I think it is much easier to fall down than to build up. It's so hard to build up (especially with sororities I think) because the preconceived notions of a group are so ingrained in everyone's mind. Often you have many generations of family members going to the same university and there is so much pressure to be an XYZ or an ABC because those have always been the "good" houses. In the end it all comes down to perception and even if a sorority winds a million awards it takes something very drastic to see the image of the house as changed. This is from my observation anyway...