charter members

[roxydiva]

hello everyone!

i was just wondering if any charter members would be interested in sharing their experiences on the board. i am very interested in hearing these stories! thanks so much!

roxydiva

[Optimist Prime]

I was in the last pledge class before the charter. My name will be on the wall forever! Bascilly pledging was weird because everyone was pissed off that they didn't already have the charter and that now these new guys (us, Beta Class) were going to be considered founding fathers in a sense.

IZ32

[GtownGirl98]

For me it was an interesting process... We were colonized in the fall so we had 4 months to get initated and get ready for RUSH. We were both New Members and Members all at once, so we would have 3 hour meetings (sometimes longer). And I didn't get most of what we were doing or the idea of sisterhood until after we finished RUSH. How do you think it felt to be a New Member and explaining what you were all about at panhellenic tea? Can we say very weird. But we got to December 11, 1999 with a lot of laughs and a lot of tears, and a new understanding of what sisterhood/sororities were all about. And it was really cool to have 33 as an initation number and have all the VPs at initation.

[AngelPhiSig]

We just got an email from one of our founders!!! It was so cool to hear how she is doing!

[33girl]

Originally posted by GtownGirl98
And it was really cool to have 33 as an initation number

Yes, it certainly was.

[winnieb]

I am a charter member of Kappa Alpha chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta. My experiences are bittersweet. My chapter was installed and I was initiated all in the same day.

We started out as a local, with the intention of affiliating with a national. Let me say, it was ALOT of work!!! To get a NPC group interested we had to maintain our grades, have well rounded social activities, and had to have philanthropy activities.
My group was the first greek organization on campus. There was also a group of guys that were also trying to affiliate--but that never happened. It was alot of work to get the blessing of the school administration. After developing our well-rounded activites and getting administration blessings--the letters to NPC groups went out. We met with, I believe 5 groups that were interested in expanding--and we decided AGD was the one.

Our core group of girls were closer than I think we would have otherwise been, due to the process and all the work we did. We did everything together--celebrated our accomplishments, cried over the things that we did not accomplish, and fought with each other. (trust me we could be brutal to each other). We truly knew each others thoughts!!!

My chapter watched two more pledge classes intitiate after the installment weekend. But somewhere / somehow it all slipped away--retention was down, new member numbers were down and my opinion--the lack of competition--the chapter had to turn its charter back in!!! Amongst us founding members there was much disbelief--and lots of tears and heartbreak.

But I have to say--looking back--I had a great greek experience---an experience that few others can relate too. I did not go into a large greek system that is set in tradition. I set out to make traditions and pave the way for others. It did not quite turn out like we had hoped--but in the mean time I formed these strong relationships a great group of woman that I proud to call my sisters!!!

-wendi

[LexiKD]

I am not a founder, but was part of a colonization to reorganize a dormant chapter.

I think my KD begining was the best. I feel so much for my organization b/c of my KD upbringing and can only imagine what it would have been like to be an actual founder!

[Kevin]

I was a colonist for 3 damned years! Finally got our charter last March. I probably would have never "joined" a greek organization. But start one -- I wouldn't trade the experience for anything!

Mu Tau Chapter -- Initiate #5

[aephi alum]

Another chapter founder here

I joined a local sorority that had initially been formed with the intention of going national, but the local Panhel hadn't wanted to expand at that time. Being in a small local was a lot of work, even though much of the groundwork had already been laid by the time I joined.

About a year later (after we had a pathetic rush ) Panhel changed its mind, and we decided we needed a national's support. We decided to approach the national we'd wanted all along - AEPhi. (We followed all the NPC guidelines, of course, but our stated preference was AEPhi.) Some of AEPhi's national officers met with us as a group and decided to accept our local as a new colony.

We pledged in February 1995 and were initiated in April, even though we didn't yet have our charter - AEPhi was pushing the new 6-8 week new member program, and that meant we got to be initiated in that timeframe even without a charter. Some great women joined us the following fall, and it was decided that we were now a viable chapter, so after their initiation, we received our charter - in November 1995.

The only irksome thing was that some of the national officers didn't want our Beta NM class to sign the charter. They worked just as hard as we did, albeit for a shorter amount of time. The compromise reached, was that there are two columns of signatures on the charter: the Alpha sisters (former members of the local) signed under one column, and the Beta sisters signed under the other.