Tri-Delta closing at University of Arizona

[clemsongirl]

So your question about multiple recolonizations got me wondering, and I (cursorily) glanced at irishpipes' list to see which chapters had recolonized at least twice. And then, of course, I got entirely too in-depth with it, like all the other research projects I do:P There's some precedent for it even at Arizona, with AXO coming back and taking quota plus I think every year since they recolonized in 2013:

University of Alabama Sigma Kappa Alpha Omega 1932-1943/1988-1995/Colony Fall 2018

University of Arizona Alpha Chi Omega Beta Lambda 1930-1969/1980-2008/2013

University of Arkansas Phi Mu Alpha Beta 1923-1933/1978-1995/2012

University of Connecticut:
Delta Zeta Gamma Beta 1943-1972/1980-2014/Colony Fall 2017
Alpha Epsilon Phi Alpha Xi 1944-1970/1976-1983/2007

George Washington University Alpha Epsilon Phi Alpha Gamma 1930-1937/1959-1970/1985

Florida State University:
Sigma Sigma Sigma Rho 1920-1935/1960-1990/1992-1998 (I think I remember a poster on here saying they'd actually recolonized the chapter five times?)
Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Pi 1928-1939/1949-1980/2013

University of Illinois:
Alpha Xi Delta Kappa 1905-?/1983-1995/2008
Phi Mu Delta Beta 1921-1939?/1946-2011/2016
Phi Sigma Sigma Theta 1923-1975/1975-2011/2013
Sigma Kappa Theta 1906-1941/1946-1968/1975-2016

University of Michigan:
Alpha Omicron Pi Omicron Pi 1921-196?/1978-1993/2017
Sigma Kappa Alpha Mu 1924-1934/1955-1971/1984

University of Minnesota Phi Mu Zeta Eta 1925-1935/1946-1970/2016

Mississippi State University Alpha Delta Pi Epsilon Eta 1966-1983/1985-1988/2013

University of Missouri Sigma Kappa Epsilon Mu 1968-1973/1990-2004/2012

Adelphi University Delta Phi Epsilon Lambda 1926-1937/1958-1971/2011

Syracuse University Delta Phi Epsilon Gamma 1921-1923/1949-?/2014

Duke University Alpha Phi Beta Nu 1935-1970/1994-2001/2003

Kent State University Sigma Sigma Sigma Alpha Beta 1925-1947/1975-1981/?

Miami University (OH):
Alpha Sigma Alpha Alpha Alpha 1914-1936/1950-?/1992-2000
Alpha Epsilon Phi Alpha Kappa 1940-1980/1986-2004/2007 (Did not participate in FR)

Ohio State University:
Delta Phi Epsilon Sigma 1928-?/1948-1987/1990-2001
Phi Sigma Sigma Rho 1928-1938/1947-1952/1952-1958/1974-1977

Oregon State University Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Rho 1926-1935/1946-1992/2014

Pennsylvania State University Sigma Sigma Sigma Beta Upsilon 1954-1969/1989-1992/1994-2013

San Diego State University Delta Zeta Gamma Omicron 1950-1973/1989-1995/2007

Stanford University :
Pi Beta Phi California Alpha 1893-1897/1905-1944/1978
Alpha Phi Kappa 1899-1944/1978-1993/2011

Shepherd University (WV) Sigma Sigma Sigma Beta Delta 1945-1948/1960-1985/1988

University of Wisconsin Alpha Xi Delta Theta 1905-1972/1980-199?/2015

[ASTalumna06]

My question is: why were some of these chapters closed in the first place?

If you look at the chapters below, each of them has a recolonization that occurred within 2 or 3 years of them closing. Why did they close? Was it a "The chapter will close in 2003 but will have the opportunity to return to campus in 2006" type of situation? Are these closures due to numbers or risk management?

Either way, a chapter returning to campus within a few years of closure is likely in for an uphill battle. It means that seniors were freshman or sophomores when the chapter closed, and current students (both Greek and non-Greek) remember what happened and saw it first-hand. It's much more likely that rumors will fly, tent talk will be harsh, and some upperclassmen will continue to hold negative feelings about the sorority (or fraternity) that are hard to shake.

Originally Posted by clemsongirl

Florida State University:
Sigma Sigma Sigma Rho 1920-1935/1960-1990/1992-1998

University of Illinois:
Phi Sigma Sigma Theta 1923-1975/1975-2011/2013

Mississippi State University Alpha Delta Pi Epsilon Eta 1966-1983/1985-1988/2013

Duke University Alpha Phi Beta Nu 1935-1970/1994-2001/2003

Miami University (OH):
Alpha Epsilon Phi Alpha Kappa 1940-1980/1986-2004/2007 (Did not participate in FR)

Ohio State University:
Delta Phi Epsilon Sigma 1928-?/1948-1987/1990-2001
Phi Sigma Sigma Rho 1928-1938/1947-1952/1952-1958/1974-1977

Pennsylvania State University Sigma Sigma Sigma Beta Upsilon 1954-1969/1989-1992/1994-2013

Shepherd University (WV) Sigma Sigma Sigma Beta Delta 1945-1948/1960-1985/1988

[clemsongirl]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

My question is: why were some of these chapters closed in the first place?

If you look at the chapters below, each of them has a recolonization that occurred within 2 or 3 years of them closing. Why did they close? Was it a "The chapter will close in 2003 but will have the opportunity to return to campus in 2006" type of situation? Are these closures due to numbers or risk management?

Either way, a chapter returning to campus within a few years of closure is likely in for an uphill battle. It means that seniors were freshman or sophomores when the chapter closed, and current students (both Greek and non-Greek) remember what happened and saw it first-hand. It's much more likely that rumors will fly, tent talk will be harsh, and some upperclassmen will continue to hold negative feelings about the sorority (or fraternity) that are hard to shake.

Taking Illinois Phi Sigma Sigma as an example, because two years is a really short amount of time to wait, I found these two news articles about them:

https://dailyillini.com/news/2005/04...es-a-comeback/

https://dailyillini.com/uncategorize...-recolonize-2/

The first one is from 2005 but says they've been a colony since 2004, which sounds like a reorganization or recolonization of the chapter? The article says they also closed due to low numbers in Fall 2004 so it's not really clear what's going on. I also appreciate that they say the women in the colony advertised on "thefacebook.com"

In the second one, it sounds like they wanted to recolonize as soon as the lease a fraternity had signed for their house was up and they had time to prepare it. I imagine at a school like Illinois, part of the motivation might be "if we don't take this opportunity when we get it, we get bumped to the back of the line for recolonizations". Phi Mu also closed that year and didn't return until 2016.

Plus, the second article mentions that their national president was an alumna of this chapter. That probably didn't hurt.

ETA: this demonstrates that the concept of being "open" or "closed" isn't always as simple as we'd like it to be...

[dukedg]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

My question is: why were some of these chapters closed in the first place?

If you look at the chapters below, each of them has a recolonization that occurred within 2 or 3 years of them closing. Why did they close? Was it a "The chapter will close in 2003 but will have the opportunity to return to campus in 2006" type of situation? Are these closures due to numbers or risk management?

Either way, a chapter returning to campus within a few years of closure is likely in for an uphill battle. It means that seniors were freshman or sophomores when the chapter closed, and current students (both Greek and non-Greek) remember what happened and saw it first-hand. It's much more likely that rumors will fly, tent talk will be harsh, and some upperclassmen will continue to hold negative feelings about the sorority (or fraternity) that are hard to shake.

I'm 99% sure that Alpha Phi at Duke was a reorg. That's what I remember anyway, so I think the dates on IrishPipes' list may be confusing. I graduated right before, but my sister was on campus during that entire time and I don't think students there would have said Alpha Phi was closed at all during that period, but they did have the current members go alum and then start over.

[LXA SE285]

I think I read here a few years ago that Auburn ZTA (which is a strong chapter today) did a reorg/immediate recolonization in the early '90s in addition to having been dormant during part of the '70s.