chapter fell apart

[whateveryousay]

My chapter just recently closed down because nationals did a special recruitment themselves, and they failed at getting the amount of girls they wanted (they were aiming for about 100+ girls and instead only got like about less than 30). Now they just shut us down! Before they did their special recruitment, nationals gave us alumnae status so it was kinda like starting the chapter over again, but they failed! Everybody was upset, especially the new members (or pledges) because they only got about one semester of greeklife. It is upsetting because i am a freshman knowing that i cant participate in the events that greeks do on campus, and i only pledged one semester and became alumnae the next and i cant join another sorority. But being part of NPC, the rules are that once your initiated, you cant join another sorority. The problem is that nationals and my own sisters knew that we were not on quota, and had a goal to meet before the end of semester, but they waited until after initiation to tell us! If they were going to shut the chapter down, then then they shouldnt have handed out any bids. Even the older members were nicer during rush and the new member period to the pledges, and now they are just whatever. What gets on my nerves is that nobody cares about the chapter being closed down, except for the freshmans, except since we did not have our time to enjoy the greeklife and benefits! Hanging out with the alumnae chapter would be awkward because I just barely got out of high school and these ladies just barely got out of college or maybe even older! I joined a sorority for sisterhood, and to hang out with people of my age. I heard that it takes 5 years to restart a chapter, but by then, ill be graduated!

sorry for the long message, thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[KSUViolet06]

I'm sorry this happened to you and I'm sorry to hear about the closure.

I know you're upset, I know right now you really are sad because you want the collegiate sorority member experience, but please don't let this stop you from becoming an involved alumna at some point. Every NPC has alumna chapters everywhere, and while the demographic is slightly older, the sisterhood in those groups are still there. The alumna chapter can even help you find other chapters of your sorority in your state/area that you can volunteer with.

Also, don't let this stop you from hanging out with other members of your chapter. Even though your chapter is not active, they are still your sisters and friends and you can still do things together.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by whateveryousay

The problem is that nationals and my own sisters knew that we were not on quota, and had a goal to meet before the end of semester, but they waited until after initiation to tell us! If they were going to shut the chapter down, then then they shouldnt have handed out any bids.

I heard that it takes 5 years to restart a chapter, but by then, ill be graduated!

First off the 5 year rule is not a hard & fast thing, it varies by campus and sorority. That's given as the basic number because it assures all the old members have graduated.

The sisters may not have known for sure whether or not the chapter was going to be closed and may have thought they were going to be able to keep going, so it might not be their fault. On the other hand, they should have given you the option to initiate or not.

Do you have the option to start an alum chapter specifically based where you go to college? For example - if the nearest alumnae chapter is the New York City chapter, you can start the Queens (or whatever town your college is in) alumnae chapter. That way you can still stay together.

[adpiucf]

As much as I am loath to recommend this under usual circumstances, there is nothing to stop you and some friends from forming a local sorority, affiliating with the campus Panhellenic and having your own sorority with a unique name, tradition and ritual that has nothing to do with the national that granted you alumnae status. You would not be operating as a unrecognized chapter of XYZ, you would be a completely new organization that shares nothing in common with the national, and whose members could be any of the women on your campus, including perhaps some of the ladies who belonged to the national sorority that closed. You could plan sisterhood events, social mixers, select a philanthropy to support, conduct business meetings and select a name and develop a ritual for your organization. This is a lot of hard work, but it is an option. You may also want to take this semester to investigate other women's groups on your campus to see if there is an opportunity to join an established campus activity that you might enjoy, too. It isn't a sorority, but you can gain a sense of sisterhood, be involved on campus and make new friends.

And while joining the national sorority's local alum assoc feels weird, since there are so many alumnae of your sorority on the college campus now who are current students, you might form an auxilary of the current alum assoc just for young members. A lot of alum assoc's have a "Young Alum" programming component anyway. Locally, Pi Phi alums in my town have a really robust Young Alumnae club-- so much so that one of the young alums told me recently that she doesn't really know any of the older women b/c the young alum club stays so busy and doesn't interact much with the older set. They're working to improve this of course, but their group stays busy and has regular socials and charity events.

[sdsuchelle]

I am so sorry. The same thing happened to me when I was a freshman... its really frustrating and I'm still kind of angry about it.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

As much as I am loath to recommend this under usual circumstances, there is nothing to stop you and some friends from forming a local sorority, affiliating with the campus Panhellenic and having your own sorority with a unique name, tradition and ritual that has nothing to do with the national that granted you alumnae status. You would not be operating as a unrecognized chapter of XYZ, you would be a completely new organization that shares nothing in common with the national, and whose members could be any of the women on your campus, including perhaps some of the ladies who belonged to the national sorority that closed. You could plan sisterhood events, social mixers, select a philanthropy to support, conduct business meetings and select a name and develop a ritual for your organization. This is a lot of hard work, but it is an option. You may also want to take this semester to investigate other women's groups on your campus to see if there is an opportunity to join an established campus activity that you might enjoy, too. It isn't a sorority, but you can gain a sense of sisterhood, be involved on campus and make new friends.

Is this me posting under the wrong username? LOL.

If you do choose this option, and you do end up being part of the school's Panhellenic - go along with the rush and risk management rules that the national groups have to follow. Don't do things they can't do (even if you can) because you're local. That will just tick the other groups off.

[AlphaFrog]

I PMed you.

I know what you're going through. So do many ladies on this board. You can always hang around GC. We like stray greeks here.

[Stef the Pef]

I've heard of some NPCs organizing "young alumni" groups, so you might want to see about starting one with the girls in your chapter and some other younger alums.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally Posted by Stef the Pef

I've heard of some NPCs organizing "young alumni" groups, so you might want to see about starting one with the girls in your chapter and some other younger alums.

Young "alumnae" (the correct word for the female plural) groups are usually recent college grads which if you read her post she considers old as well.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by SmartBlondeGPhB

Young "alumnae" (the correct word for the female plural) groups are usually recent college grads which if you read her post she considers old as well.

In this case, there may be enough alumnae who are also current undergraduate students to make it feasible for her. (If the other women who were granted alumnae status at the same time were interested in organizing together.) I'd assume that most NPC groups have a special group for younger alumnae - in Alpha Gamma Delta, its called a Junior Circle.

Depending on your perspective, one of the perks of organizing an alumnae group for your fellow undergrads would be not having to deal with the stress/pressures of recruitment. (Sorry - trying to find anything remotely resembling a silver lining for you in this situation. I know that you're upset, and understandably so, at the situation. But perhaps joining forces with your sisters who are in the same boat will help make things a little better.) You could still have social events, and most likely the restrictions on an alumnae group are not quite as strict as the restrictions upon an active undergraduate chapter. (This is depending upon your National organization though - you'd want to check the rules with them directly.)

[BootyKBG]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Are there others from your chapter who are interested in restarting? PM me, I might have an option for you other than starting from scratch.

[emb021]

Originally Posted by whateveryousay

But being part of NPC, the rules are that once your initiated, you cant join another sorority.

FYI- its not just a 'NPC thing'. The 'rule' as pretty much always been that one can only join one social/general fraternity/sorority. This does not restrict you from joining service, professional, or honorary GLOs, btw.

I find your situation very strange. Just because you didn't get your quota does not seem a reason to shutdown a chapter. But I have no idea how NPC works. Plus, I do not consider someone an alumni/ae member of their GLO before they leave school/graduate.

[AlphaFrog]

I think she meant a quota set by her HQ, not campus quota.

ASA HQ set a quota for us that we had to reach or be shut down, and since it was triple our current numbers, we didn't make it. Gee, wonder why.

[emb021]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

I think she meant a quota set by her HQ, not campus quota.

ASA HQ set a quota for us that we had to reach or be shut down, and since it was triple our current numbers, we didn't make it. Gee, wonder why.

Again, as I say, I find that strange. But I don't know how social/general GLOs operate.

In my org, we may set goals that we'd like to see chapters increase membership (and we recognize those to do met such goals), we would never shut down a chapter for this. Even if we have only 1 student member, we try to keep the chapter 'going' and help recruite new members. Why go thru the work of re-establishing a chapter when its easier to save a chapter?

We only shutdown chapters if they violate the rules (hazing, etc.). Not for failing to meet membership goals.

And as an aside. One thing you learn about goal setting, is that goals must be 'Attaintable'. Can the person/group, with the resources available to them, be able to attain that goal? Having some outside group (whether its HQ or the school) mandate a goal without understanding what is realistic, is just setting up that person/group for failure.

Doubling membership is hard, regardless of the size of a group. Tripling it even more so.

[33girl]

APO doesn't have houses either. That has a lot to do with it.