[Munchkin03]

In two words, momentum and resources.

We have a friend who was instrumental in colonizing and founding her chapter of a national sorority at a large state school in the Northeast. They had so many setbacks along the way, from waning interest to potential new members not having the money for founding (which I've heard is expensive). They finally were initiated with about 7 members. The colonization and founding processes are pretty long (they started interest groups as second semester sophomores and were initiated second semester junior year), so by the time the chapter was established enough to recruit new members, all but one or two would be graduating the next year. I think they will be starting next year with a handful of members, and may not be able to compete with more established NPC and NPHC groups for membership, some of which have houses and a large alumni base. My friend is de facto advisor for her chapter, which is something she really didn't want to do so soon after graduation.

My own chapter declined to two members only two or three years after the charter was given. They, obviously, rebounded very quickly, but it seems to take a LOT of support by members--more than an established chapter has to deal with.

ETA: I didn't see CC's post until after I had submitted mine. Hence, the reference to momentum.