Difficult Recolonization Question

[littleowl33]

A few things.

1) It's going to be pretty easy for people on this site to figure out your school and fraternity. And since you've identified yourself as Jeff Cunningham, they're going to know who you are, too. A lot more people check this site than you think, so don't be surprised if this post is seen by your chapter brothers and your fraternity's headquarters. Just FYI.

2) If you are an initiated member of your fraternity, as it seems you are, I have a hard time believing any other fraternity would be interested in having you start a colony of their org.

3) What would you hope to gain by starting a new fraternity you could not become a brother of?

[JCunningham]

Originally Posted by littleowl33

2) If you are an initiated member of your fraternity, as it seems you are, I have a hard time believing any other fraternity would be interested in having you start a colony of their org.

3) What would you hope to gain by starting a new fraternity you could not become a brother of?

Regardless of the first question, the next two are legitimate. Neither I or my other disassociated brothers will be the figurehead, other men who are not initiated in any other fraternity will be the leaders in the effort, while the rest of us will be working to help grow the fraternity. Already participating in a fraternity, we can certainly help in the paperwork and positions which will need to be held.

We want to gain helping re-establish a fraternity with a strong tradition which can survive in the intense Greek environment of the South. I don't believe our fraternity will continue to exist on campus past 10 years. Many fraternities were originally formed as either responses to others, or as break away groups. Establishing a fraternity which fosters brotherhood in a way which we believe it to be the best way to do so, and having that tradition continue on for many many years is very satisfying.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by JCunningham

Regardless of the first question, the next two are legitimate. Neither I or my other disassociated brothers will be the figurehead, other men who are not initiated in any other fraternity will be the leaders in the effort, while the rest of us will be working to help grow the fraternity. Already participating in a fraternity, we can certainly help in the paperwork and positions which will need to be held.

We want to gain helping re-establish a fraternity with a strong tradition which can survive in the intense Greek environment of the South. I don't believe our fraternity will continue to exist on campus past 10 years. Many fraternities were originally formed as either responses to others, or as break away groups. Establishing a fraternity which fosters brotherhood in a way which we believe it to be the best way to do so, and having that tradition continue on for many many years is very satisfying.

So in other words, you think 50 years from now, brothers will be learning your names in pledge tests or something? "Jeff Cunningham and a bunch of other dudes dumped their previous fraternity to be underground members of our recolonized chapter. We would not EXIST without them."

hahahahahahaha

What you are proposing might have worked with you guys being "social members" 30 years ago, but that's damned hard to get away with now - and I don't think any group wants to re-enter an SEC school under any circumstances that are the least bit shady.

[JCunningham]

Originally Posted by 33girl

So in other words, you think 50 years from now, brothers will be learning your names in pledge tests or something? "Jeff Cunningham and a bunch of other dudes dumped their previous fraternity to be underground members of our recolonized chapter. We would not EXIST without them."

hahahahahahaha

It has nothing to do with us, perhaps you can not understand as you have not experienced what we have, but helping a honorable organization reestablish themselves is good enough for me.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by JCunningham

It has nothing to do with us, perhaps you can not understand as you have not experienced what we have, but helping a honorable organization reestablish themselves is good enough for me.

Perhaps YOU don't understand.

I don't think this group (if it is as upstanding as you claim) is going to let you get anywhere near its letters. Triple ditto for the chapter alumni. I'm an alum of a dormant chapter, and if I heard "oh, a bunch of girls disaffiliated from ZTA, and they're going to build up an interest group and recolonize ASA in a few years" I would be up at the school in 2.5 seconds asking them who in the hell they thought they were, appropriating my sorority to serve their purposes.

Because that's basically what you're doing. You don't like the group you're in and you think you've found a way to get out of it and still be Greek.

[JCunningham]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Because that's basically what you're doing. You don't like the group you're in and you think you've found a way to get out of it and still be Greek.

Once again, that is simply false. I am not looking to be a member of another organization. I do not want to be initiated, I do not want to be considered a brother, nor will it simply be us. There will be people who are not currently greek who will be the leaders, we will be there to help improve recruiting, organization, and the social re-integration back into the campus.

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by JCunningham

Once again, that is simply false. I am not looking to be a member of another organization. I do not want to be initiated, I do not want to be considered a brother, nor will it simply be us. There will be people who are not currently greek who will be the leaders, we will be there to help improve recruiting, organization, and the social re-integration back into the campus.

Not currently Greek? Are you unaware that the alumni who work at HQ, on the housing board, the advisers - the people who will be making major decisions including who becomes members of the colony - are alumni members of the fraternity. You obviously haven't learned that brotherhood is for life.

As for the "WE" - are you talking about you and the defectors? Why would ABC fraternity want members of XYZ handling any part of the colonization? Most of the business of colonization is privy only to MEMBERS.

Originally Posted by JCunningham

Both myself and 20 other brothers have worked tirelessly for the past year to try to change the way things are going, but we simply do not have the numbers. We can not get elected to positions, we cannot even have a legitimate effect on voting on potential new members. It's a lost cause.

One pledge class can change everything. You just haven't tried hard enough.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

If I were recruiting men for a new colony I wouldn't pick the ones that had jumped ship from another one when it didn't go their way. Being in a colony is tough work, and I wouldn't trust you to stick around. Furthermore I wouldn't recruit anyone who could not really become a brother, that stipulation is ridiculous.

Well, if breathesgelatin is around, she can fill us in on what happened at W&L when she was there -- there's a thread about somewhere around here. Definitely the exception, though.

Originally Posted by JCunningham

. . . but helping a honorable organization reestablish themselves is good enough for me.

Yes, I'm sure the honorable organization will appreciate your efforts, given what you yourself acknowledge:

Originally Posted by JCunningham

Lastly, I know this is unethical . . .

Originally Posted by JCunningham

I am fully aware that I am betraying the values that have been laid down by my fraternity and the brothers which have founded it both nationally and on my campus.

I really can't believe you registered and posted (with your real name, no less) just to fill us all in on this.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I really can't believe you registered and posted (with your real name, no less) just to fill us all in on this.

You beat me to it.

Jeff Cunningham is an idiot and this is a huge FAIL.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Well, if breathesgelatin is around, she can fill us in on what happened at W&L when she was there -- there's a thread about somewhere around here. Definitely the exception, though.

I think that was a whole chapter though, not just the Ed Hardy-phobes.

Originally Posted by violetpretty

ETA: Out of 80 members, 15-20 who give a shit about the chapter and work to enact change ARE enough.

The problem with that concept is that according to him, the other 60 members are happy as clams. I haven't heard him say that they're hazing, or that they're raping 13 year olds, or snorting smack off each other's butts, or in dire straits financially. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this chapter except for the fact that they're "Northern." This doesn't mean they don't give a shit about the chapter. Unless they're having trouble $$ wise or RM wise, the national isn't going to recolonize them just because they don't fit in with the perceived notions of what a "good" fraternity is on campus. That's not how men operate.

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Well, if breathesgelatin is around, she can fill us in on what happened at W&L when she was there -- there's a thread about somewhere around here. Definitely the exception, though.

I'm here, just in time to save the day!

Yes, this happened while I was at W&L, my junior year.

Sigma Phi Epsilon was kicked off campus over the summer of 2003.

That fall the brothers of SigEp (or SPE in old school W&L parlance) decided to go in together and pledge Alpha Delta Phi and try to conduct rush from an off campus house (all the recognized fraternities at W&L were housed). They all resigned their membership in SigEp, although SigEp refused to release them from their membership obligations. In defiance, they were initiated into Alpha Delta Phi anyway.

Alpha Delta Phi (formerly SigEp) failed to receive recognition by the W&L's local IFC, and they failed to get any freshmen to pledge their fraternity come January (W&L has deferred recruitment). So, essentially, the chapter had folded by the end of the 2003-2004 schoolyear.

Some (not all) of those same brothers THEN joined Phi Kappa Psi, a fraternity which had traditionally been at the top of the mid tier at W&L, but had experienced some problems in recent years. I heard that some of these members were even initiated into Phi Kappa Psi but I have no idea if that is 100% accurate or not. Possibly they were just social members who lived/ate at the house and the initiation story was just braggadocio. It is certainly true that some of these members participated in national Phi Kappa Psi events and claim this affiliation on their facebook pages to this day, etc. So possibly, some of these guys had experienced three fraternity initiations.

At the time of this occurrence there was a lot of discussion on campus over whether SigEp might sue Alpha Delta Phi for initiating the members that SigEp refused to release, but I think SigEp just figured it wasn't worth the effort.

The differences were: SigEp as a whole was kicked off entirely, the entire chapter attempted to affiliate with Alpha Delta Phi, and Alpha Delta Phi was clearly a 'downgrade' from SigEp.

I know that Alpha Delta Phi has on other occasions colonized deactivated chapters of other fraternities (in fact there is a guy on GreekChat who will come and defend these actions to his dying breath), but I don't really think that Alpha Delta Phi would be the type of fraternity the OP is interested in. I don't think any 'legit southern fraternity' would ever pull this kind of shit.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by JCunningham

Hello yall, My name is Jeff and I am a student at a major SEC school. I joined a fraternity here during my Freshman year, but it was not what I was lead to believe it would be. Our chapter size is roughly 80 members, and there are about 15-20 of us who are severely unhappy with our situation. Unfortunately we no longer have the members to create change and we are quickly going downhill.

Due to a large graduating class, "our" numbers (and I say that referring to the group of us who are unhappy with the direction we are heading in) have shrunk and after a few very long chapters riddled with excessive parliamentary procedure, we no longer have any say in the direction we need to go. In essence we are two different fraternities who are stuck together in one. These two fraternities are a typical southern fraternity, and a typical northern fraternity. We think, act, and look very differently. The northern fraternity has seized power and as many of you may know, in the south fraternities mostly dominated by northerns do not get very far. Whether it is right or not, it is the way it is.

Many brothers have disassociated, and we have been meeting regularly trying to figure out a solution. So far we have come up with this:

An major international fraternity which was very popular on campus was kicked off about five years ago. This fraternity has a built in following, it was extremely popular, gave back to both the campus and the community, and it was a backed by hundreds of outstanding alumni. It continues to send many legacies back to our school, and if it were to be recolonized it would quickly regain its reputation and legacy of a quality fraternity with quality men on campus. After they left campus they continued to recruit underground for a year or so, but after this year there will not be a initiated brother or an underground member left enrolled at our university.

Our solution is once we are all officially dissociated from our fraternity, to recolonize this fraternity. We would be gone by the time it was chartered and therefore we would not be a witness to any initiation or fraternity secrets. We would simply be the first people to recruit others in an attempt to bring this historic fraternity back to campus, while getting the tradition, community, and most importantly the brotherhood that we all were lead to believe we would get in our fraternity experience.

Lastly, I know this is unethical and may rub many of you the wrong way. I understand that this is not anything close to being an ideal situation, and that it would be great if we could work to improve our fraternity from the inside. While that would be great, please only respond with constructive thoughts, I am fully aware of what I am proposing and what it entails. Any damage that would be done with 20 or so brothers disassociating will be done regardless of whether we attempt to recolonize another fraternity or not. The situation is becoming detrimental to the fraternity, and it would be best if we could part ways and both "start anew" to try to make both of our organizations the best they can be.

Thank You,
Jeff

Originally Posted by JCunningham

Regardless of the first question, the next two are legitimate. Neither I or my other disassociated brothers will be the figurehead, other men who are not initiated in any other fraternity will be the leaders in the effort, while the rest of us will be working to help grow the fraternity. Already participating in a fraternity, we can certainly help in the paperwork and positions which will need to be held.

We want to gain helping re-establish a fraternity with a strong tradition which can survive in the intense Greek environment of the South. I don't believe our fraternity will continue to exist on campus past 10 years. Many fraternities were originally formed as either responses to others, or as break away groups. Establishing a fraternity which fosters brotherhood in a way which we believe it to be the best way to do so, and having that tradition continue on for many many years is very satisfying.

Originally Posted by JCunningham

Helping found an organization which can live on for years to come, which will do both good on and off campus, and improve the men which decide to join is worth it.

Originally Posted by JCunningham

It has nothing to do with us, perhaps you can not understand as you have not experienced what we have, but helping a honorable organization reestablish themselves is good enough for me.

So, you came here to:

...say that 1/4 of your chapter is unhappy.

...separate yourself from the other 3/4 of the chapter by using phrases such as, "Our numbers," and, "There are two different fraternities stuck together in one."

...indicate that the "northerners" know nothing about running a "southern" chapter. But of course, you aren't willing to work with them.

...tell us that the unhappy 1/4 has been meeting secretly to "fix" things.

...imply that a fraternity chapter that was kicked off campus is better than your chapter... which is still on campus.

...reveal your solution: bring another fraternity back to campus, with your FRATERNITY BROTHERS, without becoming a member of this second fraternity.

...reveal your search for brotherhood, which, ya know, you already have with those brothers who are supporting you.

...talk about your wanting to re-establish a fraternity with a strong tradition which can survive in the intense Greek environment of the South (even though it couldn't, because, again, they were kicked off campus).

...state your belief that your fraternity won't survive longer than 10 years. Way to be optimistic!

...overall, make it known that you have no loyalty to your fraternity, to the brothers who have stood beside you, and to all of the brothers who have helped make the chapter what it is.

Yes, please... drop out of your fraternity and attempt to re-establish a chapter of another fraternity without actually joining. And be sure to come back and tell us how that all works out!

[JCunningham]

Fair enough. I thank everyone for their feedback. I do appreciate it.