[PKTSU01]

Hey man, this all sounds too familiar.
I was one of the original founders of the NYT chapter of PKT at Syracuse. We started, oddly enough, as 14 guys who wanted something different. Well, that was in '99 and two years later, we have a chancellor's cup for best fraternity on campus as well as 2 consecutive homecoming kings and homecoming week 1st place finishes.

I've since graduated and am doing my thing here in NYC, but I do have some advice on the colony thing. First, be REALISTIC about numbers. Do ya need 20 pledges? No. Will 20 hurt you? Hell no. While quality is important, you need to be competitive in number to stand a chance of growth and expansion. Second, keep up spirits and keep kicking ass on campus. If you are constantly beating everyone at their own game, there is NO WAY they can avoid the existence of the group. Even if they don't like ya, they have to respect the hardcore effort. Meet guys everywhere, and i mean everywhere. You have the luxury of not having to worry about dirty rush because you aren'ta full fledged chapter yet, so meet people in as many places as you can. Rush leadership, because that is what is going to keep the group strong after the initial drive of the founding fathers is gone. Trust me on this one, its from first hand experience. And finally, be straight up. I know that greek system is image and rep oriented. And anyone who says otherwise is nieve, a dreamer, or full of it. The key to succeeding, especially with a new group, is to stay true to the beliefs that made your group come about in the first place. In doing that, you'll attract quality, and the increased positive attention will create the rep that will allow for bigger and better rush numbers. We started out at 14 and a year later we were at 52. While SU is bigger in number than your campus, the same attitude will work anywhere.

Get potential members to believe in you and what you are trying to accomplish by being HONEST, and there's no way you won't make it really.

Good luck,
ITB