trouble ahead?

[TylerG18]

You truly are PC

[sugar and spice]

I went to a school where all but one of the sororities were between 80 and 126. To some women, that's huge; to others, it's small.

The way I feel is that there is always, always going to be cliques within a sorority. That's true whether the group is 20 or 200. Girls divide up by pledge class, interests, personality type, whatever.

It's true that in a group of 200, you can't be close to everybody in the group, but to me that's not what a sorority's about. There are plenty of chapters of 60 or even 20 where not everybody's friends, either. And that the thing about large chapters is that it forces diversity of personality. Because my chapter was 100ish girls, I was sisters with girls who were nothing like me in terms of personality, interests, major, family background, race, religion, class, talents, etc. -- and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world. Even though I wasn't close to all of them, there wasn't a single girl in the chapter that I wouldn't be able to go out with on a Friday night. And I admired every single girl in that chapter for different reasons, many of them because of their differences from me, not in spite of them. And I would much rather have that than be in a group where I am best friends with all of 25 girls who are all exactly like me.

Furthermore, I'm sure any travelling consultant will tell you that there are big groups that have more brotherhood/sisterhood than the small groups. I see that on our campus, in fact, among some of the fraternities (although for others, of course, the opposite is also true).

Sisterhood does not mean being best friends with every single girl in your chapter. It means sharing a bond and caring about someone even when you don't necessarily know them that well -- the same way we share a bond and care about our sisters in chapters across the country even when we have never met them.

[Rudey]

Conard,
it depends on how successful the chapter is since success motivates brothers and is also the best benchmark of how close they are and how they work together.

If you can get 10 guys to throw the biggest parties, dominate the student government and other organizations, get the prettiest girls, have a great looking house, throw a great philanthropy, etc. etc. you've won and numbers mean nothing.

Generally, it's bigger numbers, that I've seen, that allow you to do that though.

-Rudey

[33girl]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
And that the thing about large chapters is that it forces diversity of personality. Because my chapter was 100ish girls, I was sisters with girls who were nothing like me in terms of personality, interests, major, family background, race, religion, class, talents, etc. -- and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.

Well, I don't know that that's always necessarily true, but that is another thread

[shadokat]

A friend of mine was in a chapter with more than 150 actives. Being from a chapter of 45 actives, I asked her, how the hell can you possibly be friends with all of your sisters? How do you learn who they all are during your new member period? And how do you vote on someone during officer elections, when you don't really know someone?

Her answer to me was that often times, on her campus, in the South, there is a core of women, usually 30-40, that run the chapter (holding offices, dealing with the business side). She said in her NM class of 60, she probably only got to know 30 of them well, and that it isn't uncommon to walk across campus, see a girl in your letters, and have a hard time remembering who she is. She told me that the sorority experience there is what you make of it. She made some fabulous, lifelong friends, but wasn't particularly close to more than say 30 or so women, most her new member class.

As for the socials, well, what can you do other than pair up with another fraternity to make up the #s differences? It seems that's the way it works with homecoming/greek week, etc., and it works.

As for diversity, I've seen some of those southern composites, and 250 girls does not diversity make, sorry!

[Erik P Conard]

Bigger chapters can have houses and buy toys. Toys are fun.
Everybody likes toys. But how many toys?
Some of you are correct, I have never been in a sorority and it
is now a different world than of the 60 member chapters on a
5,000 student campus. And there are a helleva lot of kids who
do not even belong in college. They cannot read, write, or reason. Very few F's are given; political correctness prevails. Take
a look at the g.p.a. today...considerably higher than in the past,
but the performance certainly not. Why are the greeks often below the all student g.p.a.? I have read very few posts discussing scholarship, but that's not my point here. I have lived a long time and have been out in the 'real' world considerably
longer. I'm likely more educated and of course if this is a threat, considered rude, condescending, what have you--I can live with that, and yet continue to be pro-greek. Some of you need to be
sent to your room, replete with TV and boom boxes.
But I stand my ground...the two hundred member sorority is a
far cry from the fun times we had with the Chi Os and Tri Sigmas
of near equal size. Promoting absenteeism at exchanges is simply a cop-out. Is that hard to grasp? Perhaps we ought to confer the PhD at birth, then we could get on with living.
Yes, some chapters are on campuses hardly recognizable today
from those of yore. And not all have 250 girls or 150 boys....
You have not lived long enough nor have learned enough to be
the all-knowing you seem, and if I offend you, take heed, maybe
do a little introspection. You have hardly made a good name
for yourselves with todays behaviour....get real. The apologies
we make for you are many, and we would dearly like you to get
on the road to something more laudable. And while I may isolate
some of you, some I do not. Perhaps the truth is somewhere in
between.

[kddani]

Of course most of what your latest post, Mr. Conard, says is total unsubstantiated. Please, give us some examples of "Why are the greeks often below the all student g.p.a.?"- I don't know if i've ever seen stats that show that greeks are below the all student GPA, especially sororities. So offer up some proof for your wild accusations.

If you're more educated, why can't you write a coherent post? Why can't you offer proof to substantiate your accusations? I can pretty much guarantee that many of us here are more educated and more intelligent than you. And those GCers that aren't at least have been bred with better manners than you.

Where are your statistics that we receive less education? There are more people getting an education and going further. Back in your day, not many women were afforded the opportunity to get an education. Now, we outnumber the men.

How can you accuse anyone of not making a good name for themselves after you post such rubbish and nonsense?

Offer up some proof for your accusations. But oh, you never do.

[kappaloo]

Sounds like someone has the case of the "back in my day"isms.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by shadokat
As for diversity, I've seen some of those southern composites, and 250 girls does not diversity make, sorry!

That's a very bigoted statement.

[shadokat]

Oh give me a break! Bigoted? What is bigoted about saying I saw a composite at say, University of Georgia, and it was filled with all white women? That's not bigotry, it's fact. Get a grip.

Originally posted by PhiPsiRuss
That's a very bigoted statement.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by shadokat
Oh give me a break! Bigoted? What is bigoted about saying I saw a composite at say, University of Georgia, and it was filled with all white women? That's not bigotry, it's fact. Get a grip.

If you believe that diversity is primarily defined by race, you are a full blown bigot.

[33girl]

I agree, get a grip. We ALL have "clone" chapters - not that there's anything wrong with that - and if you don't believe that you are living in happy fairy land. Shadokat's point is that simply because you have a large chapter it doesn't mean it includes all races, creeds, or economic classes.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by 33girl
I agree, get a grip. We ALL have "clone" chapters - not that there's anything wrong with that - and if you don't believe that you are living in happy fairy land. Shadokat's point is that simply because you have a large chapter it doesn't mean it includes all races, creeds, or economic classes.

So you can judge a person's character by her composite picture? I'm not the one who needs to get a grip.

[shadokat]

THANK YOU! That's exactly what I mean. But apparently, close-minded jerks like you Russ can't understand that.

Originally posted by 33girl
I agree, get a grip. We ALL have "clone" chapters - not that there's anything wrong with that - and if you don't believe that you are living in happy fairy land. Shadokat's point is that simply because you have a large chapter it doesn't mean it includes all races, creeds, or economic classes.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by shadokat
THANK YOU! That's exactly what I mean. But apparently, close-minded jerks like you Russ can't understand that.

You prejudge hundreds of women by their composite pictures, and you call me close minded? Pot meet kettle.