A trend I've noticed: Small vs. large nationals

[ivygreekgirl]

I occasionally browse that other site that shall remain nameless and one of the trends I've noticed is this idea of 'national' tiers and posters at certain schools only wanting the 'strong' houses vs. the 'weak' nationals.

I take those posts with a grain of salt but I wonder if these ideas are a reflection of the rest of Panhellenic.

If the larger and strong NPCs are the ones that are desirable, won't that just cause the smaller groups to weaken?

I just see a lot of hate towards certain groups on the other site and based on these posts, it seems like certain colonies aren't given a fair chance due to these national stands.

When I went through recruitment years ago, I honestly had no idea about national tiers and didn't affect my decision but it seems like it's more of a factor nowadays.

Thoughts?

[Kevin]

I have no thoughts. I have no idea what you are talking about.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

I think that PNM's want to be in the chapters that are the highest tier on their campus. I think those who end up in lower-tier chapters console themselves with the thoughts of a strong national. I do not think it is a priority when women are making recruitment choices.

[ForeverRoses]

We joined and stayed in our chapters based on the connections that we made while at a particular school. I cannot imagine someone passing up on a bid to a chapter they really connected with because it wasn't strong nationally.

After college, those of us that work with collegate chapters or are active in alum chapters stay for the women and connections that we made in those. Again, it's more local.

As for extention, I think it could go both ways. Some schools might want a larger national sorority to colonize so that they have the support needed to survive at the school. Other schools might want a smaller sorority so that they get more individual attention since they don't have 10 other colonies to compete with...

[BraveMaroon]

As far as I can tell, the NPC has 26 strong Nationals (although some, I believe are actually Internationals). If I were to meet a sister from another school in another state would we be exactly alike? No. If I met a sister from my chapter ten years younger than me, would we have everything in common? No. Is that what makes a (lifetime, dammit) membership in a sorority. ANY SORORITY pretty amazing? Yes.

I love the internet, but I feel like it has really sucked the joy and "specialness" out of this process.

[Sciencewoman]

I'm not sure this is a strong consideration for most PNMs, but I have heard it discussed during recent extension openings on the campus where I teach...and the comments have run both ways ("We want to bring in a group that is well-known/strong nationally" but also "We feel threatened by any group that is larger/stronger nationally...this might hurt us during future recruitments if this group is too strong" -- and regional name recognition/perceived strength has also been heavily discussed).

If a PNM has personally witnessed family/community alumnae involvement, she might think about this more during recruitment. Are there more alumnae chapters, is there higher potential for networking due to more alumnae, etc. -- we've certainly heard PNMs say they aren't as interested in locals for these perceived limitations. I felt that way during my recruitment (I was not interested in the local, which eventually closed due to low numbers).

[clemsongirl]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

I'm not sure this is a strong consideration for most PNMs, but I have heard it discussed during recent extension openings on the campus where I teach...and the comments have run both ways ("We want to bring in a group that is well-known/strong nationally" but also "We feel threatened by any group that is larger/stronger nationally...this might hurt us during future recruitments if this group is too strong" -- and regional name recognition/perceived strength has also been heavily discussed).

If a PNM has personally witnessed family/community alumnae involvement, she might think about this more during recruitment. Are there more alumnae chapters, is there higher potential for networking due to more alumnae, etc. -- we've certainly heard PNMs say they aren't as interested in locals for these perceived limitations. I felt that way during my recruitment (I was not interested in the local, which eventually closed due to low numbers).

PNMs definitely consider whether they know older girls in chapters at other campuses, so if they're heard of XYZ before because girls from cheer/pageants/school/sports have joined that chapter at a different school they might be more interested in that chapter before recruitment starts. It's not a good reason, necessarily, but I know that it happens. Same thing for alumni-we've had women come on here and say they had a bunch of recs for XYZ and had alumni sing the songs and talk about it to them so they were more interested in that chapter despite not knowing anyone there.

Regional strength is important on some campuses (we want ABC to come on because they're so good at these other schools), but other schools with less emphasis on Greek life in the area may not care who's at the school down the road. I know that in a state like South Carolina there's many schools with strong Greek communities who frequently interact with each other both as individuals and groups, so students who see that a group is at many other campuses in the area may already know that group's name and be more likely to want them to colonize.

[DubaiSis]

I get what you're saying. We know a lot of girls in Texas would give their first born to be a Theta. That is not the same as saying DPhiE is a weak sorority just because they are not known there. Just as a for instance. Not blaming either sorority referenced here.

[DubaiSis]

I could see a collegian thinking she knows what she's talking about. There are a few NPC sororities that are VERY strong in a particular region but are virtually unknown outside that region. That makes them in no way weak, but some dingdong who is going through rush and thinks she knows everything there is to know about sorority life might think her lack of knowledge=weak sorority.

[jolene]

I would guess that most PNMs are concerned about clicking with the chapter at their school during the rounds unless she's a Tracy Flick type who only wants the networking opportunities of large national ties. As my sorority sister, Dubai, said there are groups that are big in certain areas. Yes, there's the rare bird that's big everywhere, but that's not the case with the majority of the groups, at least I don't think so. I don't have the stats for all NPC orgs.

[amillionlights]

I don't know if this really has anything to do with what you're talking about, but I think there's definitely the "big", well known groups like Kappa Kappa Gamma, Tri Delta or Chi Omega. Then for everyone else, it varies.

I know when I did an internship in college and went out of state, I met lots and lots of people from other groups and really, our impressions of each other's organizations had everything to do with whether or not we had that on our campus. One of my best friends there was (still is, but I'm talking past tense because the internship is over) an AOII. I had never even heard of AOII before and assumed they were small and 'weaker' nationally, but that couldn't be further from the truth. My cousin who is a Phi Mu didn't have Alpha Chi Omega on her campus and didn't even know they were NPC. Chi Omega was a huge group on my campus; on my AOII friend's campus, they were weaker.

I think it has to do more with the group's reputation locally than nationally. Phi Mu and Alpha Omicron Pi are very, very strong nationally, but I didn't really know that until I became much more interested in Panhellenic as a whole. I think for the average PNM, they don't know much about groups' national reputations.

[Sciencewoman]

My daughter's Pi Phi chapter was playing "NPC Trivia" a couple years ago, and one of the questions was "Name three groups who were NPC founders." She answered with Pi Phi, either Kappa or Theta (who are both on her campus), and Gamma Phi Beta. Someone said "Who the heck is Gamma Phi Beta?!" She said, "That's my mom's sorority!"

Meanwhile, where I teach, I'm not sure anyone is too familiar with Pi Phi.

[33girl]

FWIW, I've seen some chapters of the groups that are considered "strongest" nationally get HUGE amounts of shit slung at them on reek grank. It doesn't matter if XYZ has never lost a colony or FGH has the widest geographic distribution, if they are on the bottom rung of the social ladder at Sue's college, Sue probably isn't going to want to pledge them.

I've seen some of the posts you mean and I really question if they're written by college students. If that was the prevalent outlook, the same chapters would be strong everywhere.

ETA: Nice first post.

[AnchorAlum]

[QUOTE=33girl;2405047]FWIW, I've seen some chapters of the groups that are considered "strongest" nationally get HUGE amounts of shit slung at them on reek grank.


Strongly agree. I went to "that" site and was amazed at some of the remarks made by people who seemed to have an obvious agenda. Who has the time to sit down and post the same canned remarks, rumors, innuendo, etc.?

[TriDeltaSallie]

When I rushed, I was clueless about the power of tiers, national perceptions, etc. I joined my group because I felt completely at home and welcomed. After some time, I realized we were considered lower tier and all that went with that on a heavily tiered campus. (I still loved my choice.)

Fast forward a year and a half and I had the opportunity to attend our Centennial Convention. I had NO IDEA Tri Delta was such a strong sorority on a national level. It was eye-opening.

Fast forward a couple of decades later... Do I regret joining Tri Delta? No, I still love my sorority. However...

Tri Delta is not strong where I live. My chapter has closed. There is no alumnae chapter nearby. No collegiate chapter closer than three or four hours. At the same time there are a number of smaller NPC sororities that have a large footprint in this state. I would be lying if I said I didn't wonder at times what it would be like to be in one of the groups that has many members here with lots of opportunities for involvement.

So I'd make the same choice again, but I do still wonder if I might be getting more out of my membership by being in one of those other groups.