Schools that (should) open for expansion

[33girl]

No. No one else needs to make the same mistake we did.

[Cookiez17]

I will bring up a few that (could) open depending on trends and overall #'s

Ole Miss (yes A Chi O just came on but they are quickly catching up and total is currently 615!!!)
Sacred Heart University
Mississippi State University
Clemson University
Cornell (though Phi Sig just left they are already looking at if a chapter will need to be added)

University of Arizona is one that I totally have as one that should open, but hearing about how tough the housing situation is, it might not happen.

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by Cookiez17

Ole Miss (yes A Chi O just came on but they are quickly catching up and total is currently 615!!!)

SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN??!?! Initiation must take forever! If total is 615, quota has got to be somewhere north of 150. If you added up the membership of every NPC chapter at my alma mater, you wouldn't even get close to 615. Then again, MIT isn't Ole Miss.

Edit: Just tripped over this year's Ole Miss recruitment thread. AOII got 279 new members. Yowza.

[Cookiez17]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN??!?! Initiation must take forever! If total is 615, quota has got to be somewhere north of 150. If you added up the membership of every NPC chapter at my alma mater, you wouldn't even get close to 615. Then again, MIT isn't Ole Miss.

Edit: Just tripped over this year's Ole Miss recruitment thread. AOII got 279 new members. Yowza.

That is my whole claim to them expanding at some point I feel like especially with huge NMC like that and seeing AXO get to total at some point, they might do it. They have many they could bring back (ZTA,Theta,DZ,AXiD) but we'll see what happens.

[Iota_JWH]

There are a couple of impediments to expansion at Ole Miss.
1. History of bullying "lower ranked" groups. Theta closed even though quotas at the time were over 100. I heard that Zetas suffered a similar fate (though quotas were not nearly so high.)
2. Sororities have houses in two streets. Having a chapter house on the other side of campus might not work out. Currently there is no more room, unless the university would build parking structures where large surface lots are to free up space. (Alabama did this to accommodate the new mega houses there. (Also note, it seems the all chapters must have new mega mansions trend has hit Ole Miss, so a new NPC group would have to build big.

[Low D Flat]

1. History of bullying "lower ranked" groups. Theta closed even though quotas at the time were over 100. I heard that Zetas suffered a similar fate (though quotas were not nearly so high.)

You are right on all points, yet ADPi successfully recolonized. Of all the groups bullied to death, only Theta was in the post-RFM era. Also, there are so many more students at Ole Miss now from all over the Southeast and even Ohio, Illinois, etc., as opposed to the days when it was more insular. If they can come up with land for houses, I'd be hopeful that new/returning groups would have a shot.

I find the Alabama houses quite overwhelming from the street; they give steroids/Disneyland to me. The redone KD, DDD, DG, and Chi O houses at Ole Miss, by contrast, do a great job of disguising their bulk and giving more of a classic feel. (KKG is a little more Bama-ish to my eye.)

[Cookiez17]

Originally Posted by Low D Flat

You are right on all points, yet ADPi successfully recolonized. Of all the groups bullied to death, only Theta was in the post-RFM era. Also, there are so many more students at Ole Miss now from all over the Southeast and even Ohio, Illinois, etc., as opposed to the days when it was more insular. If they can come up with land for houses, I'd be hopeful that new/returning groups would have a shot.

I find the Alabama houses quite overwhelming from the street; they give steroids/Disneyland to me. The redone KD, DDD, DG, and Chi O houses at Ole Miss, by contrast, do a great job of disguising their bulk and giving more of a classic feel. (KKG is a little more Bama-ish to my eye.)

I still remember when NPC called in every chapter on campus to tell everyone "stop bullying and being nasty to one another." Aphi and ADPi have done well and AXO is doing well so far.

Also, and this is somewhat related, more people are going to college in the south overall, as people want the big SEC experience and greek life.

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/educatio...h-now-235d7934

[carnation]

Sometimes when posters say "chapter ABC is doing well". they don't know the whole story.

[Titchou]

Look at enrollment numbers (and recruitment ones) at Alabama after each NC with Saban. increases each year. It's party time in the south....

[jolene]

Ole Miss, Bama, and Arkansas should open. Their chapters are extremely large. As LowD and Cookiez mentioned, so many people are coming from all across the US and are open minded to different orgs. There is really no "old row" anymore.

[Cookiez17]

Originally Posted by jolene

Ole Miss, Bama, and Arkansas should open. Their chapters are extremely large. As LowD and Cookiez mentioned, so many people are coming from all across the US and are open minded to different orgs. There is really no "old row" anymore.

Arkansas I wouldn't ATM as Aphi just got there and will need a bit of time to catch up and get their house. Same for Ole Miss and AXO but I feel like it'll be a lot sooner than we think.

Bama is a bit more complex. Sigma Kappa's house is delayed, so they're going to be in the extra house for the time being. Once that's built I'm not sure who would potentially colonize there if they opened. It would be a major investment as you 100% need a big house. The other thing is Bama also has a ton of chapters there already. The only one I can currently picture if it happened is maybe AXID, as they just got to Georgia recently. Or if Sigma Delta Tau goes back to the row and reorganizes, but I doubt they wanna do that.

[Low D Flat]

Originally Posted by carnation

Sometimes when posters say "chapter ABC is doing well". they don't know the whole story.

Intriguing. We'd love to learn more of the story. The public info does make clear that the newer chapters at Ole Miss have much lower GPAs, though the chapter sizes are pretty strong. The GPA contrast is not so dramatic at Alabama or Arkansas.

[*winter*]

I think I’ve posted on here about this book on here before…Jana Mathews’ book The Benefit of Friends has a whole chapter on the University of Arkansas and how, in general, large southern schools have really increased in both the amount of students and the quality of the applicant pool, over the past two decades. A big part of the appeal is in the “fun & Greek Life” experience.

There are a few other books that discuss this, but they’re not worth mentioning since most do so with a really biased, almost nasty undertone. It is ironic that the authors are on such a high horse, considering the lack of quality writing in their own books.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by Low D Flat

Intriguing. We'd love to learn more of the story. The public info does make clear that the newer chapters at Ole Miss have much lower GPAs, though the chapter sizes are pretty strong. The GPA contrast is not so dramatic at Alabama or Arkansas.

Sometimes we see posts that say, "Woo! ABC, the newest chapter, is doing so well at Whatever U!" People who know the campus know that ABC may have pledged 75 and then lost 20 in the first 2 weeks and 25 more before initiation--and that member retention overall is horrendous. They may also know that the chapter's grades are far below others or that few members show up at functions.

I have never heard if a school that publishes retention rates but low ones a real thing.

[Cookiez17]

Retention rates are rare to see. Usually with greek life reports it'll have the chapter total and how many new members the chapter got. Chapter GPA too of course.