colonization advice

[iwannagogreek]

I go to a small private university. I don't think our Greek scene is super competitive, certainly nothing compared to the big state schools. We have a few sororities on campus, with an average pledge class size of around 35 people. I participated in formal recruitment both freshman and sophomore year. The first time I dropped out before round 4 (pref night) and the second time I dropped out before round 3 (sisterhood round). Both times, I only had one sorority left, and I felt absolutely no connection with any of the girls I spoke with during rounds, so I didn't want to join just for the sake of being in a GLO. Sophomore fall I was going to do informal recruitment, but the sorority I was interested in just took one girl who was the best friend of the recruitment chair. I was really looking forward to joining a sorority after hearing all the stories of my friends at other schools. Plus as an only child I was super excited about being part of a lifelong sisterhood. I hate to admit it, but I was one of those girls that cried during recruitment. Every time I see someone wearing their letters, it still hurts a little. Freshman year was especially tough because my roomie joined a sorority, but she was so apathetic about it, it was infuriating. I've racked my brains for hours, but I can't figure out why recruitment didn't work out for me. I thought all of my conversations during recruitment went really well and I felt connections with several girls from different sororities.

ANYWAY, my school has decided to add a sorority next year. I'd love any advice on the colonization process, what it's like to go through the process as a senior. I'm most excited about the prospect of finally being a part of a sisterhood and getting to be a part of something bigger than myself and getting to form new traditions and set the tone for sisters to come.

I really hope this works out for me!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by iwannagogreek

I go to a small (6000 undergrads) top 25 private university in the South. I don't think our Greek scene is super competitive, certainly nothing compared to the big state schools. We have nine sororities on campus, with an average pledge class size of around 35 people. I participated in formal recruitment both freshman and sophomore year. The first time I dropped out before round 4 (pref night) and the second time I dropped out before round 3 (sisterhood round). Both times, I only had one sorority left, and I felt absolutely no connection with any of the girls I spoke with during rounds, so I didn't want to join just for the sake of being in a GLO. Plus the sorority doesn't have the best reputation on campus. Sophomore fall I was going to do informal recruitment, but the sorority I was interested in just took one girl who was the best friend of the recruitment chair. I was really looking forward to joining a sorority after hearing all the stories of my friends at other schools. Plus as an only child I was super excited about being part of a lifelong sisterhood. I hate to admit it, but I was one of those girls that cried during recruitment. Every time I see someone wearing their letters, it still hurts a little. Freshman year was especially tough because my roomie joined a sorority, but she was so apathetic about it, it was infuriating. I've racked my brains for hours, but I can't figure out why recruitment didn't work out for me. I thought all of my conversations during rush went really well and I felt connections with several girls from different sororities.

ANYWAY, my school has decided to add a tenth sorority. They have invited 3 sororites (Phi Mu, Gamma Phi Beta, Sigma Kappa) to make presentations at the end of March, with plans to colonize in the fall and charter in the spring (I believe). I'd love any advice on the colonization process, what it's like to go through the process as a senior. Also, not really important at all since I'll be a senior, but are there usually social stigmas against joining a new sorority? I'd just like to mentally prepare myself; my school has a pretty active collegiateacb page that can get kind of nasty. I'm most excited about the prospect of finally being a part of a sisterhood and getting to be a part of something bigger than myself and getting to form new traditions and set the tone for sisters to come.

I really hope this works out for me!

If you do a search, you will find a ton of info about colony recruitment, including first-person stories from women who have gone through it.

[sigmagirl10]

There is a pretty recent thread on here that outlines many of the pros and cons of participating in a colonization. http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=132202 Use the search function for more info, or use Google "Greekchat sorority colonization" or similar.

Regarding social stigmas and joining a new sorority--it will depend on your campus culture, but that shouldn't play into your decision and as an adult (you're going to be a senior), hopefully you can see beyond that. What's important here is creating sisterhood, and if you're happy, it doesn't matter what other people think. Please don't pay attention to ranking sites (seriously, block yourself from visiting)--they're all nasty BS.

I wish you all the best with colony recruitment and hope it works out for you. It's worth giving a chance. Though there are no guarantees, generally a colonizing sorority takes women from across all class levels including seniors.

[33girl]

In any colonization, the prospective members will be interviewed, and I'm betting that one of the questions will be whether they rushed before. You might want to not make that same crack about the sorority who was nice enough to invite you back to their parties (when no one else would) not having the best reputation.

Regarding "that website" - I didn't even know it was still around. Many of the posts appear to be spam, and the pulldowns don't work.

[GammaBelle]

A good friend of mine joined a GPB colony of ours several years ago in her last semester of college. She is now president of our local alumnae chapter, and another senior she colonized with is chapter advisor for their chapter. I would encourage you to explore whichever organization ends up at your school to see if it's a fit--with the understanding that being a colony member is an intense experience that you may not feel like taking on right before you graduate. Good luck!

[AOII Angel]

My advice is discretion. I could figure your school out in two seconds with the information you have given, which could potentially out you. If you are looking at sites like collegiateacb and "chapter reputation" to make your decision, colonization may not be for you. Colony members don't come in as a top group. They often have to fight for a reputation and get labeled as leftovers depending on the campus and how ingrained the hierarchy of the system at that campus. If reputation is the end all be all, realize that as a colony member, YOU have to make that reputation.

[DubaiSis]

I think it's pretty accepted understanding that it takes 3 years for a chapter to really function on its own without headquarters supervision and I wouldn't plan on being anything but "the new girls" for 10 years, unless the school is undergoing phenomenal growth.

It occurs to me that if you weren't willing to take a chance on the struggling chapter who wanted you when others didn't that you probably don't have the fortitude to go into a blank slate environment where the best fraternities won't have mixers with you and people don't want to attend your philanthropy events, and you are part of the chapter that girls either don't accept bids to or openly cry in dismay on bid day as they accept their punishment. It's not just hard work because there are tasks to accomplish. It can take a lot of intestinal fortitude to risk this kind of behavior. Now, I do think colonies have gotten easier since RFM because the other chapters are desperate to ease their pledge class sizes, but I wouldn't plan on everyone knowing you or every pledge class after you being the IT girls. Even if your colony is wildly successful.

And I would edit your post. It is very obvious where you're from and with the other history you've given about yourself you would be very easy to spot.

[ComradesTrue]

I note that you followed the advice to edit your post, however, I would advise continuing to edit. Region of the country, national reputation, number of sororities and time frame for colonization are still waaaaaaaaay too much info. My advice? "A sorority will be colonizing on my campus in the next year..." The rest needs to go.

[iwannagogreek]

I apologize, I wrote my original post when I had a million other things going through my head, so I didn't really stop to think about the impression I was giving off. As a senior, reputation/stigma/whatever mean nothing to me. I made the decisions I did as a freshman/sophomore because at my school, your sorority tends to become your primary social group during your sophomore year, and like I said in my original post, I didn't connect with any of the girls I spoke with, so I couldn't really see myself spending a large part of my time with those girls.

@DubaiSis I most certainly am not expecting to be an "it girl" nor do I want that. I could honestly care less about mixers and I've had plenty of experience in leadership roles for other campus organizations of having to fight to get people to come to events. I just wanted to see if my suspicions were true, that's the only reason why I mentioned any of that. I'm more focused on getting to know a group of girls that I may not have interacted with otherwise before I graduate and to become a part of something with a rich, long-standing legacy. I know that the process will require a great deal of inner strength, but I feel like the "high cost, high reward" decisions in life are often the most fruitful...But, thank you so much for all your advice. I really appreciate it!

[AOII Angel]

Well, good luck then. It can be very rewarding and lots of fun.