VP of Panhellenic

[allybilly]

Hi everyone! I'm one of those people who reads all the time and never posts, but I have a question I think the community might be able to help me with.

Elections are coming up for my chapter, and I really want to run for VP Panhellenic, which is basically the chapter's Panhellenic representative at weekly meetings who keeps track of all Pan business and presents it back to the chapter. We are meeting this Sunday and I need to be able to present some ideas that I have for the position. So far I've come up with giving cute incentives for girls to attend Panhellenic meetings/events and represent us well (we only have about 1-2 girls go every week to the meetings and I think we can do way better). Other than that, though, I'm a little stuck. Is anyone able to share some ideas relevant to the position from their own chapters that would really make my speech stand out? I have no idea if anyone is running for the same thing but I really want my sisters to see that I desire and deserve the position. My school has a moderately sized Panhellenic community (we have 9 chapters, which are generally pretty large, 100 or so members). Thanks!

[honeychile]

Wait - you have nine chapters, and only get 1-2 women out at each Panhellenic meeting? Or is that 1-2 women from each chapter? Please clarify!

[33girl]

She is running for her chapter's panhellenic delegate, not a Panhellenic office, so I'm assuming she means she wants more women from her chapter to come to the meetings.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I'm assuming she means she wants more women from her chapter to come to the meetings.

That's how I took it, too.

I find it quite surprising that chapter members who aren't Panhellenic delegates attend the meetings. Sounds like an interesting Greek community. Of course, Panhellenic at my school saw themselves as the elite of the elite , and never allowed non-delegates to attend meetings, so that's the mindset I'm coming from.

I'm confused as to what function the VP-Panhellenic serves to the chapter if non-delegates can also attend the meetings. Do the non-delegates have voting privileges at the meetings? If not, why is a large presence at the meetings helpful?

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by SydneyK

Of course, Panhellenic at my school saw themselves as the elite of the elite , and never allowed non-delegates to attend meetings, so that's the mindset I'm coming from.

Is that even NPC-legal? I thought meetings HAD to be open.

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by SydneyK

That's how I took it, too.

I find it quite surprising that chapter members who aren't Panhellenic delegates attend the meetings. Sounds like an interesting Greek community. Of course, Panhellenic at my school saw themselves as the elite of the elite , and never allowed non-delegates to attend meetings, so that's the mindset I'm coming from.

I'm confused as to what function the VP-Panhellenic serves to the chapter if non-delegates can also attend the meetings. Do the non-delegates have voting privileges at the meetings? If not, why is a large presence at the meetings helpful?

I would assume that the meetings are open to all, however only those elected can vote on issues. Kind of like a city council- anyone can go to a meeting and during certain times can even speak at the meeting.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Is that even NPC-legal? I thought meetings HAD to be open.

I have no idea if it was legal... but as we all know, sometimes rules get broken.

Supposedly, many years ago (back when the brothel laws were in place ), all the sororities on campus sent as many sisters as they could to Panhellenic meetings. It essentially turned into a competition: which sorority could have the most sisters there. The room would fill up, and so sororities who didn't get there early enough felt jipped. Eventually, from what I was told, it got to the point where a sister from each sorority would go to the room hours in advance just to save seats. The university's administration got irritated and told Panhellenic that no one could go in the room until so many minutes before the meeting started. Panhellenic decided to close meetings from that point on.

So, like I said, I have no idea if it's legal, but that's what happened (or, at least, that's the legend). It seemed that, campus wide, the most prestigious position within any sorority was their Panhellenic delegate.

[KSUViolet06]

My chapter actually requires everyone (actives and new members) to attend a Panhellenic meeting at least once per semester. Our officers felt it was very important for everyone to go at some point, to see how Panhellenic runs and to potentially spark some interest in girls to run for Panhellenic Exec in the future (which alot of our girls do).

To encourage girls to attend Panhellenic more than once, our Delegate started a prize drawing. Every time you went to Panhellenic, you got to put your name into the bucket. At the end of the semester, she drew a name and they won a prize (which was usually something nice like a $30 gift card to the University Bookstore).

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

To encourage girls to attend Panhellenic more than once, our Delegate started a prize drawing. Every time you went to Panhellenic, you got to put your name into the bucket. At the end of the semester, she drew a name and they won a prize (which was usually something nice like a $30 gift card to the University Bookstore).

That's an excellent idea, KSUViolet. Since each sister was required to attend one Panhellenic meeting, did each sister who met that requirement get to put their name in the bucket, or only those who exceeded the requirement?

[Benzgirl]

Like KSU Violet, we were required to attend one Panhel Meeting per year. It would have been crowded per quarter since wer had over 100 in the chapter.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by SydneyK

That's an excellent idea, KSUViolet. Since each sister was required to attend one Panhellenic meeting, did each sister who met that requirement get to put their name in the bucket, or only those who exceeded the requirement?

If you met the requirement, you got to put your name in, but everybody ended up exceeding the requirement because the more you went, the more chances you had to win.

[honeychile]

Thanks for clearing that up!

We had to attend Junior Panhel as pledges (do they still have that?), but we wouldn't have had the room for every chapter to bring extra people. The Panhellenic Delegate offered every week to bring someone, and a few were usually inteested. I became involved in Junior Panhel and was part of Panhel until graduation!

[Glitter650]

To get back to the topic about what else you can offer as your chapter's panhellenic delegate... how about presenting like a quick 30 second synopsis of a NPC org. that's not at your school at your chapters meetings ? (like colors, mascot, founding, philanthropy ?)I know one of our panhellenic delegates did this and it added a lot to her position because it was kinda going above the duties called for and really bringing the chapter a sense of the entire Greek community that we belong to, not just your chapter, or your school.

Also maybe think of some ways to bring panhellenic together... is the only thing your panhellenic does together rush ? How about some sort of massive social event or philanthropy together ? or an awards night or some such ?

Also a panhellenic delegate needs to ensure information is passed on in a timely manner, so make sure they know you'll be on top of getting them the information, and you should be a shoe-in for the position !