Question???

Mentos · #1 03-10-2001, 04:33 AM

I am a freshman at a large public school that is predominantly Greek. I was recently given the opportunity to re-colonize a national fraternity that was once here for over 100 years and then closed about 5 years ago. The fraternity is giving us a great amount of national and alumni support, but I am worried that myself, as well as my 4 other friends who are in the same position, do not have enough time to take on this kind of a challenge. Please tell me what you think of this opportunity and help me decide what to do. All suggestions will be helpful.

Tom Earp · #2 03-10-2001, 04:36 PM

Mentos, you have the luxury of having a National aid you in a restart up.
In 1965, I started a local with no help. We won out over a small National as there was going to be one Fraternity aloud on campus at the time. Beleive it or not, with the hard work that I put in for the starting, my grades were better as I had to help the house with grades and the second semester we were , we had the highest GPA of all Fraternitys. We were colonized by LXA in the spring semester at the end of the term. I have never looked back and still am very active with my Chapter. You will learn more as a member of a Greek Organization than as an independent. No matter what Fraternity you are going with, it will be a life long Brotherhood as they are always still your family!! Much good luck and keep us informed.

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Tom Earp LX Z#1
Pittsburg State U. (Kansas)

Lil_G · #3 03-10-2001, 06:28 PM

Mentos,

I don't know if you read this response when you asked this question on the other thread so I reposted it here.

I'm currently under going a similar situation and thought maybe I could offer you some advice. Unfourtunately, my school does not have a well-established greek system, we've had difficulties in getting more guys interested in founding with us. Because of this we've decided to start a local to use as a stepping stone before we colonize our respective fraternity. This allows us to establish by laws, a brotherhood, and it also gives us a presence on campus. This is just an option you might want to consider, once the local has taken off with success the transition to a colony is much more smoother.

The points brought up by PnguinTrax and shadokat are very valid. The national fraternity has the most to lose if the colony fails. In one of my talks with the director of expansion for a NAIC fraternity, he told me it costs approximately $6000 to setup a colony. Also, if you look at the program, it has a defined scheldule for completing the goals: e.g. XX amount of dollars raised by XX amount of days.

I hope this was of some use to you. Please keep me posted about the progress of your group, lates.

Mentos · #4 03-10-2001, 07:21 PM

Thanks everyone...yah Lil G, I read your reply...I just reposted so I could get more replys

DeltAlum · #5 03-11-2001, 01:45 AM

I know several men who started a new colony of Delta Tau Delta. It did take a lot of time, but the fraternity gave them lots of help, and I know it is an experience they will never forget. They have all graduated now, but their pride in the chapter and their accomplishments really show.

Good luck.

DeltAlum

33girl · #6 03-11-2001, 01:50 AM

Is there a lot of support at your school (most importantly in the form of interested men) for a new/revitalized fraternity? Are you being given a reasonable amount of time to complete your colonization and chartering? Is the national committed to helping you obtain housing, if that is a necessity on your campus?

If all the answers are yes, and you believe in the fraternity and its ideals, I would go for it.

KSig RC · #7 03-12-2001, 12:47 AM

Mentos -
I know that with Kappa Sig, our National is actively recolonizing the few chapters we've recently lost - most of these have large amounts of alumni and school support for the recolonization as well, and i know that the amount of personal time and attention National puts into the recolonization process is very large. That said, you'll have to take on the responsibilities of not only becoming a pledge of the fraternity, but you'll also have the added goals set as part of the recolonization process. This will certainly be time-consuming, but honestly becoming a brother, and in this case a (re-)founding father, can be the best feeling one can ever have. So yes, the time commitment will be large, but the support structure will exist to aid you in the process as much as possible, and the ends will certainly be extremely rewarding.