[FuzzieAlum]

At my school, we had a local sorority, so I know girls (especially those who didn't come from the area) considered that. "What if I move to Texas or Alaska or New York? I won't have any sisters around!"

But other than that, I don't think many of us thought about it. There were a lot of first generation Greeks going through rush, people who probably didn't even know alum associations existed. They had no idea who was strong nationally or regionally.

I think you never know where life is going to take you - you could end up in Canada or London or the south or the west, somewhere your sorority is weak or non-existent. I think it's more important, if you're thinking just beyond your local chapter, to think, "Is their creed really one I believe? Are their ideals really the ones I can strongly support?" Because although our beliefs are all similar, they're truly not the same, and I know some great chapters that I am glad I didn't join, knowing what I do about their creeds, heritage, philanthropy and the like.

And, if anything, what you hear about "who is strong nationally" - who really knows? You can see where chapters are located or how many we have certainly, but how many of us (even alums) know how strong, for example, we are financially compared to other orgs? I've been told by people that "AXD has a very strong nationals" and "AXD was picked to colonize here because we have weak nationals and the other groups wanted the new chapter to fail."