Starting a fraternity chapter, looking for advice part 2

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Holy run-on sentence, Batman!

I know, but I decided to go with it.

Originally Posted by supahotboi

No, I disagree greatly with your statement. The maturity this board brings is incredibly questionable..

I really hope you don't think you've demonstrated incredible maturity in your posts, because you haven't. Maturity would be to ignore politely posts that you don't think are applicable to your situation, not to pontificate about who can and can't post and what they can and can't say. Maturity would be to accept and consider all advice at least initially, not just say "well, that doesn't apply to my situation because . . . ," or "well, we don't want to do anything over the summer."

And by the way, I would be willing to bet that more than a few of the women here understand what's involved in starting a fraternity chapter better than some of the guys do.

But the bottom line is this: You already seem to have a specific fraternity in mind. Your questions should be addressed (1) to people within that fraternity who are familiar with starting a new chapter and would be supporting you in the endeavor, and (2) people involved in Greek Life on your campus (including women) who have a good sense of your own specific campus culture.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by supahotboi

The fraternities that come to my school is not because of the students wanted them to come. The last 3 organizations that have came in the last 3 years was not because a bunch of students were interested in a fraternity and got together and tried to start one, but because the HQ is doing expansion this way.

He didn't specify what kind of fraternities they were, so I think to assume that 3 NIC fraternities came to do ground-up colonizations at a school with (according to him) very little Greek tradition or support is folly. I think that to assume that he knows this for a fact (i.e. the students didn't initiate the efforts) is also folly.

[supahotboi]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Our school was the 3rd largest in the state, but still viewed as a commuter school. <4% Greek Life. The school has really been growing over the last 10 years. Still #3, but much better academics, in a better Division II conference (MIAA). We were the first new fraternity in decades and they added another 2 years after we colonized.

It sounds like you probably have a better raw situation than we did. Your campus seems pretty ripe for expansion.

Wow that is interesting. I go to a D1 school but it really feels like a D2 one since we are one of the worse schools in most athletics. I've been reading something the school posted called "the strategic plan" which is funny since the beginning document says pretty much blasts the Greek life for being unproductive and how it needs to change".

Theres supposed to be a huge change to the greek life over the next 5 years. It has slowly gotten better, even though the stats of the current organizations are skewed (and I know for a fact they are) and it looks as they were more improvements than they actually should be.

Originally Posted by PSKsilver

I cannot wait for "Starting a fraternity chapter, looking for advice part 3" to pop up in the next couple of days.


Anyway, I guess I can offer some help. And I'm a guy, so by your logic, you have to listen to me, right?


1st, the definition of a troll a la wikipedia.


"In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion"


So far, in both part 1 and part 2, I have seen no trolls at all.


2nd, if you don't think it is worthwhile to do a very important step/any step in the right direction, then forget about it. Yes, it is very worth it to start trying summer rush, and many people have told you why it is and how it might benefit you.


3rd, your definition of "sketchy" seems to be people who party a lot. You are kinda being superficial there, which is something you said that the fraternities that already exist are, so hey, what do you know, you are a perfect fit for them. By the way, have you tried rushing those fraternities yet?


Also, as a side note, http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...57#post2140557

If you think that dirty rushing is a-ok, I don't think you have no right to determine what's sketchy or not.

4th, and last, and not least bit of Silver advice, listen to the women. Just because they have more balls than you does not mean that you can't take their very good advice.

Considering half of these posts are of memes and nobody actually saying anything, I don't care to respond to half of them. When someone makes a post about my spelling I can't take them seriously since it has nothing to do with anything and is clearly spam (even though you may think its not, lets be honest, its not as important as you want to believe).

2nd, the sketchyness, you have no idea. I dealt with people who were lying about things and not coming around. How are you to make these judgments with again not even really knowing anything?

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Ok, so let me see if I have this right...

1). Starts thread asking for advice about starting a fraternity chapter
2). Receives good advice from both men and women
3). Dismisses that good advice
4). Closes thread
5). Starts new thread, and says advice from women isn't welcome
6). Complains that women aren't contributing anything useful to the conversation

He gets our advice, dismisses it (and us altogether), and now he wants it again?

What's sad is that if he didn't blow all of us off, he might have learned that I come from a chapter that struggled (with less than 19 members the entire time I was active), which did recruitment much like fraternities do, that I was the Recruitment Advisor for that chapter, and that I have a ton of good ideas I could have thrown his way.

Oh well.

Well again when you sit there and post a bunch of nonsense and dont get straight to the point, of course I am not going to take anything you say seriously.

Originally Posted by 33girl

Did you read my (or any of the other ladies') posts AT ALL? I mean, actually read and process what they were saying? No one is telling you to run this like a sorority, rush like a sorority, or do things regarding expansion like a sorority. If that were the case, every single female - including me - would be saying "Don't put a lot of thought/time into this until you go to the Greek Life office, ask about numbers/total/quota over the past several years, and see if the campus is open for expansion." That's how NPC sororities expand and NO ONE has said that to you.

Your misogynistic attitude combined with your laziness is just ridiculous, and neither is an attribute that a colonizing member of any GLO needs to have.

Really, your not even listening to anything I have to say. I've explained before what my efforts have been and to you, it's just went over your head. I've said it before the campus has been open to expansion and have said things like "the quality of greek life at my school is low" and "the university reflects this in that university life is low, yet the school is looking to change this". Really, stop judging **** until you actually take some time to learn some facts. Your not being as helpful as you like to believe.

Originally Posted by 33girl

I wouldn't assume either. Greater autonomy in colonization efforts may = greater autonomy in running the chapter in general, and more room to adjust things to how a growing commuter campus works. In other words, this group isn't going to be all up their asses about having 50 guys (when that is unrealistic for the campus) and a Greek Revival style house and 6 intramural teams because Big School Chapter does, etc etc. but by that same token, they are going to expect the men involved to be self-starters.

IMO, if that's the way they roll, it seems like they are cutting him LOTS of slack if they haven't already cut him loose after a year and only 4 guys involved.

Again, more people have been involved along the way but dropped since we haven't went anywhere and **** has happened. 4 guys are just close to the situation really at htis point.

Originally Posted by 33girl

He didn't specify what kind of fraternities they were, so I think to assume that 3 NIC fraternities came to do ground-up colonizations at a school with (according to him) very little Greek tradition or support is folly. I think that to assume that he knows this for a fact (i.e. the students didn't initiate the efforts) is also folly.

Its NIC and I don't see why you have this chip on your shoulder thinking I am making this up. As I said many times, greek life at my school is nothing right now, I'm interested in improving it. If your not interesting in helping me improve it, then you might as well not waste your time responding back.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by supahotboi

When someone makes a post about my spelling I can't take them seriously since it has nothing to do with anything and is clearly spam (even though you may think its not, lets be honest, its not as important as you want to believe).

Good luck with that attitude. You're (not "your") getting a college education; act like it. If you want to be taken seriously, you need to communicate like someone who is worth taking seriously.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by supahotboi

Really, your not even listening to anything I have to say. I've explained before what my efforts have been and to you, it's just went over your head. I've said it before the campus has been open to expansion and have said things like "the quality of greek life at my school is low" and "the university reflects this in that university life is low, yet the school is looking to change this". Really, stop judging shit until you actually take some time to learn some facts. Your not being as helpful as you like to believe.

You didn't read a single word I posted. Your "efforts" seem to have been "I don't like any of the fraternities so I am going to start a new one and it should be super turbo easy, because Greek life at this school sucks donkey dick and I am super turbo awesome. I don't know why the national fraternity isn't holding my hand and telling me what to do. I don't want to run this like a sorority, or listen to anything anyone in a sorority says, even though hand-holding and being told what to do basically IS what sororities do when they colonize. I don't want to go out and talk to random people, because they might not be perfect for my fraternity. I don't want to think about this over the summer, because that's too hard."

Originally Posted by supahotboi

Again, more people have been involved along the way but dropped since we haven't went anywhere and shit has happened. 4 guys are just close to the situation really at htis point.

A colony is lots and lots and lots of work. The main thing is to have people that won't give up, even when it seems like things are stalled. If you can't attract people like that, you aren't going to be successful. Any colony has some people who drop out, but you have to keep pushing and finding new guys and not whine because the national isn't giving you enough.

If your attitude in real life is anything like your attitude on here, it's no surprise that you are having difficulty attracting quality men.

Originally Posted by supahotboi

Its NIC and I don't see why you have this chip on your shoulder thinking I am making this up. As I said many times, greek life at my school is nothing right now, I'm interested in improving it. If your not interesting in helping me improve it, then you might as well not waste your time responding back.

Well then, please tell us exactly who the fraternities are who came there and expanded GROUND UP WITH ZERO STUDENT INITIATIVE AT THE RATE OF ONE A YEAR so we understand what we're working with. Frankly, I and probably most posters here find that part of your story quite hard to believe.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by supahotboi

I deleted the 1st thread since things were getting out of hand. If you plan to post in one of my threads, be relevant or get out. I'm not interested in wasting any time arguing in circles about nothing. Also please no ladies posting, this is for fraternities, completely different realm here. Lastly, if you haven't started a chapter or have a real idea of how one starts, do not post. Starting verses. maintaining a chapter are two completely different concepts and I don't want advice for something that's not relevant. This isn't something I'm looking to argue about. And please be mature (like spending 5 posts commenting about my screen name, like really are you 4 years old?) since if not the mods will take care of you, thank you.

Anyone can post in any thread they want to. This isn't a closed forum. If that's what you want, start a Facebook group where you can admit only those who you deem "worthy" to post.

Originally Posted by supahotboi

We HAVE been in contacts with a National fraternity and they haven't done much. We met with them once and they want us to find 15-20 guys to start a colony. The expansion team has recommended me to an adviser (who was a guy that actually helped started another chapter out in the Mid-West) and he works a full-time job and doesn't have much time to do much. We have had barely any talks with the expansion team about anything outside of 2 phone calls at best. The adviser wants me to go out, find a bunch of guys, take them to him (which is an hour drive away from me), meet the guys, and then make a move. Again, theres no guaranteed from the headquarters right now about anything. They want to meet us, see if they are worth their time and then move forward. While it's understandable to some degree, it just is easier said than done since all we have is their word.

Again, THIS IS HOW FRATERNITIES WORK. Unless you show some initiative, or unless you're at a school that is going to give the fraternity lots of $$$ and prestige being there, no one is going to hold your hand. And lots of people - the student life office, guys who are rushing, volunteers from national organizations - are going to ask why you want to do this and what you found lacking in the fraternities that are presently there. If you consider these "very personal questions" that you refuse to answer, NO ONE is going to want to help you.

Originally Posted by supahotboi

Organizations are constantly getting put on probation and coming and going. There isn't really any stability in the system.

Have you tried to get in touch with any of the alumni of fraternities that aren't there at the present moment? They might be of some help to you in recolonizing a chapter. Have you looked on Facebook? Asked the student life office to help you find fraternity alumni?

And if you are only thinking NOW of reaching out to other groups (fraternities or sororities) for help, this is another huge part of your problem. Do the majority of students on campus know you're trying to do this? Did you have any interactions with the current sororities or fraternities? What was their reaction? If the Greek community doesn't support you, you are going to fail.

[amIblue?]

FYI relevant does not mean telling you only what you want to hear.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by supahotboi

And please be mature (like spending 5 posts commenting about my screen name, like really are you 4 years old?) since if not the mods will take care of you, thank you.

This is my favorite part of the post. Apparently your reading comprehension leaves much to be desired.

[JayhawkAOII]

Wow...way to really impress any alumni of any future organization you may want to belong to.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by supahotboi

I deleted the 1st thread since things were getting out of hand. If you plan to post in one of my threads, be relevant or get out. I'm not interested in wasting any time arguing in circles about nothing. Also please no ladies posting, this is for fraternities, completely different realm here. Lastly, if you haven't started a chapter or have a real idea of how one starts, do not post. Starting verses. maintaining a chapter are two completely different concepts and I don't want advice for something that's not relevant. This isn't something I'm looking to argue about. And please be mature (like spending 5 posts commenting about my screen name, like really are you 4 years old?) since if not the mods will take care of you, thank you.

Aside from the ridiculosity of asking questions on a public forum and then giving (futile) instructions on who can and can't respond and how they should and shouldn't respond, you realize, don't you, that you got very pertinent advice in the "out of hand" thread from someone with a great deal of personal experience about fraternity chapter operations generally and starting a chapter specificially, and you blew him and his very good advice off?

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

ridiculosity

I just wanted to point out how much I adore made-up words like this (from those with the consciencity to realize that they are made up).

I also wanted to post in this thread to piss off the OP. Generally I'd find a more witty way to state that fact, but in this case, it's just not worth it.

[Psi U MC Vito]

Good advice is only what he wants to hear. Never mind most of us have been involved in some capacity in colonization efforts.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Here's some good advice: Don't use your Twitter handle as your GC username unless you want people to know your real name.

[WhiteRose1912]

Originally Posted by supahotboi

I deleted the 1st thread since things were getting out of hand. If you plan to post in one of my threads, be relevant or get out. I'm not interested in wasting any time arguing in circles about nothing. Also please no ladies posting, this is for fraternities, completely different realm here. Lastly, if you haven't started a chapter or have a real idea of how one starts, do not post. Starting verses. maintaining a chapter are two completely different concepts and I don't want advice for something that's not relevant. This isn't something I'm looking to argue about. And please be mature (like spending 5 posts commenting about my screen name, like really are you 4 years old?) since if not the mods will take care of you, thank you.

[Greek_or_Geek?]

Bottom line is you lack the ambition and fortitude it takes to colonize. You are too lazy.