fraternity heritage

quillogold · #1 08-01-2005, 10:19 PM

My fraternity heritage chair has hit a brick wall for ideas of what to do in the chapter. Last semester she gave a little fact at each chapter meeting but no one in the chapter really liked it.

I know there's a program in the RYP binder that incorporates fraternity heritage and team building so we're going to work together on that but I really just don't have any ideas for her.

Any ideas??

Xi love and ALL of mine!

WCUgirl · #2 08-02-2005, 10:27 AM

quillogold, I PMed you, but I'll post here as well for everyone's benefit.

What about a Jeopardy-style game? The Alpha Xi trivia thread in this forum has some great questions. This could be done at the chapter retreat or at an all-chapter event, and a prize could be awarded.

She could send a chapter-wide email with an interesting fact or excerpt from the Fraternity Heritage manual.

Make up a crossword puzzle or a word search. There is inexpensive software out there that can create these.

AXiDTrish · #3 08-02-2005, 11:35 AM

As a colony, the chapter I advise didn't get a lot of AZD historical information, so last year I did a powerpoint program that lasted about 30 minutes.....powerpoint works for them.....they never cease to amaze me! We went through the program and then I asked questions....when they got them correct, I gave candy in plastic eggs (it was around Easter). I made sure they were even and then the last egg had McDonald's money....like $2 for each girl. Since they are "poor" college students, I thought that would be a nice surprise! Now we see where ALL my money goes! ARG!

Also, look in the resources area of FHQ's site at the Activities Manual. There are idea's in there that you could mold into something fun for your chapter. If you want to put a spin on Fraternity Heritage.....use one meeting to showcase a fraternity or sorority on campus....or all of them. It's always good to know your cohorts or competition depending on how you view them. You could also explain Greek history on your campus of the national origins of NPC and their agreements. Fraternity Heritage can be more than AZD.

AlphaXiLuckyMe · #4 08-02-2005, 04:36 PM

My chapter always called our fraternity heritage "NewMOC for Actives."

When I was fraternity heritage, and the girls who were after me, I gave 3-5 facts at each meetings. Each week had a different theme: AXiD national, our local chapter, NPC, or the greek system on our campus (we have a VERY LONG greek history), etc.

Then the next week I would ask the same questions and the girls who remembered the answers got candy. Then I would give 3-5 more facts.

It turned out that our New Members that semester remembered the most since they were getting a double dose from chapter meeting and from NM meetings. The actives realized that they were being beat and started trying to learn the facts.

It turned out that our whole chapter learned A LOT of greek history (AXiD and otherwise) and it turned into second nature for us. We were always shocked when the other sororities on campus couldn't tell you how many founders they had, when the other sororities on campus were founded or even what the NPC greenbook was! I guess because we did it for fun and not for the need to pass a "pledge test" to initiate it actually stuck with us!

Basically, make it fun and provide candy and most of the girls will respond positively!

TxGirl · #5 08-04-2005, 09:05 PM

Other information you could use would be the history of your local chapter. If you don't know much, you can contact fraternity HQ. Each chapter has a chapter "history" book. I saw ours when I was there for an advisor training many years ago (well, not that many!) and it was pretty cool. There were letters from the interest group to our National Council and letter between Council members about colonizing. Of course these are all handwritten correspondence (before the email age!) which made it twice as interesting for me.

Local history can be just as fun to learn and may not be as well know by your chapter.

AXiDTrish · #6 02-12-2008, 11:20 PM

I would read the post by AlphaXiLuckyMe. She really has the best ideas. NMOC for chapter is pretty accurate too. I always found the learning about other sororities was helpful to my chapter. Truth be told, you learn about your "competition," so when recruitment comes along you may have additional insight. We also use it for Greek news....such as expansion, colonization, and closures regardless of what campus. Many Greeks don't look outside their own Greek system, this is your opportunity to teach them! Good Luck!

MaggieXi · #7 02-13-2008, 09:42 AM

We only learned the basic historical facts and chapter facts that were reviewed every year. It was kind of boring. But during this time, the school's magazine published a feature story regarding the history of greek life at Elon. Which we eventually incorporated into our program.

Later when I was a Rho Chi, each PX had to teach all the other PXs the history of their organization. I really think we all benefitted hearing it from each other explaining it. You may want to consider asking panhellenic if reps from each sorority could go to each chapter and explain their history a little bit.

AXiDTrish · #8 02-15-2008, 04:21 PM

When Doves Cry where do you find out about the history and whatnot on anything other than my own chapter? I searched google and found nothing

****
You can find Greek information on chapter websites, national websites, Panhellenic and campus websites. There are books you can locate. Basically you have to be curious and be willing to look up information. I have done my fair share of Google searches, poured over Quill magazines and magazines of other groups.

xi_love · #9 02-21-2008, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WCUgirl

quillogold, I PMed you, but I'll post here as well for everyone's benefit.

What about a Jeopardy-style game? The Alpha Xi trivia thread in this forum has some great questions. This could be done at the chapter retreat or at an all-chapter event, and a prize could be awarded.

She could send a chapter-wide email with an interesting fact or excerpt from the Fraternity Heritage manual.

Make up a crossword puzzle or a word search. There is inexpensive software out there that can create these.

We did a jeopardy game for NMO, and everyone really liked it. We also get assigned reading from our bonds of sisterhood at chapter, and then if we can answer a question at next chapter about it, we get a little prize. It's fun.

FuzzieAlum · #10 02-23-2008, 12:50 PM

This sounds goofy, but when I was FH I made up a different flyer every month or so with chapter and national facts and stuck them in the bathroom stalls. You have a captive audience, after all. (If only I had taken it farther and come up with the idea of bathroom advertising, I would be so much richer today.)