How To Get My Chapter More Involved

YSUTeke1992 · #1 11-24-2011, 07:20 PM

I'm a freshman and a new member and recently made social chair of my fraternity. I've noticed that the other members are perfectly content to go to another fraternity's parties and go to the bar and club, and while all those are fun and I do it quite a bit myself, I think we need to have more things going around at our own house. As a newer chapter on campus, I feel like getting everyone to get out and both:

1. Go to other fraternity/sorority philanthropies and fundraisers can do nothing but attract other GLOs to come to our own fundraisers and events, and is positive.

To do this, I was considering proposing a reward system. For each GLO fundraiser you participate in (other than our own, of course), you earn a point. Possible rewards include reduced fees to the house manager and exemption from remaining sober at our next party.

2. Have more events at the house.

I feel like having more parties and social events at our own house is very important to increasing our reputation on campus, both with other GLOs and with the general student population.

I also think this would increase the number of people who come to our rush events next semester. Other members of my chapter disagree with this because they feel it's recruiting off of parties. While I see where they're coming from, it's not solely recruiting off of parties, and I feel like anything we can do to get more people to come to our rush events is a positive because we aren't obligated to give bids to everyone that comes to our rush events and if there's someone that we don't think is a good fit for our fraternity, then we don't have to offer them bids. It just gives us more opportunity to get more people we could extend bids to in the door, in my opinion. When looking at other fraternities and their pledge classes, I did notice a correlation between the number of events they had at their houses and how many new members they initiated. I just feel like this could be nothing but a positive.

All in all, I like the way my chapter socializes, we are on good terms with all but one fraternity on campus at the moment (a point to work on at a future point in time), but I feel like we should do it in a way that's more productive for ourselves as a chapter. If there are any ideas you could offer me that have worked for you or any advice you have for me, it would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

33girl · #2 11-25-2011, 01:17 PM

First off, I wouldn't make not having to be sober a reward - it sends a bad message. Reducing house fees is a far better idea.

It's always great to see fraternities hanging out with each other and having good relations. That being said, if members of a certain group rarely had their own parties and only went to those of other fraternities, I would immediately label them losers, cheapskates and a couple other things as well. (And I'm a girl, so it's not like you have to rush me.)

Is there a reason that the chapter members don't want to have parties of your own? Do you have issues with the house or its location?

YSUTeke1992 · #3 11-25-2011, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33girl

First off, I wouldn't make not having to be sober a reward - it sends a bad message. Reducing house fees is a far better idea.

It's always great to see fraternities hanging out with each other and having good relations. That being said, if members of a certain group rarely had their own parties and only went to those of other fraternities, I would immediately label them losers, cheapskates and a couple other things as well. (And I'm a girl, so it's not like you have to rush me.)

Is there a reason that the chapter members don't want to have parties of your own? Do you have issues with the house or its location?

No, our house is both the nicest fraternity house on campus (by a rather large margin, if I do say so myself) and the closest to campus. I don't know why they are against having parties at the house. We've had two registered parties this semester (both of which were two of the best parties of the semester), and almost nothing else. When we DO have parties, they are very high-quality and have high turnouts and success, but it's getting everyone to do it more often. Ideally, I'd like us to have about two parties a month, which is still on the low-end compared to the other fraternities, but I don't think the other members have much regard for our reputation across campus. When I bring up the idea of creating incentives to go to another GLOs fundraisers, they say they disagree with it because it should be the choice of the individual member to go, and if you don't want to go, then you shouldn't have to, and you're not obligated to go because that's not your fraternity. I think this is a horrible stance to take on the situation because not only does attending another GLOs fundraisers help your reputation, but other GLOs will come to your fundraisers, and people will remember what you do for them when it comes time for things like IFC elections. It can do nothing but help our fraternity.

We just had IFC elections, and we had three brothers up for elections, and only one won. I feel like if we were more reputable, we would have 2, if not 3, IFC execs right now. Right now, the most popular fraternity on our campus is APD, and they have 3 execs, while every other fraternity has one exec: that's not a coincidence.

There was also a strong correlation between how many parties each fraternity had and how large their pledge classes and how many people they initiated were. I'm not advocating recruiting off of parties, I just think it's another tool to get people in our doors during rush week. Like I said, if there's someone we don't want, we don't have to give them a bid. Worst case scenario is we attract someone that isn't a good fit for our fraternity and we don't give them a bid.

Ever since my initiation, I've noticed a lot of apathy, and quite frankly it's saddening. I want to change the culture, but it's not easy at all.

canadagal · #4 12-05-2011, 02:38 AM

Though I can't help you with the house party situation, I showed this video at a meeting a few weeks ago and it really struck a chord with out members - worth checking out :-)

http://www.youtube.com/user/campuspe.../6/DzPPxHZ2sWg

DubaiSis · #5 12-05-2011, 09:54 AM

It sounds to me like you might be overreaching. If you have had 2 very successful parties in one semester, that seems pretty good to me. How often are the other fraternities having them? I would think the cost and work involved would prohibit having more than one per month. You have to be very careful about burnout. Greeks tend to be joiners and over-achievers but everyone has a limit.

I'm also a little concerned about you being the freshman kid who knows everything and thinks he can personally "fix" everything that is wrong with his chapter. Know your role as social chair and do that. You are not membership, not philanthropy, not standards.

From what you've said about your chapter it sounds to me like you're doing great. Ease up on your brothers and let the others make some decisions too. Even if you think they're wrong or you could do it better.

lucgreek · #6 12-05-2011, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YSUTeke1992

I'm a freshman and a new member and recently made social chair of my fraternity.

Stop there. You've been active for what, a couple weeks? Slow down.

Are you having poor attendance at your parties from members? Or do you feel you're not having enough parties in general? By more events at the house, do you just mean parties?

Like DubaiSis said, leave Philanthropy and Fundraising to the respective chairs and collaborate with them (see if they feel the same way).

As for members not going to other group's philanthropies or events, they need to understand keeping up appearances is just important. If you're a group who chooses not to socialize or support the rest of the Greek community, they will not support you. Lack of support from the Greek community will do a lot of harm for your chapter.

Consult your chapter's constitution to see if there are penalties already in place for poor attendance or if there are required events for members to participate in.

excelblue · #7 12-17-2011, 08:58 PM

It's great to see that you're very enthusiastic about all of this and have very high expectations. Though, I do have to say that actually realizing some of the stuff may prove to be difficult.

In terms of the number of parties: throwing a party takes a lot of work and resources. Unfortunately, those resources are limited. At two great parties per semester, you're already doing enough to put yourself on the map. Sure, you can throw more, but that means having to divert resources from the two existing parties. You'll need to figure out whether or not that's a good idea. Personally speaking, two per semester is enough, and people tend to remember awesome events over ones that are just "good".

Getting more socially active: yeah, it's a cultural issue. Like you and others have said, affecting cultural change is going to be difficult and require a lot of work with other chairs. Not only should you talk to them to work as a team, but you should talk to some of the older, more influential people in your chapter and see if they'll rally up support. They'll have a better idea of your chapter's culture and whether or not it's an appropriate direction.