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There's an interesting dynamic that wouldn't have occurred to me until I saw it. Somewhere in here there might be a hint of what inspires alumni loyalty. Let's assume that the strongest bond with the fraternity is found among friends who were together in school, and that they identify as a group with their chapter. What I saw was interesting. A half dozen fraternities on our campus conducted large capital campaigns; it all took place over about a six year period. Now, if you pick ten active alumni out of my fraternity, they might represent a span of a dozen years on campus and the same is true of other fraternities. So, if your leadership core of a dozen guys represents 12 years, and if the majority of donors represent, say, 25 years, then there's going to be a considerable overap with alumni of the other fraternities.
What I saw was a dynamic of renewed rivalries, ten, twenty even thirty years after graduation. "We're by-gawd not going to let the Phi Delts raise more than us. We're going to have the best house and the Lambda Chis can [choose a verb]."
We actually had a meeting of alumni from the six fraternities raising money to build houses.; most guys were in their 40s and 50s. There was a lot of good cheer and remembering the old days. At one point an alum of one fraternity said that maybe we should build a common dining hall where the different fraternities could all eat dinner at the same time, each of course having their own separate area, tables, etc. A Lambda Chi who everyone respects responded by saying, "Guys, you know, the truth is none of us liked each other very much when we were in college, and these guys today don't much like each other either. Let's all eat in our own houses."
He was right. But what i saw was the power of those long-lived rivalries. And the truth is, the fraternities who were in the top tier in 1974 are the same ones who are in the top tier in 2004. I would never have thought that the rivalry factor would be so telling, but it is a strong element to be used in alumni development.
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