California Greeks! - Page 4

BetteDavisEyes · #1 01-04-2008, 01:23 AM

I was at Disneyland today and saw a large amount of ladies in their letters to I kept count because I'm lame like that. I counted this:

1 Delta Phi Epsilon

2 TriDelta's

2 Alpha Chi Omega's

4 Kappa Delta's

1 Phi Mu

And a large group of girls taking pictures in front of the Sleeping Beauty castle in their very pretty Alpha Phi hoodies.

bejazd · #2 01-04-2008, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetteDavisEyes

I am an alumna of Cal State Long Beach. The Greek system there was not well-liked by the administration of the school or by some of the school population while I attended there but they did fairly well. NPC has not expanded the Greek system in a long time. There are 7 NPC sororities active on campus and 6 recognized IFC chapters with 3 colonies so they are definitely expanding.
NPC include Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Delta Zeta, Gamma Phi Beta, and Sigma Kappa

.

All of the Divine 9 are represented at CSULB as well.

There are also 12 cultural GLO's on campus as well.

Gamma Phi Beta has also been at CSULB continuously since our chartering in 1962. I'm not aware of any dormant period. I wouldn't say the admin there was negative- they just didn't want to deal with Greek issues. Sigma Kappa re-opened at Long Beach in the late 80's. There wasn't much in the way of multi-cultural groups while I was there, but the NPHC groups were very strong. I think you won't see expansion there mainly because the city of Long Beach has made it virtually impossible to get a permit for any new greek off campus housing. Cost of membership is certainly a factor for many commuter students who don't need housing, so maybe someone could come on and be viable as a lower cost, unhoused option.

BetteDavisEyes · #3 01-04-2008, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bejazd

maybe someone could come on and be viable as a lower cost, unhoused option.

Let's not forget the cost of land in Long Beach. The city would likely sell any remaining land to a builder or any other group than the Greek community. I know that many times over the years, there has been talk about building a Greek Row but those talks remain that. Talks. When President Maxson was there, it wasn't too bad. There's just a lot of apathy in some areas.

LucyKKG · #4 12-27-2007, 07:00 PM

Ok, I saw a girl in a Pi Phi sweatshirt at Burger King just now and a Sigma Chi license plate frame on the way home. Maybe there ARE Greeks here! :-)

And yeah, my school also has a LOT of locals. I believe an NPHC sorority is trying to start up again as well. It's just a totally different dynamic here than other parts of the country.

PeppyGPhiB · #5 12-28-2007, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LucyKKG

Ok, I saw a girl in a Pi Phi sweatshirt at Burger King just now and a Sigma Chi license plate frame on the way home. Maybe there ARE Greeks here! :-)

And yeah, my school also has a LOT of locals. I believe an NPHC sorority is trying to start up again as well. It's just a totally different dynamic here than other parts of the country.

Lucy, I'd like to point out that there's a great variety of greek systems in California, too. UCSC, known as a haven for non-traditional thinkers

, has notoriously been unsupportive of fraternities and sororities...at least the national ones. When I was in college I met many of our UCSC sisters at a regional conference and they were desperately looking for ideas on how to get the school to be more supportive. They felt a little like loners, being the only NPC on campus. So KKG's arrival was probably a major step toward a stronger greek presence at the school.

Contrast that campus with USC, which has a sorority scene more similar to the south (but still not that extreme), or UCLA, which is a big school with many chapters but has had to deal with a lot of anti-greek feelings in the past, too. Then there are small private colleges with un-housed, popular greek systems, such as USD, Chapman and Pepperdine. There are a lot of differences from one campus to another, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that your campus is unique even for California.

Since you're fairly close to other schools/KKG chapters, you might find it fun and helpful to reach out to them to plan a fun event so your chapter can meet Kappas from other schools. My chapter had events with our chapters at UCSB and USC while I was in school, and they were some of the most fun events we had. Also, I don't know if in Northern Calif. they do this, but greeks in Southern Calif., Nevada and I think Arizona used to have an annual ski trip that was always a good time and a good way to meet greeks (and sisters) at other nearby schools.

LucyKKG · #6 12-28-2007, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Since you're fairly close to other schools/KKG chapters, you might find it fun and helpful to reach out to them to plan a fun event so your chapter can meet Kappas from other schools.

Oh yeah, I totally want to do that. I had an idea to go to a Cal or Stanford football game with the Kappas up there. (The Berkeley chapter is our sister chapter). We just have a lot on our plate being a new chapter and all, so I dunno how feasible it is. I still need to look into it!

LatinaAlumna · #7 01-04-2008, 01:18 AM

I'm a California greek, too. As far as LGLOs go, there are TONS in CA--typically several sororities and fraternities on the larger campuses (UCLA, USC, UCB, etc.).

daniellory · #8 01-04-2008, 05:15 PM

I went to a school California and we had a great Greek system. I think schools on the east cost a mid-west have significantly larger Greek systems. Our school had an average of about 80-100 people in each organization. Whereas my friends went to schools that had around 200. I don't know how you could get along with that many people. It almost defeats the purpose.

BetteDavisEyes · #9 01-04-2008, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniellory

I went to a school California and we had a great Greek system. I think schools on the east cost a mid-west have significantly larger Greek systems. Our school had an average of about 80-100 people in each organization. Whereas my friends went to schools that had around 200. I don't know how you could get along with that many people. It almost defeats the purpose.

Not necessarily. Many schools where Greek Life is big have large amounts of members with pledge classes in the 50's all the way up to the 80's. It just depends on the campus and the campus culture.

#10 01-04-2008, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniellory

I went to a school California and we had a great Greek system. I think schools on the east cost a mid-west have significantly larger Greek systems. Our school had an average of about 80-100 people in each organization. Whereas my friends went to schools that had around 200. I don't know how you could get along with that many people. It almost defeats the purpose.

Unfair blanket statement.

You don't need to get along with all 200 members. It just means that you have 199 other sisters who share in your sisterhood.

LucyKKG · #11 01-04-2008, 08:29 PM

Yeah, Greek is housing at UCSC is soooo not happening anytime soon. We aren't even allowed to display Greek letters outside of a house. I don't actually know what the school would do if we did, though, because it's not like they're super involved in our org. Oh, hippies!