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Sounds good, but I think you left out one major factor....ALUMNI INVOLVEMENT.
Somehow, when our chapter went thru its hard times, we never received
any of the above from HQ. Chapter consultants dropped by once a year,
did their thing, and left. I think perhaps the chapter was put on
Financial Probation just before I joined...I remember at my first chapter
meeting the Alpha saying "we gotta pay this debt off, or else!!!" He
was probably motivated by sanctions from HQ, and/or from the college
admin. But that wasn't our "darkest hour" anyway, and by the time that
occurred, our debt was cleared up.
What I _DO_ remember is all the help we got from Alumni during those days.
Faculty initiates, honoraries and former actives all pitched in to help, and
it was a GREAT encouragement to the actives. Probably the most
important factor was a new High Pi, who was a faculty member AND
had been an active at our chapter 25 years prior. He was there for
almost everything we did. Five years later we won GHA award, and soon
after that, he was recognized with the Order of Merit. It's safe to say his
involvement was a major factor in the chapter's success.
HQ can only do "so much" from a distance. Even sending an ELC for a
couple of weeks has its limit. Much more helpful are alumni who are there
EVERY WEEK, if not several times each week, for semesters or years.
Sanctions from HQ can definitely be a motivator, and ELC visits can be
helpful with giving ideas and some training. But the success will come
with DAILY efforts.
Of course my experience is with a chapter that only struggled with numbers
for 3-4 years, and at "crisis level" numbers (less than 20) for
about six months. Had we gone with under 20 for a few years, I don't know
how long we would have lasted.....though I'm sure it would have been
HQ that would have decided to close the chapter.
Our KA chapter, that celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2004, has been
operating with fewer than 20 members for for at least 5 years, and possibly
as many as 10 years. Of course that's KA and not LXA.
On the other hand, alumni involvement can be a "two-edged sword."
I was also involved with the establishment of new colony. It was the
first new fraternity on that campus in 50 years, on a campus with
major hazing problems. Most of the "founding fathers" of the colony
joined LXA, the only group on campus without a house, because it
was the non-hazing fraternity.
A fairly large group of alumni (from other chapters) were "put in charge"
by HQ. Unfortunately, most of these alumni spent their meeting time
discussing "what the first group of AM's would have to do"....in other
words, what kind of hazing to implement at the new chapter. Nothing
extreme was suggested, but "baby hazing" soon leads to real hazing,
especially on such a campus. The actives would not stand up to the
alumni, who would remind them that "we've been LX's for 10/20 years,
you've only been one for 5 months, and never went through an
AM experience....we know best." (The AM period for the "founding fathers"
lasted anywhere from 1 week to 2 hours, some accepting bids midafternoon
and being fully-initiated that night. Needless to say, many on the alum
board had little respect for their "Lambda Chi experience")
I then saw first-hand how "hazing breeds hazing." The first group of AM's, fortunately a small group, were shepherded in under the alum policies. After
initiation, they couldn't wait until next semester for the new AM's, and had
new ideas of their own for more hazing. The "founding fathers" were worried
about the seed that had been planted and alarmed at the "NIB's" attitudes.
Fortunately, with a little help from a couple of alums, the colony finally
"stood up" against the HQ-appointed alums. By the time the second AM
group was rushed, the hazing-tendency had been mostly squashed
(still had those 5 NIBs around), and the alum meetings fell from 20-25 in
attendance to about 5. In the end, disaster was averted.
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