An Upper Division Sorority?

[Firehouse]

We've had a number of discussions here - all interesting - about the differences between Men's and Women's rush. Much of it boils down to the differences between how men and women view the context and goals of their Greek organizations.

Here's my question: Would NPC (or, if NPC was indifferent, your campus PanHel) permit or encourage the creation of a sorority on your campus that would accept juniors and seniors only?

When I was in college I knew a number of women who transfered in as juniors. They would have made absolutely splendid sorority members and contributed much to their chapters, but they were discouraged from joining by the circumstances and structure of rush. Like most big state schools we have a large number of juniors transfer in from the community colleges.

As juniors, these women tended to be ambitious, mature, polished and poised. They WANTED to join sororities. Unfortunately, it was well known that the sororities they wanted to join would only take freshmen women (the quota/total system). They could have contributed much to the struggling chapters, but they had only two years and did not want to spend their energies in what appeared to be long-term, difficult projects.

There were two consequences: 1) the sorority system lost great numbers of women who would make fantastic undergrad members and alumni, and 2) the weaker sororities continued to spiral downward, unable to draw these women into the rush process.

If PanHel set up a sorority chapter deliberately focused on junior women (chapter made up of juniors and seniors, though not necessarily limited to that), and if it became, as it would, a prominent and attractive 'draw' to the system, then the entire system would benefit, especially those chapters that struggle for members. More women coming through rush equal more women joining the system. More juniors coming through equal more women joining the chapters they can help immediately. Obviously, not everyone wants to join the same sorority, and an influx of juniors would add inevitably to the ranks of the chapters in greatest need of new members. The challenge is to offer strong encouragement to juniors to come through rush in the first place. A 'top tier' sorority where a junior can join would, I think, be a profoundly effective first step.