Quote:
Originally posted by NatalieCD
35 is not small at all. I know fraternitys on my campus that have about 10-15 guys and they are doing just fine. It's not the # of women/men in a fraternity/sorority it's the quality of them. I would rather have 1 good level headed sister that knows her shit, than have 10 sisters that are just in it to be party animals and goof off. As long as you have the quality and true reasoning in becoming a sorority/fraternity you are going to succeed.
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I wanted to say something along those lines too. I went to a small school -- 1200 students at the time, though they're aiming to add a few hundred to that over the next few years -- and GLO participation has been low for, oh, the past few decades. My chapter had 24 people
after my class joined, and we crested at 33 in the time I was there. I think all the fraternities (there are five, in school-owned housing, though the rules on that are changing) were in the 25-40 range. There are three sororities (no housing, as a general matter), which had a wider and more variable range of numbers but none over about 40 or 45. One of them is now rebuilding from single digits, and is doing so rather effectively, too. The recruitment and daily living dynamic at that kind of school is very different from large schools with tens of thousands of students and tens of GLOs.
I can say that had the issue come up I would have been skeptical about having more than 40 or 50 members in my chapter. The chapter tends to be very close. Had there been more members, it would have been difficult to develop a house so founded on close personal relationships. I learned a lot more socially because of that.
So, I guess I have two points. 1) There is strength in smaller numbers just as in larger ones; the strengths are just different. Finding the right balance and choosing goals goals that fit your numbers is the trick. Get too small, and financial and organizational survival becomes difficult; but get too large, and people don't know each other as well, and there's a potential to miss out on a particularly rewarding aspect of Greek life. 2) Different schools result in different challenges and potentially different roles for Greek systems. Size is a big factor, but so are the ambient political and social atmosphere at a school and the institution's educational goals and vision. In the smaller private lib-arts schools, it's been crucial for us to identify the roles that we can play and to show that both to the student body and the administration, or we will find existence increasingly difficult. Those roles run the gamut from accomplishing philanthropic feats to helping individuals-- our members and those we encounter, grow as human beings. I'm not so informed about the challenges that face groups at larger schools, though I'm looking forward to learning more about that here.
I've rambled for more than long enough. Have a good one, all. I'm looking forward to chances to chat with all of you, but I've a bar exam to tend to for the next few days.
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Phi Kappa Tau, Mu Chapter
init. '96