Quote:
Originally posted by James
I think we have been overly focused on the problems in this thread rather than the solutions.
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I ditto this.
But I also think that, as men (and you, James, as a northern man), you shouldn't make too many assumptions on what sorority rush at an extremely competitive, traditional Southern school. If not run exactly right, there will be a lot of bitching from the other sorority women on campus and from alums that the new sorority doesn't have enough respect for tradition, that the girls in the new sorority aren't _______ enough (whether or not this is true is irrelevant, their reputation will get the better of them whether or not it is true), etc.
You're looking at sororities from a fraternity man perspective, which makes sense for a lot of northern or smaller schools. You assume that if the girls are pretty and fun and nice enough, they will be popular with the fraternities, which will ensure numbers success. It seems very clear to me, even as a northerner, that in the south this is not the case. You could very easily get many of the most beautiful and intelligent and nice GDIs on campus to join the sorority, and that would work . . . at first. But in rush the next year, the majority of typical Southern rushees (who seem to value reputation above all) would dismiss the new sorority as not traditional enough. Which means the new sorority would become dependent on non-traditional rushees and non-traditional methods of rush, which is basically equivalent to death at large Southern Greek schools. Winning over the fraternities and maybe the GDIs is not enough -- in the South you also have to win over the other sorority women on campus and the alums in the area, which would not happen if you are not making quota during rush. And you will not make quota during rush if you haven't got the respect of other sorority women on campus and the alums in the area. So it's a catch-22.
Perhaps the new sorority could survive this way, dependent on COB and non-traditional rushees, but they would probably never become a "successful chapter" at Ole Miss.
I agree with you that I certainly don't think expansion would be impossible. I think it would certainly be possible with ADPi or ZTA, even despite past failures. But it would have to be undertaken very, very carefully, watched over very, very carefully in its formative years, and would have to be strong from the get-go. If you can't get 200 amazing women to form the colony to start with, don't bother. Ditto on an antebellum sorority mansion and a sorority with a strong Southern rep.