Quote:
Originally Posted by genericfratguy
I was possibly thinking of starting a NGL local frat to act as the interest group. The only problem is my frat doesnt have an expansion page on their national website. They have a new program which gets rid of pledging. If we were to continue underground, what would be the best way of recruiting members without drawing attention to ourselves. Maybe "secret society" style is the way to go.
|
Step 1 is to find out if you are officially on the roll books of the fraternity. I would suggest you call the headquarters and find out if you do not already know. If you were part of an underground pledge class, I suspect you are not an official member. That sucks if you are not since you did all the work- but at least find out for sure if you have not already (if you were not given a badgen within a few months after initiation with your roll number on it, you are probably not a member.)
Step 2 is to take a long hard look at the new policy that eliminates the pledge period. Read it over carefully and make sure you really get the details. Many, if not most, fraternities are moving to some version of the "Balanced Man" type approach that Lambda Chi and Sig Ep originated, but I am not aware of any major GLO that has completely eliminated the pledge period.
From there see what you think.
If you are a recognized initiate of your fraternity, then you are not going to be able to start a new local or join an existing local to get that group geared up to join with your fraternity. Granted you can probably get initiated into a local if you want since those groups are not formally bound to reciprocity rules that the major national fraternities honor, but your national fraternity would not approve of you doing that and could very well pull your pin. They certainly would not be interested in having you as a colony founder if you go this route.
However, if you are not a recognized initiate of your fraternity, then you have a lot more freedom to join a local and attempt to get it recognized as a chapter of the organization you thought you joined last year.
Now for a reality check if I may. I am not trying to discourage you here- but just let you know what is going on in the Greek world these days when it comes to expansion.
Many national fraternities are pushing their "balanced man" type initiatives and requiring that of all new chapters- and in most cases of existing chapters as well.
Because this is all fairly new, these initiatives are controversial at best among most existing chapters- some for, some against- and even alumni.
In recognition of this, some fraternities are letting go of chapters they are not happy with- letting them die without trying to turn them around, closing them when something bad happens etc.
And then they wait a couple of years and spend a lot of money to send in a leadership team to do a massive recruitment of up to 40 guys, put them through a 100% positive pledging period and initiate them within a matter of weeks. If there happen to be any guys remaining at school from the old chapter, they will have alumni status but are generally cordially invited to NOT be part of the recolonization process. The thinking is that anyone with the old chapter is part of a problem that national is trying to eliminate by starting from scratch.
How well this works remains to be seen. I think it will take another 10 years before we know for sure.
But for now, most fraternity HQs feel this has been a far more successful way to build the image they want as compared to the old way of trying to change existing attitudes at difficult chapters or absorbing local fraternities with existing members and their own history of "how things are done".
Simply put- like it or not you are going to have to get on board with whatever program your fraternity (meaning the one you may have been initiated into) is offering for expansion if you want to even have a chance of getting this off the ground.
As for a secret society or something like that- entirely up to you. But consider what kind of people you are going to be able to recruit into an organization that has no heritage, no financial or ritual support, or any immediate or long term promise of being a vital social organization with parties and the like.
If you create a secret society just so you can have the right to haze, then you are going to find people who are interested in hazing but don't necessarily care about being part of an organization that can advance them as men- be it having a kickass party or being in a place that offers chances to do charity work and find jobs through an alumni network.
Personally, I think the way some of the "balanced man" agendas and requirements are structured are not all that great. But they are there for a reason and like them or not, you will have to deal with them if you hope to recolonize your fraternity.
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you want and let me know the name of the organization. If it happens to be mine I will ask around for you to see what is going on- or I can pass you to someone else who can help you confidentially with specifics.
Linear Mode
