[33girl]

STICK WITH IT! STICK WITH IT! STICK WITH IT!!!!

It breaks my heart and drives me nuts when I see new chapters closing after not even being open for 5 years. If I had my druthers I'd enact an NPC law that says this is unacceptable. It might make GLOs think out their expansion philosophy a little more. Especially if it's a huge Greek system, do not just deposit your ritual manuals there and then trust it to run on its own. It's a BIG undertaking. If you aren't willing to follow through with REPEATED follow up and REPEATED visits (preferably, a live-in consultant from a similar system) and are just going for the quick buck, don't bother.

If you start a re/colonization and realize you're running to stand still before you are even out of the gate, put your pride in your pocket, cut your losses and get out of Dodge ASAP. Don't make women start out in a struggling chapter. If you can't come in strong, don't come in at all.

Also, check out the campus climate. Don't just go by what the administration or faculty says - talk with students and alumnae. For example, if the admin is forcing the local sororities to go national and the majority of the student body is against the idea - RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! Don't profit from someone else's misfortune - it's bad karma. You will always be "the group they made us take when they got rid of poor XYZ" even if they didn't give 2 craps about XYZ previously.

It's the same advice we got about crossing the street - stop, look and listen, and then do it again!!