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Please, think of it this way: when every other sorority on campus has upwards of 100 members and the smaller chapter has less than 20, that is a serious problem. You have women who are doing double duty in the officer circle, who get burned out very early and are more likely to drop by junior/senior year, the nationals are underfoot constantly urging the chapter to COB to the total that the other chapters on the campus have been able to achieve, and the all the chapter is ever doing is new member recruitment-- there is resentment, burnout, etc. And we all know these chapters suffer socially, and as they are under greater national scrutiny, they are the first to be punished at the slightest offense-- any minor scuffle could get them scraped off campus.


I am not disputing a smaller chapter can be successful.

But when the SMALLEST chapter on campus is operating at a financial loss and has an uneven distribution of leadership, that is very unhealthy to that chapter. And in such a case, if repeated national intervention during COB and formal recruitment fails to yield a significant increase in membership retention, then the chapter members are not benefitting from the sorority experience and it is taking away from their primary reason for being at the university-- to focus on their education.

I have also witnessed failing chapters of various groups treating their national officers with major disrespect and holding the recruitment process with disinterest-- so that on pref night the Field Consultant is the one racing around putting up decorations, running errands and matching bid lists.

Small chapters can be successful where small chapters are the norm. NOT when the norm is large and your chapter is 2/3's smaller than the rest, and must compete to keep a chapter house open, pay its bills, keep up appearances and appeal to the fraternities' social calendars.

ETA: I am NOT saying a Greek System must maintain 10+ chapters of 180+ members each. A Greek System with 3 sororities consisting of 20 members each can be very successful, as can the campus with 20 sororities averaging 60 members. Even the campus with 7 sororities averaging 200 members can be successful. But the chapter that suffers the most is the one with the disproportionately smaller membership. It is the way of the world and the natural "pecking" order that rumors will spread about the smaller chapter (Why don't they have as many members as "ABC" AND members of the smaller chapter will also be making comparisons of why they aren't doing what "XYZ" is doing) and they may not be able to be as selective in the recruitment process as the larger chapters, who are more readily able to accept more grade risks and various other chances. The total and quota ceilings exist to help EVEN the playing field. If the majority of the chapters can't hit total, the campus needs to adjust its total. If quota is unrealistic because there are not enough PNM's coming out to recruitment, the campus needs to reassess the way it is conducting recruitment, market Panhellenic more strongly, hold off on expansion and lower quotas/total, etc. When the majority are able to meet these expectations, the playing field IS fair. The struggling groups require National and Campus support, but those two can only do so much-- the chapter has to REALLY want it and has to go for the long haul.