"Panhellenic Friendly"...Fact or Fiction?

[layla88]

Great ideas! Have any other suggestions besides jeopardy to initiate all 6? It sounds like it would be a lot of fun, but I think competitive games has been the main issue in our divide. Between Derby Days, Greek Week and Miss Greek... girls have been given plenty of chances to be caddy and unsportsmanlike, which has only caused more unrest. I believe we need things that bring us together in a cooperative and engaging way... I'm just stumped!

I'm also very intrigued by the progressive dinner idea.... care to share more?! I have a general idea, but how exactly does this work?!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by layla88

Great ideas! Have any other suggestions besides jeopardy to initiate all 6? It sounds like it would be a lot of fun, but I think competitive games has been the main issue in our divide. Between Derby Days, Greek Week and Miss Greek... girls have been given plenty of chances to be catty and unsportsmanlike, which has only caused more unrest. I believe we need things that bring us together in a cooperative and engaging way... I'm just stumped!

Make sure all those activities are judged by OUTSIDE people - not by the Sigma Chi brothers themselves and not by IFC or Panhel's exec boards - if it's things like a lip sync or beauty contest you need someone who's completely impartial. Get some of the professors (better yet, some of the retired professors) or local merchants to do it. For DD, maybe the Sigma Chi advisor or some of their older alums, but not the active brothers. Not only is it a good way to make certain the judging is fair, it also tends to keep things a bit cleaner as far as songs/routines/etc are concerned.

[honeychile]

Do you all have houses, suites, or chapter rooms? This wouldn't work on every campus, but it worked on ours, because most of the sororities had a floor in the same dorm: study breas. During Midterms and Finals, we would invite all of the other sororities for a study break between say, 11pm and midnight. No men or cameras allowed! That way, everyone could wear what they wanted without trying to impress anyone else. We kept a large coffee urn full of coffee and another full of hot water, and a large selection of teas, hot chocolate, sugar/sugar substitutes, and goodies that our alumnae donated. It was a great chance to bond over hating organic chemistry or a certain professor. Oh, and you'll want to set an alarm, too - study breaks by definition need to be in the middle of studying!

We did have three sororities not in our dorm, but we invited them, too. Sometimes they came, sometimes they didn't, but it did give us a good reputation throughout the Panhellenic community.



ETA: Before you start with any of these projects, I'd see if I could get at least 1-2 members of each sorority on campus to see the wisdom in Panhellenic Unity, and at least 1/10th of your own sorority. It will be easier for everyone to accept when they see that there's already women behind the idea.

[TinyDancer98]

It seems that your problem is twofold- you need the sororities to work together, and you need the support of the administration. Have you talked to any of your panhellenic exec members or your panhellenic delegate? They might share your desires to create a more cohesive Greek community. It might be easiest in the beginning to initiate change within your own chapter- invite another chapter to have dinner with you, to do a service project with you, or even just come to your house or suite one week after your chapter meeting for snacks and chitchat. Set a precedent that other chapters will want to follow, and then future endeavors (maybe with all six chapters) will be easier and people will be more excited about it. This is how things started a few years ago on our campus- with a couple of chapters initiating two-sorority events- and now it has become the norm to do service projects, seminars, game nights, etc with other chapters. Starting too big, such as a 6-chapter event, might be too big of a step to start with.

I would also suggest bringing up your concerns about cooperation with the administration at a panhel meeting. You'd be surprised what good can come from opening the lines of communication- especially if the school admin know that you are working towards better cooperation. They can help outline what they want from you, and in turn, what they can do to help you.