[SWTXBelle]

EW - Texas, not Arizona. Currently in Tennessee. I've visited Arizona, but never lived there. Heck, I thought my screen name might give you a head's up. Or a quick look at my postings. Whatever. You really shouldn't comment on what I might or might not know about southern sorority rush without doing a little research. That would mean knowing where I got my undergraduate degree, and my graduate, and where I was an advisor, where I've had sorority training, which Alumnae Panhellenics I was active in, and which chapters of other NPCs I've helped on which campuses. Whew. And let me point out the op on this thread has NOTHING to do with north, south, east and west.

And now that I've been clued into a little more about you, I really don't think I'm interested in proving anything to you. Those whose opinion I care about here know enough about me, and you - well, I think your screen name is most appropriate. So let's just drop the personal bickering here and get back on topic.

BACK ON TOPIC - The inability to mix with some fraternities is a real problem for struggling chapters. Fraternities hold a lot of sway with the ability to mix, and all other considerations aside, a fraternity chapter of 80+ is not going to be interested in having a mixer with a sorority of 20 - 30. PNMs going through rush will notice social pictures during recruitment - again, contributing to the inability of the group to successfully recruit enough quality pledges to turn it around.
It's amazing how who you date can impact a sorority's abilitly to mix with certain fraternities. If you are dating the right member (or members if we are talking about several girls) you may well be able to plan a social event with a fraternity you might otherwise not get to - but that's a very singular situation.
One change for the better I've noticed since I was an active back when dinosaurs roamed the earth is there are more sorority sponsored social events - so instead of having to wait for a fraternity to invite you the sororities are throwing more of their own events. This can result in good p.r. with a variety of fraternities - if you have a cross-section of fraternity men invited, and they get to see the sorority sisters in a good light it can help with their perception. I know of at least one instance when a non-top tier sorority ended up having a mixer with a top tier fraternity simply because several of the fraternity members had been at a sorority event and had a really good time. That's the kind of thing that can help build momentum in changing a chapter's reputation.
One of the toughest things to fight is the feeling of defeatism a poor recruitment can give a chapter.