Does early initiation=early boredom and attrition?

[carnation]

Our niece, a college freshman, was just elected treasurer of her chapter. Two of our daughters were elected to important sorority chairmanships as freshmen. It kinda seems like if you let freshmen be elected to big offices early then they'd be likely to burn out early.

Until fairly recently, new members weren't initiated until they'd made their grades and since officers were slated in the fall, the earliest you could hold an office--unless an officer left school in the spring--was the last half of your sophomore year. Usually it was a small office and then bigger and better offices usually came in your junior year.

What do you think? Could early initiation and getting early offices result in burnout?

[AGDee]

I went through rush (yes, it was rush then) in February, was initiated in April and returned in September to find the Recruitment Chair didn't return to school. I became the Recruitment Chair. I have been an Alpha Gam for 22 years now and I have not gone through any full calendar year without an office of some sort (Exec Board, Advisor and House Association, International Finance Committee, Province Director, Area Coordinator).. I'm not burned out yet! I think it depends on the person. If I didn't have an office of some sort, even of an alumnae chapter, I don't think I'd stay active. It's just the way I am. It feeds me, it drives me and it makes me want more and more.

Dee

[KSUViolet06]

Every initiated member serves on a committee in my chapter, but new initiates usually choose the more uncomplicated committees (t-shirt,formal, etc) first, and then slowly move up to more involved ones like COB, formal recruitment, ritual, etc. As far as officers, we have a sophomore serving as our Treasurer and she does a fabulous job. It simply depends on the motivation level of the younger member.

I don't think freshmen in officer positions is a good idea personally because they still have alot to learn about just being a MEMBER without the added responsibility of learning to be an officer. A highly motivated sophomore should definitely have the opportunity to serve if she wants.

[PSUSigKap]

I held a minor position spring of my freshman year into fall of sophmore year. Then I was on exec spring sophomore year to fall of junior year. I was definately burned out by the end of my term on exec. We also had a lot of drama to deal with though. The whole exec board was ready to be done when we turned our positions over.

I think by the time you're a senior and you've dedicated so much time and energy to the org, you're going to burned out at least somewhat. I know I was ready to go alum when I graduated.

[Betarulz!]

I definitely think that it does probably increase burnout.

Just from my experience in undergrad, the one chapter (Chi O) that waited to initiate until second semester (waiting for grades) has always had much, much better participation from their seniors and fifth years. I'm willing to bet a lot of money that they had the largest number of seniors still active in the house out of any chapter on campus far and away.


Giving freshmen BIG leadership positions probably also hurts...or at least I'd imagine it would. Not necessarily from boredom either, more from just having to deal with all the little bullshit things and the stress. Makes it a lot less fun.

[PiKA2001]

I think it depends on the chapter size. In my fraternity a freshman would never be on e-board because of lack of experience in the fraternity. On the other hand there were some groups on campus that only had 15-20 members so having a NIM serve on e-board was almost necessary sometimes.

[AlphaFrog]

I was elected to Vice President of Alumnae and Heritage when I was a new member. I was initiated on a Thursday and Installed as VP on that Saturday. I throughly enjoyed it!!

[AOII_LB93]

As a new initiate, I was elected to Social Chairperson as a freshman. Subsequent offices held: New Member Educator, Vice-pres of Education, then Recruitment Chair. It didn't cause burnout to me, but I guess it depends on the person. If anything I think it gives the members more of a sense of ownership of their chapter. I don't think I was ever just a member at large. I can't even imagine what it must be like.

[33girl]

If you hold exec board offices EVERY SEMESTER from the time you initiate till the time you graduate, yes, you're going to burn out and not want to hear a thing about sorority by your senior year.

I think the problem comes with "well, Sally's already been on exec board...we can hardly ask her to be something lower like the Greek Week chair." Maybe Sally was great for rush chair when she was a sophomore....maybe 1) that is the only exec office she's a good fit for and 2) maybe her circumstances change. I mean, if ex-Presidents of the US can go back to practicing law I think our sororities can handle something similar.

[GeekyPenguin]

33girl makes a great point. My best friend was president sophomore and junior years, and senior year was t-shirt chair. It worked out great for her.

I got elected Standards chair a week after I was initiated - which was hard, because sisters were angry with the decisions I made (which needed to be made) saying that I hadn't been a member long enough to do that - but I was the one they elected! I think that's the biggest problem...the younger members may be more willing to make the tough decisions that need to be made for the good of the chapter but then the older sisters get angry at them for being "power-hungry."

[NebraskaDelt]

Burnout depends upon the person. I served as Chapter President for 2 terms, while also serving as President of History Honor Society, Director of Academic Affairs for IFC, Director of New Member Ed. for IFC, Election Commissioner for the Student Government, as well as several minor roles of leadership.

I think that if I could have continued my college career, a la Van Wilder, I would still be Chapter President. And after 4 years away from school, I would not have been burned out.

[ISUKappa]

I think holding an office (particularly a large office) early on in membership *may* have an affect on burnout and level of activity as a senior, but there are so many other factors that come into play. A lot depends on the individual person, the office held and the attitude of the chapter.

We have a big issue with young officers and frequent turnover in the chapter I advise. Holding an office is seen more of a hassle than a privilege; no one wants to hold an office as a senior because they would prefer to live out, and you can't hold an office and live out at the same time.

It's really only been in the last 5-6 years that this has become an issue, incidentally, coinciding with the switch to a shorter new member program. Personally, I think the change to the different NM program had something to do with the change in attitude, but the change in attitude of the women coming through recruitment and being pledged had more to do with it.

We're going to have to find a different way to encourage women to stay active and participate their entire college career because, unfortunately, we're not going to go back to a longer NM education period.

[KSigkid]

It completely depends on the chapter and the person involved. I've seen it happen both ways: a person gets a lot of responsibility quickly and stays involved throughout, or they become overwhelmed and stay hands-off from that point onward.

One point though - there are plenty of chapter founders who are freshmen/sophomores, and plenty of young chapter presidents who stay involved through graduation and beyond. I don't think you can make a hard and fast rule to cover everyone.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by carnation

What do you think? Could early initiation and getting early offices result in burnout?

Originally Posted by KSigkid

It completely depends on the chapter and the person involved...I don't think you can make a hard and fast rule to cover everyone.

How a modern sorority chooses to train, treat and inculcate their NM will affect retention and burnout rates. A recent GC post noted a NM who "wanted out" of her sorority when said NM had only spent one semester of non-pandemic time with her chapter. Rightly or wrongly, and I won't judge, she felt the sorority wasn't serving and never would serve her sorority needs.

Not every NM will have a similar sorority experience, but it was obvious from her posts that at the very least her chapter had not prepared her for a good sorority experience.

[33girl]

I don’t think that anything about the last 2 years can be considered normal, and I don’t think conclusions should be reached or changes should be made.