getting charter back
 

Hey all you fellow greeks,

I was initiated as a brother of an underground frat at a school here in the northeast. I wasnt told we were underground until halfway through pledging so i stuck with it. Now, one year later, my frat is totally disbanded...no house, no pledges, nothing...just an intramural team. I want to get the ball rolling again and get the charter back, but we were kicked off for pretty serious violations back in 04. I tried talking to older bros about what we can do, but they are all upperclassman and dont really care becuase they are graduating soon. What are some things I can do to keep the frat running, and get the charter back asap. Im working for a government official/professor at my school. Could that be of any help?

Was it "underground" because it was not recognized by the school? When you were initiated was the chapter chartered and recognized by an (Inter)National HQ or is it a local fraternity? I would think that if it was a local that you would need to start from the ground up, following the guidelines of your school for creating a new GLO. If it was a national group then you would need to contact them directly for guidance. However, if the group was not recognized by the GLO when you were initiated then they would likely not consider you a brother.

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We were a recognized chapter until '04...i was the first pledge class underground. Since at my school you need to be nationally recognized to be recognized by the school, we lost both recognitions at once. We are able to become recognized by the school again, and if we get back with the school we can get back with nationals from what i understand. We dont know how we can get back with the school, if we arent legally allowed to use our frat name.

You should create a social orginization on campus to act as an interest group for the fraternity. The new group does not have to be a fraternity to be an interest group for the fraternity. That way you would only need to meet the same school requirements as any other social group on campus. The groups mission statement can still say that you intend to actively pursue affiliation with the GLO. You should contact the fraternity to inquire about requirments for expansion. Many fraternities will have basic info on their websites. Also, if your school has an IFC, you should see if they have any guidelines or restrictions regarding fraternity expansion.

I was possibly thinking of starting a NGL local frat to act as the interest group. The only problem is my frat doesnt have an expansion page on their national website. They have a new program which gets rid of pledging. If we were to continue underground, what would be the best way of recruiting members without drawing attention to ourselves. Maybe "secret society" style is the way to go.

Step 1 is to find out if you are officially on the roll books of the fraternity. I would suggest you call the headquarters and find out if you do not already know. If you were part of an underground pledge class, I suspect you are not an official member. That sucks if you are not since you did all the work- but at least find out for sure if you have not already (if you were not given a badgen within a few months after initiation with your roll number on it, you are probably not a member.)

Step 2 is to take a long hard look at the new policy that eliminates the pledge period. Read it over carefully and make sure you really get the details. Many, if not most, fraternities are moving to some version of the "Balanced Man" type approach that Lambda Chi and Sig Ep originated, but I am not aware of any major GLO that has completely eliminated the pledge period.

From there see what you think.

If you are a recognized initiate of your fraternity, then you are not going to be able to start a new local or join an existing local to get that group geared up to join with your fraternity. Granted you can probably get initiated into a local if you want since those groups are not formally bound to reciprocity rules that the major national fraternities honor, but your national fraternity would not approve of you doing that and could very well pull your pin. They certainly would not be interested in having you as a colony founder if you go this route.

However, if you are not a recognized initiate of your fraternity, then you have a lot more freedom to join a local and attempt to get it recognized as a chapter of the organization you thought you joined last year.

Now for a reality check if I may. I am not trying to discourage you here- but just let you know what is going on in the Greek world these days when it comes to expansion.

Many national fraternities are pushing their "balanced man" type initiatives and requiring that of all new chapters- and in most cases of existing chapters as well.

Because this is all fairly new, these initiatives are controversial at best among most existing chapters- some for, some against- and even alumni.

In recognition of this, some fraternities are letting go of chapters they are not happy with- letting them die without trying to turn them around, closing them when something bad happens etc.

And then they wait a couple of years and spend a lot of money to send in a leadership team to do a massive recruitment of up to 40 guys, put them through a 100% positive pledging period and initiate them within a matter of weeks. If there happen to be any guys remaining at school from the old chapter, they will have alumni status but are generally cordially invited to NOT be part of the recolonization process. The thinking is that anyone with the old chapter is part of a problem that national is trying to eliminate by starting from scratch.

How well this works remains to be seen. I think it will take another 10 years before we know for sure.

But for now, most fraternity HQs feel this has been a far more successful way to build the image they want as compared to the old way of trying to change existing attitudes at difficult chapters or absorbing local fraternities with existing members and their own history of "how things are done".

Simply put- like it or not you are going to have to get on board with whatever program your fraternity (meaning the one you may have been initiated into) is offering for expansion if you want to even have a chance of getting this off the ground.

As for a secret society or something like that- entirely up to you. But consider what kind of people you are going to be able to recruit into an organization that has no heritage, no financial or ritual support, or any immediate or long term promise of being a vital social organization with parties and the like.

If you create a secret society just so you can have the right to haze, then you are going to find people who are interested in hazing but don't necessarily care about being part of an organization that can advance them as men- be it having a kickass party or being in a place that offers chances to do charity work and find jobs through an alumni network.

Personally, I think the way some of the "balanced man" agendas and requirements are structured are not all that great. But they are there for a reason and like them or not, you will have to deal with them if you hope to recolonize your fraternity.

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you want and let me know the name of the organization. If it happens to be mine I will ask around for you to see what is going on- or I can pass you to someone else who can help you confidentially with specifics.

Great information EE-BO.

I'm going to play devil's advocate for a moment... EE-BO makes some excellent points. However, depending on your campus and its policies regarding forming student organizations, you may encounter some difficulties in creating a fraternity/secret society, or an interest group with the purpose of joining up with an existing chapter or a recolonizing chapter. Some campuses may have a particular process for creating new student groups, especially fraternal organizations. If you are planning to be a single-sex group, there may be even more requirements and restrictions.

I highly advise you have a deep conversation with the Greek Life/Student Orgs professional staff at your campus. Find out what the requirements are, what you can do to expedite the process, what kind of resources are available and what kind of resources are necessary, but not available. Better to find out if it's possible and worth your time before getting too involved in the process.

I think I may know what school you're at. You would also need to check with the school to see if there's a time limit to when you can return. When my friend's fraternity lost their charter at his school, the university said that they could not attempt to re-colonize for 5 years, thereby making sure that by the time any potential recolonization occured, all of the original members of the fraternity would not be in it any more.

EE-BO made some excellent points to be sure.

But, as an undergraound Member of a Non existant GLO, you will not be listed in their rolls as a member unless they are sanctioned by the GLO.

You and the other members of the group are just that, a group of people.

As was said, the amount of time that the Fraternity has been gone and for what reason has a lot to do with it.

This also includes two intities, the College and the National.

You will need the sanction of both.

I do disagree with going to going to the College first and seeing if they will accept the GLO back without acknowledgement from the GLO first. They can be of great advantage for you to promote the name and help of said GLO to The college. National base backing is the most important premis. They can give much aid when and if they decide to go/come back to your campus.

Let us know, We all want to see fellolw Greeks Back on a Campus!

We were able to return to campus last semester. Since we dont have our national charter though, I dont how that can happen. Guys, thanks for the input here...this is an issue that has been stressing me for last year.:confused:

I'd still suggest forming a recognized social group consisting of like minded men to form an interest group. Then contact the fraternity to inquire about expansion procedures/interest. If there's nothing explicit on the website there should at very least be an email for general info/questions, start there.

Good Luck!

If you don't have a national charter, you're not a member of that fraternity that closed. So ---You were initiated into a campus-recognized local. You're free to join another fraternity or keep going with your local or start up an interest group to bring the national fraternity (or another nat'l) to campus.

Personally, I think it is a hell of a lot easier to rush and join an existing fraternity. In 5 years, no one will give a darn that you worked your tail off for a GLO. A service group or Student Gov't is more presentable on a resume and looks much better. Enjoy your fraternity experience, but don't kill yourself over it (figuratively speaking of course).

Which school would have a lot to do with it, and which fraternity. Most fraternities are hesitant to restart with old members, but there are exceptions.