Young alumnae chapters!

DSTCHAOS · #1 10-31-2007, 11:03 AM

We don't have alumnae just for people who pledged or graduated during a certain time.

We do have alumnae chapters that were chartered 10 and fewer years ago. Who joins those chapters is based on things like location, who they know, the age demographic they want to be surrounded by, etc.

rebecca_sigma3 · #2 10-31-2007, 11:14 AM

Tri Sigma does not have alumnae chapters for young alumnae either. I love the idea - it would get more recent grads interested in alumnae life. Some of our alumnae chapters have special interest groups within them - for example: a dinner club, young alumnae, volunteering, etc. I think one of the chapters that has a young alumnae club does a variety of events like pub crawls, dinners, networking for your career.

I would love to hear more recruitment ideas to get more younger alumnae involved in my chapter.

DSTCHAOS · #3 10-31-2007, 11:32 AM

As far as Delta, I don't think alumnae chapters for members who graduated in the past 10 years is a good idea. Sisterhood expands age groups and being surrounded by young women doesn't foster the type of growth and mentoring that is part of the alumnae chapter experience. We learn a great deal from our older sisters about our organizations and how to service our communities. I have a network of older and younger Sorors that I can pull from for different things.

Now, as I previously referenced, there are alumnae chapters that are younger in age makeup because they were chartered in particular areas or a younger network of Sorors pushed for the chapter. But anyone who fits the location and other criteria can still join. So this isn't the same thing as formalizing an alumnae chapter only for members who graduated within the past 10 years--which I believe would backfire tremendously in many locations.

DSTCHAOS · #4 10-31-2007, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebecca_sigma3

Tri Sigma does not have alumnae chapters for young alumnae either. I love the idea - it would get more recent grads interested in alumnae life. Some of our alumnae chapters have special interest groups within them - for example: a dinner club, young alumnae, volunteering, etc. I think one of the chapters that has a young alumnae club does a variety of events like pub crawls, dinners, networking for your career.

I would love to hear more recruitment ideas to get more younger alumnae involved in my chapter.

I recommend creating an informal network of younger members and for you all to join committees within your larger alumnae chapter if you all have not already done so. This makes sure that you all are visible within your chapter and you can impact the chapter's program ideas. Then take that within-chapter visibility to the community.

For instance, those of us who crossed within the past 2-15 years in my chapter are involved in various committees and make sure that our voice is heard within the chapter. Then we make sure that we are visible at the programs and events the chapter sponsors. This includes attending other organizations' social events that the older Sorors aren't interested in patroning. So people who care know that there are members in their late 20s and early 30s in the chapter, in addition to older Sorors. This often gets other late 20s and early 30s Deltas interested in joining the alumnae chapter. They come talk to us, we keep in contact with them and invite them to community and social events, then they are soon under our spell.

AOII Angel · #5 10-31-2007, 01:04 PM

I don't really like the idea of a separate "young" alums group. A sister is a sister no matter what the age, and this sounds age-ist (I don't know how this word should be spelled!) to me! I think the real problem is that women who have been in an alum chapter for a very long time don't think about how to program for the younger alums who have more energy. Emphasis should be placed on the importance of change to keep alum involvement high rather than segregating members according to age groups.

skylark · #6 10-31-2007, 01:38 PM

I wish that KKG had young alumnae chapters. In the end, the advisory board for my collegiate chapter has become what an alumnae chapter should be since the advisors want to be involved in Kappa, but don't feel comfortable with the nearby alum group (partly having to do with age, and partly having to do with other issues that I'll PM about but can't put on a board).

If you aren't able to find "young alumnae" chapters per se, look to advisory boards, which tend to be "younger."

AngieWashU · #7 11-13-2007, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebecca_sigma3

Some of our alumnae chapters have special interest groups within them - for example: a dinner club, young alumnae, volunteering, etc. I think one of the chapters that has a young alumnae club does a variety of events like pub crawls, dinners, networking for your career.

DG is the same in that we have young alumnae interest groups within our alumnae chapters, but they are not separate chapters. My experience does bear out what Skylark said, that a lot of advisory teams are made up of younger members that aren't really involved in the larger alumnae chapters.