Quote:
Originally posted by Zillini
I'm not sure when the last expansion occurred at Bama because it was prior to my moving here, so sometime prior to 1994. They were given/leased/purchased (don't know the specifics) the house of a closed GLO on Sorority Row.
The "new" Chapter is strong now (numbers wise) and have always had a close-knit siterhood, but it certainly struggled in those early years and still does to some extent. Their numbers aren't even close to the size of the other Chapters on campus. They gain the majority of their members through open Recruitment, not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just that practically every other Chapter routinely reaches quota during FR and they rarely, if ever, do.
A lot of the problem is the mindset of incoming PNMs onto a campus with such a strong Greek history and traditions. Many come in saying I want to be an ABC or nothing. They also don't wish to belong to the least "popular" Chapter. They'd rather be GDI or try again the following year. (Don't shoot the messenger here, I'm only reporting what I hear and see.)
Many people believe that it's unfair to have all but one Chapter at or above total while that one struggles with numbers. The competition is fierce for good girls. There are also financial considerations because obviously more members means more money coming in that can be spent on improving the physical house and doing fun activities. Which also makes them more attractive to PNMs.
That is why the current thought process of the Admin is that if we expand again it should be by 2 GLOs. Thus no one Chapter is the "low man on the totem pole".
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I think the idea of two expansions is actually really good if those groups would then be able to avoid the stigma of being new - otherwise there might just be two groups being stigmatized. Would there be housing for them? I know the housing situation is going to be changing (or maybe has already changed) due to the stadium reconstruction/expansion.