Rep problem..... Any suggestions?

DdayPike · #1 01-15-2002, 05:05 PM

To start out Im a Pike at OSU and Im the social chair/soroity relations for my house. Our rep on campus is that we drink too much and are social rejects. Well since taking the job of social chair in my house i have experianced that before we start doing date parties and social events that we need to beat our rep. I am what you would call a very outgoing person and i have friends all over campus, most in houses and some that are not. I meet so many people that i cant be somewhere in town without bumping into one of them. Ive called several of the sororities and tried to make plans for date parties but always get rejected, then when i ask one of my friends why , they tell me that its was in the best intrests of the houses rep not to be associated with us. <--- That bothers me. We have only been able to convince one house that we are a great bunch of guys and they hang out with us all the time. Sorry for the length of the post. Any help would be appreciated.
Dustin
P.S. If there is anyone on here from OK State, drop me an email.

Peaches-n-Cream · #2 01-15-2002, 06:19 PM

Hey Dustin,
Sorry about the bad rep. That can really be a problem for both fraternities and sororities. I have a few ideas on the subject which might be able to help you. If the sororities aren't interested, you can have mixers or socials inviting all the women in a dorm, on a team, or in a club. I remember one fraternity at my school would have private parties and each brother would invite 10 people mostly women, of course. Those were really successful.
The best thing you and your brothers can do is be at your best all of the time. Be courteous and friendly gentlemen to everyone. You can win your campus over one person at a time. Participate in all campus-wide and greek-wide events in order to get your name out. When you have a philanthropic or charitable event, get your campus paper to cover it. Once a week your fraternity brothers should all wear letters and have dinner on campus. The key is visibility. You aren't going to change people's opinions by staying in your house and hanging out. So go out and meet people and your rep will change.
Pledges can be an excellent public relations tool. Utilize them...in a non hazing way, of course. I loved when fraternity pledges would wear their colors and do fun things like sing to us sorority sisters. You can have your pledges visit the sororities and interview their sisters. There are tons of things that you can do. Good luck! I hope that some of my suggestions will help.

33girl · #3 01-15-2002, 08:07 PM

Dustin, you said you have a lot of friends in other GLO's. Ask some of the guys if they would be up for a double mixer - you guys, another fraternity, and 2 sororities. The sororities might be a little more into that, especially if they have never mixed with your group. A lot of people just want to party with the same old people all the time, sorry to say. If you and JJJ invite 2 sororities and the sisters know the JJJ's, they are more likely to want to come.

Also, I'm not quite sure what you mean by "date parties." The only date parties I've been to are those where each member asks a date regardless of affiliation. I would stay away from any type of function with a sorority where people who don't know each other are paired - it can be very uncomfortable. Stick to just general parties where people mix and mingle as they wish.

Pike4Life · #4 01-16-2002, 02:13 PM

My Brother Pike,

I certainly feel for you on the issue of reputation. My chapter has gone through a period of bad press several years ago and has hard pressed, although not to the degree that you guys are, to find sororities to fill the social calendar.
In regards to changing your rep, I certainly agree with Cream - it takes a concentrated effort on the part of all the Brothers to try and change that rep.
In regards to fixing your social calendar, here are two suggestions that my chapter used in the past. 1) Hold a Crush Party where each Brother invites 1 or 2 or 3 girls from whatever sorority. Make sure that everyone treats the women nicely and HAVE FUN with the women of your choice. The idea is to invite girls that you are friends with, classmates, not necessary the hottest ChiO that you want to hook up with. The point is to get those Pike-friendly women together in a big group, give them a good party, and hopefully they will spread the good word for you afterwards with their sisters and other sororities.
2) Hold a social with sororities from another campus. What we did several times was rent a couple of charter busses and drove in THREE sororities from a nearby all-women's college. It was a BLAST, and the sorority girls from Brenau Women's College really appreciated it, and the sororities on our campus REALLY took notice of it as well.

Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK!

lil_ducky · #5 04-10-2002, 11:25 AM

I know what it feels like to have a bad rep on campus. Our sorority is filled with fun girls, but we are seen as unsocial and too smart. I want to turn our image around, but we have a strict alcohol policy, which makes it hard for us to have exchanges that fraternities want to come to. Any ideas to help us show our true spirit would help. Thanks!