[stufield]

"Dickinson is welcome news! I know that they were actively recruiting for the colony in spring of 2008 so that's relatively recent."

The chapter was restored almost a year ago.


"Kappa Sigma losing a colony at Villanova, and an interest group at Syracuse- hmmm, that's unfortunate. Without knowing the details with Villanova I only hope that it was not because we were not flexible with the 50 men, the $25/25 hrs of service, or something else of that kind that can be worked towards in the long run. I would argue that large numbers are not really an accurate indicator of chapter vitality anyway. I think we are all aware of the outcomes for several large fraternities that chased numbers instead of quality."

I agree with you about the numbers thing. This could be the subject of a larger post. I know why the SEC set the 50-man requirement, and while I understand their thinking, I don't agree with it. There are many long-running, successful Kappa Sig chapters that never would have got off the ground if the 50-man requirement had then been in force.

Actually, the 50-man requirement is not as rigid as it sounds. An alternative requirement is that a colony have the largest membership, or the same membership as the otherwise largest chapter(s), on a campus where no chapters have 50 men. And the Fraternity has relaxed the 50-man requirement in some other occasions. There are several chapters in the Omicron, Xi, and Pi letter series that were chartered with less than 50 founding initiates. Nonetheless, the 50-man requirement has scared off some interest groups that might otherwise have become successful colonies.

As for the short-lived Villanova colony, I cannot recall the specifics of why they decided they did not want to be associated with Kappa Sigma. It may not have been any one thing, or any two or three specific things, but just an overall thing. In an y case, it was unfortunate because Villanova is a school we should be at, and it would be grat to see a return of Kappa-Psi chapter there.

"I am most concerned about the situation at Syracuse because there was no legal grounds there and I think that has been well established."

You are simply wrong about this. Syracuse is a private university, and thus does have the right to control what organizations it chooses to recognize and not recognize, and would have had solid legal grounds for suing the Fraternity if it had established a prohibited organization there. The Fraternity has established/supported unrecognized groups at a number of other private institutions, and still does so. But those other schools have never taken, and perhaps never even threatened to take, legal action against the fraternity. They simply continued, and in some instances still continue, to grant recognition to the Kappa Sigma group, be it colony or chapter. But Syracuse made it very clear in no uncertain terms that it WOULD take legal action. So even though the interest group was large and strong, the Fraternity decided not to test the Syracuse administration. In the long run, such compliance with the administration may help the Fraternity be selected to expand when the school's administration is more favorably inclined to expansion.