a new one and the University will probably be a lot more accepting of AGD comming back to the campus. As for housing, it helps but you don't have to have a house to be recognized, I know at UofM AZD doesn't have a house and they do well! Just keep on trying, AGD needs their old chapters back!!

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Katey, ZA chapter of AGD
"Could I have been anyone other than me?"-Dave Matthews