primarily southern sororities

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

So I was talking to my roommate awhile ago, and realized that Phi Mu remains a primarily southern sorority.

What I mean by that is that although we've got chapters (and members) everywhere -- all across the country, and even the world -- we're most prevalent in the south, and most well-known in the south.

Are any other sororities like this?

[33girl]

ASA is most prevalent in the Midwest. We have probably as many chapters in the East, but the ones in the Midwest are giant.

[CarolinaCutie]

Isn't ZTA like that as well? I know they have a LOT of chapters in the South!

[sugar and spice]

I believe ZTA is also a primarily Southern sorority.

Tri Delta is probably strongest in the South, but we have big chapters all over.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

D Phi E has more than half of our chapters in the Northeast. We're huge in New York State and Pennsylvania. When I meet SEC people, they think that my sorority is a local, not that there is anything wrong with locals.

[ZTAMiami]

Originally posted by CarolinaCutie
Isn't ZTA like that as well? I know they have a LOT of chapters in the South!

True but it varies.
For example we have 13 active chapters in PA

[Betarulz!]

I think it is like that for a lot of GLO's to have one area of the country where they have a lot of chapters.

For Beta Theta Pi, it is definately the Mid-west and Ohio River Valley. We have chapters at the major state universities in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin. Getting closer to the old west, there are tons of chapters in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Kentucky...

As we go farther south though we either have fewer chapters or they aren't as prestigious on their respective campuses. Same thing happens as we go west until Cali...

[Sistermadly]

Alpha Phi seems to be concentrated in the West, Midwest, and Northeast with strong showings in the Southwest too (mostly Texas) and in Canada (six chapters). There don't seem to be any chapters in the "Deep South", but there are chapters in North Carolina, Virginia and Florida.

I'm interested to know if any organizations are larger in areas outside of the one they were founded in...

[AlphaSigOU]

Most of Alpha Sigma Phi's chapters are concentrated in the East and Northeast, with a relatively strong showing in the Midwest. Once you go west of the Mississippi, there are very few Alpha Sig chapters, though there have been some in California and Arizona. Don't know the reason why, but there have never been any chapters in Texas.

[Jhawkalum]

I did a little math and research on the "Primarily Southern Sororities". My best friend who is a Theta, always argued that her sorority was "very Southern." Much to my surprise, it wasn't compared to many other sororities.

Here are the stats:

Number of ACTIVE chapters in "Southern" states
(Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia)

Phi Mu: 84
Chi Omega: 81
Kappa Delta: 71
Alpha Delta Pi: 69
Tri Delta: 53
Delta Gamma: 45
Kappa Kappa Gamma: 38
Pi Beta Phi: 37
Alpha Gamma Delta: 33
Kappa Alpha Theta: 30

I must note that I couldn't count Zeta Tau Alpha's chapters because their list wasn't updated, nor was it organized by state.

Correct me if I'm wrong on the figures ladies! And remember, it's all about quality, not quantity.

[DGMarie]

Does that count as Southern?

[sugar and spice]

Of course, straight numbers don't tell us much -- I mean, Chi O's got more chapters than any other NPC sorority, so of course they're going to have more Southern chapters. A more accurate way would be to determine the percentage of chapters that are in the South . . . but that list is a good start.

When I think of primarily Southern sororities, I think first of Phi Mu, ZTA, Alpha Delta Pi and Kappa Delta, but I'm not sure if there's any truth to that or not.

[SoProud2BeAnAlphaXi]

Nope, just some tasks I'm in denial about, which gave me incentive to research this far more interesting issue further! Accepting your states as the right definition of "Southern" (though mentally I tend to lump OK and Missouri in there, too, and wonder about Maryland also), we get:

ZTA: 84
AOPi (which I also think of as strong in the south, if not totally southern): 45
DZ (same as AOPi vis-a-vis The South, I think): 63

And FYI AXiD, which is not in any rational mind a southern sorority (and which I think of as being FAR less southern than Theta): 40.

[Jhawkalum]

Maryland,
I counted it because I thought it was originally below the Mason-Dixon Line. Even if you take it away, it doesn't affect the count much because very few sororities had more than 1 or 2 chapters there. Your comment about Missouri and Oklahoma were interesting -- I know that most Mizzou people consider themselves being in the midwest, but people from OK definitely have more of a "Southern" mindset.

What would be far more interesting to me would be to find out which sororities have the most number of chapters at Division 1 schools. I challenge someone to take on that task!

I also tried to do straight percentages, but I couldn't find the exact total chapter count for each sorority. Guesstimating, I'd bet the top four definitely had about 50% of their chapters in the South.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

D Phi E currently has 10 active Southern chapters in Maryland, Georgia, and Florida. We have two colonies in Texas.

In the Northeast, we have 18 in NY, 13 in NJ, 1 in CT, 13 in PA, 4 in MA, 1 in NH, and 1 in RI.