Quote:
Originally posted by SoCalGirl:
So I've been wondering, what are the benefits to joining a local greek org vs. a national/regional?
If your only option to be Greek is to join a local OR if you will never leave the town/area where the local resides, then that's the only benefit I can think of off the top of my head. Locals do not have the benefit of a national organization, a nationwide network of alumnae, etc. In my experience, locals usually have limited support from alumnae because many do not stay in the same town as the college (there are exceptions, of course). In some cases, there is no housing and the chapters must report directly to the college administration, instead of local advisors and a national headquarters. Hazing and other risky behaviors are not managed except by the university. There are no national programs on risk management education, etc.
We only have nationals and regional greeks on my campus so I'm clueless when it comes to local sororities and fraternities.
Regionals are similar to locals, but better organized since there are multiple chapters in a region.
Is your alum support very good? I don't know what my chapter would do without our alumnae group. (We have two in our city! One for each chapter.)
It varies - if the local is in a big city, you have a bigger chance of alumnae staying in the area and forming an alumnae chapter.
What keeps you from becoming just a clique?
The same thing that keeps smaller chapters of national groups from becoming cliques.
WHY form a local with the sole purpose of becoming a colony for a national? There are colonies established without first being greek. (Here I don't mean forming a local with the intention of one day spreading out and being national.)
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Some campuses have limits on how many national groups can be on campus. Sometimes you need to form a local sorority or interest group and run indepentdently while you wait for an opening to happen. It is very rare these days for a sorority to colonize on a campus where no interest group exists.
[This message has been edited by PnguinTrax (edited April 14, 2000).]