Making a chapter stronger!!!

[mugreek]

At my school, greek life dominates. With 16/17 "good" sororities, it's better to accept a bid from a bottom tier than it is to drop out completely.

That being said, I am in a "bottom middle" sorority. Out of 17, we are somewhere around number 11. Not terrible, yet not something I think is worth paying $600 a semester.

I'm only a sophomore, so wouldn't consider deactivating yet, but I just want to hear what people think would help us build a much stronger chapter.

A lot of girls agree that there is disorganization, lack of passion, people think that we are "boring" and we don't socialize enough with the frats. I think it would be amazing if we could, as a whole, get our act together and move up a tier and finally be proud of wearing our letters to class!!!

[SWTXBelle]

My suggestion? Have a chapter retreat - and get an alumna advisor, cc, whoever you can with a background in working with groups (specifically sororities, if possible) and 1.)identify the problem areas within the chapter and 2.) formulate a plan to address the most pressing problems. This worked well for a chapter I advised. But it is very important that EVERYONE feel they have a part in identifying the problems, so that everyone will want to be part of the solution.

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by mugreek

At my school, greek life dominates. With 16/17 "good" sororities, it's better to accept a bid from a bottom tier than it is to drop out completely.

That being said, I am in a "bottom middle" sorority. Out of 17, we are somewhere around number 11. Not terrible, yet not something I think is worth paying $600 a semester.

I'm only a sophomore, so wouldn't consider deactivating yet, but I just want to hear what people think would help us build a much stronger chapter.

A lot of girls agree that there is disorganization, lack of passion, people think that we are "boring" and we don't socialize enough with the frats. I think it would be amazing if we could, as a whole, get our act together and move up a tier and finally be proud of wearing our letters to class!!!

Have you ever considered the fact that maybe your chapter's situation is that of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Many people have said it only takes one great new member class to completely turn things around. If you aren't proud to wear your letters out, then why should any pnm's want to be part of your group?

And I think it's great that you think only 16/17 are "good"... apparently 1 just didn't make the cut.

[CrackerBarrel]

Flex Fridays. You'll be jacked in no time.

[APhiAnna]

I think the trick is to be proud of your letters BEFORE your status goes up. The more proud and excited you are about your sorority the more it resonates. Some fun ideas to increase visibility:

Order fun/cute t-shirts and other apparel items and pick days of the week to all wear the same shirt. Have a sisterhood event (Capture the Flag, Slip 'n Slides, Fundraisers, etc) that take place ON CAMPUS where it is visible to everybody. Work on PR...send congratulations baskets to fraternities for their pledge classes, sororities for completing finals, etc. Come up with creative socials that will attract attention on campus...maybe a mystery date or yacht party if no other sorority does them. If your philanthropy isn't a signature event on campus with a lot of name recognition work on promoting that...then fraternity members who are on teams for your event will buy t-shirts and wear them year round. Come up with "an XYZ loves me" shirt for the boyfriends so they can wear them and promote your org. LETTERS LETTERS LETTERS...but make them fun and unique! Pretty patterns for letter sweatshirts, matching tote bags for sisters to carry books to class (my chapter does it and nearly every sister therefore wears letters everyday because of it)...google the "Party with Pi Phi" tanks and maybe you can find them, I know multiple chapters have used these and they look awesome because they are so unique. Sponsor educational or cultural events on campus. Volunteer sisters to proctor finals (wearing their letters of course!), make it a fun rule that if you wear letters to class to make sure to ask one thought-out question to raise awareness that XYZs are intelligent, plan fun spontaneous lunches on campus where at least a couple sisters wear letters...

There are SO MANY THINGS YOU CAN DO like that!!! Think about if...will those ideas suddenly make all the hottest fraternity members want to date XYZs and give you guys the highest return rates during recruitment? No. But what it WILL do is give you a positive and exciting buzz on campus. Think about the talk that will generate..."Hey, I'm so excited for XYZ PHILANTHROPY, it's the most fun one out of all the sororities"..."Wow I really want to be invited to the XYZ social, it's on a yacht!"..."There is this one XYZ in my class who is always saying something intelligent"...etc. It will make people excited to talk about your GLO, your morale will boost just because you are doing fun and new things and PNMs will see that during recruitment. One chapter on my campus was struggling, made the decision to be proud of their letters right NOW, had a bunch of unique events and the simple morale boost and the increase of campus attention towards them helped them tremendously...they got an incredible pledge class this year.

With 17 chapters, much of the issue is sticking out of the crowd. Brainstorm PR ideas with your chapter and I bet you'll be surprised at how creative some of the sisters will get!

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by mugreek

At my school, greek life dominates. With 16/17 "good" sororities, it's better to accept a bid from a bottom tier than it is to drop out completely.

That being said, I am in a "bottom middle" sorority. Out of 17, we are somewhere around number 11. Not terrible, yet not something I think is worth paying $600 a semester.

I'm only a sophomore, so wouldn't consider deactivating yet, but I just want to hear what people think would help us build a much stronger chapter.

A lot of girls agree that there is disorganization, lack of passion, people think that we are "boring" and we don't socialize enough with the frats. I think it would be amazing if we could, as a whole, get our act together and move up a tier and finally be proud of wearing our letters to class!!!

If you believe that you are paying $600 a semester to raise you own status, and you aren't proud to wear your letters to class, you should withdraw pronto because your attitude isn't doing your chapter any favors. If you simply feel that the money is being mismanaged, that is another story. Perhaps your chapter is in debt?

Do you want to make changes in your chapter because you feel you are not living up to your National sorority's values and requirements or because you want to raise your chapter's tier to make yourself look better? If it's the latter, you probably should withdraw. If it's the former, consider how you could best contribute to the chapter (recruitment, social, philanthropy, programming, Homecoming/Greek Week, scholarship, etc) and run for a position. Share your ideas with the executive board. Motivate your closest friends in the chapter and others who agree with you.

BTW, aren't there 18 NPC chapters at Miami Ohio or did one close recently?

[mugreek]

there are 17 sororities that participate in formal rush

[PANTHERTEKE]

Kick out all your fat/ugly girls and start from scratch.

Lol, JK JK JK !! :P

[SigKapCoug]

If your chapter isn't proud to wear your letters, then why would anyone else have a good opinion of your chapter? You're basically telling everyone else that it's a bad thing to be a member of your organization.