Co-Ed Fraternity in need of some serious help!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by dnall

You'll then have 2-4 people rather than 6, but at least they'll actually want to be there. At that point you forget that it's a 22yo org & start over recruiting like it's brand new. You should have 20 people by the end of the semester and have completed a couple projects - use your projects as recruiting, be creative & network.

Serious question: Why do you assume the bolded? It seems rather unrealistic to me, especially given what the OP has said in this thread and elsewhere -- and the background from elsewhere is why some of the comments made in this thread were made.

[dnall]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Serious question: Why do you assume the bolded? It seems rather unrealistic to me, especially given what the OP has said in this thread and elsewhere -- and the background from elsewhere is why some of the comments made in this thread were made.

A few reasons.

First, I'm not going to chase down the 'elsewhere.' I don't care that much.

Second, I'd rather ignore it and drive on with the question at hand. Maybe they made mistakes in the past. That doesn't negate their right to legitimate answers now.

And third... I take it from the other posts this person was interested in traditional rush and ended up opting for this co-ed thing. I don't know this person. I don't know what actually happened in the real world. Maybe they did try and got cut, maybe it just wasn't for them. Maybe a hundred other things. I don't know, and honestly it doesn't matter. Telling them 'I told you so' doesn't help anyone.

I don't really care what their problems are. I'm quite sure I've seen worse resuscitated - I'm in that process with my Dad's chapter now. The fact remains, any type of group under 20 folks and not otherwise functioning at a high level is in failure mode. Fixing tactical problems at that point is like straightening pictures on the titanic. The only choice is the advice I gave.

Are they going to get on track and to 20 folks by the end of the semester? I don't know. They need a goal, and that's a survival standard. If they don't then they're either done or buying time till they are. This is a doable goal and someone acting like they're passionate about it. I'm not going to tell them to give up and walk away. I just can't be a cynic like that.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by dnall

A few reasons.

First, I'm not going to chase down the 'elsewhere.' I don't care that much.

Second, I'd rather ignore it and drive on with the question at hand. Maybe they made mistakes in the past. That doesn't negate their right to legitimate answers now.

No, but it does provide context for their question and additional data for an informed answer.

And third... I take it from the other posts this person was interested in traditional rush and ended up opting for this co-ed thing. I don't know this person. I don't know what actually happened in the real world. Maybe they did try and got cut, maybe it just wasn't for them. Maybe a hundred other things. I don't know, and honestly it doesn't matter. Telling them 'I told you so' doesn't help anyone.

Nope. That's not what happened. This person was part of the decision to turn a sorority into a co-ed fraternity. If you click on the link I provided above, you see this:

Originally Posted by PsiXiOmicron

hi my name is Maghen and I am an alpha epsilon of Psi Xi Omicron a local sorority at Daemen College in Buffalo New York. I have a lot of questions but no where to turn for answers so I am hoping i can get some help here. My sorority is about 20 years old but we are very close to extinction. Last night me and my sisters were talking about a lot of different ways to help this sorority. I just recently found of that our sorority dos not have any help from alumni. How do we get alumni more involved. Another question is since we are so close to extinction how could we recruit that will bring people in. Another topic that came up is last night was how can we turn our all girl sorority into a co-ed frat.Do you think anyone would be interested in pledging. We just need some guidance can someone help.

The "I told you sos," to the extent there were any, were people responding to this post by warning that going co-ed wasn't likely to be a fix-it-all and might make matters worse.

I'm all for giving the best advice possible, and I can understand not wanting to be cynical. But I'm just not sure under all these circumstances that saying they should have around 20 people by the end of the semester is realistic. If I were them, I'd give myself longer to get there.

[dnall]

Yep. You got me curious & I went back to read the linked over conversation about going co-ed. I would have agreed with yall at the time & felt the told you so aspect now.

But still, whatever the history, there's still only one realistic strategy to fix the problem. And again, telling them to give up & play in traffic isn't acceptable to me. Even if they're in trouble, I'm going to give them an optimistic answer.

I'd only add a couple things knowing the history. Un-co-ed the thing, for a myriad of reasons. It's not helping you. And, quit talking about your alumni. It's possible for them to step in, but you are unlikely to have strong support from them. Your chapter is only 20-something years old. When it's 35-40 years old - when you have a decade of alumni (250+) that are 50-60/kids out of college/independently wealthy/etc then your alumni will start having greater capacity to help you, both financially and in time/attention. Don't look to them to save you. What you can get from them at this point is bonus.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by dnall

Yep. You got me curious & I went back to read the linked over conversation about going co-ed. I would have agreed with yall at the time & felt the told you so aspect now.

But still, whatever the history, there's still only one realistic strategy to fix the problem. And again, telling them to give up & play in traffic isn't acceptable to me. Even if they're in trouble, I'm going to give them an optimistic answer.

I'd only add a couple things knowing the history. Un-co-ed the thing, for a myriad of reasons. It's not helping you. And, quit talking about your alumni. It's possible for them to step in, but you are unlikely to have strong support from them. Your chapter is only 20-something years old. When it's 35-40 years old - when you have a decade of alumni (250+) that are 50-60/kids out of college/independently wealthy/etc then your alumni will start having greater capacity to help you, both financially and in time/attention. Don't look to them to save you. What you can get from them at this point is bonus.

I agree with the piece about making the organization single-sex again, but I don't think "you shouldn't be relying on your alumni" is good advice, especially for an organization as young as this one.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I agree with the piece about making the organization single-sex again, but I don't think "you shouldn't be relying on your alumni" is good advice, especially for an organization as young as this one.

And I agree about going back to single-sex as well. As for alumnae/i, she said in her earlier post they are not involved, so I don't think they should be relying on them now either. Realistically, they can't -- they have to rebuild alumnae relationships, which may be hard while they try to refocus on rebuilding an active membership.

dnall, I think you've given some good advice. My only quibble was with the goal of 20 in a semester. Given what she said here, and looking at a few websites of other sororities on her campus, I'm just not sure that's realistic. 20-30 members looks like it may be the norm for a healthy group (assuming the other groups are healthy.) I'd advocate a slower rebuilding, recruiting freshmen now who will help with a multi-year rebuilding process.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

And I agree about going back to single-sex as well. As for alumnae/i, she said in her earlier post they are not involved, so I don't think they should be relying on them now either. Realistically, they can't -- they have to rebuild alumnae relationships, which may be hard while they try to refocus on rebuilding an active membership.

For an organization that young and that small, the alumnae (whoops, forgot it was a sorority) involvement is necessary. They obviously need some advising, and the "OMG we're in danger of dying out" spiel is often more eye-opening than "Hey we want you to come around for a BBQ"

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

ed fraternity. If you click on the link I provided above, you see this:
The "I told you sos," to the extent there were any, were people responding to this post by warning that going co-ed wasn't likely to be a fix-it-all and might make matters worse.

And she said that we helped her a lot, yet she ended up doing the exact opposite of what we suggested. So some of us found it odd she was looking for advice here.