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Thank you all for your replies. I really do want try to inject a little of my perspective into this discussion, because although 33Girl objects, I am more involved with the Greek System at Duquesne than any of you (through your own admissions).
While I respect how this board was started to open a discussion about what is really going on at Duquesne's Greek Life system, to immediately reject any and all of my comments is counterproductive. You certainly have the right to disagree with some of my opinions, but there ARE certain facts that you need to have. I am the President of my chapter's Alumni Advisor board, so my experience is not purely from the University side. I've also been an instructor at my Fraternity's national leadership college, so I've heard plenty about other schools' system, too.
Regardless, you had questions about individual locals. NONE of the locals was ever asked to close up or affiliate with a national preemptively. EACH of the locals at some point in history was faced with declining membership, a severe judicial issue, or apathy among the brothers or sisters that caused the chapter's future to be in question. When any of these things happened, Duquesne could have completely shut down the chapter and that's it. But all locals had the opportunity to merge into a national organization because the University understood the importance of the strength of a strong Greek Chapter. The best examples of this are AE/ATO. This chapter was Alpha Epsilon local for many years and for some reason, chose to affiliate with Alpha Tau Omega. This alumni group refers to themselves as AE/ATO and they're very proud of both groups' history.
Second is ZBT/SAE. Again, ZBT was facing imminent closure and decided to affiliate with SAE to remain open and get the benefits associated with being a part of a large national.
On the sorority side, there are others, too. Unfortunately, I forget the old/new letters combinations, but for the most part, each of the women who has been around long enough to remember the old local is proud of the successes of the new. My only direct experience has been watching Sigma Lambda Phi affiliate with Sigma Kappa.
If your friend ,who I assume is a recent graduate, finds it necessary to remind me that every brick was laid by locals, that's fine, but Jim O'Day, who is an AE from before the merger, doesn't see it that way. He understands the value of a large national organization and understands that while locals were a tremendous asset to the University, the fact remains that today, they struggle to compete.
There are some locals who faced a severe membership or judicial issue who didn't even have the support from alumni to facilitate affiliating with a new organization. It saddens me to see any Greek organization leave, but there's some times when it's out of anyone's control to help.
The Gamma Phis have competed well in the University system. They have a strong brotherhood and have a positive track record. The University has no desire to force a local chapter to go national without cause, and Gammas serve as an example of that.
Second issue: I'm not going to deny that housing is a serious issue. And I'm not going to tell you that the University's position is the best. But I can tell you that it's going to be a couple of years before there's new housing on campus, and until that occurs, it's going to be a struggle. It's a struggle for all students. Duquesne simply does not have the necessary housing.
But to say that Duquesne is using the housing issue to force out the Greek system is absurd. It's a major problem. Discussions ARE ongoing every month between the Greek Alumni Council, the Office of Greek Life, and University Administration. They understand the undergrads' frustration, the alumni frustration, but until there's new housing on campus, it's a struggle.
It all starts with recruitment. If Towers is so crowded that we can't have our own wings, that means there's a ton of students who WANT to live in Towers. Let's recruit them. Duquesne is never going to have Greek Houses - I said HOUSES, not HOUSING - so we'd better be able to come up with creative ways to protect what we do have. My parlor fee suggestion works. So does having a bylaw that requires officers' to live on the wing.
It's really hard to convince the Administration that the housing problem is killing the Greek System when there are certain fraternities and sororities that have kept their wings.
Finally, the new Director of Greek Life was more than a leadership consultant. She has experience at Ohio State, University of South Florida, and John Carroll. All three are in large cities, and it can be argued that Duquesne and John Carroll (Cleveland) are exact peers.
And it also should be mentioned that Duquesne's Greek system is much more advanced that John Carroll's.
I would be very enthusiastic about meeting with anyone from this page. HOWEVER, it appears that most of what you're looking to do is complain. I am completely willing to meet with this entire group, but I'm not interested in sitting in on a bitch session. If you're TRULY interested in hearing the truth about what the UNIVERSITY can do, what the OFFICE OF GREEK LIFE can do, and what YOU must do, I'll facilitate any meeting. But there is WORK that is required on your part. The solutions to these problems do not get handed down to you by anyone. You have to continue (or begin) to work with your undergraduates to accept the challenges and succeed in spite of them. Perhaps you should look around and see how lucky we really are for what we DO have. This isn't Penn State or VT or Arizona State, but it's certainly a strong, proud Greek system.
The Greek Alumni Council has our next meeting during the upcoming Carnival. I will be around most of the day Saturday. If you're coming to Carnival, please let me know and we can schedule a time to talk.
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