Help a sister out! Small campus needs ideas...

PhiMuMagnolia · #1 04-22-2009, 11:52 PM

Hello, fellow greeks,
I'm a Phi Mu at a small liberal arts college in PA. We are very excited to announce that next year, we will have an even number of fraternities and sororities on our campus!!!
What I want to know is, with this new even matching, how can we make this "not-so-greek" campus more greek?
What do you do when you pair up with sororities at homecomings/greekends, etc?
Besides Mixers, what do your sororities do for/with your fraternities and vice versa.
And a few questions I've always wanted to know the answers to:
What is a door song?
Do you really do "Support/crush" baskets (I think its a great idea, but I want to know if that would be weird, etc...
What other traditions to you have as Greeks, and can you explain them? I love Greek life and I really want to get my campus moving!

Love!

GC2theEC · #2 04-23-2009, 01:45 AM

Our college is a little weird because it doesn't really do "mixers" (one sorority/one fraternity), we tend to do "functions" (one sorority/all fraternitys). That's due to the fact that we have a very low number of males on campus. So, even though the number of organizations are similar, the size of the men's organizations are much smaller. That's really besides the point. Here are some different ways we work with other organizations on campus:

-Co-host Philanthropies (it makes both organizations look good and it's less pressure than meeting people at a function)

-Make sure your chapter has representatives participating in everyone else's Philanthropy events

-Have one campus wide Philanthropy which all of the organizations (sororities and fraternities) help run and participate in

-Tailgate before football games (as long as it's technically held by the men, it's not a risk management issue)

-Have a joint sisterhood/brotherhood event (we recently paired up with another fraternity and went to a hockey game together)

-Letters Aside: This is a fun annual event which is held by Panhel and it involves all of the NPC organizations coming together for a day of team building and ice-breakers. No one is to wear letters or discuss which organization they are apart of. Then they randomly break the women down into groups so they have a lot of people who don't know each other working together. It's a fun way to get rid of the stereotypes and it really helps to build Greek Unity.

We've also been trying to build up events like Greek Week and our Greek Council is sponsoring a recruitment workshop, "Phired Up!" for everyone to come to. If you're looking to get the ball rolling from a campus perspective, I recommend to start by going to councils like Panhel or Greek Council, instead of targeting specific chapters.

I hope this helps!

als463 · #3 04-23-2009, 07:35 AM

I like what GC2theEC said about having an event EVERYONE can be involved with. I graduated from Penn State and can say that THON has definitely brought the Greek Community together (if for nothing more than a 46-48 hour dance marathon). I'm sure the other Penn Staters on this site can agree when I say it is one of the most incredible events you could ever work with.

Also, not to toot Beta Mu's horn but, since THON carries over to CMN (since the Hershey Medical Center is a CMN affiliate)....the money raised for THON also benefits Phi Mu's National Philanthropy-Children's Miracle Network! THON has helped make Beta Mu the all time highest money raiser for CMN of all the Phi Mu chapters...and we LOVE THON!!!

Maybe you could do something like that. Getting involved with THON makes me proud to be a Penn Stater, as well as, a Phi Mu-Greek!

RaggedyAnn · #4 04-23-2009, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GC2theEC

-Letters Aside: This is a fun annual event which is held by Panhel and it involves all of the NPC organizations coming together for a day of team building and ice-breakers. No one is to wear letters or discuss which organization they are apart of. Then they randomly break the women down into groups so they have a lot of people who don't know each other working together. It's a fun way to get rid of the stereotypes and it really helps to build Greek Unity.

This is an excellent idea!

PhiMuMagnolia · #5 04-24-2009, 10:43 AM

Letters aside is wonderful! Thank you for all of the suggestions. You guys are really great! I also like the idea of pairing with a fraternity for campus philanthropy events. I'll tell that to our philanthropy chair! I'm starting to embrace the fact that we're a small school with small (not very supported) greek life, and that's ok- I just want people to get more enthused about Greek Life...

GC2theEC · #6 04-24-2009, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhiMuMagnolia

Letters aside is wonderful! Thank you for all of the suggestions. You guys are really great! I also like the idea of pairing with a fraternity for campus philanthropy events. I'll tell that to our philanthropy chair! I'm starting to embrace the fact that we're a small school with small (not very supported) greek life, and that's ok- I just want people to get more enthused about Greek Life...

I hear you! We're a small campus with a lot of commuters. So, we're always trying to think of things that will give Greek Life a boost.

LionHugs07 · #7 02-24-2010, 02:12 AM

I really like the idea of you "letters aside"! I know you gave a basic overview of the event, but could you possibly give me some more details? I really think this could be a great event for my college.

SaraAnn Phi Mu · #8 04-27-2010, 11:03 AM

we usually do things on mondays because thats when everyone here is at meeting i think it is that way everywhere but not sure.we have a small greek life also.
with the "support/crush" baskets, i think i know what u are talking about but i didnt know they were called that. basically each semester we make a basket as like a welcome back to school thing, some mini notebooks, pens and pencils, highlighters, smarties (the candy). with a short note and a "phi mu hearts blank," we also do it for valentines day with candy and things. its just something thoughtfull get the year started off right and keep good relations. the other sororities and fraternities do the same for everyone.

one things that fraternities here they come around to each sorority and introduce their new pledges each semester, sometimes they serenade. thats fun.

also, for example, we have this big event here that the school puts on every year. the fraternity we paired up with this year after everything we did an appreciation dinner for. or u could do a get to know u dinner with someone.

Sirfie1487 · #9 06-22-2010, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhiMuMagnolia

Hello, fellow greeks,
I'm a Phi Mu at a small liberal arts college in PA. We are very excited to announce that next year, we will have an even number of fraternities and sororities on our campus!!!
What I want to know is, with this new even matching, how can we make this "not-so-greek" campus more greek?
What do you do when you pair up with sororities at homecomings/greekends, etc?
Besides Mixers, what do your sororities do for/with your fraternities and vice versa.
And a few questions I've always wanted to know the answers to:
What is a door song?
Do you really do "Support/crush" baskets (I think its a great idea, but I want to know if that would be weird, etc...
What other traditions to you have as Greeks, and can you explain them? I love Greek life and I really want to get my campus moving!

Love!

Oh what school do you go to??? I live in PA!

als463 · #10 06-23-2010, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirfie1487

Oh what school do you go to??? I live in PA!

If you are from PA, I have to ask what made you decide to attend school down south? UNC is a great school, I'm just curious.

PhiMuMagnolia · #11 09-07-2010, 11:23 AM

Hey all- OP here, I am a recent alum of the Phi Kappa Chapter at Muhlenberg College, for those who were wondering