Other GC members from closed chapters?

[TriDeltaSallie]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
What's with chapters closing at MSU? Phi Mu closed there a few years ago. I mean I know some of the reasons but have a lot closed there? (you can PM me... didn't mean to hijack )

I was doing some surfing and came across an article from 2000 with this quote:

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently noted that overall fraternity membership is down as much 30 percent. At particular universities, the numbers are even more startling. Michigan State University, for example, has suffered a 50 percent decline in Greek membership over the past nine years.

The whole article is here:
http://www.policyreview.org/feb00/sirhal.html

That pretty much lines up with what I had originally written in answer to the question.

Sallie

[ASUADPi]

I am also from a closed chapter. Delta Gamma (University of Arizona) closed in May, but we will begin the recolonization process in 08 so that does make me feel a bit better about the closure.

The chapter too was closed due to declining numbers.

I cried like a baby when my chapter closed. Even to this day it still hurts my heart (was really bad around formal fall recruitments back in late August, early September)

[efcheerBB]

TriDeltaSallie, I PMed you

[AGDee]

Add Alpha Gams to the list of closed chapters at MSU in the last few years.

[AlphaSigOU]

I joined my chapter (Alpha Alpha of Alpha Sigma Phi at the University of Oklahoma) in 1984; the chapter closed in 1987 and was briefly revived in 1997, closing in 2000. It's going to be a very long time before the Phoenix flies high again at OU.

[HoosierPhiSig]

one of my dad's fraternity brothers called him last year while I was home on some break telling him that his Lambda Chi Alpha, a very prominent chapter at Ball State U, had been shut down....sad.

[TriDeltaSallie]

Originally posted by CarolinaDG

I think the most frustrating thing about it is that unless you went through it, you will never understand... and because of that there's no way to really help it from happening to other chapters. Plus, explaining all of the details within a chapter is often a breach of confidentiality.

This is really true. I know a number of sisters I was close to in the house still feel rather bitter about the whole thing. (We were all officers together at various times.) Since we had all graduated, we never really had the opportunity to say good-bye, visit the house one last time, understand the entire closing process, etc. My position was better than most because I was a national volunteer at the time so I had access to more information and people. But for a lot of women who had worked their you-know-whats off for three or four years, trying to make a difference in keeping the chapter alive and stronger, it was a really hard pill to swallow. If you've ever been a part of a chapter that had to work twice as hard to achieve half as much and then saw it close, you know exactly what I am talking about.

I know the whole chapter closing thing soured a lot of women on their membership and they have no interest in being involved as alumnae. It really is too bad because we had a lot of phenomenal women in our chapter who have lost all interest in DDD because it is too upsetting to really care about it any longer.

Our magazine (The Trident) recently went subscription only so unless you are a member of an alumnae chapter or have paid to be a Life Loyal member (or whatever it is called), you will no longer receive the magazine. I can imagine a lot of women from closed chapters won't subscribe to something that reminds them each quarter of what they lost.

I don't know if GLOs in general do anything in particular to reach out to members of closed chapters. My experience is that they do not. Usually it is just a little blurb in a corner of the magazine that announces with regret that such and such chapter has closed. Wouldn't it bring a lot more meaning and a better sense of closure for the members of that chapter to actually CELEBRATE that chapter's existance and the women who were a part of it rather than making a tiny little announcement in the corner of a page? Write up a page about the history of the chapter and celebrate the accomplishments they had during their history rather than just closing the chapter and pretending like they never existed except during Founder's Day when you do a chapter roll call. At least celebrating the chapter's existance would make the alumnae of that chapter feel proud of their chapter instead of feeling shame that they are part of a closed chapter.

It is also hard because you don't want to come across like you are bashing your GLO. I truly love Tri Delta and am glad I was a DDD at MSU. I met some lifelong friends through the process and wouldn't trade my experiences for anything.

I know a number of folks here suggested trying to start an alumnae chapter in my area. I think it is one of those things that you can't understand unless you've gone through it. After devoting four years of my life to bringing the chapter back to see it fold a few years later, I just don't have it in me to start something all over again. Maybe someday, but not now.

I have volunteered on the national level and truthfully did not find it very enjoyable. It ends up being a lot of paperwork, emails and phone calls and not a whole lot of relationship. I would really prefer to be a local advisor so I could work directly with the women rather than make a once a year visit for a day or so and then all the rest of the time is spent on paperwork and dealing with problems from a distance. Just the way I'm wired, I guess. I'm so glad for the opportunities I had on the national level, but at least at this point in my life, the last thing I need it more paperwork and emails! LOL!

Well, thanks for letting me ramble and thanks too for all the nice comments. Our panhellenic was not very panhellenic-y so it is really fun to come to GC and converse with women (and men) from different GLOs from all over!

Sallie

[AGDee]

Originally posted by TriDeltaSallie

Well, thanks for letting me ramble and thanks too for all the nice comments. Our panhellenic was not very panhellenic-y so it is really fun to come to GC and converse with women (and men) from different GLOs from all over!

Sallie

You may have hit on something right there. Perhaps this has led to so many chapters closing in a short time. They aren't supporting each other and haven't learned that a greek system is only as strong as it's weakest chapter.

[Alpha Sig Scott]

My chapter, Delta Omicron of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity at Illinois State University closed in 1993.

Membership was very low, and the chapter decided to turn in the charter and disband. Alumni were not involved in this decision

As a founding father of my chapter, I was quite angry. I worked very hard for nearly 2 years to get to the point where we could charter and gain IFC recognition. To see it all just go away only a few years after I was gone was horrible.

During this period, ISU had several other fraternities close due to low membership. It wasnt just the Alpha Sigs with low numbers. It was the early 90s and GLO's everywhere were experiencing low membership. The 80s had been a boom time for GLO membership numbers. After every boom comes a bust.

Our old chapter house at ISU is presently the home of TKE. There are no current plans to reactivate Delta Omicron chapter.

[JonInKC]

My chapter closed a year or so after I graduated. It's amazing the things Nationals will over look until it comes to financial things...

[ASUADPi]

Originally posted by AGDee
They aren't supporting each other and haven't learned that a greek system is only as strong as it's weakest chapter.

AMEN sister!!!!

I utterly and truly believe this.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally posted by TriDeltaSallie
I am wondering how many other people on GC are from closed chapters. I am a DDD from Michigan State and our chapter closed about three (?) years after I graduated.
I was wondering if there are any other GC members who are part of closed chapters and have had/are having similar experiences? Sallie

Hi Sallie,
My experience is very like yours...my chapter at the University of Alabama closed 4 years after I graduated. that was 27 years ago! Lots of bitterness...we felt that our Council had not done enough to help us years earlier when it would have done some good.
But after working with our chapters as an advisor and on the regional level, I think the biggest problem was (and continues to be) the lack of unity within Alabama's Panhellenic. Alabama has an extremely competitive sorority system. Let's call it cutthroat, with lots of dirty rushing.
Plenty of girls will pledge nothing - will even quit school - rather than pledge anything but one of the "old row" groups (that's their slang for the top tier). The big groups keep getting bigger - more than 200 now, gosh back in the day the biggest groups had 100!
It still hurts that my group is no longer there. No house to visit at homecoming, no sisters to run into at football games. I thought that surely we would be back on campus by the time I had a daughter and she went to college. Daughter pledge another group...I so envy those moms whose daughters pledged their sorority and they could attend initiation with them!
Anyway, I dealt with my hurt by getting involved, first with alumnae groups and then with collegiate chapters. I hope we now jump in a little earlier and a little more vigorously to help struggling chapters. And, it has worked in several situations...but only with strong Panhellenic support.

[TriDeltaSallie]

AnchorAlumna (and others),

It is interesting the observation you've made about one of the central issues being the Panhellenic. I feel ill-qualified to comment too extensively on that since I've only had one Panhellenic experience. And I will admit that I was not the most Panhellenically minded person while I was in college. I know I got sucked into the rampant negativity and competitiveness on our campus. Women from the top tier groups would cross the street rather than pass you on the street and say hello. And if they couldn't cross the street, they would still ignore you while they passed by you. So, yes, there was definitely very little Panhellenic spirit among the sororities and no sense of "we're only as strong as the weakest link". I'll be honest. I can't even IMAGINE being on a campus where the groups are as friendly and supportive as they apparently are on other campi. It really is beyond my comprehension that Panhel existed for anything other than to (sometimes) pass out rush infractions and select the Rho Chis. Cynical, I know, but I'm being honest.

We had two DDDs on Panhel while I was there, including one sister who was Panhel President. But you would not believe the opposition from the top tier houses to her being President because she came from a lower tier house. She was infinitely more qualified for the position than the person she ran against, but the "top houses" lobbied HARD for a much less qualified woman because she was from a "better" house. There was no other way to explain it. However, the DDD was elected and she did a great job.

Re: Alabama.... When I was President, my CDO (Collegiate District Officer) was an Alabama alumna. She was fabulous. Her name was Mary Terrell, but I can't remember her maiden name. I don't know if you (AnchorAlumna) would have been at Alabama at the same time and that's next to nothing to go on, but it is a small world. And for some reason it runs through my mind that her daugther was a DG, but I could be totally off on that. Anyway, she was the nicest lady and SO HELPFUL. Such a joy to work with!

Sallie

[AXi1257]

Sallie,
I'm sorry your college experience with the 'top tier' was so negative. I come from a college where at the time there were only 5 sororities and 8-9 fraternities and it was never like that.! Maybe because it was a smaller greek system with about 100-110 members in each sorority or just the small town midwestern atmosphere... I've never really known down cut throat it is in the South until I came to GC. My chapter has not closed, but the pain and sadness of having your chapters close is apparent. I'm sorry for all of you. I wish no chapter had to close! Too bad sometimes the bottom line is numbers and/or money.