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Fraternity Chapter Size
In the late 1940s, right after WWII when all the servicemen came back and flooded the nation's campusses, the Kappa Sigs at Arkansas one year had 300 men in the chapter. In 1982-82, the Pikes at Florida State had about 250+ men on campus. The University switched from a quarter to a semester system and everybody's transcripts got screwed up, so nobody graduated on time. They just kep pledging guys and no one left.
This fall, the Pike chapter will return with about 135 actives, and expect to pledge around fifty. It's an interesting debate on GC about the structure of very large chapters vs. very small chapters and how much closeness counts. Very large chapters operate extremely well if they "win". Those chapters run on momentum and morale. Pride in the name, in the prestige of being a member of that group. Like being a Marine. Very small chapters operate extremely well when they focus the energies of all their members on specific goals, and especially when they can all live in the same house or near each other. The ideal system may be Penn State where there are more than fifty fraternities, and the largest probably has no more than 65 members.
Personally, I've been in both and I prefer the very large chapter. But, large or small, if the chapter is successful the members can have equally strong and rewarding experiences.
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