Need help organizing my sorority

[GammaDelt]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

It is going to be very difficult for you to uphold your traditions and draw in new members. Girls who join sororities at your school are all looking for a certain experience. If what you're offering is drastically different from that, girls are going to be hesitant to join.

You have to alter your experience a little. Am I saying GIVE UP everything you guys do? Not at all. But you need to be offering a comparable experience. At your school, that may mean no drinking at official sorority events and letting the school monitor your events. To put it bluntly, if you want your sorority to thrive, you may have to make those changes.

I guess I'm just confused as to what they are looking for, then. The only people who pledge the other school sponsored frats are music majors - they're music fraternities.

I go to a school where everyone is pretty big on partying on the weekend, but at the same time, it's a very liberal campus so most students are interested in bettering humanity. so it just is strange that there is so little interest in GDPi, when we share the same values as the students on campus.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by GammaDelt

I guess I'm just confused as to what they are looking for, then. The only people who pledge the other school sponsored frats are music majors - they're music fraternities.

I go to a school where everyone is pretty big on partying on the weekend, but at the same time, it's a very liberal campus so most students are interested in bettering humanity. so it just is strange that there is so little interest in GDPi, when we share the same values as the students on campus.

They can party without joining your group, so if they think that's all you offer, why should they bother pledging and paying for the privilege? You have to show them there are additional benefits.

Are there other unrecognized groups still operating? How are they doing?

For everyone else - her college definitely does not have a typical Greek system.

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, an all-male fraternity; Sigma Alpha Iota, an all-female fraternity; and Kappa Gamma Psi and Mu Phi Epsilon, both coeducational fraternities, are officially recognized and housed in the Terraces. The college also has a professional management fraternity, Sigma Iota Epsilon. These groups are academically and artistically driven.

The college used to allow social service fraternities on campus, but over time, many lost college sponsorship and were forced to leave campus.

[princesskneesa]

I agree with you, OTW.

[princesskneesa]

OP,
I'd say focus on the philanthropic aspects of your sorority. Betting humanity is always a good thing. I did a lot of service in college, so I can help you come up with catchy service projects. Either way, good luck with your sorority!

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by GammaDelt

we could go dry and try to get ourselves school sponsoring like the other school sponsored "Greek life" but those frats aren't real Greek life. They're more like clubs - there's a one week pledge period and no ritual or anything, plus they're all co-ed. there are no parties, and all events are school regulated things like donuts and pizza - they aren't real greek life.

As a memeber of one of those "clubs" you're speaking of--let me give you a little info.

-Sigma Alpha Iota is a single sexed women organization. We were granted exemption to Title IX when our membership criteria was broadened to one music class. We pay dues, had to pay an initiation & pledging fee. Oh, and our nationals is hosting something like 20 leadership conferences this summer for sisters around the country (one of which I am attending!)
-We have a pledging ceremony and a six week pledge (MiT) process. At the end of that process there's this little ceremony called INITIATION where the MiTs learn the secret meanings of all of our symbols, the secret meaning behind the greek letters SAI, and many other things which I do not speak of in public out of respect for my ritual.
-We have more than 100 years of history and some 210 active chapters.

And, you also speak of Mu Phi Epsilon and Phi Mu Alpha. We also have those chapters on my campus. They also have a pledging and initiation ritual along with a 6-10 week pledge process.

On many campuses we are not recognized by the social greek system because of our focus on music but that does not take away from our rich histories, rituals, and all the work the members do to keep our chapters running. And, my chapter is currently in search of someone to fill two vacancies we've had recently on our advisory committee.

How about you go do some more research, k.

[GammaDelt]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

As a memeber of one of those "clubs" you're speaking of--let me give you a little info.

-Sigma Alpha Iota is a single sexed women organization. We were granted exemption to Title IX when our membership criteria was broadened to one music class. We pay dues, had to pay an initiation & pledging fee. Oh, and our nationals is hosting something like 20 leadership conferences this summer for sisters around the country (one of which I am attending!)
-We have a pledging ceremony and a six week pledge (MiT) process. At the end of that process there's this little ceremony called INITIATION where the MiTs learn the secret meanings of all of our symbols, the secret meaning behind the greek letters SAI, and many other things which I do not speak of in public out of respect for my ritual.
-We have more than 100 years of history and some 210 active chapters.

And, you also speak of Mu Phi Epsilon and Phi Mu Alpha. We also have those chapters on my campus. They also have a pledging and initiation ritual along with a 6-10 week pledge process.

On many campuses we are not recognized by the social greek system because of our focus on music but that does not take away from our rich histories, rituals, and all the work the members do to keep our chapters running. And, my chapter is currently in search of someone to fill two vacancies we've had recently on our advisory committee.

How about you go do some more research, k.

I'm not saying anything about your particular chapter. Everyone's greek experience is different. I have friends in the music fraternities that I'm talking about, and they do not have the same type of tradition and ritual that my sorority does. In addition, in order to be recognized by the campus, we have to have school advisers (which we do not want because there is such a tight reign over them), go dry and state a special interest in our constitution, like music, or biology; however, we want to be open to any student who wants to join, so long as they are interested in service. So please refrain from attacking me when I am not attacking you or your fraternity; clearly, your fraternity is essentially different from the fraternity that I'm talking about in this post. k?

[OPhiAGinger]

Originally Posted by GammaDelt

In addition, in order to be recognized by the campus, we have to have school advisers (which we do not want because there is such a tight reign over them), go dry and state a special interest in our constitution, like music, or biology; however, we want to be open to any student who wants to join, so long as they are interested in service.

Of the three requirements for being recognized by your campus, one of them is not really an issue. You already require a special interest in your members -- a commitment to service. Just put that in your constitution, and you can check that requirement off.

The school requires you to have an advisor because they need to protect themselves from liability. But as long as you have the ability to select your advisor, you should be able to find one that will provide guidance and oversight without stifling your individualism. Will they intervene if you try to do something that will put the sorority and university at risk? Absolutely! That's what they're supposed to do. Don't do risky things and you should be alright. You'll probably even benefit from the impartial advice of a non-member in sorting out sorority issues.

About going dry.... Apparently that's non-negotiable at your school. But I'm concerned that you are so adament in resisting this change. Would your sisterhood crumble without alcohol to lubricate it? If so, you've got serious problems. Omega Phi Alpha went dry nationally about 15 years ago. Although the national leaders were concerned about the policy's acceptance among the active sisters, it turned out to be less of an issue than they had anticipated.

[GammaDelt]

Originally Posted by OPhiAGinger

The school requires you to have an advisor because they need to protect themselves from liability. But as long as you have the ability to select your advisor, you should be able to find one that will provide guidance and oversight without stifling your individualism.

I guess I misworded our feelings about having an adviser. We're not against having an adviser at all - it would be great to have an adviser. However, we don't get to pick our adviser. The school will assign us one who they think will be good for the job, and we're afraid that our adviser will be too uptight and controlling, as many of the school assigned advisers are.

Originally Posted by OPhiAGinger

About going dry.... Apparently that's non-negotiable at your school. But I'm concerned that you are so adament in resisting this change. Would your sisterhood crumble without alcohol to lubricate it? If so, you've got serious problems. Omega Phi Alpha went dry nationally about 15 years ago. Although the national leaders were concerned about the policy's acceptance among the active sisters, it turned out to be less of an issue than they had anticipated.

Our sisterhood is keen on drinking, I'm not going to lie. I think the general consensus is that it would be a great idea in theory to go dry. It would attract a lot of people who are solely interested in service, which would be awesome. But my sisters do like to drink. and since we're all best friends, who better to drink and have a good time with then your best friends? it would be easy to have an alcohol free rush, and we already have alcohol free pledging, but once those girls who are completely opposed to drinking are active members, then what? No one can stop people from drinking socially, because sometimes its hard to draw a definitive line between sorority time and friends time. I'm just afraid the line will get blurred if we declare ourselves a dry sorority, and then the new actives will feel who pledged a dry sorority will feel uncomfortable when there is social drinking among sorority sisters at what may or may not be a sorority event. does that make sense?

[KSUViolet06]

I think you misunderstand what "dry" means. Dry doesn't mean no drinking EVER EVER. It just means that alcohol can only be served at certain social events (i.e. formal/mixers/date parties) and only to those who are 21 and over.

Basically if it wasn't a date party, formal, or mixer, it was clear that there was to be BE no alcohol.

You say that there are no boundaries between sister and friend time, well then you all need to be mature and MAKE SOME. Yes your sisters are your friends. I get that. My sisters are mine too. But we knew that while it was okay for us to go out to bars and drink together (friend time), it wasn't cool for uas to drink at sorority things where we weren't supposed to have alcohol (sister time).

I may be the only one who thinks this way, but it just has to be said.

You come on here pleading for help, and people are giving you suggestions that just might actually help you increase your membership. These people share these things because they've experienced that it works in their own organizations.

Yet despite all these suggestions you seem like you're very resistant to change.

The school will assign us one who they think will be good for the job, and we're afraid that our adviser will be too uptight and controlling, as many of the school assigned advisers are.

You're already worried about tomorrow when today hasn't even happened yet.

Don't even try to sell me on "and since we're all best friends, who better to drink and have a good time with then your best friends?". No need to justify. If drinking is that important to you, then I'm sorry. Y'all have bigger issues to worry about.

All that said, people here are trying to help. They're telling you what's worked for them. If you have no intention on being willing to listen without getting so defensive and implying that you want to keep things just the way it is, then quit wasting your time and ours.

[nittanyalum]

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[OPhiAGinger]

Originally Posted by GammaDelt

Our sisterhood is keen on drinking, I'm not going to lie.

I love your candor.

Originally Posted by GammaDelt

...once those girls who are completely opposed to drinking are active members, then what?

I'm not quite following your logic here. Just because you reposition your org as a dry sorority, you assume your non-drinking members will pass judgement on your sisters who drink in a social situation? I think that's a flawed assumption. Drinkers and non-drinkers get along just fine in the post-collegiate world. Just explain to pnms that your no-alcohol policies are based on risk management decisions rather than a moral or religious opposition to alcohol. Then they shouldn't have any awkwardness if they run into a sister who is legally drinking at a non-sorority function down the road.

[OPhiAGinger]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I think you misunderstand what "dry" means. Dry doesn't mean no drinking EVER EVER. It just means that alcohol can only be served at certain social events (i.e. formal/mixers/date parties) and only to those who are 21 and over.

Interesting interpretation. In O Phi A, "dry" means there can be no alcohol at any sorority event -- ever. Not at mixers, not at formal, and not even to those who are over 21.

I suspect that her school's requirement is similar to O Phi A's interpretation..

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I think you misunderstand what "dry" means. Dry doesn't mean no drinking EVER EVER. It just means that alcohol can only be served at certain social events (i.e. formal/mixers/date parties) and only to those who are 21 and over.

Dry can mean different things to different orgs (different insurance policies, different campus definitions, etc.). This seems like a pretty liberal-leaning definition to me.

But under any definition I've ever heard, for any unofficial (read: does not have the sorority's name attached to it) gathering of sisters, drinking is no big deal. And as with most groups, some people will drink more, some less, and some not at all. Part of being a sisterhood is learning to accept those differences and get along together.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by OPhiAGinger

In O Phi A, "dry" means there can be no alcohol at any sorority event -- ever. Not at mixers, not at formal, and not even to :

I'm sorry, my post was based on Tri Sigma's national policies about alcohol. We are only allowed to have alcohol at social events that have been approved by our advisors and HQ. In addition, the alcohol must be provided by the venue (3rd party vendor). Transportation to and from the event must be provided (i.e. charter buses). The event doesn't get approved if those 2 criteria aren't met. In addition, alcohol is only to be served to those who are 21+ with proper ID. Anyone who is drunk upon arrival at the event doesn't get in.

Other NPCs have similar guidelines concerning alcohol. I understand that other sororities like yours have different rules. I was just showing her that there ARE sororities who are allowed to have alcohol under some strict guidelines.