Perception of sororities nationally
 

The other night I was reading a couple of different threads and ended up on the old Why is Rush So Cut-throat on the Sororities' End at Large Greek Schools? Very interesting thread. What struck me was the ranking of the sororities by tiers at UTexas which was shared in this comment.

As someone who went to a Big Ten school, the entire southern sorority thing is completely foreign to me. I mean I understand it and I don't understand it. But what was so interesting to me is that these girls are DYING to get into a top tier sorority and if you had given me six guesses, I would NEVER have guessed that Pi Beta Phi would have been THE top group. I mean no disrespect to the Pi Phis here. I know it is an excellent organization. It just never would have occurred to me that it would be the most sought after sorority at Texas. Most of the rest of the list I would have easily guessed, although not in the correct order.

Just an observation that our perception of sororities can vary so much based on our collegiate experience, alumna experience and geography. :)

You may get flamed for mentioning Pi Phi directly, but I agree with your thought. I know so many people who think that the reputation of a group on their campus is representative of the sorority as a whole which is often far from the truth.

I would think that this would have lessened somewhat with the internet.

When I was in school I had NO idea of the biggest groups on my campus was one of the smallest nationally, as they were so prominent on campus and in my state in general. Nowadays, I can go online and see exactly who has how many chapters. I can see which chapters have the pretty girls and which have the not as pretty girls.

Then again, you really can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear online.

Well, I wasn't trying to be inflammatory and tried to word it carefully. :)

Maybe this would explain it better... If I met a woman and she told me she was a Pi Phi at Texas I would think... Nice organization, never met a Pi Phi I didn't like, and competitive Greek school. I wouldn't have thought "transcendent epitome of sorority membership in the state of Texas" like many women would who are more acquainted with the various reputations of schools in the south.

Again, so much of our thinking is shaped by our experiences and location. That's just the point I was trying to make. :)

And when I joined Tri Delta, it was not a top group on my campus. I went through informal rush and loved the girls there. That's why I joined. I had no real grasp of its strength nationally until I went to our Centennial Convention. (Yes, I'm dating myself.) But I came from a total non-Greek background so I knew very little other than I loved my sorority on my campus. The excellent national reputation was just an unexpected bonus.

I've heard advisors on campus tell people not to put which social sorority they were in on their resume/applications for things, just to put "social sorority president", because the person reading your application may think "she was an XYZ? they were *insert stereotype* at my school." and it could affect your chances for things, sad as that is.

Couldn't agree more.

This post is really, really bothering me and I am not exactly sure how to articulate this well so I hope this makes sense. My own opinion is that national reputations do not matter when it comes to a chapters campus status. What matters most is what the campus perception of that sorority is. So lets turn the table on what you just said about Pi Phi (who are really strong at Auburn by the way). Because a sorority has a great national reputation (I assume you mean well known) should that mean that girls at every campus should be eager to get in? It doesn't work that way. Every national has weak chapters, some would be considered bottom tier, somewhere in the nation. So before you judge the Pi Phi's, just know that on some campus somewhere your org. is bottom tier and struggling with membership and reputation.

I don't think she ever said that wasn't true (that national reps have nothing to do w/ campus status) and I don't think she was "judging" the Pi Phis. And I don't think she said every Tri Delt chapter is awesome everywhere.

What I think she meant is....put it this way, if you described my chapter to someone at Truman State, or Truman State's ASA chapter to someone at my school, they would look at you, head askance, and say, "You ARE talking about Alpha Sigma Alpha...the ones in red and white...right?"

It's not a matter of "better" or "worse", just DIFFERENT.

Face it, if there was such a thing as "best sorority nationally" there would be a sorority with NO closed chapters. That sorority doesn't exist.

I agree with this.

However, (based on what I've seen on GreekChat) there are definitely some alums still obsessed with tiers and being elite.

What was that line from Animal Farm again? "But some are more equal than others." yeah, that was it. :rolleyes:

From a nonprofit organization standpoint, would anyone argue for or against some NPCs being "run better" than others?

Or more specifically, in private conversations, have you ever heard advisors or other alumnae comparing notes on operations and observing that some people believe one org fuctions at a level higher than another?

Note: I am not asking if anyone has done this themselves, but if they've overheard such conversations. :)

I agree that NPCs all have great reputations nationally. I think that NPHC organizations also have great reputations.

I wouldn't know about some organizations being "run better" but I would imagine a lot of that would have to do with how active and involved the alumnae are, how willing collegiate chapters are to follow policies, and a whole myriad of other factors.

I think the only difference is the "larger" NPCs typically have more resources to draw from - people and donations/money-wise. I don't think that necessarily equates to them being run better, though.

I don't think this is what the OP was saying. I think her comments were actually more along the line of yours. I thought she was saying that, the opinion of NPC group is somehow affected by the campus they are on more than their national reputation.

And I agree that all NPC groups are strong - heck that is one of the benefits of the NPC. This organization gives all of us strength, common goals, etc. But I think it is also fact that some groups are larger(as someone said earlier- more resources like alumna and money) than others and this can contribute to a strong national reputation.