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I can only respond the what Ryan said about Southeastern chapters. I haven't had much experience outside of the Southeast, but Lambda Chi is deffinately strong here in the "South." However, the Southeast is still an area where traditions and history don't seem to die. Many of these "strong" chapters have serious issues with hazing, etc. Also while the alumni base for most chapters in the "South" is strong, they also bring with them their rememberances of the fraternity and how it should work.
I can provide one example. While working to rebuild Epsilon Mu, over a period of about 10 years, the chapter went from about 120 down to 13 men. By the time I joined we were at 33. A few semesters later I was at our Annual Housing Corp. meeting as the Rho. We had just assosciated 14 men, which was the largest class in about 4 years. The alumni however were still not impressed. They wanted us to assosciate 60 men every semester and then get rid of about 50% during the semester. This is a technique used by many of the larger houses at UF, and it was "how they did it in the 60's, 70's, and 80's."
These preconception of how a fraternity should be run and what events should happen during the semester are no longer in line with Lambda Chi's beliefs, but they are often followed in the Southeast.
If Lambda Chi wants to seriously change the Southeastern chapters for the better, the ELC program needs a serious overhall. Chapters need to be able to trust their ELCs almost like an Attorney-Client relationship. The ELC should be both an advisor and an advocate for the chapter.
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