Will someone explain to me, a mere Boy about Total?

no offense, but tell that to the houses and rushees at UM who have had major issues with it. But with over 900 girls rushing, it is the fastest way to do stuff.

[bolingbaker]

You'll never, ever understand why the girls do it different than the boys. 33girl is right: it's a difference between the sexes. To us guys, it really is mysterious and confounding as to why the girls bind themsleves with these endless, complex rules. What's more confounding is that the small sororities - the ones most likely to be destroyed by the rules - are among the ones most frantic in their insistence that the rules be applied. The truth is that on a campus where there are a lot of good sororities, there are some small, weak sororities, and they do not have any real chance of ever getting better under the rules. The most they can hope for is survival. There is no chance at all that they can ever improve to compete with the good, big ones. Not so in the fraternity world where the lack of rules puts a premium on aggressiveness, passion and competition. If a big fraternity stumbles because they have not been aggressive in seeking out new members, a small-but-ambitious fraternity can overtake them.
It is not and has never been that way with the sororities. Formal rush is full of rules about what you can say, do, how you can present yourselves, so that it is painfully obvious to everyone who goes through rush just who are the leaders and who are perceived to be the losers. If a young woman goes through rush and figures she can't get a bid to one of the presitge houses, she is more likely not to join at all. The small, weak sororities are like mom-and-pop stores trying to compete with the big mall chains.
Now the truth is that the small, weak soroities CAN COMPETE EFFECTIVELY but they never do it because they are so schooled in the culture of rules and punishments that they don't know how. The members generally don't think of themselves as being aggressive and competitive; they generally don't think in terms of beating the system. They do not know how. They've bought into the notion seen earlier on this board that NPC and PanHellenic are there to help everyone be good and keep the system strong. What the rules do is keep the strong ones strong, and keep the weak ones weak. Do you know, are you aware, of ANY small, weak sorority on ANY campus with a campus (with a good sorority system) that has ever worked its way up the ladder through aggressive, competitive strategies and overtaken one of the leading sororities? Have you ever seen, or heard of, a sorority that traditionally has around 35-50 women ever following an aggressive plan to grow and compete with the 150-women chapters on the same campus? Never. Ever.
Does anyone doubt this? Let's try an experiment. Go to a large campus with big, strong sorority system. Allow a new sorority to come on campus unencumbered by any rules whatsoever. At many schools, the large sororities won't pledge junior transfers because they can fill their ranks with freshmen only. Our new sorority will fill it's ranks with junior transfers, all of whom fit the profile of the aggressive, creative, competitor. Our stated plan is to create a 'top competitor' on campsu; our goal is to become one of the best. Then, they will informally recruit younger women who have not gone through sorority rush, or who went through but did not pledge because sororities they liked did not have room for them. By the time our new group participates in formal rush, they will look just like, act just like, have the same fraternity relationships as, all the traditionally powerful sorority chapters.
Sorry to ramble on like this. I love the sororities, and I know the sorority system as it's constituted is exactly what the sororities want. We guys look at their system, and listen to their patient explanations, and scratch our heads. They have what they want, and it's none of our business. But, it is strange and confusing to us why the sororities on the receiving end of the "rules" think they're being protected.

[aephi alum]

Gotta disagree with you, bolingbaker.

I'll use my campus as an example. There are 5 sororities. 4 are well-established nationals; the fifth (mine) started as a very small local sorority. The 4 older chapters are all near or over total, so that only AEPhi is typically eligible to hold COB rush. The "big four" typically have membership numbers in the 90s and 100s; AEPhi has grown from 10 women (when we first went national) to about 40.

During formal rush, a lot of women don't give AEPhi a chance because of our low numbers; they tend to set their sights on 2 or 3 of the "big four". A lot of them match, and that's great. Some of them don't match. So AEPhi invites them to informal rush, and some of them join. (That's where the aggressive recruiting comes in.) Others decide AEPhi isn't for them (or we decide they're not right for AEPhi), and they wait until the following fall to go through formal rush again. And still others decide to give up altogether on joining a sorority.

Then there are women who, by the time they get to pref, are cross-rushing AEPhi and another sorority. If both sororities could offer a bid to a given woman, she'd be very likely to go with the older, bigger house. But with the bid matching rules in place, she might match to AEPhi, join, and find she's just as happy there as she would have been in the other sorority.

If the rules weren't there, a lot of women would have joined one of the other sororities without giving AEPhi a chance, and my chapter might not be here today. As it is, the chapter is growing, and will soon be the same size as the other sororities on campus. And these women are as happy in AEPhi as they would be in a different GLO.

Just my $0.02

[bolingbaker]

I think any new sorority (or fraternity) coming on campus has a much better chance of competing with perceived 'high end' sororities than the sororities already on campus. Their reputations - and more important, their own self image - is already established. If Alpha Epsilon Phi started a new chapter with the idea in mind from the first that they wanted to compete for top standing, then you have a very good chance of doing so. On the other hand, if you go to a sorority composed of women who see themselves as members of a weak organization, it is nearly impossible to rally them to change their approach to rush. In a way it's like the difference between the English class system and the American culture. Sororities are in a way like the English: the class you inhabit is the class in which you stay. You make the best of your lot and you don't try to be someone you're not. Fraternities in a way represent the American idea: I may have come from the lower class, but with hard work and dedication I can rise to any standing that my talent and effort will allow. It's not that sororities CAN'T do this, it's that they don't. The mental frame of reference of women in sororities is the determining factor, just as it is for men in fraternities. Fraternity men tend to beleive that they have a chance to be the best on campus. Sorority women tend to believe that that are who they are, and the rules must be there for a reason.
IT MAY BE that the fraternity system is better for men, and the sorority (rules) system is better for women. Sounds basic, but there is a difference in the way men and women perceive their social surroundings.

[bruinaphi]

UMGirl, I understand that chapters believe that they have a lot of problems with the SoRush program. Generally those are human errors that people blame on the program rather than actual computer errors. Sometimes the women running the computer make mistakes and release women who the chapter was supposed to keep or keep women who the chapter was supposed to release. This is especially common on campuses with large numbers of PNMs. Sometimes women are released b/c a certain sister approached the rush chair or advisors about a personal problem they have with the PNM and don't want disclosed to the whole chapter. Most Panhellenics allow each chapter one "computer error" during rush. For instance, if you release someone who you meant to keep Panhellenic will explain to that PNM at the end of the day that ABC meant to invite them but experienced a computer error and that they can rank ABC with their other groups.

Schools that do not use the quota total system use whatever system they have come up with. At Santa Clara University in California, until last year there was a set quota of 35 (I think or somewhere around there). It didn't matter how many women went through rush, each chapter could only pledge 35 women. In years when rush numbers were high that meant that a lot of women got cut from rush completely.

At IU, I believe that their quota is based on the number of open spot that a chapter house has. In other words, each chapter can only pledge as many women as they have open spots.

The reason why the quota/total system works better than these other systems is that it accommodates the highest number of women into the system and improves greek image on campus. When 50% of the women rushing get cut from rush each year it doesn't do very good things for greek image on campus.

[FuzzieAlum]

I think it's a good question - why do we set quotas? Men don't, and yet I don't see their chapters closing for size. At my school, frats range from 10-75 men, which is a lot broader range than the sororities have. While men are dubious about joining the 10-man house, otherwise size doesn't make a difference.

I think it's true that women are more concerned about size - a 20-woman chapter on my campus panics, but a 20-man chapter doesn't. Female rushees are less likely to consider a small house than a big one. No offense, but we women seem to be more concerned about peer prestige.

But I don't buy that this is inherent to all women. A lot of women on my campus were very turned off by the notion of formal rush and wouldn't consider joining sororities based on that alone. They thought rush rules and quotas were garbage. And a lot of these would have made good members otherwise.

And as I've seen other people say here, I don't see quotas and ceilings evening things out. Lots of women will suicide rather than put down a smaller sorority on their bid card. They'd rather wait a year for a bid from a bigger chapter. I've seen girls waits two years for a bid from the chapter of their choice. It's kind of sad - I don't think I'd beg that hard for membership in a group that didn't want me more than that! So the big few three chapters on my campus get quota most years, and the other chapters get a lot less. You just can't make girls join chapters they don't want.

[aephi alum]

Hmmm... Maybe it's just that there are so few sororities at my school. It's hard to have top, middle, and bottom tier sororities if there are only 5.

Rushees often perceive AEPhi initially as a weak sorority simply because our numbers are low relative to the other sororities on campus - and some of them make a snap decision to drop us for that reason. But if they stick through our rush parties through pref, they see that we are just as involved on campus and in the community, just as strong academically, and have just as strong a bond of sisterhood as the other 4 sororities have - and a LOT of my chapter sisters listed AEPhi first on their pref cards.

And then there are the women who focus all their energy on some of the other 4 sororities, only to get cross-cut. Essentially, they have 3 choices: look at AEPhi, wait for next fall and hope for the best (and sophomores are rarely offered bids), or don't join a sorority. And hey, it doesn't hurt to look, right?

lauradav, we used the Sorush program too - it's awful. When I was a rho chi, one of my rushees got cut from a house she should have been invited back to, because she had the same name as another girl, and the sorority just provided a list of names instead of their assigned ID numbers. It worked out well though - she wound up joining that sorority That really falls under the category of human error, though.

[33girl]

Originally posted by lauradav
James, a lot of the schools that have 400 women get cut from rush don't use the quota total system and that is why the women get cut. IU is one example of a system that doesn't use Q/T and why NPC recommends using the Q/T system.

laura, let me see if I have straight what you are saying. In a "pure" quota/total system, total is set after the time frame to drop out of rush has ended. Strictly by numbers: 200 girls rushing, 10 sororities, quota is 20. Period, even if every sorority is overflowing. But at IU, are you saying if ABC has only 5 spots open and XYZ has 30 spots open, the amount they can take is different, even in formal rush?

Guys - y'all can figure out all those baseball statistics you should be able to get this. Seriously, the quota/total system does work ON PAPER. It is possible to give every woman a bid, whether it is a bid to a group she wants is another story. If we were in a perfect world, all the sororities would be even and this system would be wonderful, but of course we have things like prestige, etc etc enter into it. It works pretty much the way it's supposed to at smaller schools with smaller systems. The smaller groups at my campus usually benefited from q/t.

If your group is smaller, you HAVE to COB - you HAVE to have open bid parties all year - you HAVE to rush 24/7/365. Yes, it is kind of a pain when you see the larger groups get quota and then forget about it for the rest of the year, but if you are COBing you also have the advantage of getting a lot of women who may have never gone Greek otherwise.

[FuzzieAlum]

I come from a 5-chapter campus too. There are three sororities about at ceiling (50 gals), one in the 30s, and a smaller one. These sororities have held the same "ranks" since 1995 when I rushed. I'll grant that one of these smaller chapters is hurt by not having a house. The other smallish chapter is a local, which greatly appeals to some girls but not to others.

For the last formal rush, quota was 8. Two houses got 8, the other big one got 6, and the other two got 0 and 1.

But I think there is something going badly wrong with rush on our campus, and I don't know that I want to attribute it to the quota system. In the last rush, 120 girls signed up, and only 60 showed up for the first day of rush. Numbers dropped even further from there - as I said, quota was 8.

I don't know if I think quotas and ceilings are good or bad. I think girls and chapters should be able to choose each other freely; on the other hand, I like that the formal rush system makes rushees consider each house. I just think that the goal of "equality" sure isn't being met by the current system. Girls might not get into the chapter of their choice - and they generally end up non-Greek rather than accepting somewhere else.

[pinkangel]

FuzzieAlum,

What do you think could be done to help the smaller chapters?

It sounds like greek life is suffering anyway in the current system at your school. There's been a lot of debate so far about whether having quota is helpful or harmful. It almost seems like if NPC didn't have quota, then the smaller chapters would suffer because PNMs wouldn't be so encouraged to look at all of their options and where they would really feel the best, instead they would want to follow the crowd. Let's face it, college is intimidating at first and all you want when you're first there is to fit in somewhere just like high school. It's a lot easier to want the same thing everyone else wants.

A lot of people have mentioned that having quota hurts the smaller chapters, but how would you suggest helping them to grow?

I'll admit, I'm not convinced that quota isn't a good thing. My chapter consistently gets quota, so having it kind of hurts us, we could be much larger. But the smaller chapters at our school would suffer from not having quota, or at least I think so, and I don't want to see them fall apart. They may do very poorly in formal recruitment, but at least they're not wiped out by the larger chapters.

The unfortunate part of this situation is that girls that could be very happy in the greek system don't get the chance because they're number 21 out of a 20 quota system, or they never even try because they hear of how many girls don't get bids becuase they weren't matched. It's sad when 120 girls sign up for rush and only 23 get bids.

I understand that the system may not work perfectly at all schools, but what is another option?

[FuzzieAlum]

I don't know that I have a solution that would help the smaller chapters. On the one hand, I know chapters can rebuild themselves from almost nothing - on the other hand I know this rarely happens. And I realize some of the problems that a smaller chapter has may be their own fault - or it may be external circumstances - or it may be the fault of girls who are long since graduated.

I do think that there is something wrong with the way quota is being figured in this scenario, though. If quota is 8, times 5 chapters, theoretically 40 girls could get bids. (Now I know that doesn't happen perfectly anywhere.) But here only 23 girls accepted bids! That shouldn't happen. And there wasn't much (successful) snap bidding after rush, either. I remember in the days when I was an undergrad, you could tell by the number of girls who went to pref parties that it was going to be impossible for more than a few chapters to hit quota.

Girls are leery of joining a chapter that's below-average in size, and it's a small chapter's job to make themselves a desirable option. But the fact is, it's the way of the world that the chapters doing the best get rewarded, and the small chapters have to work twice as hard just to stay in place.

That said - on my campus there was a lot of dirty rushing, an encouragement to suicide bid, and a tendency for the Greek Life advisor to buddy up to the big chapters. I don't think that kind of behavior is appropriate or good for the system as a whole.

One thing that would help: We have rush in the fall. In spring, after classes and before finals, chapters are allowed to give out bids - they can replace the graduating seniors (although not at ceiling chapters can rush at other times too). This means big chapters encourage suicide bidding or promise bids to girls they like almost as well as their first list - and those girls will hold out for bids from that big chapter rather than looking around at other options. I don't think this is a good practice.

I do think that if we as sorority women didn't make such a big deal out of, "We're supposed to be aiming for ceiling," perhaps the rushees wouldn't either. After all, the men don't worry about that sort of thing. But maybe that's pie-in-the-sky thinking on my part!

[lifesaver]

Originally posted by KerriMarie
Also - if you were in a sorority that had no cap and had 952975 sisters - how could you ever get to know them all? How could you call them your sisters if you didn't even recognize half of them?

I gotta disagree. While you might not like it and some might like large chapters, you cant agrue that the point of quotas/caps/matrching yada crapa yada is to limit chapter sizes to a "managable" level. If that were the case, the larges of the NPC chapters wouldnt be nearly twice the size of the largest NIC chapters. Example: Largest fraternities at A&M 100-150 men. largest sororities at A&M 150-200 women. Of all NIC vs NPC groups, the largest chapters are NPC, and are about 30% larger on average. Th epoint of the quotas/totals is to ensure equality of process. Simple as that.

[bruinaphi]

Originally posted by 33girl
laura, let me see if I have straight what you are saying. In a "pure" quota/total system, total is set after the time frame to drop out of rush has ended. Strictly by numbers: 200 girls rushing, 10 sororities, quota is 20. Period, even if every sorority is overflowing. But at IU, are you saying if ABC has only 5 spots open and XYZ has 30 spots open, the amount they can take is different, even in formal rush?

You are right except for that it is quota that is set during rush, not total. Total is the maximum number of women a chapter can have (unless they go over through formal rush) based on average sorority population. Panhellenic should review total every couple of years to make sure it is not too high or too low and to talk about the possibility of expansion.

FuzzieAlum, it sounds like your campus has bigger problems than the quota total system. Most of my campuses have about 65% or 75% retention rate b/w sing-up and pledging. As a Panhellenic you guys should really meet and talk about why these women are not showing up for rush or are dropping out. Are the chapters dropping more people than they should be? Does being unhoused make the smaller groups even less desirable? If these discussions don't lead to anything your group should consider contacting your NPC area advisor and talking to her about your concerns. If Panhellenic has the money to fund it you can even request a visit from an NPC team to review what is going on and recommend changes to improve greek participation on your campus.

[lifesaver]

So first, some humor courtsey of collegehumor.com's Observational Humor

Sorority rush and Fraternity rush are completely different. Sorority rush involves visits to all the houses, and bid lists, and preferences, and complex rules about who you can and can't talk to and for how long. Fraternity rush involves nachos and college football.

Some sororities send clear messages during rush. They say, "we value you for who you are, we don't want to change you, we value your individuality, and we are all unique." And they say it with their 50 sisters all dressed in black pants, black sandals, and white baby tees.

I think its weird when everyone in a sorority dresses the same during rush as a symbol of unity. Unless they're wearing bikinis. Then it's pretty cool.

I used to stare in awe and amazment at the sorority recruitment process. Literally, stand there scratching my head, trying to understand why these women were acting the way they were. i have come to the understanding that it boils down to the differences between the sexes. (as has been stated) Men, fundamentally are more concerned with competetion, and survival of the fittest. Women on the other hand are more egalitarian by nature and want a level playing field for everyone, orgs and PNM's. For the most part, the women are quite pleased with their system, and really see no need to change their system. (Plus doing so is next to impossibe at the NPC level. YOU ever try to get 26 women to UNAMINOUSLY agree on ANYTHING? Thanks. I'll be off looking for Osama. He'll be found, tried and exicuted long befor NPC changes their recruitment practices.) I have come to the understanding that they are happy withtheir system, and it doesnt really matter what I think. they were doing it that way long befor I was greek, and will most likely be doing it that way long after my ass is dead and burried. But I do want to pose a few questions and make a few observations about their process to stimulate debate and maybe help answer some of my questions. Simply put, when a female friend asks me about going greek, I can sell her on it. When she asks me why the process is the way it is, I am dumbfounded, and cant justify it.

So let me start here with a quote: Originally posted by 33girl, "If your group is smaller, you HAVE to COB - you HAVE to have open bid parties all year - you HAVE to rush 24/7/365.
If you all care about the future of the greek system, which I know you do, this should be the attitude of everyone. Guys and girls, ya know, thats why they changed the name from rush to recruitment.

I honestly believe there should be a two or three teer system, maybe an opt-out system. I understand the necessity of some formalities in a heavily compedative system, such as LSU, A&M, etc, (with recs and stuff) but really at a school with 3 sororities, having PNM's turn in picts with apps, isnt necessary. it isnt. Do like the rest of us, get to know em, you'll remember em. Future friends and brothers/sisters shouldnt sit around memorizing facts and faces before you meet someone. thats just creepy (I knwo you do it so oyu'll have time to chat about other stuff in the limited time you have at parties, but that is just a symptom of a larger problem, and not a solution.)

Since I know my school best, We'll start there. Our IFC and PHC came to campus the same time - 1978. With four groups respectively. A year later one of the sororities folded. Rumor has something to do with their chap president dying ina car wreck or something. Its been 20 yers so the reliability of the info is suspect at best. By 1998 IFC had expended to 9 orgs, while PHC was still at 3 orgs. 20 YEARS LATER. The fraternities had grown by 3 fold, yet the women were stagnant in growth. Our PHC paid a lot of lip service to growing the greek system, looks to me like they werent holding up their end of the deal. Finally in 1999 PHC added Phi Mu. Welcome. Butit hardly seems fair that the first girls who were to join were the ones that all 3 established sororities rejected. Ya know, just 'cause someone can fillout an app and pay her fee doesnt mean she is member potential. So she is cut, but then she can be a founding mother? Lovely.

Do ya'll really neeed 108 pages of rules to tell you how to meet and make friends with someone? You have too many rules! You must turn in reciepts, cant take anything outta the rooms, turn in apps, infraction grievance procedures, recs, matching, quota, totals prefing, parties, bid cards? Its too much. Seems to me the focus needs to be put back on the PNM's and offa busting each other, 'catching others breaking the rules, and worrying that that 10th tank of helium is gonna get you in trouble because you broke PHC's spending cap. LETS PUT THE FOCUS BACK ON THE PNM'S. Plus, whats with the fact thatits virtually IMPOSSIBLE to cut a gal after formal recruitment and before initiation. We got a guy we met and know pretty well, but as a NM he turns out to be an ass hole. We cut him. I hear sorority girls bitching about their NM's and they are helpless to do anything about it because she made it to a pref party. Sorry, but I sure as hell dont wanana obligate myself to a lifetime of a bond if I honestly think soemone is a shmuck. Why should yall?

ALL OF US are facing declining numers. its a national trend. Ask the NPC or NIC. they'll tell you. (the LSU's and USC's cant keep the whole system afloat) So why make it harder to join? if anything, we should be tearing down the barriers to PNM's. At my school you gotta pay $45 for the opportunity to rush. PHC justifys that as "we pay for their lunches". If it really costs $45, then charge it as a bid card fee when the girls have mad ethe emotional committment to a group of girls. I know many girls who are intrested in greek life, but will turn and walk and when they are told they have to pay $45 just to rush as an app fee. BS. And you know it. If you dont, let me break down the numbers. All men (So I am assuming the numbers are roughly the same for women) all men (PNM's) can be cateogrized into 3 groups, always, maybe and never joiners. (as defined by the UCLA study on entering freshman they do every year) Always joiners comprise 25% of the fresman population, maybe joiners are about 50% of the pop, withthe never joiners rounding out the last 25%. The always joiners are usually legacies, or people like newbie, who have had a postive experience withthe greek system. The 50% maybe joiners are usually first generation college students and have no formed opinion on greek life. The last 25% fundamentally do not agree withthe greek system. Point is this: If we sit back and wait for people to approach us, men or women, we are only getting 25% of the population. We will be destined to failure. All of us could double the numbers in our houses and GLO's on campus if we'd get off our assses and quit expecting the PNM's to knock on our doors. Oh, wait, the incredibly rediculous encoumberances placed on women preclude you (women) from doing that on the pretense of equality. Huh. Dont come crying to me in 20 years when your numbers are inthe floor. It imazes me that the NPC directors can do enough math to do bid matching, yet cant see the number crunch facing all of us.

Its always about reciepts, apps, infraction grievance procedures, recs, matching, quota, totals prefing, parties, bid cards, etc. Every one of you gals rteading this knows you or your sisters have broken rush rules, even if accidentally or only slightly. None of us are perfect. I have broken a few myself. Why keep adding rules and regulations to curb every possible infraction, why not re-evaluate the whole system change it from a punitive system of cants, donts and will nots and instead turn it into a system of shoulds, coulds and ought to's? I mean, honestly, no one should ever cry tears of sadness over recruitment. If people are being hurt, we need to re-think.

(I helped to rebuild my chapter from 12 to 70 men, and no one capped us, gave us members or allowed us to snap bid. We just got out there and busted our ass. Now, 4 years later, were largest on campus and riding high. I know its apples and oranges, but I offer it for those who think a chapter of 20 cant compete with a chapter of 65. We did, and If I can do it, anyone can.)

NOW stop, breathe. I suspect some of you are pissed about this post. But before you hit the quote or post buttons, I ask you to ask yourself this. Are you defending the current system so vehemently because you really believe in it, and its the best way to bring PNM's into our world? Or because "its always been done that way", and some of us suffer from groupthink. All of us know there has to be a better system. I dont profess to have the answers. And I know the system wont change overnight, but I believe, fundamentally , that it HAS to change, eventually. If it doesnt, numbers will continue to decline and the overall health of the NPC will be in jeopardy. And that affects all of us.


(Please know that I wholeheartedly advocate sorority life and come from a long line of sororoity women and most of my female friends are greek. Would defend the system till the day I die, I just think there are some issues that need to be addressed. I have said my peace. Whats yours?)

[matthewg]

lifesaver and James,
even as an outsider to the Greek system, many of you know by now, I have always wondered about the same thing and I totally agree with you in my continuing puzzlement.

Some people asked about alternatives and I would like to share my personal experiences from my system in Germany with you.

We have something like continuous open bidding - even though it is more like: a candidate comes, is interested, and applies. Usually he gets accepted and what follows is a year of pledging or "membership on trial" during and after which the guy can leave or get kicked out (actually you can get kicked out later too, but that is beside the point). That way you don't pass on anybody who is interested but you can also check him out for an extended period of time.

If it wasn't for COB the German fraternity/sorority syestem would probably be down to very few chapters in a few organizations from over 1000 chapters Germany-wide right now.

Quotas are non-existent. It is up to the chapter to make the best out of itself. If the guys suck, they deserve to die! I have experienced my chapter to nearly die - no pledges in 2 years!! - because of quarrels among the actives. Then, they pulled themselves together and now they are back in business and are in good standing! It was a cleansing process and the chapter profited from it.
One thing fraternity chapters with too many pledges did in the good old days at the beginning of the 20th century (more then 25 was considered too many): the would form a new chapter, with actives and pledges at the same university (which is possible in our system). Our experience is that the bond becomes stronger with smaller chapter numbers of up to 50-70 guys.
And nowadays, when a chapter is in danger of folding, members of other chapters are actually encouraged to transfer to that school and help out.

I hope that was interesting, looking forward to a continuing debate and more interesting comments and clarifications.
Matt