Beating "Small Chapter" syndrome

[shadokat]

Fuzzie--

You're entitled to being negative

Let me just say that I know chapters who just don't do it with formal recruitment. It's unfortunate, but not everyone is good at each thing, and COB is their outlet. Now, I agree that on many campuses, COB is not the best way to go, as it's looked at badly if a chapter has to COB after formal recruitment.

If all of the chapters have to COB after formal recruitment, then the ceiling is set far too high for the campus. Most NPC sororities base their "standards" on the campus total. For instance, one of the chapters in my province is on a campus where they are the largest sorority with 40, but campus total is 60. SO, when HQs looks at those #s, the chapter gets warnings about low numbers. Obviously, the ceiling on this campus should be lowered, but many times, Greek Advisors aren't educated on this.

I still believe in the thought that there are always girls who want to pledge, but they just don't know it. That may sound silly, but if the system is offering all that it can, people will want to join! I mean, who wouldn't want to be Greek

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by shadokat
Fuzzie--

You're entitled to being negative

Let me just say that I know chapters who just don't do it with formal recruitment. It's unfortunate, but not everyone is good at each thing, and COB is their outlet. Now, I agree that on many campuses, COB is not the best way to go, as it's looked at badly if a chapter has to COB after formal recruitment.

If all of the chapters have to COB after formal recruitment, then the ceiling is set far too high for the campus. Most NPC sororities base their "standards" on the campus total. For instance, one of the chapters in my province is on a campus where they are the largest sorority with 40, but campus total is 60. SO, when HQs looks at those #s, the chapter gets warnings about low numbers. Obviously, the ceiling on this campus should be lowered, but many times, Greek Advisors aren't educated on this.

I still believe in the thought that there are always girls who want to pledge, but they just don't know it. That may sound silly, but if the system is offering all that it can, people will want to join! I mean, who wouldn't want to be Greek

Good point as usual, my sister!

The issue that we had on my campus when I was active was that the type of women who were drawn to formal rush were not drawn to my chapter. During the first round, the rushees had to attend all seven sororities. When it came to second round, the majority dropped us. One year a rep from International was visiting during rush, and she thought that we were great. We did everything that we needed to do to have a successful rush. The next day fewer than one quarter of the rushees returned for round two. Our rep said that we had done a great job and didn't know what had gone wrong. We had to COB in compete. We were smaller than the rest, but that didn't stop us from having fun and contributing to the campus.

[CarolinaDG]

Yeah, I've heard about sororities that have to introduce themselves to their rush rotation groups. I can't even imagine!

Also, another little problem that we have... sororities that have met total and quota are still COB-ing, they just do it secretly so that panhellenic doesn't find out. Does anyone else have this problem?

[Peaches-n-Cream]

If they had a lot of graduating seniors, some of the bigger chapters which had met quota would tell the women who didn't get bids during Spring Formal Rush to wait until the Fall semester for informal rush. It wasn't really secret though. I'm not sure if there was anything wrong with that.

[AOIIalum]

Originally posted by CarolinaDG
Also, another little problem that we have... sororities that have met total and quota are still COB-ing, they just do it secretly so that panhellenic doesn't find out. Does anyone else have this problem?

I don't believe that there's an official recommendation or regulation against inviting PNMs to open events even if a chapter is at quota/total (correct me if I'm wrong, please!) Sure, it's not ideal from a smaller chapter's perspective and it probably wouldn't encourage a strong Panhellenic spirit on that campus. Of course, they're doing some kind of stealth bid process and unofficially pledging girls, there's a problem. But, if they're abiding by their organization's recommendations for COR, there may not be much that can be done.

OTOH--COR is a wonderful way to maintain a strong chapter. Even if they can't extend bids, those chapters probably have a good idea of who they would *like* to bid when and if the opportunity arises. Perhaps, in an ideal system, the stronger chapters would happily pass the names and contact info of PNMs that they are unable to bid onto the smaller chapters. I doubt that scenario actually happens often, if ever.

I would imagine that most sororities on an International level encourage some form of COR. Doing so would hopefully eliminate the need for a chapter to actually have to introduce themselves during recruitment ever again! The plan may differ whether a chapter is at or under quota/total, but what better way to keep a chapter in the forefront of PNMs minds by getting to know them--and the PMNs getting to know the chapter--in a more casual and friendly matter? COR used properly, it's an excellent way for a smaller chapter to gain new members outside of the formal Panhellenic recruitment events.


Fraternally,
Christin

[FuzzieAlum]

I agree if everyone is COBing ceiling is too high. But those one or two smaller chapters don't have the power to change it. Of course the bigger groups don't want to shrink, so they will vote against lowering ceiling. I just wonder what a smaller group can do in a situation like that.

I know there are a lot of wonderful rushees who don't want to do formal rush. But the best of them still join the larger orgs. The struggling groups end up "convincing" girls to join - girls who are anti-Greek but like this "different" group. It ends up getting more and more different until you have girls insisting on talking about porn, religion and politics at formal rush parties to "make a point" about how stupid the system is. (No, I'm not joking.) Obviously, that's not where a group wants to end up. A group can be different, but when you start attacking the system you are a part of, well, that attracts a limited number of people.

In an environment like that, what can the small group do? It's hard to sell the "leadership" roles of a smaller chapter if even the big chapters have half the sisters holding offices. COB won't work for you. Is the only option to give up your charter and say, sorry, we're out of here?

[bets]

Originally posted by Cream
If they had a lot of graduating seniors, some of the bigger chapters which had met quota would tell the women who didn't get bids during Spring Formal Rush to wait until the Fall semester for informal rush. It wasn't really secret though. I'm not sure if there was anything wrong with that.

Maybe it's just because I'm in a small chapter, but I think that there is something SERIOUSLY wrong with that!

I have heard of our largest sororities doing that (we're talking 20+ over campus total). That is COMPLETE B.S. in my opinion, b/c
1. These chapters spend HOURS narrowing down their formal rush bid lists, which usually are comprised of 95%+ freshman women, not sophmores or juniors. By saying this they are most likely (when you run the numbers) giving these girls false hope.
2. They are just perpetuating the problems of greek disunity, b/c they are essentially saying that they are the ONLY sorority fit to be in, and they are hurting the smaller chapters, by their narrowmindedness, by suggesting that these women (or men I guess) will not be happy in another GLO.

I could probably come up with other reasons why I think that is B.S. but those are the top two.

Even by being in the smallest sorority on campus, I have told girls that they would be happy in any sorority. That has hurt us in the long run, I think, but I stick to it. All of our NPC sororities are basically the same. We all have similar ideals and lifestyles, we all participate in the same events on campus, we all enjoy the same sisterhood and friendship in our own orgs, we all have excellent alumni life post-college, but we just have different letters.

It would NOT be B.S. if these chapters who do this were to say, "hey, you didn't get a bid from us, but you know what? XYZ chapter is REALLY cool, and they are able to give out bids after formal rush. Why don't you go hang out with them for a while, see if you like it, and if you do, then perhaps you can get a bid from them, and if you don't like it, THEN you can come back around the next time we give out bids, and try again"

THAT to me, would be really cool, very mature, and very intelligent. Come on, really, who thinks their org. or chapter is SO great that no other compares? I love my chapter, I love Phi Mu, but I know a whole bunch of Chi O's, Alpha Gams, AOPi's and DZ's that think the same way.

[Omicron]

BUMP!

I wanted to bring this up again as reminder to PNMs to look closely at ALL the sororities, not just the ones that are "major" on campus.

Sure, OSS (Oh So Small) Chapter may not have as many sisters as the others, but that doesn't mean that YOU can't be a part of the revitalization!

It is very heartbreaking for a "small" chapter to work just as hard or harder than the larger sororities and not get half as many New Members.

As others have posted in this and other threads, if one sorority folds, that negatively affects the rest of the Greek organizations.

If your formal rush is over and you didn't pledge, consider COBing!

[KappaKittyCat]

I'd like to throw in my $0.02 here.

My chapter started out last year with four women (yes: 1, 2, 3, 4) on campus. It was a make-or-break year. Well, we made it. We rushed with six actives and a little help from our lovely sisters from another chapter in our province. We stressed the leadership opportunities inherent in Kappa and how those were magnified in a small chapter. We told PNMs that they had the chance to change the face of Kappa, to make it what they wanted it to be. We also stressed the fact that, in a smaller chapter, you have a closer sisterhood and you know everyone better. Our new sisters chose to be proactive in the shaping of our chapter's future, and it's turned out wonderfully.

Good luck to you.

[AOIIalum]

KittyCat, what a wonderful way to embrace the positives of being smaller while showing the PNMs that the chapter would welcome having a lot of members! I'm curious, how large is your chapter now, compared to a year ago?

It's been my experience before that sometimes, in a chapter smaller than the others on campus, they talk about how close they are and how much they like being so small and close-knit. Of course, that is a benefit of having a smaller chapter, but no chapter will grow if it gives the impression that the members like being smaller.

It makes sense to think about emphasizing the opportunities to really have an immediate, positive impact in a chapter. How exciting it would be to have a huge (but close!) new member class who'd be able to truly impact the present and future of their sorority. Just because ABC chapter on XYZ campus may be small now, they could be the campus powerhouse in 2-4 short years. I can give three examples from my own alma mater that illustrates how chapter fortunes can change in less than four years. With two chapters, each one had very successful recruitments a couple years in a row and virtually doubled their chapter each time. Now, both chapters are two of the strongest on campus. The third chapter had a couple of less than successful recruitments and are still working their way back. They've got great members and a very strong sisterhood, they just have about 1/3 of what the other chapters are returning with. It's hard, but it can be done.

Christin

[KDHoney]

From a smaller chapter perspective, it can be a tough road. We definitely market ourselves on the fact that our sisterhood is very close-knit. There's a group on campus that is so large that all the girls don't know each other's names. With about 50 members, we can offer closer bonds, etc. We are also able to do COBing because of our smaller size. We picked up 4 wonderful girls after formal recruitment (which is in the spring for us) and will be able to do COB this fall for sophomores and older. It can be tough, but you just do everything you can to make yourself visible on campus. The girls who are meant to be a part of the group and who feel at home in the smaller atmosphere will find their way to you.

[DWAlphaGam]

Formal recruitment is coming up soon for my chapter, and I'm going to take these perspectives back to my sisters. It's good to know that others may be feeling the same way that you are. Although sometimes you may get down, the perks to being in a small chapter are immeasurable. KappaKittyCat, that was an especially inspiring story! Congratulations to your incredible sisterhood.

I would also like to say good luck during recruitment to everyone in the "mighty mouse" chapters that posted! Please let us know how you do.