What makes Greek life "hot" in the south?

[bowsandtoes]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

If I could just get one thing clarified it would be great. BowandToes, when you say that Northern chapters are small, just how small are you assuming they are?

I consider anything under 100 total to be a small chapter, good chapter size would be 150-200.

As for the issue of chapter size and national recognition, I referenced a few sororities that I thought had greater name recognition in any region. Chi-o for instance, has about 175 chapters according to wikipedia. The site I looked at for the other sorority showed about 40-50 chapters, mostly in the Midwest. I'm not saying that makes it 'bad' by midwest standards, just that it wouldn't be viewed the same way in the South.

[LegallyBrunette]

Originally Posted by bowsandtoes

I consider anything under 100 total to be a small chapter, good chapter size would be 150-200.

As for the issue of chapter size and national recognition, I referenced a few sororities that I thought had greater name recognition in any region. Chi-o for instance, has about 175 chapters according to wikipedia. The site I looked at for the other sorority showed about 40-50 chapters, mostly in the Midwest. I'm not saying that makes it 'bad' by midwest standards, just that it wouldn't be viewed the same way in the South.

I think this is something that needs to be viewed in context, not only in terms of north v. south, but with regard to small v. large schools. 150-200 members per chapter at university with 30,000 undergrads is one thing; 200 members in a chapter at a school with 2000 students would be kind of ridiculous for any NPC org, regardless of whether it's Chi O or TPA (IMHO).

Finally, I totally understand that not everyone, especially in the South, will have heard of my org. I recognize that we're not a blip in the SEC world of tiers, etc. It's more a matter of the "asshat-vibe" (thanks 33) and choosing to remain ignorant that got under my skin.

ETA: bowsandtoes, I don't think you were doing that. I appreciate that you took a moment to learn.

And, Ilaria Ame, i think it's pretty awesome that your NME includes that info.

/I really did try to get this back on track before.

[HuskyAlum]

Originally Posted by bowsandtoes

I consider anything under 100 total to be a small chapter, good chapter size would be 150-200.

As for the issue of chapter size and national recognition, I referenced a few sororities that I thought had greater name recognition in any region. Chi-o for instance, has about 175 chapters according to wikipedia. The site I looked at for the other sorority showed about 40-50 chapters, mostly in the Midwest. I'm not saying that makes it 'bad' by midwest standards, just that it wouldn't be viewed the same way in the South.

Someone already made the point about how unreasonable it would be to have a 100+ chapter at a private school with 1,000 undergraduates - even in the South! The other thing I'd like to point out is that my organization is the second largest (chapter wise) in the country and our average chapter size is about 80-90. Somehow that doesn't lend much validity to the fact that a "good" chapter size is 150+.