Hello ladies.
I'm a recent alum and I had the experience of seeing Kappa transition from the big/little program to the Kore program.
The Big/Little system had flaws. The family system was nice but some families got to be huge (20 people) while others were tiny (2). Families also started to become too similar - for example, associated with a fraternity that the sisters in that family all hung out with. Second, if you got matched with a bad big, what should be a great experience might be one that makes you doubt kappa and greek life.
I think the Kore system is flawed a little too. On one hand, in the Kore system I got to form relationships with many different Kappa's. Second, it essentially gives new members 3 "bigs", and a base with which to found relationships with other sisters.
But matching on bid night can be a disaster. The first year our chapter followed this to the letter and naturally made a few bad matches. We had 3 NMs depledge, and nearly more because of bad matches. This was a particularily big problem for our house because there is a very small greek community on our campus and our house attracts many independant women who wouldn't normally consider themselves the "sorority" type. For this, we needed a strong bond more than ever.
Our house now waits 4 days to match, and we still do a "revealation." Except instead of revealing the big, we reveal the "Kore." Headquarters is aware of our approach and doesn't seem to mind - in fact, our TCs have all really liked it. We still try to keep it close because the New Member period is so short, it really does help to hurry up and pair the NM with her mentor.
I think the key to it is - do what makes sense. The intent of the Kore system is good. If it makes sense to modify it in oder to match that intent in your own chapter, then so be it.
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