Chapter Rivalry

Rudey · #1 08-16-2002, 10:02 PM

I know we're all about being Greek together and really getting along with other houses, but how are the chapter dynamics within your own fraternity/sorority?

The reason I ask this we're very close (distant wise) to another one of our chapters in the city. However, we don't get along. They go for guys that are completely different than what we go for which is fine because diversity is great.

I was just wondering if anyone else ever had this experience and how they dealt with it.

-Rudey

Kevin · #2 08-16-2002, 10:39 PM

Any large Greek Organization is going to have great diversity within their chapters. I just got back from the Sigma Nu Grand Chapter in which there were over 450 collegiant delegates present representing around 200 chapters. You can bet there's diversity within the group! In my hotel room one night just as an example we were drinking with guys from Georgia, Minnesota, North Dakota and Oklahoma. Go to the bar down the street from the hotel I'd be surprised if all 50 states weren't represented!

I can say with a great degree of certainty that no two groups are alike. But that's what makes a national organization so great to be a part of!

AlphaSigLana · #3 08-16-2002, 10:59 PM

My chapter, Beta Beta, of ASA , is much different than our chapter in Pueblo, CO. They have a wide variety of ages amongst their chapter and take a whole different group compared to my chapter which is all unmarried 17-22 yrs old. Plus Pueblo is considered a commuter school whereas UNC(University of Northern Co) is not. Most of us live on campus, we commute to Denver weekends only. Also as of now ASA is the only sorority on Pueblo's campus,at least as far as social GLO. I don't know how many fraternities they have. So greek life is smaller in Pueblo than for my campus with five sororities(which is hardly anything either) and 10 fraternities(?).

DeltaSigStan · #4 08-16-2002, 11:00 PM

There's a little thing going on between us and our UCSD chapter. They know we're small (they have 80 guys I believe), and they like to have exchanges and socials with sororities on our campus and not tell us. One time they threw a party at our house (UCSD doesn't allow chapter houses), and they completely messed it up and onlt two guys came to clean up and did a horrible job of it. BUt we're always told by UCSD females that they'd rather party here. It's basically we're the better party school with the cool house, and they just have the numbers........

josh8o · #5 08-17-2002, 12:18 AM

my chapter has good relations with the UC irvine phi psi's. we party together a lot, and are cool. we are working on getting better realtions with all phi psi's, and have set us some stuff for the fall. the UCLA phi psi's seemed "too good" when we meet them over spring break...i dont know, maybe it was a cabo thing. the only other chapter we dont care for right now is stanford because they voted against us at GAC.

Rudey · #6 08-17-2002, 03:46 AM

I'd rather not say which chapter we don't get along with for obvious reasons. However our national office feels the need to keep pushing us to do stuff with them. When they send a consultant down to their school, we literally get calls from the consultant asking if anyone from our chapter wants to hang out with him so he can get away from them.

-Rudey
--I think the real reason I don't like them is because their president shook my hand like a little girl.

Shine · #7 08-17-2002, 04:36 AM

Hmm...

I know that my chapter is looked down upon by another chapter because of all the social stuff we do.

We're a service sorority, and we have all the same philanthropies, ideals and service activities as the rest of our chapters, but we also have a lot of social events like NPC sororities.

A lot of "service sorority purists" in other chapters think that we should only be focusing on service, and that if we want social we should have joined an NPC house.

*sighs*

Can't all greek orgs and chapters be accepting of each other and let people have their fun?

Dionysus · #8 08-18-2002, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shine
Hmm...

I know that my chapter is looked down upon by another chapter because of all the social stuff we do.

We're a service sorority, and we have all the same philanthropies, ideals and service activities as the rest of our chapters, but we also have a lot of social events like NPC sororities.

A lot of "service sorority purists" in other chapters think that we should only be focusing on service, and that if we want social we should have joined an NPC house.

*sighs*

Can't all greek orgs and chapters be accepting of each other and let people have their fun?

Hey sister, as long as it is +51% service.

Shine · #9 08-18-2002, 12:20 AM

You're APO, right?

Great org.

52%

Dionysus · #10 08-18-2002, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shine
You're APO, right?

Great org.

52%

Yup.

Rudey · #11 08-18-2002, 01:18 AM

Now that you two have had your little social party which totally melted my heart and made me shed two tears, one for each of you, I'd like to talk about the topic at hand.

-Rudey
--It reminded me of Fried Green Tomatoes.

Shine · #12 08-18-2002, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rudey
Now that you two have had your little social party which totally melted my heart and made me shed two tears, one for each of you, I'd like to talk about the topic at hand.

-Rudey
--It reminded me of Fried Green Tomatoes.

TAWONDA!!!

33girl · #13 08-18-2002, 03:08 PM

TAWONDA!! Let's face it girls, I'm older than you, and I have more insurance.

---anyway---

Rudey - yes we have had that experience. There were chapters that we would click with - in particular Slippery Rock, which was chartered a month before us, so we were almost like twins. There were other chapters however, that we were kinda like "are we REALLY sisters?" They felt the same about us, I'm sure.

I wish that there could be more fun things for chapters to do, not just meetings and such, to give more opportunities to bond. Also once you get to be an alum, it lessens somewhat. I don't think that's cool though, that your consultant would act like he wanted to get away from the other guys. That definitely isn't the way to build inter-chapter respect.

Rudey · #14 08-18-2002, 05:37 PM

But do we just deny reality and shoot for a fake ideal? I can't blame the consultant, but my beliefs are biased. Why aren't there controls to maintain a "national character"? I wish I could tell you a way to build this inter-chapter respect that you talk about but every chapter of my fraternity is different in Chicago.

At my school, we're normal guys but we're not a house that participates too often in activities with other greeks, so we definitely have a smaller name. At another school, they're the basketball fraternity and at another, they're division I wrestlers that seriously scare us because they're so big. But at this one school, they play Dungeons and Dragons.

How do you simply put aside all differences and say we're one and the same?

-Rudey
--What is a TAWONDA?

Quote:

Originally posted by 33girl
TAWONDA!! Let's face it girls, I'm older than you, and I have more insurance.

---anyway---

Rudey - yes we have had that experience. There were chapters that we would click with - in particular Slippery Rock, which was chartered a month before us, so we were almost like twins. There were other chapters however, that we were kinda like "are we REALLY sisters?" They felt the same about us, I'm sure.

I wish that there could be more fun things for chapters to do, not just meetings and such, to give more opportunities to bond. Also once you get to be an alum, it lessens somewhat. I don't think that's cool though, that your consultant would act like he wanted to get away from the other guys. That definitely isn't the way to build inter-chapter respect. :rolleyes"

33girl · #15 08-18-2002, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rudey
Why aren't there controls to maintain a "national character"?

Well, probably because this is a hell of a big nation. (not even counting Canada) You have to make standards of chapter excellence, or whatever you want to call them, somewhat fluid, because things that are great at one school would get you laughed off campus on another. For example, if you said all brothers must participate in intramural sports. At some schools that is a big thing, at others it's barely a blip on the radar and a waste of time. Every chapter needs to find their own way.

I think some of the smaller fraternities have somewhat more of a fixed national character, but they also have 20 chapters vs. 150-200.

It really is a family situation - there might be relatives you aren't nuts about, but you are stuck with them and they are stuck with you. All you can do is come to an understanding and respect that although you are different, you are part of each other. Other than that, i don't know a solution...

Oh and as for TOWANDA, you will have to **watch** Fried Green Tomatoes to figure it out.