Save ASU Greek Life

[sundevil2000]

It seems that lately Arizona State Greek life has been deteriorating. When I came to ASU less than 3 years ago the Greek system was strong, but now most people look down on it. Due to Porn scandals and hazing incidents, ASU has lost 4 fraternity chapters in one year. We have also lost 1 sorority for low numbers and 2 other sororities are in danger supposedly due to hazing incidents.
Within the year ASU is tearing down half of the fraternity houses on campus to build a dormlike setting. Half of the remaining fraternities will have houses, the rest will have to live in dorms.
My question is, what do you think we should do to make greek life strong again? Do you think that this new fraternity living style will make things better or worse?

[Tom Earp]

Dont know what to say at the moment!

Damn Damn Damn!

What can I say!

Need a little more inf fro you if you can!

Remembr, the folks here are going to try to help!


I now I will go rego back and reread it, check out Greek sites at ASU!

OK try to regroup the Greeks with a meeting! Guys and Gals, now is the time to get us together or be gone!

Try to inlist the help of your Nationals, they can put a little preassure in subtle ways!

The very Best of luck to each and every Chapter of a Greek Org. there!

[LindsayJean]

Don't forget that KD is recolonizing at ASU in the spring! That at least cheers me up

LJ

[Firehouse]

This only addresses the fraternities; I can't advise the sororities. 1) one fraternity - more would be great, but one will do - needs to step up and become a signature fraternity chapter for that part of the country. I mean, they pledge & initiate 50+ men per year, they have the student body president and the football captain, they win everyhing in sight and they dominate. that sets the standard, and the others rise in order to compete.
2) Tha alumni of the fraternities at ASU need to organize themselves into a sort of oversight board/protectors-of-the-system. When the University begins to make decisions about fraternities, let it be known that they must deal directly with these adults - preferably lawyers & professionals in their 40s and older - and NOT with the undergraduates. Administrators would much rather deal with undergrads, but if you want to turn things around you must make them deal directly with alumni. This is not a theory; it absolutely works! I watched it happen on one campus, a school very much like ASU. Trust me: both these things can be done, and it doesn't take a long time to accomplish.

[texas*princess]

While the deterioration of the greek system that you speak of is not because of the *entire* system, but because of a few chapters, it's hard for some people to see that. Just like the old saying "a few bad apples spoils the bunch". Some people still have that in their heads.

If I were in that situation, I'd want all the remaining groups to do a *whole lot* of positive things to show people that great chapters do exist and can exist without hazing, porn or whatever else happened there.

Then maybe that would help numbers go up and more people interested. I think KD's recolonization might also help spark some interest in the overall greek system there.

[33girl]

I'm too cynical to agree with Firehouse's #1 suggestion - if a school wants to screw you, they don't give a crap if you are a "signature chapter" in your fraternity's eyes, unless that fraternity is going to drive a Brink's truck up to the school and dump it in the president's lap. I do, however, totally concur with suggestion #2. Get the alums involved and let them know what is happening - don't be afraid to say to them "yeah, we screwed up here & there" - they won't hate you. If the alums can buy the houses, definitely try that angle.

Also, (if this is true) let the townspeople know that if the school does this, there will be less housing and the students will have to go into the community to find a place to live. Do all you can for the immediate community, and try and get them on your side. I would guess that the town itself still has to approve/reject construction permits. If they get the idea that this will be a bad thing for the town they will try and stop it.

[KillarneyRose]

Originally posted by texas*princess
While the deterioration of the greek system that you speak of is not because of the *entire* system, but because of a few chapters, it's hard for some people to see that. Just like the old saying "a few bad apples spoils the bunch". Some people still have that in their heads.

If I were in that situation, I'd want all the remaining groups to do a *whole lot* of positive things to show people that great chapters do exist and can exist without hazing, porn or whatever else happened there.

Then maybe that would help numbers go up and more people interested. I think KD's recolonization might also help spark some interest in the overall greek system there.

I agree with texas*princess. Now that the "problem children" are gone, the remaining greeks need to band together to present themselves in a positive light to non-greeks. I really think having a super-strong NPC organization like Kappa Delta recolonizing will help out the greek system. Good Luck, ASU Greeks!!!

[OnePlus69Is70]

Hey sundevil, I know how you feel- we've lost six fraternity chapters since I got here three years ago. My sister goes to ASU, and I've seen the system and the houses. It's a similiar situation. This is my advice (I was gonna send this just to sundevil, but I decided to post it, because other people can prolly use it):

1) Stay calm, and stay focused on YOUR chapter. You can't rescue people with a sinking ship. Are your finances OK? Are you recruiting well enough? Are you retaining new members? etc. It isn't being selfish, it's just good sense. In any emergency, you make sure that you are safe and unharmed first, and then move on to help others.

2) Don't worry about the sororities. Sororities, in my experience, are the most amazingly efficient organizations on the planet, and come hell or high water, they will take care of themselves.

3) You need to put pressure on the other fraternities to behave in public. You need perfect attendance at IFC, fresh coats of paint on all the houses, and absolutely ZERO incidents of anything that could look bad in public. Ignore people's advice about doing a lot of positive things- it doesn't work. Once people have an idea in their head about something, it is nearly impossible to dislodge it except through direct personal contact (point #4)- newpaper articles and memos just don't do the job. Just try to keep everyone below the radar.

4) Start meeting with the Greek Advisor, the Dean of Students, hell, the President if you can get him. Learn to lie politely. Say whatever it is they want you to say. You need to create the image in their heads that you're really trying to change to be whatever they want you to be. Image is the most important thing- if they think you're trying to change, then they'll dismiss anything you do wrong as good kids making mistakes, rather than bad kids screwing up again. That's why doing a lot of positive things won't help you right now- it'll be seen as bad kids trying to cover their asses. You need to convince them, through personal contact, that you're basically good, decent people.

5) Keep any alumnus older than 28 out of the situation, and keep any alumnus of any age who went to school in the deep south or the midwest completely out of it. I know that sounds harsh, but you need people who are young and went to school fairly recently, so they'll understand the situation. Older alumni and alumni from very different kinds of schools tend to think the situation is just like when they went to school, and this is not a time for misunderstandings like that. In general, try to keep the alums out of it, though- you don't want this to be a confrontation between you and the school, you want it to turn into a partnership. And keep lawyers out of it, too- ASU has more money and more lawyers than you can possibly drum up, and they will win in any direct legal confrontation- and I'm willing to bet you wouldn't have two legs to stand on in court. GLOs have one right these days- to exist at public schools during good behavior. Anything beyond that is cake, and you should be thankful.

6) Always have goals, little ones and big ones. Set smallish goals- this week, everyone will be IFC. This semester, everyone will recruit more men than they did last semester, and retain more. And largish ones- no more chapters will close this semester. And keep in mind what the school's goals are, and try to make them think they've fulfilled them- remember, for them, appearances are more important than substance.

7) You need to help the other fraternities. Don't just tell them how to behave, actually go and help them- think of it as community service. When I teach the pledges about charity, this is what they memorize: 'Those who have, give; those who can, do; those who know, teach.' You need to get off your butt and go over there. Example: In August, SAM's house was closed by the town for violations of the health and building codes- and the only people in their house at the time were NIBs who had no idea what to do. I grabbed some brothers and headed over. We spent an afternoon painting and cleaning and patching, and we ended up giving them two fire extiguishers and 40 gallons of paint. Did we get credit for doing it from anybody? Nope. But it meant that SAM was open in time for rush. That's how you're gonna really save your system- getting off your butt and going down the street and finding out what needs doing.

My last thing: things will not be OK. Definitely not while you're still there, probably not for many years. KD colonizing or whatever isn't going to magically fix all your problems- it's going to take years and years of work to do that. Just try not to just focus on the bad stuff, and have fun- that is the reason we do this, in the end. Greek life is supposed to be about brotherhood (and sisterhood) and lifelong friendship and helping people, not about numbers and houses and how outsiders view us- it's when we focus on that nonsense that things go awry.

That's all the sage advice I can muster for now. But if you need any advice, or want my sister's number or something, drop me a line: jfossell@student.umass.edu

[James]

Unfortunately most of the things you would need to do you don't have the power to actually accomplish.

But if you are a real go-getter you could develop the power of influence to do it.

Rule #1. For every chapter you lose, for whatever reason, bring another chapter on campus.

This is vital. Its not only important to improve the numbers of each individual chapter, but when you lose a whole organization you lose more members of the Greek System than you are going to compensate for. Do the math.

Rule #2 Look to bring on at least one other organization of males and females each year. More in a larger system.

The only one real power Greeks have is numbers. When no new chapters come on, numbers will either stagnate or decrease. By constantly bringing on new groups you bring more and fresh people into the system

The truth is that you could start a new fraternity a year and a new sorority a semester until you ran out of students no matter how weak the system is. I have seen it.

Rule #3 Be proffessional.

What kills Greeks time and again is that we don't have a proffessional system, body of knowledge, or proffessional help to call upon to run proffessional type organizations.

So you need to find leadership consultants outside the common Greek World to show you how to perform functions better, recruit better, and just operate at a higher level.

This seems to matter less in a stronger system where the environment itself recruits for you and the activites are almost written in stone.

But I have been horrified at some of the advice and perspective given by senior national officers, greek life personel, and senior alum officers here on GC. The advice isn't generally bad per se, just at a much lower level of knowledge or proffessionalism than is good for us.

But you can tell the people mean well and care about their organizations lol.

Rule #4 Have your umbrella groups come up with resolutions adopting these expansion policies and a 5 year plan to put them in effect.

Rule # 5 Start developing more personal relationships with senior fraternity sorority leadership.

Ask that all delegates to IFC or NPC or whatever are exec board members or that the position be an exec position in the chapter (I know NPC groups already so this a lot).

Have more social informal meetings where you get together for food, ask a different chapter to host is bi-weekly. That way you guys know each other better socially and for business.

Only a fool neglects personal relationships when it comes to power.

Rule #6 Develop closer personal ties with admin.

This means more than visit them. Have each chapter agree to host weekly or whatever meetings with senior admin in Student life. Developing personal even more than proffessional relationships with these guys can make all the difference in your chapters and systems success.

Make sure its senior execs that go to these lunch/dinner meetings.

Rule # 7 Develop a comprehensive media program

It should be part of the overall Greek program to man all the media centers of the college and to make sure there are good press releases.

Rule #8 Do NOT focus on the bad stuff or try and force chapters to fly right

Its not only a waste of your time, it creates a hunted persecuted environment for Greeks.

Also, its pretty much a bad leadership practice to focus on not doing anything wriong versus doing things right.

ITs also an example of bad parenting.

There are dozens more. But the basics are to develop personal relationships and goals among Greek LEaders and Administrators and EXPAND.

A system that isn't constantly expanding is dying.

And I have to say the NPC model has to be one of the worst examples of vodoo type economics ever invented lol. Try applying that theory to the real world and we'll see why it fails on campuses.