New Local, and need social ideas!

princesspage64 · #1 04-14-2002, 11:37 PM

Hello,

We are starting a new local organization called Delta Zeta Alpha. We plan on going national soon, after the panhelinic council votes for an extension ect ect. in the meantime, we are trying to keep up the moral of our local group of girls. i need ideas for socials, sisterhood and making a good impression on our campus. we want to be accepted by the soroities and fraternities on campus. So any and all info is greatly appreciated!
Thanks alot!

dzrose93 · #2 04-15-2002, 04:20 PM

Hi!

I'm a DZ alumna from Atlanta, GA... It's so nice to hear from you! There are TONS of things your group can do to improve morale among your sisters and to enhance your reputation on campus.

My first suggestion is to organize an event that allows the faculty a chance to get to know your members. I don't know how your campus works, but mine allowed us to reserve certain rooms on campus for meetings and get-togethers. Perhaps you could reserve a room and have your chapter put together a Meet and Greet event with appetizers, drinks and desserts? Have information about your group laid out on a table so that the professors can see it and get an idea of what your organization stands for. Promote your philanthropic endeavors and emphasize the importance your group places on academics. That will definitely help get you some support on campus.

As far as sisterhood activities, my suggestion is to plan a weekend event where y'all are free from distractions. Go camping, rent a cabin in a state park for a night or two (they're usually pretty inexpensive) -- just go someplace where you can get away from anything not related to your sorority. That will allow you to focus on each other and help you to learn new ways to work as a team. I have several team-building games that my chapter used to play during sisterhood retreats if you're interested in learning about them. Please PM me if you'd like to know more.

Above all, GOOD LUCK on your pursuit to go national. The road is a tough and sometimes long one, but it's definitely well worth it in the end!!

In the Greek Bond,
dzrose93

dzsaigirl · #3 04-15-2002, 08:11 PM

You could do everything you can to have good greek relations right from the beginning. For instance, you can take a basket of candy with decorated in each sorority's colors to their meetings with a card telling them who you all are and that you plan to support any major events they have like their philanthropies, etc. Also, once school starts again or rush starts, you could send them a card and candy or something for "welcome back to school" or "have a great rush" or whatever. That's my main advice. Just do everything you can to get support from the greek community because that is what you will need the most when you are starting up!

Please feel free to PM me if you have questions. I am a DZ at the University of Houston and I have 5th year status right now since I am student teaching. I assume you are interested in DZ (DZA) so I can help you in that area...

princesspage64 · #4 04-16-2002, 11:18 PM

Thanks y'all! Those are great ideas, i brought them up tonight at our meeting and everyone loved them! If you have anymore, or any one else has some input, we still need it!! Thanks again. It was good hearing from some Delta Zeta's!!

dzsaigirl · #5 04-17-2002, 11:08 AM

Please keep us updated! I love hearing people's start-up stories. You might want to read wishinhopin's thread "Rush at UCSC" in the Rush forum. She has a local that is trying to go national.

dzsaigirl

princesspage64 · #6 04-18-2002, 12:47 AM

AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!! i feel like i have been watching a soap opera. corina is the coolest girl ever. Last night i started reading from the beginning, then i had to stop to sleep, and pretty much all day today, i have been at my computer whenever i can. eating in front of it, talking on the pohne, but not really listeing b/c i am enthralled with this story. I have been taking notes the whole time!!! i am almost to the last page, but alas, i must sleep. thank you so much for telling me about that thread. we are going through many of the same problems, small budget, not everyone wants to work, ect ect. but if she got through it, we can too!!!

dzsaigirl · #7 04-18-2002, 01:04 AM

It sounds like you are really dedicated to making this work. Feel free to PM people and post in other forums to get a feel for things. People around here are so helpful!

dzsaigirl

siglambshsu · #8 04-18-2002, 12:52 PM

i agree with all those suggestions! it is very important to have support within the greek community, especially if you are a local, because some greeks (and universities) sometimes look down on locals. definitely try and get support from the sororities, but also don't forget the fraternities. if you are allowed to, take a night with all your sisters and go to every rush party just to show your support. i know we used to make banners for all the fraternities during rush, so that would be a great sisterhood.

another thing that would be fun, if you start off small, is try to get with another sorority and plan a mixer with a fraternity. i know in feburary we tried to have a "lover's triangle" mixer, but it never really panned out -- if not a mixer, then a philanthropy activity would be excellent too. in the past we have co-hosted an egg hunt for the community with zeta tau alpha. it's a good way to hang out with other greeks, and also a good way to get your name out. hope these suggestions help too.

dzandiloo · #9 04-25-2002, 11:49 AM

PrincessPage-
How about an update? Give all the GC'ers the scoop!

princesspage64 · #10 04-28-2002, 06:16 PM

Hi everyone,
I have been super busy getting ready for finals and stuff. But Delta Zeta Alpha has been going well. We have weekely meetings. We will be meeting at a really nice fraternity lodge next year, but for now, just a members house. We are working on getting a fuller exec board, we jsut had a small open recruitment, which didn't turn out as well as we had hoped. I think it had a lot to do w/ the really icky weather. This summer we will probably have a booth at our schools freshman orientation. Other than that I am working on getting together w/ another sorority to do some sort of event to learn the ropes of the campus greek life. We seem pretty much together b/c our president is in very close contact w/ a wonderful alumna who has donated lots of time and effort. But any other comments are still welcome, and i will keep y'all updated!

princesspage64 · #11 05-01-2002, 10:32 PM

So, we had a meeting last night. We held elections, and things went well, there was someone running for everything. Not everyone running was running against someone, which isn't bad considering the number of girls who consitently show up to our meetings. I think the new officers (is that right??) will be a great addition!! Other than that we are just getting ready for the summer and making plans for next semester. ok, well i NEED to study, right now i am having some serious procrastination problems! Good luck with finals to all those students!!

AngelPhiSig · #12 05-02-2002, 12:57 AM

Oh my, I know this is off topic... but I had a dream last night that our panhel decided they wanted to not have national sororities anymore and we all had to go local and choose new letters... we became Phi Sigma Gamma cos were the gamma gamma chapter of Phi Sigs... but our DZ's chose Delta Zeta Alpha... how weird!!!!!!!