Less popular sororities

[gee_ess]

HAts off to you UGAalum - your comments were spot on!

On a campus like the U of Arkansas, the tradition and reputation of the top houses is set in stone. They would have to get in major national news type trouble with the law, or something like that to adversely affect their houses' reputations enought to seriously hurt their recruitment.

The less strong houses are, as you so aptly described, more susceptible to a negative image, bad recruitment class, etc. because their position is more precarious.

As far as tent talk, etc. even with the strong houses, there is trash talk about them but it does very little to negatively affect them because the reputation is so strong around the state. Even people (hs girls) not affiliated with the university are aware of which houses are traditionally the strongest.

[fantASTic]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

One of my pet peeves is the kind of trash talk that fellow Greeks engage in - whether fraternity or sorority - when a chapter is struggling. I know it's tough when you are 18 - 22 years old to rise above it, but the fact of the matter is a strong Greek system benefits EVERYONE - and the failure of a chapter affects the entire system. Sigh. That's my personal windmill that I tilt at occasionally.

Ehh...yes and no. Sometimes, having one weak chapter will boost other chapters. As was said before, if one chapter is weak and then gone, as soon as they leave another chapter is the 'bottom' chapter. There is NO way to have a system where every chapter is equal.

[Just interested]

I couldn't agree with you more. I think that was what UGAalum94 meant. Unless you sit at the very top on a campus, every chapter has to be careful that they have it all together beginning with alumnae advisors who get it and understand the campus environment. A positive Panhellenic doesn't hurt either unfortunately sometimes you have to work with what you've got.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

And, conversely, chapters which are doing well can take more risks. I remember one pnm who was a double legacy to us and the top chapter at our campus. She was nicknamed "Ape" - she really did have the unibrow working, and was overweight and very unpleasant. We cut her (I think that's what she was trying to have us do by being so rude) and were shocked when she ended up a pledge to the top chapter. But hey - they could afford to have a pledge or two who was, shall we say, aesthetically challenged.

One of my pet peeves is the kind of trash talk that fellow Greeks engage in - whether fraternity or sorority - when a chapter is struggling. I know it's tough when you are 18 - 22 years old to rise above it, but the fact of the matter is a strong Greek system benefits EVERYONE - and the failure of a chapter affects the entire system. Sigh. That's my personal windmill that I tilt at occasionally.

Originally Posted by Just interested

I couldn't agree with you more. I think that was what UGAalum94 meant. Unless you sit at the very top on a campus, every chapter has to be careful that they have it all together beginning with alumnae advisors who get it and understand the campus environment. A positive Panhellenic doesn't hurt either unfortunately sometimes you have to work with what you've got.

Yep. But I think, especially with fraternities, they enjoy influencing the sorority hierarchy because in turn they can have more status, and when your 18-22, relative group status is kind of a big deal.

We can't forget what we're dealing with.

(I think status remains a really big deal for some people, but I think as you age, you just worry about who you are and don't enjoy your group being a bigger deal than another group.)

[SWTXBelle]

I think with the new release method we are seeing more campuses where the chapters are equal in number. Of course they will all have varying degrees of popularity with fraternities, perceived status, etc. But the more houses you have, the more opportunities you offer for a pnm to fit in, and the higher percentage of GLO members you can have on your campus. That's what I meant by a strong system - not that all groups are perceived as "top tier", but that all groups can obtain a size large enough to continue to operate.

[Just interested]

Yes, women have come a long way but you are so right, the guys still like to control and the girls follow.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Just interested

Yes, women have come a long way but you are so right, the guys still like to control and the girls follow.

I think it may be getting worse as some campuses get to be almost 60% female overall with a higher percentage of Greeks among women than men.

If socially "desirable" guys are seen as scarce, women can do stupid things to each other if they don't reflect on their values.

[barbino]

Yes, women have come a long way. Yes, guys still like to control. But not all girls like to follow, and many women prefer to lead.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by barbino

Yes, women have come a long way. Yes, guys still like to control. But not all girls like to follow, and many women prefer to lead.

Said like a true University of Kentucky Sorority woman!

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by barbino

Yes, women have come a long way. Yes, guys still like to control. But not all girls like to follow, and many women prefer to lead.

I certainly hope this is the case.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by Just interested

Yes, women have come a long way but you are so right, the guys still like to control and the girls follow.

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I think it may be getting worse as some campuses get to be almost 60% female overall with a higher percentage of Greeks among women than men.

If socially "desirable" guys are seen as scarce, women can do stupid things to each other if they don't reflect on their values.

Do y'all feel that a fraternity chapter(s) can influence (control) a sorority's status that much?

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by TSteven

Do y'all feel that a fraternity chapter(s) can influence (control) a sorority's status that much?

It just depends on the nature of the particular systems.
In a system that prides itself on "southern tradition," I think certain fraternities can.

I doubt that a traditionally solid chapter could be destroyed or something like that.

But if you made a list of sorority chapters by first round return rates, I think that four or five elitist fraternities deciding not to associate with the bottom third of this list could keep those groups from ever having an easy time of it in recruitment. If, on the other hand, the same fraternities elected to have socials with and regard and talk about those groups as worthy and desirable, I think the groups would be seen by PNMs are worthy and desirable.

Some of it's the guys' opinions; most of it's the girls caring what the guys think.

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by TSteven

Do y'all feel that a fraternity chapter(s) can influence (control) a sorority's status that much?

i have seen it happen. college guys meet incoming freshmen girls and decide to give them the 4 1 1 on which sorority they think they should pledge. some girls, either because they want to impress the guy, or think that he, being a college guy, knows it all, or for some other reason, takes what the guy says to heart and decides it is abc, def , ghi or nothing. she also shares this information with her friends and with her rush group.

the guys don't take in to consideration that the girl may not fit in with the recommended sororities or that she might not be deemed bid-worthy by the top tier sororities-his fraternity may not even be able to get a social with those sororities, but he will still recommend them. don't know why guys care, except that it makes them seem in the know. hopefully, most girls won't heed the advice, but the seed has been planted and it is hard for young women, eager to get into the college social scene, to ignore.

[33girl]

Most of the time these guys that tell women to join the "hottest" sorority are underclassmen, in my experience. By the time they get to be juniors or seniors, they aren't quite as shallow (or have gotten shafted by the "hot" sisters) and give better advice.

Not only that...if it's a guy telling his girlfriend that, the last thing he's thinking of is her...he wants to impress everyone with the fact that he's dating an XYZ.

[bejazd]

I think its important to cultivate positive relationships with all the fraternities on your campus, but whether or not you want to focus all your effort on what the XYs think, I'm not so sure it matters that much.

On my campus all the sororities were roughly equal in size, but only 3-4 out of 10 or so fraternities had memberships equal to the sororities. The biggest fraternities were the most popular to have an exchange with, but they couldn't have 7 exchanges every semester. So there was some competition amongst the sororities to lock up a social with those groups.

One of my vivid memories is my roommate the Social chair jumping up and down trying to get everyone psyched up to try to get a social with the XYs...and about half the chapter responding with "Yes! We need to have a social with XY!!" and half the chapter responding "Who cares about XY! I'm dating an AB" or "My boyfriend's not in a fraternity. Let's have another date party!"