Just a General Question

[PANTHERTEKE]

As long as they're the right person for the job, I don't see what the problem is.

But it isn't very common.

[ISUKappa]

That is something that differs from campus to campus. At my undergrad chapter, the Presidential term usually went from second semester junior year to first semester senior year. At the campus where I advised, the trend had become for the term to be held second semester sophomore year to first semester junior year. The only requirement for the office of President is that she previously hold an office on the Chapter Council.

I think some sophomores can be effective presidents but it depends greatly on their individual personalities and how much training they're given.

[SoCalGirl]

January to December terms make that possible. As opposed to terms that start at the beginning of the school year. When everyone is insane from Work Week and Rush!

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by QuinniTheta

I was just wondering ... is it out of the ordinary for someone who's a sophomore in college to be President of their sorority?

That's all. Thanks everyone!

It's out of the ordinary on campus here, however one of the houses recently elected a sophomore whose doing absolutely outstanding. I believe she won "Best President" for the sororities.

[PANTHERTEKE]

Yeah, it's not common on my campus either, but it also depends on the chapter.

My chapter got 50 new guys this past school year (07-08) and this is the majority of our chapter.

A lot of the older leadership has/will graduate, so its up to us guys that were rushed in 2007 (Spring 08 and down, not so much) to step up to leadership positions. I was the first from the fall pledge class to be appointed to e-board when someone resigned and I'm running for a higher position this fall.

But president... thats another story.

[speedsters]

We also do January to December officer election, but with a January formal recruitment. Our president is a 2nd semester Jr/1st semester senior, because we have a must have been on EC clause in our bylaws. Our Recruitment and Panhel positions start once recruitment is over, so you are the assistant as soon as you are elected, and then the following recruitment is yours. I like it especially with these positions because it gives you a chance to help, then do COB, if needed after recruitment in the spring, then the fall is when you plan all the formal recruitment.

[Zillini]

As an advisor I have never had a soph Pres in this chapter. I have known several at other chapters over the years who have done bang up jobs. It all depends on the candidate. My org has a stipulation that a Pres candidate must have served on Exec previously, but that can be waived with Inatl permission. We had to do this one year when practically our entire Exec was made up of seniors. The two who weren't didn't run for Pres the following year.

[ComradesTrue]

We, too, had the Jan-Dec terms, which were great.

It certainly was not the norm for a sophomore to serve as president, but there was another NPC chapter on our campus that did elect a sophomore one year. This caught everyone by surprise, but she served well and earned tons of respect from the entire greek community. She then served a second term as president the following year.

So, to echo many others here... it was certainly a major exception on our campus, which had pledge classes of 40ish. But... if a very special individual came along, clearly there was at least one chapter open to the idea.

[ADqtPiMel]

Originally Posted by Zillini

As an advisor I have never had a soph Pres in this chapter. I have known several at other chapters over the years who have done bang up jobs. It all depends on the candidate. My org has a stipulation that a Pres candidate must have served on Exec previously, but that can be waived with Inatl permission. We had to do this one year when practically our entire Exec was made up of seniors. The two who weren't didn't run for Pres the following year.

The chapter I advise now has a sophomore president and she is really very good. She had been an officer previously, although not on Exec.

I didn't even know the rule about Presidential candidates needing to serve on Exec until I was on the slating committee following my term as EVP senior year. My chapter had deferred recruitment (so no one could take positions until their 2nd year since elections were in December and rush was in January) and was pretty large (around 200) and therefore was very, very competitive for positions - it would have been unheard of for a sophomore to be on Exec.

[Bella796]

I know one group on campus had a girl as president when she was a sophomore and the feelings about her were mixed. I really don't think the age thing matters, I've known some 18 year olds to be more mature than some 22 year olds. I do think it helps that the person has had some sort of prior exec experience. We had a girl go from having no responsiblities in the sorority to being president and she didn't do a great job. It all depends.

[breathesgelatin]

At my school it was generally looked down upon for sophomores to be GLO presidents but it happened sometimes. In my chapter, about 3-4 years before I got there there was a woman who was President as a sophomore and served a second term as President as a junior. It wasn't necessarily the best situation...

[sarahsmilehawk]

We do officer transition in November, so a president would typically be a junior and her term would extend halfway through her senior year. We require that a president hold an executive position before being president, so it would be almost impossible to elect a sophomore.