Anyone know of any other current Kappa Sigma expansionary activity?

[applesofgold]

At the risk of sounding crass, I have to wonder if Kappa Sigma's approach to expansion is sound. While I applaud our big numbers since WGMs Kaplan and McClamroch, I think we have the reputation for being the fraternity at all the universities no one has ever heard of. And I'm not sure that haphazardly blanket-colonizing and trying to be everywhere all at once is the smartest use of our resources. Perhaps we should be taking an account management style approach and really focusing on the colleges and universities that will yield the most 'productive' alumni (i.e., successful, willing to volunteer, eager to donate, model example for future members) for Kappa Sigma.

In my mind, this means going all-in on the very best and most prestigious universities FIRST AND FOREMOST, many of which we have zero presence currently such as Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Northwestern, Berkeley, UChicago, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and pretty much all the Ivies and U of California schools. These schools should be our tier one and hence, our highest priority. It also includes colonies or faltering chapters at top schools where we are currently (like our chapters at Cornell, Michigan, Duke, UCLA, etc.) and assisting them with DGM and endowment support + recognition. Brothers at these chapters are tomorrow's clear leaders in business, science, politics, academia, and media. And they will have much deeper pockets from which to give back to Kappa Sigma. And their successes will only make our fraternity look better.

In the second tier, we should establish colonies and build solid chapters at large universities with powerhouse athletics programs. The top NCAA Division I BCS schools would be a good start. We currently do a pretty good job in this area, but there are still major schools - big, big programs like Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon, Arizona, Auburn, Miami, VA Tech, Syracuse, Penn State, and Memphis where Kappa Sig is totally absent. It's no secret that big schools with prominent athletic programs have the best athletes - many who go pro (some which may be Kappa Sigmas) - and the strongest Greek Systems. And alumni from these colleges who love their college teams, love their fraternity experience, and have deep emotional bonds to both are much more likely to give money and donate time to us. And again, we should provide support and resources for struggling chapters in this tier because it will absolutely payoff in the future.

Case in point: it's a real pity that the UC Santa Cruz colony mentioned earlier in this thread did not work out. That's a very strong school, full of really smart kids who will move on to lucrative careers up the road in technology (Silicon Valley) or Finance (SF). We should, or should have, been doing everything possible to concert that colony into a Kappa Sig chapter.

Moving on. In the third tier, I suppose, is 'everyone else'. Colonizing in this tier is gravy. Don't get me wrong; it's great to see solid 25 man chapters at Southestern Wyoming State, but if Kappa Sigma is going to be run like a business, then we should treat our expansion (and expansion investments) like a business. And university fundraising studies over the years show consistently that the bigger, more prestigious schools - in terms of academics or athletics - receive have larger giving rates per alumni. The bottom line is that alums from tier 1 + 2 above payout more.

My point is, we can't go chasing after every opportunity to colonize like a chicken with its head cut off. We have to prioritize where Kappa Sigma should be and then organize an expansion strategy around it. Incidentally, I did share this tactic with my DGM and with nationals recently and am waiting to hear back, as I would be very glad to volunteer my time and money into implementing a plan such as this.


AEKDB

[Ithakappasig]

"We have zero presence currently such as Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Northwestern, Berkeley, Chicago, Georgetown, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, and pretty much all the Ivies..."

Add Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, Brown, Rice, Northwestern, ND, Dartmouth, Michigan, BC, NYU, ND, RIT, etc. We aren't at the two biggest UC schools, UCLA and Berkeley.

Williams, Swarthmore, Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Carleton, Davidson, Wesleyan, Bates, Hamilton, Trinity, Colby, the Pomona schools, Macalester, Lafayette, Skidmore, Gettysburg, Whitman, DePauw, Lawrence, Colgate, Willimette, etc. Also I saw there was talk in this thread about a bunch of colonies that were trying but obviously didn't make it. The Kappa Sigma curse.

I just don't think it will happen. Usually when there is something that is obviously desirable but doesn't happen there is something internally amiss or dysfunctional. Seldom does it just not occur to anyone. If you look at the politics of Kappa Sigma in the past you see where the fraternity simply does not want to have more competitive universities, schools in certain regions, etc. Those successful and wealthy or connected students and alumni you envision would also want to have a say in the fraternity.

And also Catholic and other parochial institutions. Holy Cross, Boston College, Villanova, ND, Fordham, G'town, DePauw, Seton Hall, Providence, Canisius, Manhattan, Marist, St. Josephs, Fairfield, etc. (there is at least 30 more in the Northeast) as well as a number of Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.

Many like Baylor, SMU, TCU are already in the fold but schools like Pepperdine, Wheaton, Calvin, Biola, Wittenburg, Bethany and a bunch of others come to mind but there are tons that are overlooked that are strong regional schools. Many of these schools used to not have fraternities and would frown on unrecognized fraternities but now they usually at least have a few unrecognized chapters. It is the biggest area for growth among quality colleges.

It would also be a good idea to have a program to bring in guys who went to our military academies, WP, Annapolis, USCGA, AFA, VMI, Citadel, etc.

But when we talk about the Northeast we don't even see the Tier 2 schools, or even the better Tier 3 as you were putting it. Look where we are not in terms of medium sized schools in the area: Hood, Wagner, Rowan, TCNJ, Rider, Rowan, Ramapo, Manhattanville, Suffolk, Farleigh Dickinson, Millersville, St. Joseph (NY), Kean, Westfield, William Paterson, many of the big state schools, (even their flagships) SUNY Albany, UVermont, URI, Southern Conn, Central Conn, UMass, tCNJ, UNew Hampshire, Buffalo St., SUNY Buffalo, Montclair and others.

"Tier 1" schools in the big cities in the Northeast? Pu-lease!

New York City area? No NYU and NYU Poly, no Columbia, no Princeton, no Yale, not even Cooper Union and Fordham. 0/6
Boston? No Harvard, no BC. MIT is there. 1/3
DC? No Georgetown. 0/1. (There is one at GW but none at Catholic, American)

Our New York City area may be the worst of any fraternity.
SAE, Deke and other fraternities are in residence at the Harvard Club or something. There is no NYC alumni network, or a network DC or Boston so there isn't any meeting much less a being in residence.

They can't fix this by going for 50 members or fail. They have to look at the individual college. And there has to be a big change whoever is doing things locally or change what we are doing drastically.

As you noted the fraternity also has to invest- not just money but in getting parents involved, helping find housing, helping with mentoring and graduate school information, helping with getting the students more involved as leaders and active members on their campuses. The recruiting has to be focused at people who have something in common- people who are involved in certain majors and career aims, sports, student government, etc. It is better to have a handful of guys that everyone on campus would aspire to be like and would want to be around than a lot of people with no social skills, or personality and nothing going on. In the long run quality will produce stability and sufficient quantity. Quantity will only produce instability and problems and probably never get you quality.

I was just talking to a couple of SAEs at Cornell. I don't want to give it all away but purely as independents (nothing to do with SAE national) they wanted to go as virtual local for a while and hope that later they could come back informally or merge if they behaved well, so that the multi year ban would not kill SAE at Cornell. I asked why it was so important considering the time element; why not just call it quits and just involve himself in alumni affairs? They said that it is an important point of pride and of membership quality to have chapters on all of the Ivies if possible (as well as most of the little Ivies which in many case requires going it independent and without IFC or university recognition) and at other competitive schools. They also said that they have less behavioral problems when they are not recognized because people are not always trying to duck rules and they know their fraternity's main office is the first point of discipline and that they are likely to be more harsh if they have to take measures. Again though, this has not happened and this is something they were considering independently. Anyway, my point is that if Sigma Chi, SAE , Phi Delt, Deke or even Sig Ep and other fraternities care about getting at and staying at top colleges while Kappa Sig seems like they rather not be at top colleges. It's either political, poor leadership or more likely both.

Instead Kappa Sigma should be targeting many of these schools where it has missed out, putting aside the obstacles like the huge numbers they require to open (bigger than any fraternity) and the big installment fees and get to selling the actual fraternity by doing things like strengthening active as well as alumni gatherings and networking online, assisting with the quality and availability of chapter Kappa Sig websites and social media (gotta show the flag if you want people to rally behind it) and start emphasizing things like higher ed attainment, career and entrepreneurial achievement, mentoring, sharing opportunities, etc. Want to start a new chapter? Find the natural group of guys like sports teams, campus leaders, etc. and ask them if they want to come together under Kappa Sigma. Build that and they will come.

I'm glad I enjoyed my undergrad years and I have great college and chapter networking. And I would always continue to help out in any way I can if they weren't constantly telling alumni who volunteer or submit advice to butt out. I'm not psyched about what is going on at Kappa Sigma in the North East. Maybe it will change.

PS, One thing to correct you on brother- those big schools in the Southeast and Southwest mainly you mentioned mostly have chapters: Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon, Auburn, Miami, VA Tech, Syracuse, Penn State, but not Memphis, Georgia and Syracuse. I think Arizona was in trouble for some bad behavior but is coming back, not sure though. Georgia had some issues as well but needs to be back sooner than later. Kappa Sig is still a big fraternity.

[AXOmom]

Originally Posted by applesofgold

In the second tier, we should establish colonies and build solid chapters at large universities with powerhouse athletics programs. The top NCAA Division I BCS schools would be a good start. We currently do a pretty good job in this area, but there are still major schools - big, big programs like Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon, Arizona, Auburn, Miami, VA Tech, Syracuse, Penn State, and Memphis where Kappa Sig is totally absent. It's no secret that big schools with prominent athletic programs have the best athletes - many who go pro (some which may be Kappa Sigmas) - and the strongest Greek Systems. And alumni from these colleges who love their college teams, love their fraternity experience, and have deep emotional bonds to both are much more likely to give money and donate time to us. And again, we should provide support and resources for struggling chapters in this tier because it will absolutely payoff in the future.



AEKDB

Ummm...You aren't absent at Oregon. You have a chapter at there....or daughter's sorority has had two or three socials with guys claiming to be Kappa Sig's (LOL). Either way...she thought they were nice guys, and they represented your fraternity well.

[stufield]

Both applesofgold's and ithakappasig's most recent e-mails contain a number of factual errors regarding where the Fraternity does and does not have chapters, and the strength or lack thereof of certain chapters. As soon as I can find the time from my busy law practice to compose a substantive follow-up to those e-mails, I will correct those errors. Meanwhile, yes, Gamma-Alpha Chapter is active at the University of Oregon and is thriving.

The foregoing does not detract from the sentiment expressed in applesofgold's and ithakappasig's most recent e-mails, with which I and many other Kappa Sigs agree wholeheartedly.