Hey Corina,
Sorry everyone, this is a pretty long post.
I just joined GC a couple of days ago and discovered your thread. I am also the president of a local that I have recently started with the intention of affiliating with NPC. I have read your entire thread (watch out if you ever print this thing – it’s 290 pages), and I can’t believe how similar our experiences have been. I understand exactly how frustrating it is when your members don’t cooperate, and I know how hard it is to exercise authority over your friends. I have also felt like I was all alone and the only person doing any of the work. I also understand how helpless it feels to have the fate of your group resting on other people (NPC, John, and Mariko), and to have to wait and see what happens. You mentioned once that you felt like you needed to do something, but you didn’t know what – I can’t tell you how often I have felt like that! I learned as you have that if a member is lost, they weren’t meant to be there in the first place. I can also understand how exciting it is to get your first social invitation from a fraternity!
My situation is a little different than yours though. My university has a very prestigious Greek system with a well established local Panhellenic council. There are 11 extraordinary NPC Sororities and 22 IFC Fraternities. This all started because I am a member of another local, and there had been some talk among a few of us about the possibility of our group affiliating with an NPC sorority to strengthen our sisterhood. Out of curiosity, I made a few phone calls in Sept 2001 to see if it was actually possible. Then we discovered the need for another sorority here. Almost 200 women did not find a place in recruitment last fall.
The expansion process requires a 2/3 vote of the chapters to open the campus to expansion. A “yes” vote is usually followed by the presentations of different sororities. As it turned out, not everyone in the organization I started out in wanted to affiliate, so 30 of the members and I created a separate interest group in January 2002, elected some officers, and began meeting every other Monday.
The local Panhellenic has been super helpful and supportive, and they were very excited about the idea of expanding. They hoped to be able to bring a new sorority here by fall 02. Unfortunately, the majority voted not to expand yet, because some felt they needed more information before they made a decision. They are bringing an NPC consulting team here at the beginning of the fall semester to analyze campus and rush numbers and advise the chapters. They will vote again sometime in the fall. Panhellenic thinks the vote will pass this time because there are over 1,000 girls going through fall recruitment this year, and the 11 sororities can’t support that large of a number. That number is expected to grow each year with increasing enrollment of the university.
I was devastated after the negative outcome of the first vote, and felt like I had done all of that work for nothing. The morale of my sisters fell, and I lost half of my members. But the 15 of us who are left decided to keep building on our sorority and make our sisterhood stronger. We registered as a student organization in May, and we are holding a fall recruitment. We have also planned tons of social and philanthropy events for fall. Our goal is like that of NBO, to build up a strong local sorority to serve as an interest group to help a new NPC sorority to colonize. We are still in close contact with Panhellenic, and they are continuing to cheer us on, and help us out.
I know exactly how hard you have worked for this, and you should be very proud of yourself. Being the founding sister of a local sorority has been the most rewarding experience of my life as I know it has been for you. Remember what others have told you that sisterhood is the most important aspect of your sorority. If you build a strong enough bond, you can never be torn down. By working to add another sorority, you have almost single handedly created a Greek system at your university – you go girl! I know you have heard tons of words of encouragement from these wonderful people on GC, but I don’t think you can ever be encouraged too much. Every one is right about Gamma Phi missing out when they didn’t extend a bid to you, and I hope the sorority that colonizes at your university knows how lucky they are to have you. You are an extraordinary woman, and I know that your hard work will reward you in the end. Your determination should be an inspiration to everyone. I hope my situation turns out as well as yours has. Don’t give up!!
Love,
Melissa
I have a thread for rush ideas on the locals forum, so feel free to visit me there if you have any suggestions or PM me!