What makes Greek life "hot" in the south?

[OWTLAW63]

In my experiance and I am well traveled and also well rooted in the south, It seems to me that in the "southern" states education is to be expected its not as if We attend college with the hopes of graduating. Our parents have allready instilled in us great determination and a high level of expectation, so we allready know what we are there for. Where the greek thing comes into play in most southern schools either HBCU or otheris its seem that "greeks" Have more of an impact on the student body at their particular universities. The are usually in the "know" of whats going on on campus. The more popular and generally accepted amongst most students in college. With saying that most freshman and sophmores in college in school are looking to be in those type of arena, or looked at in that type of manner. Well at least in the south. Or maybe its just attitude, in my travels to the north Ie. Baltimore, NY, NJ, The whole greek attitude was just so unbarable That my communication with my OWn fraternity was brief.

Who knows?
Just my 63 cents

[oldu]

Until after World War II, almost every fraternity and sorority (including those founded in the south) was dominated by chapters and alumni from the north. The chapter houses in the south were pathetic compared to those at the large universities and private colleges in the north. Following the "melt-down" of the late 1960s that role began to reverse. Today those nice houses in the north are deteriorating and the grand new homes are being built in the south. My question, which has yet to be answered, is why? Surely a fraternity or sorority can fill the same need in the north that such a higher percentage of students in the south deem to be a benefit.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by oldu

Following the "melt-down" of the late 1960s that role began to reverse.

You call it a meltdown, we call it the civil rights movement.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by 33girl

You call it a meltdown, we call it the civil rights movement.

I think he was talking about the war or something. He has referenced the late 1960s before and wasn't talking about the Civil Rights Movement.

The Civil Rights Movement obviously didn't have an impact on anyone or anything.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

I think he was talking about the war or something. He has referenced the late 1960s before and wasn't talking about the Civil Rights Movement.

The Civil Rights Movement obviously didn't have an impact on anyone or anything.

LOL.

I think there were more than a few chapters at private colleges in the North that either turned in their charters or went local over white clauses.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by 33girl

LOL.

I think there were more than a few chapters at private colleges in the North that either turned in their charters or went local over white clauses.

True, but given his other posts, I assume he was talking about the Vietnam War and the accompanying Question Authority/Down With Tradition/Never Trust Anyone Over 30 sentiments that caused a significant decline in Greekdom in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

True, but given his other posts, I assume he was talking about the Vietnam War and the accompanying Question Authority/Down With Tradition/Never Trust Anyone Over 30 sentiments that caused a significant decline in Greekdom in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Ehh. Overrated. There were still people joining fraternities and sororities, fraternities and sororities just became a different thing for different people (i.e. there were hippies in them). Plus, this really depends what schools you're talking about. Look at some of the smaller state schools in the late 60s and early 70s and you'll see fairly large chapters - because the people going there, for the first time, had the funds to afford it. My school chartered 4 Greek chapters in 1966-1967 (3 of which are still there) so obviously our system wasn't declining.

I just don't think "big membership and big new house" instantly equals "awesome Greek experience," so IMO, the whole discussion is flawed.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

True, but given his other posts, I assume he was talking about the Vietnam War and the accompanying Question Authority/Down With Tradition/Never Trust Anyone Over 30 sentiments that caused a significant decline in Greekdom in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Interesting, because it was the late 60s early 70s during which BGLOs grew in leaps and bounds. New chapters we being chartered all over the place.

This whole thread is interesting to me and very informative. I will say that BGLOs are "hot" everywhere. Granted there are more chapters of orgs in the South, but that is due to the number of HBCUs located there.

BGLOs have always played a vital part in the Black community so knowledge and interest is not geographically skewed. Many of our leaders during the civil rights movement were member of BGLOs (which could partly explain the surge during that time.) I also think that our alumni(ae) structure plays a big part in the universal appeal, because we have never been thought of as just a collegiate activity. And did our Founders did not intend for that to be the case.

[bejazd]

Originally Posted by oldu

Today those nice houses in the north are deteriorating and the grand new homes are being built in the south. My question, which has yet to be answered, is why? .

Is it because colleges in the South (public and private) are willing to provide land for GLOs to build on? They obviously see that social orgs are a draw for students. I see a lot of articles out here about growing campuses that want to add Greek life because they know that it is a draw for some students, but I doubt we'll ever see another public campus in Calif providing land for building Greek housing. (The newest on campus Greek housing I know of is at UC Irvine. and that's unusual because most Greek housing in CA is privately owned. off campus.) The cost of the land is astronomical compared to the cost of building a house. So I don't know if we'll ever see any new Greek housing here, despite rising enrollments and growth in membership, esp at schools like CSULB, SDSU, UCSB etc.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by bejazd

Is it because colleges in the South (public and private) are willing to provide land for GLOs to build on? They obviously see that social orgs are a draw for students. I see a lot of articles out here about growing campuses that want to add Greek life because they know that it is a draw for some students, but I doubt we'll ever see another public campus in Calif providing land for building Greek housing. (The newest on campus Greek housing I know of is at UC Irvine. and that's unusual because most Greek housing in CA is privately owned. off campus.) The cost of the land is astronomical compared to the cost of building a house. So I don't know if we'll ever see any new Greek housing here, despite rising enrollments and growth in membership, esp at schools like CSULB, SDSU, UCSB etc.

While I agree the whole basis of this question/argument is flawed, I can see that the above may be a good point about housing for greeks in the north. There just isn't a lot of room for new building around a lot of the big schools up north, so building a "grand" new fraternity or sorority house just may not be possible space- (or zoning) wise. I remember at Penn State, where sororities are in the dorms, space was already so tight that when they brought new chapters on campus, they had to stick them up in East Halls. The FRESHMAN dorms -- agh!!

[honeychile]

For some reason, I can't quote today, but my own take:

-First of all, Georgia Wesleyan College for Females (now Georgia Wesleyan) was the first college in the US which even allowed women to earn a degree, period. So, of course the first two sororities were founded there, in the South. I highly doubt that the "control" of either ADPi or Phi Mu was ever in the North, even if ADPi had a few years of a national headquarters in Iowa. The influence was always Southern in tradition.

-For the most part, unless one's a legacy, more youngsters hear about Greek life in the South prior to middle school, as opposed to in the North, where few non-legacies hear about it until high school or even college. A few of the teachers in our elementary school were Southern Greeks and told us all about it; my sixth grade teacher made us memorize the Greek alphabet frontwards and backwards! There could have been Greeks who went to school in the North, I just never heard about them.

-I graduated from high school with over 700 people. The one reunion I went to, the Greeks seemed to hang together, and it was a goodly number of the formerly college prep/advanced placement classes. Notice that I don't mention the, "oh, I decided to go to college" people" - it was mostly those who really planned it out.

-I'm still not wild about the 6-8 week new member period. I can understand it for individual GLO purposes, but I think the Panhellenic concept gets lost. Does any school still have Junior Panhel?

[luv n tpa]

Originally Posted by honeychile

-I'm still not wild about the 6-8 week new member period. I can understand it for individual GLO purposes, but I think the Panhellenic concept gets lost. Does any school still have Junior Panhel?

I haven't been at a computer for a while so excuse the 3-page backtrack.

We just established Junior Panhel this semester. Each chapter sends two girls, one from each of the two most recent pledge classes (already initiated). Some chapters also send various new members each week.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by bowsandtoes

When we think sorority, we think tri-delt, chi-o, zeta, pi phi, kappa, theta, the ones that have national name recognition.

Originally Posted by bowsandtoes

As for the issue of chapter size and national recognition, I referenced a few sororities that I thought had greater name recognition in any region. Chi-o for instance, has about 175 chapters according to wikipedia. The site I looked at for the other sorority showed about 40-50 chapters, mostly in the Midwest. I'm not saying that makes it 'bad' by midwest standards, just that it wouldn't be viewed the same way in the South.

Though I agree with you that most of the sororities you named are known well nationwide, it's probably news to you that many greeks in the West have never met a member of, or heard of, Zeta. ZTA is a huge sorority, but it has relatively few chapters in the west whereas this territory is the bread & butter of other organizations. The only reason I even knew of ZTA when I was in college was because my aunt was a Zeta. And Phi Mu and AOII? I had only heard of them from looking at the NPC badge photos that were in our new member ed binders. I just met members of those organizations for the first time a month or so ago at an alumnae panhellenic meeting!

So, I believe you unintentionally made the point that others were trying to make - the world is much bigger than your own back yard, and if you haven't strayed far from home, it's best if you don't try to speak with much authority as to places/things you've never experienced.

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

So, I believe you unintentionally made the point that others were trying to make - the world is much bigger than your own back yard, and if you haven't strayed far from home, it's best if you don't try to speak with much authority as to places/things you've never experienced.

Amen, Triad Sister!

I have to laugh whenever someone uses Wikipedia to make a statement.