Sorority Strongholds?

[glittergal1985]

Theta Phi Alpha has strong name recognition in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, although we are building up a strong presence in the Midwest as well .

[TriDeltaSallie]

Originally Posted by AzTheta

/swerve TriDeltaSallie, where have you BEEN? Nice to hear from you!
end swerve/

(I probably did the swerve slash thing wrong, sorry, not enough sleep & my glasses are dirty)

Hey AzTheta! I stop by quite regularly, but don't always comment.

[amIblue?]

I think the situation with Chi Omega and the state of Arkansas is very unique. Chi Omega is the only sorority founded at the largest university in the state. So many of our organizations share founding schools. (Monmouth Duo, Syracuse Triad, Farmville Four - I know I'm leaving some out - sorry!) On top of being the only sorority founded at Arkansas, the university doesn't have to compete with another large university for support (think Alabama & Auburn; Georgia & Georgia Tech; UNC & NC State; Texas & Texas A & M - among others). I do business in Arkansas, and I can say without hesitation that a majority of the people in the state are Arkansas fans. It's only natural that Chi Omega is going to get the lion's share of desirability in this situation. I think it's really a special thing, and it would be difficult to duplicate.

[ThetaPrincess24]

I would put Texas or California up as Theta's strongholds.

We have 7 active chapters in Texas but all of them are at major universities and 29 alumnae chapters. In California despite some chapters being inactive, we still have 18 active college chapters and 24 alumnae chapters.

[als463]

I would have to say that for Phi Mu, it would probably be Georgia (along with Alpha Delta Pi, I figure) for obvious reasons---where we were founded. We are at 14 universities with a few of them being major schools like (UGA and Georgia Tech.), 13 Alumnae Chapters, 3 Chapter Associations, and our National Headquarters. I would think that Alpha Delta Pi would be big in Georgia, as well.

[WCsweet<3]

Whether it is true or not, I was always told that KD was a "southern sorority". If you look at our numbers, most of our chapters are in the south. 11 chapters in North Carolina, Ten in Tennessee. Eight in Florida, Georgia and Kentucky. The odd one out is Ohio which has 9 chapters. I'm not sure about the "strength" of the chapters. I'm trying to find the latest chapter awards.

[Titchou]

And Mississippi for Delta Gamma since we were founded there - have 3 chapters in the state....

[DeltaEmi88]

Based on a look at where our chapters are located and how many are in each state, California, Florida, Illinois, and Texas are pretty strong states for Tri Delta. Our chapters are fairly spread out, actually.

[IrishLake]

I've always seen Ohio as an Alpha Xi stronghold with 13 chapters here. I ditto the Theta strength in Texas and California.

[DubaiSis]

I've always thought of Alpha Xi as very strong in Ohio, but then a lot of the NPC sororities are well represented in Ohio just because of the Greek tradition at SOOOO many schools. We also seem to have a lot in West Virginia for no reason I can think of. And we have quite a few in New York, although most of those are smaller chapters. We seem to have focused on small techy schools lately regardless of region. I'd like to see us grow in the Southeast for a long term potential of growth in the SEC. But mostly I'd like to see us back at all 12 of the Big 10 schools. (It's 12 now, right?) We have been at all of them at one time or another.

[KDCat]

KD is very strong in the South and the Midwest, with a decent number of chapters in California.

[DaffyKD]

Originally Posted by KDCat

KD is very strong in the South and the Midwest, with a decent number of chapters in California.

KD has 5 active chapters in CA with a new one to be colonized in fall. There are 4 inactive chapters.

DaffyKD

[LAblondeGPhi]

I'm not sure that any organizations really have a "stronghold" in CA based on TriDeltSallie's example of Chi Omega in Arkansas. There are a lot of organizations with many strong chapters in California, and you can't just compare 10 chapters in CA to 10 chapters in Georgia - the populations and number of universities are very different for those states. You really need to consider density vs. raw numbers.

ETA: For Example, Alpha Phi has 23 chapters in California (DG has 19, Theta and Gamma Phi each have 18, etc.). Now compare that to Phi Mu's 10 chapters in the state of Louisiana, when the next most prolific organizations have 4 chapters each.

Then you also have to take into consideration the prestige and size of the University, the strength/size/prestige of the overall Greek life at the University, and the strength of the chapter at that University. I think it's very misleading for us to look at a map and declare strongholds without really knowing the situation in that area.

Anyway, Greek life isn't the same in California as it is in the South. It's not as big a deal post-graduation, and which organization you were a member of will have very little influence on your career or social standing in your community (aside from the obvious alumnae connections and leadership skills developed, but that's different from influence/reputation based soley on WHICH organization you joined).

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by LAblondeGPhi

I'm not sure that any organizations really have a "stronghold" in CA based on TriDeltSallie's example of Chi Omega in Arkansas. There are a lot of organizations with many strong chapters in California, and you can't just compare 10 chapters in CA to 10 chapters in Georgia - the populations and number of universities are very different for those states. You really need to consider density vs. raw numbers.

ETA: For Example, Alpha Phi has 23 chapters in California (DG has 19, Theta and Gamma Phi each have 18, etc.). Now compare that to Phi Mu's 10 chapters in the state of Louisiana, when the next most prolific organizations have 4 chapters each.

Then you also have to take into consideration the prestige and size of the University, the strength/size/prestige of the overall Greek life at the University, and the strength of the chapter at that University. I think it's very misleading for us to look at a map and declare strongholds without really knowing the situation in that area.

Anyway, Greek life isn't the same in California as it is in the South. It's not as big a deal post-graduation, and which organization you were a member of will have very little influence on your career or social standing in your community (aside from the obvious alumnae connections and leadership skills developed, but that's different from influence/reputation based soley on WHICH organization you joined).

This is what I was trying to say with my earlier post, but couldn't express so well.

[psusue]

[QUOTE=ASTalumna06;2129835]

AST also has A LOT of chapters in PA. I think nearly a third of our chapters are located in the state.

I agree, AST is at a lot of PA schools. I think this makes sense though because both of our sororities were once Association of Education sororities and therefore both would be at schools that were once teacher colleges (i.e. many Pennsylvania schools).

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

But mostly I'd like to see us back at all 12 of the Big 10 schools. (It's 12 now, right?) We have been at all of them at one time or another.

It's 12 now. And Alpha Xi is already at Indiana, Purdue, Penn State, University of Illinois, Ohio State, Iowa, and University of Nebraska- Lincoln. There's just U of Minnesota- Twin Cities, U of Wisconsin- Madison, Michigan State, Michigan, and Northwestern to go!

Originally Posted by LAblondeGPhi

I'm not sure that any organizations really have a "stronghold" in CA based on TriDeltSallie's example of Chi Omega in Arkansas. There are a lot of organizations with many strong chapters in California, and you can't just compare 10 chapters in CA to 10 chapters in Georgia - the populations and number of universities are very different for those states. You really need to consider density vs. raw numbers.

ETA: For Example, Alpha Phi has 23 chapters in California (DG has 19, Theta and Gamma Phi each have 18, etc.). Now compare that to Phi Mu's 10 chapters in the state of Louisiana, when the next most prolific organizations have 4 chapters each.

Then you also have to take into consideration the prestige and size of the University, the strength/size/prestige of the overall Greek life at the University, and the strength of the chapter at that University. I think it's very misleading for us to look at a map and declare strongholds without really knowing the situation in that area.

Anyway, Greek life isn't the same in California as it is in the South. It's not as big a deal post-graduation, and which organization you were a member of will have very little influence on your career or social standing in your community (aside from the obvious alumnae connections and leadership skills developed, but that's different from influence/reputation based soley on WHICH organization you joined).

Agree to all of this. That's why I struggle with saying that PA is a 'stronghold' for Sigma, because being Greek here just isn't the same as being Greek in the South, especially after college, IMO.