Sorority Expansion

[Cruise4fun]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Thanks, that provides a LOT of insight into the system and sounds like a good reason not to bring another group on for the next year or so.

Is there just not a lot of Greek interest among women at SIUC?

There are several things:

1. My impression is there is too much apathy on campus. Lots of followers with not enough leaders. When I last visited the PC officers and Gamma Chis thought just putting up fliers was enough to advertise recruitment. Quota was about 18 the semester I joined and increased every year I was there. Plus there were 5 chapters not 3. I remember initation for 28 women my senior year. Total went from 65 to 75 in those years.
2. The houses aren't exactly a step of from dorms. The houses are glorified military barracks. They were orginally built as temporary housing and 50 years later are just being torn down.
3. In the past there hasn't been Panhellenic unity. Pick on the smallest. Problem with that is somebody always has to be on the bottom. I really believe a strong unified Panhellenic makes each individual chapter stronger.
4. Chapters have issues with retention and freshman aren't in any hurry to join. It is well known you can usually join anytime with COB because Total hasn't been adjusted well to work with current interest
5. Three of the biggest fraternities have left since 2000 with risk management issues. One will never be allowed back. Several medium and smaller fraternities have fell off.

[violetpretty]

As someone who has served on my campus Panhellenic Association's Extension Exploration Committee, allow me to educate you on the process of NPC extension.

When campus Panhellenic membership numbers increase, Panhellenic will form a committee to research the possibility of extension or raising total. This will be composed of members from the local chapters. They look at historical recruitment numbers, recent extensions at peer campuses, and consider what they see as an ideal chapter size on their campus. The committee presents to the campus Panhellenic, and the delegates vote on whether to open for extension.

If the campus Panhellenic votes in favor of extension, NPC groups will visit campus and submit binders of information if interested. They may withdraw their interest if after visiting they are no longer interested. Of the interested groups, the campus Panhellenic will select 2-4 groups to present, and then the delegates will vote on which groups will be invited to extend.

NPC doesn't have the power to tell a group that they can't colonize at a university if it's what the campus Panhellenic and the specific NPC group both want. NPC (or possibly individual NPC groups, since you don't have the full story) visited campus and determined extension was not viable. Either SIUC Panhellenic voted no on extension or no NPC groups are interested in colonizing. This brings me to the main point...

NPC groups do not want to set a chapter up to fail. If there is no interest for another NPC sorority at the current total, it's not going to happen. NPC groups like all groups on a campus to be about the same size. It's quite possible that the Panhellenic groups like having 70 members each, and that there is no evidence (ie recruitment numbers rising every year) that there is interest to support another 70-member chapter.

Look at the thread about the year's extensions and closures. NPC groups have far fewer closures than NIC groups. I wouldn't want my chapter to be one of those flashes in the pan, part of the boom and bust cycle of chartering. I am glad adding another chapter requires a 2/3 majority of existing NPC groups.

Re: Homecoming, my school has 14 PHA sororities and low 20s-ish IFC fraternities. Every fraternity gets matched with a sorority for Homecoming and Greek Week. Say there are 21 fraternities. Since membership sizes vary, the largest 7 are paired with a sorority. The next 7 (medium size) are paired with one of the remaining 7 (smallest), and then paired with a sorority. Perhaps SIUC could match fraternities with each other (based on size) to allow all to be matched with a sorority.

[PKTsaluki]

The bad week as I have stated may have come around the time of the Theta Xi variety show which normally afterwords brings out the worse from a lot of the house and shows peoples true colors to one another just because of the letters they wear.

Also when Tri Sigma tried to recolonize, they only got nine girls during an informal rush during second semester when maybe a total of 20 girls try and rush each house. They could have been more successful if they waited until Fall 2009 to recruit which they did not.

Our Greek system is still recovering, and with the expansion of IFC fraternities being allowed to come in and leave whenever they would like is allowed. It's not my fault in the early 2000's those 3 successful chapters that got kicked off for poor grades and excessive partying to one fraternity having a nightmare in a poor pledge ship program.

But getting back to my main point. After talking with all the greek advisors at my school, they have told me that they are still continuing trying to get another NPC chapter on campus before the new Greek Row gets built. It's been a hassle for them because of the amount of paperwork apparently or something to that extent.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by PKTsaluki

The bad week as I have stated may have come around the time of the Theta Xi variety show which normally afterwords brings out the worse from a lot of the house and shows peoples true colors to one another just because of the letters they wear.

Also when Tri Sigma tried to recolonize, they only got nine girls during an informal rush during second semester when maybe a total of 20 girls try and rush each house. They could have been more successful if they waited until Fall 2009 to recruit which they did not.

Our Greek system is still recovering, and with the expansion of IFC fraternities being allowed to come in and leave whenever they would like is allowed. It's not my fault in the early 2000's those 3 successful chapters that got kicked off for poor grades and excessive partying to one fraternity having a nightmare in a poor pledge ship program.

But getting back to my main point. After talking with all the greek advisors at my school, they have told me that they are still continuing trying to get another NPC chapter on campus before the new Greek Row gets built. It's been a hassle for them because of the amount of paperwork apparently or something to that extent.

You really have no way to know the bolded. Recolonizations can go wrong, but these people have more experience than you do.

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by PKTsaluki

The bad week as I have stated may have come around the time of the Theta Xi variety show which normally afterwords brings out the worse from a lot of the house and shows peoples true colors to one another just because of the letters they wear.

Also when Tri Sigma tried to recolonize, they only got nine girls during an informal rush during second semester when maybe a total of 20 girls try and rush each house. They could have been more successful if they waited until Fall 2009 to recruit which they did not.

Our Greek system is still recovering, and with the expansion of IFC fraternities being allowed to come in and leave whenever they would like is allowed. It's not my fault in the early 2000's those 3 successful chapters that got kicked off for poor grades and excessive partying to one fraternity having a nightmare in a poor pledge ship program.

But getting back to my main point. After talking with all the greek advisors at my school, they have told me that they are still continuing trying to get another NPC chapter on campus before the new Greek Row gets built. It's been a hassle for them because of the amount of paperwork apparently or something to that extent.

Does that not scream out at you? If the animosity for each other was that obvious - that visitors the university witnessed it (and I'm guessing that they were only there during the school week, and probably only on campus during the daytime) - it has to be pretty severe.

You said that they showed their "true colors". What did the students do? Fight? Vandalize property? What did the delegates witness?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by PKTsaluki

Also when Tri Sigma tried to recolonize, they only got nine girls during an informal rush during second semester when maybe a total of 20 girls try and rush each house. They could have been more successful if they waited until Fall 2009 to recruit which they did not.

This is exactly what a chapter trying to recolonize at my school did - they recruited during a formal rush period with the rest of the groups. So basically what happened is the rushees went from roomfuls of 18-21 year olds looking cute and singing songs and talking about mixers and other fun things, to a roomful of 25+ year old alumnae (many of whom weren't even from the campus) telling them about all the work they would have to do to build up a new chapter.

EPIC FAIL doesn't even begin to cover it and I really wish I knew what that group's HQ was smoking when they dreamed this plan up.

Girls going through regular formal rush are not necessarily the girls who want to be part of a colony. It's a LOT of work and that's why sorority colonies-to-be generally have one day at the beginning of formal rush to announce their presence and then bow out. All Tri Sigma would have accomplished if they did what you propose is probably wasting a lot more money on decorations and such.

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by 33girl

This is exactly what a chapter trying to recolonize at my school did - they recruited during a formal rush period with the rest of the groups. So basically what happened is the rushees went from roomfuls of 18-21 year olds looking cute and singing songs and talking about mixers and other fun things, to a roomful of 25+ year old alumnae (many of whom weren't even from the campus) telling them about all the work they would have to do to build up a new chapter.

EPIC FAIL doesn't even begin to cover it and I really wish I knew what that group's HQ was smoking when they dreamed this plan up.

Girls going through regular formal rush are not necessarily the girls who want to be part of a colony. It's a LOT of work and that's why sorority colonies-to-be generally have one day at the beginning of formal rush to announce their presence and then bow out. All Tri Sigma would have accomplished if they did what you propose is probably wasting a lot more money on decorations and such.

That's how most colonizations are done. Interviews are conducted by a team of alumnae (old and new) and then another chapter is brought in to do a pref or other party. Very standard procedure.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Titchou

That's how most colonizations are done. Interviews are conducted by a team of alumnae (old and new) and then another chapter is brought in to do a pref or other party. Very standard procedure.

Yes, but they usually do it AFTER formal rush. This was running at exactly the same time, as if the colonization team was an active chapter. It's not the sort of school where the majority of people are familiar with how Greek life runs anyway, and many people sign up for rush at the last minute, so I'm sure that rushees walked into the room and saw women their mom's or aunt's age and said "WTF??"

[Drolefille]

No sign of the NPC dissertation, no idea if that's because it isn't done yet or it isn't there. Get me a name and I'll take a look

[knight_shadow]

Still wondering why a FRATERNITY MEMBER is worrying about SORORITY affairs.

Like NPC members (or Greeks, for that matter) are the ONLY people to mix with.

Keep it moving, kid...

[Cruise4fun]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Still wondering why a FRATERNITY MEMBER is worrying about SORORITY affairs.

Like NPC members (or Greeks, for that matter) are the ONLY people to mix with.

Keep it moving, kid...

Thank you!

The campus needs at least another year of stable NPC recruitment results. In addition, this campus holds fall formal recruitment and partially structured informal recruitment in the spring. Membership recruitment and retention aren't enough to maintain chapter totals. This type of recruitment structure is draining as the chapters do not have as much chance to work on sisterhood (which would probably help with retention).

It is very possible to pair two fraternities with one sorority for homecoming and the variety show. It was a great deal of fun the year we won with LXA and Theta Xi. It really helps with expenses too. The sororities just need to have a heart to heart with fraternities and tell them to put on their big boy pants.