Recolonizing a chapter

[gogreekorwhat]

Hi I wanted to recolonize a chapter at my school. They were initially banned for hazing and is currently inactive for about 2 years.

How long will this take and what is this process going to be like?

[clemsongirl]

Originally Posted by gogreekorwhat

Hi I wanted to recolonize a chapter at my school. They were initially banned for hazing and is currently inactive for about 2 years.

How long will this take and what is this process going to be like?

Are you looking to recolonize NPC, IFC, NPHC, NALFO, or some other council? It varies wildly depending on the answer.

[gogreekorwhat]

Originally Posted by clemsongirl

Are you looking to recolonize NPC, IFC, NPHC, NALFO, or some other council? It varies wildly depending on the answer.

I was looking into a NPC sorority

[clemsongirl]

Originally Posted by gogreekorwhat

I was looking into a NPC sorority

Generally, the process for recolonizing an NPC sorority is out of an individual student's hands. The national sorority may have an agreement with the school to return at a certain time after all former members have graduated, or the school may not want that sorority back on campus and will look for other extension options instead. If your school is not open for sorority expansion or not considering it, it's unlike that any recolonization will occur. You can contact your school's office of Greek Life and ask if the sorority is planning on coming back any time soon.

I'd also ask why you want this specific chapter to come back. Are there other sororities still around that you've looked at? If you're hoping to get XYZ restarted and go back to their old reputation, whatever that was, it's not going to happen. Recolonizing an NPC sorority is such a large undertaking that I'd recommend considering already-established groups instead.

[gogreekorwhat]

Originally Posted by clemsongirl

Generally, the process for recolonizing an NPC sorority is out of an individual student's hands. The national sorority may have an agreement with the school to return at a certain time after all former members have graduated, or the school may not want that sorority back on campus and will look for other extension options instead. If your school is not open for sorority expansion or not considering it, it's unlike that any recolonization will occur. You can contact your school's office of Greek Life and ask if the sorority is planning on coming back any time soon.

I'd also ask why you want this specific chapter to come back. Are there other sororities still around that you've looked at? If you're hoping to get XYZ restarted and go back to their old reputation, whatever that was, it's not going to happen. Recolonizing an NPC sorority is such a large undertaking that I'd recommend considering already-established groups instead.

I feel like out of all the established NPC sorority chapters at my school does not exactly fit my philosophy and philanthropic beliefs. So I should speak to my school's Greek office?

[clemsongirl]

Originally Posted by gogreekorwhat

I feel like out of all the established NPC sorority chapters at my school does not exactly fit my philosophy and philanthropic beliefs. So I should speak to my school's Greek office?

Yes, they'd be the best place to go for information, but again I want to caution you that for the most part NPC sorority expansion is driven by the schools and the national sororities, not the students. Also keep in mind that just because you feel the groups don't meet your philanthropic beliefs doesn't mean that you have enough girls to start an interest group or a new chapter on your campus. It just means you don't feel like you've found your home, and there might not be enough other girls who also feel this way.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by gogreekorwhat

I feel like out of all the established NPC sorority chapters at my school does not exactly fit my philosophy and philanthropic beliefs. So I should speak to my school's Greek office?

Just to clarify, is this code for "I want to join a Jewish sorority"?

[ramsey]

Originally Posted by gogreekorwhat

I feel like out of all the established NPC sorority chapters at my school does not exactly fit my philosophy and philanthropic beliefs.

I really don't think that you should let this stop you from seeing what amazing organizations those groups may be. I have to be honest. My sorority has changed philanthopy focus since I joined, and if I knew then, what i know now, and had the current philanthropy focus been our philanthropy focus THEN, I would have steered clear of my sorority because I significantly disagree with this organization (charitynavigator.org doesn't have anything nice to say about how they use the funds they raise and I think it's total crap that our girls are raising so much money for a company that's being wasteful...)

Anyway.... I love my sorority. My sorority is NOT the philanthropy. As an alumna, I choose to not be involved in that aspect anymore. I have other ways that I get involved in philanthropic efforts in my personal life. I would have hated to miss out on my sorority because I wrote them off dur to the philanthropy group they were associated with.

Just something to think about....

[clemsongirl]

Also know that I am not the end-all, be-all for information about this. There could be other factors I don't know about that influence your chances, and anyone else on GC can feel free to swoop in and correct me if I'm putting my foot in my mouth

[AZTheta]

gogreekorwhat, please read the information here from the NPC website, about extension.

[DubaiSis]

There ARE times when a sorority is invited to recolonize without opening up for the full expansion process. However, for that to be true it likely would have been negotiated at the time the chapter was closed. That may or may not be information that is available for public consumption.

Another thing to be aware of is closing due to hazing is not the same as closing due to low numbers. If the school has a reputation of being problematic with hazing, the sorority in question may not want to touch that school with a 10 foot pole. If the offending chapter only closed 2 years ago I would not look for resolution any time soon. Like at least 2 more years and likely longer than that.

Based on your enthusiastic responses, I have the feeling you think you can make this happen. I would counsel you to find a way to fit in with the existing chapters. It really is the only realistic way for you to end up in a sorority.

[Nanners52674]

This rubs me the wrong way. You're a junior who is just now wanting to go Greek, yet you've already decided none of the sororities on campus meet your standards.

If someone on my campus decided to petition panhellenic for expansion based on not liking the current sororities, I'd vote no, every time.

It's one thing to petition for expansion if your active chapters are bursting at the seams, it's another when you petition because you don't like the current sorority choices.

[KDCat]

It's very unlikely that a single student can push a recolonization forward in this way. You're much better off trying to find a home in the current GLOs available at your campus or letting the issue go.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by Nanners52674

This rubs me the wrong way. You're a junior who is just now wanting to go Greek, yet you've already decided none of the sororities on campus meet your standards.

If someone on my campus decided to petition panhellenic for expansion based on not liking the current sororities, I'd vote no, every time.

It's one thing to petition for expansion if your active chapters are bursting at the seams, it's another when you petition because you don't like the current sorority choices.

This, OP, is known as Panhellenic Spirit; sincerely hoping your campus offers same.

[AnchorAlumna]

As for how long it takes, it could be anywhere from a year to 4, 5, 10 years. It depends on the campus's need for more sororities.
Your best bet is still to talk to your school's Greek life office.
After that, you could also call the sorority's national/international headquarters and talk to someone there, but don't be surprised if they decline to talk to you.
Another tack would be to form a local sorority...maybe with the hopes of one day affiliating with a national. That's still going to take a long time to set up, and even longer - years, possibly - to affiliate with a national.
Again, talk to your Greek life office to see what the needs are and how you'd go about creating a new organization.