problems with an expanding sorority

[AEPhiSierra]

we're have a little problem with a local from a nearby campus who is trying to go regional. the local chapter is trying to recruit girls underground and have been contacting girls (who have no idea how the sorority even got their names) asking them to be founding sisters of their sorority which has chapters/is starting chapters on several campus in the area (we are not sure if they have said that other chapters exist or is just in the forming stages). we (along with at least 4 other sorority chapters on campus) have problems with this for a few reasons:

- my campus for a while has had at least 1 or 2 sorority chapters struggling at a time and its been a long a time (at least 5 or 6 years) since all the chapters have been strong. a new chapter on campus would either lead to all the chapters getting smaller (chapters range in size now from only 10-25 members) or at least one chapter dying.

- some the girls they are contacting don't even know how the local got their contact information. this can give the all the sororities the reputation of being harassers since girls outside the greek system often don't know enough to differentiate between chapters.

- they are misleading rushes by saying they have/starting chapters at 6 or 7 schools many of which i don't see how they could possibly have or start a chapter at and saying they have a alpha chapter membership of double or triple their actual membership.

- if girls do join initially and are unhappy b/c they were mislead they probably won't attempt to join any of the other chapters on campus b/c of their bad experience.

we fear they are either going to get voted on campus by the Inter-Greek Council with support of the fraternities or they are going to just stay on campus as an unofficial group.

so i am asking you guys for two things.

(1) advice especially from anyone whose campus may have had a similar occurence

(2) information (pm me if you'd like) on whether any of these campus would open for a new sorority to expand:
St. Johns (Queens)
St. Johns (Staten Island)
Hofstra
Stonybrook
ASU
Rutgers
Hunter

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated!!

[taumusigma]

There is a constitutional right for them to associate together, unless this is on a private campus, they shouldn't be stopped from associating as a chapter or any other type of organization. That is just one side of the argument and I'm not advocating any sides here.

[PsychTau]

Get some of these girls that they are contacting to talk to the Office of Student Activities. In order to function as a campus organization, they would have to be registered at least with that office (most campuses have this requirement, but check with your office to be sure). Of course, one side of the argument could be that this group is trying to get members on your campus so that they can become a recognized student organization. That's a valid point, however I'm sure your Office of Student Activities would need to know that they are in the process of forming. They can handle them from there if there are campus violations going on.

Second thing is to decide how a new GLO (whether local or National) becomes recognized on your campus. Go read the Constitution and Bylaws of your Greek Council. (And if you have 2 or more NPC groups on campus, I STRONGLY recommend forming your own Panhellenic council so that you won't have to get the guys involved in your decision making. You can still have a seperate Greek Council, but the CPH makes all of the decisions that affect the sororities on campus.)

If these girls being "rushed" by the local has questions (which is good if they are asking questions) guide them to someone who can tell them the colonization/expansion process (maybe your Fraternity/Sorority advisor?) As far as this group getting their contact info...does your school publish a student directory or can you look up student's names on the website?

You may not be able to keep them from associating or forming a group, but you can help these women make an educated decision (if they are looking for the info to make an educated decision with).

Keep us posted on what happens!!!!
PsychTau

[Buttonz]

Let me give more of an insight about campus greek life then AEPhiSierra did. We have three NPCs (AEPhi, SDT and AXiD) and three locals. The three locals refuse to affilate with the CPH or do anything with us, they work against us. Adding anthor local will probably mean that one of us is going to die out, and I, among others, are afraid that it will be one of us three, and not a local.

The girl that I udnerstand is behind this is NOT the type of girl that anyone would want to see as a greek...before she was a greek she gave herself a VERY bad rep and there are pictures of her dacing on bars, doing wet t-shirt contests, etc. None of the six sororites on campus will touch her because of this.

The only way we as a greek system can afford to expand is the locals going national, which I don't see happening any time soon. One of the locals was oringally founded with the thinking that they will affialte with XYZ and failed to do so and now they are regional, and the other two won't even think about it.

Sierra- Do you really think that IGC will let them on? We know that one of the frats is friendly with them, but they still have to get by the other 3 frats and the sororities.

If ABC operates without permission from IGC, it's going to cause a lot of trouble and a big threat to us loosing at least one sororitiy.

[LatinaAlumna]

It doesn't sound like the women in question are very organized, so don't you think that female students on your campus will eventually see that and decide not to pursue membership with them? IMO, the existing sororities should just continue to do their work to the best of their ability and let their strengths shine through. I'm sure any prospective members worth having will want to join sororities that have solid records in all areas.

[tunatartare]

Even if IGC lets them on, what are the chances that their chapter isn't going to be the one that dies out. Plus, at your school, you need all of the Greek chapters currently on campus to vote on approving another sorority coming onto campus. If you already have six sororities voting no for them, what are the chances that they are going to be able to come on. As far as them recruiting girls by calling up girls who don't know how they got their names, this could be a harassment issue and the girls that are getting phone calls need to bring it up with the school. This is also a surefire way of knowing that they won't get on campus.

[PsychTau]

Originally posted by Buttonz
Adding anthor local will probably mean that one of us is going to die out, and I, among others, are afraid that it will be one of us three, and not a local.

REFUSE to be the chapter that dies!!! Start now with that mentality and that work ethic. From what you've told us, I don't think that the girls interested in this are the ones that you want in your chapter....correct? If that is true, then there's no competition.

Go look at what it takes to become a recognized group on your campus. If you need to tighten up those guidelines through your Greek Council, do it now.

Don't wait to see what happens.

PsychTau

[Tom Earp]

Maybe they were looking for something on their campus that they did not find.

I did the same thing when I started a local, but it was to affiliate with a strong National which I had happen.

But, while I look back and wonder if I could have made B X a National, the facts are pretty grim.

Now, the Latino, Asiatic, and Multi Groups that have come to the fore are looking for a niche that people have not been able to find.

So, I wonder if you look unto each Campus GLOS and see what is a problem. Why dont others want to join you?

Maybe, they just have wings to try and spread.

Remember we all try to do something.

But, if they are just flying by the seat of the pants, woe be them.

[Senusret I]

Not to be harsh, but mind your business until it becomes your business. If the six existing sororities are strong, they will survive.

[navane]

I don't know, ladies, this is sort of coming across to me as if you all are just overexaggerating about a new local starting up.

a) They have just as much right as anyone else to start up a new club, sports team, sorority, etc.

b) A lot of what you say is just speculation. You make it sound like they're stalking the students - it sounds to me like they're just trying to get the word out. My academic honor society sent out "unsolicited letters" to qualified students via a list we requested from the student services department. I'm sure some of those students must have wondered "how did they get my name?"

Plus, you go on about we "could" lose a chapter and XYZ new members "might" have a bad experience and they "probably" wouldn't want to join one of the other sororities once theirs goes bad...etc...etc. Yes it "could" happen.....it COULD also be that there are some students who don't like the gruops on offer and want to start one of their own and they MIGHT be successful and happy with it.

c) You question their colonizations. From what I read in your statement, it sounds like this is a local from a nearby college trying to start a chapter at your campus. Sounds to me like a group who could very well be attempting to drum up business at 6 or 7 schools. They might not be successful after all...then really you'll have been worried for nothing.

d) Buttonz said, " The girl that I understand is behind this is NOT the type of girl that anyone would want to see as a greek...before she was a greek she gave herself a VERY bad rep and there are pictures of her dacing on bars, doing wet t-shirt contests, etc. None of the six sororites on campus will touch her because of this."

Right then, if the founders of XYZ local are bar-hopping, table-dancing, wet t-shirt wearing girls that *no one else wants* then why are you all so scared? So maybe all of the "nasty" icky girls that are not SDT, AXiD or AEPhi material will join them and enjoy it. So what? It's not like you wanted them for sisters anyway. If they get a lot of pledges who like that kind of thing....then OK! That's fine, apparently you're not looking for party-hardy new members.

Would observing XYZ local's (hypothetical future) antics make all of the other girls on campus not want to go Greek with any group? I don't know. Maybe.... but with 6 other groups to observe as well, it's kind of silly to overexaggerate that idea. It sounds to me like you're grasping at any ol' thing you can in order to argue why this sorority should not be allowed to start up.


I'm with Tom and PsychTau. As Tom says, if they're just trying to start a group because nothing currently suits them, then it's not really fair to do everything in your power to stop them (maybe that's why the other 3 locals don't want to cooperate with your CPH? Just a thought). If they're just flying by the seat of their pants....there could be trouble, but what can you really do? As PsychTau mentioned, be the best chapters *YOU* can be. Build up yourselves to be a positive and fun-filled sisterhood that any young lady would be proud to be a member of. In that way, you can increase your chapter's chance to be the one which stands the test of time.

.....Kelly

[Buttonz]

The three locals won't affilate with the CPH for one simple reason: formal rush. There rush takes placei n bars and they do what they want.

We are strong but not strong enough to add a new sorority.

[Buttonz]

Diamond Delta, you didn't understand whatI said. SOmeone said to unite with the locals and the CPH should be ruling over all the sororities. On our campus it doesn't because fhr locals won't unite with us due to formal rush and other NPC rules.

[nauadpi]

Originally posted by Buttonz
Diamond Delta, you didn't understand whatI said. SOmeone said to unite with the locals and the CPH should be ruling over all the sororities. On our campus it doesn't because fhr locals won't unite with us due to formal rush and other NPC rules.

On my old campus the locals were part of the CPH, but they did not participate in formal recruitment with us...

[preciousjeni]

Originally posted by nauadpi
On my old campus the locals were part of the CPH, but they did not participate in formal recruitment with us...

I was waiting for someone to say this. It might be a good idea to suggest a change to your coucil that would allow the locals to come onboard. Not would it better the relationship between the national and local sororities, but it would also help to establish some Greek-wide rules that all the sororities would be encouraged to follow.

If this occurs, any new sorority that comes on campus would have to affiliate with your council in order to be recognized by the Greek community, so at least the students could see the differences between the united Greeks (national and local) and the completely unregulated Greeks.

[AEPhiSierra]

thanks for the responses everybody but i guess i have to go into further detail to really understand what I mean.

The main governing body on our campus is the Inter-Greek Council of which all GLO's are a member including the NPC chapters. Panhel only consists of the 3 NPC chapters and we really only meet for the sake of formal recruitment. For a non-NPC to get on campus they need the vote of the IGC. So the fraternity vote counts just as much as the sorority vote in this matter. And as of right now girls from the expanding local are dating guys in at least two of the fraternities.

As for buttonz information on who is spearheading the effort i don't think that is completely true. i think its mostly girls from the original chapter spearheading the effort.

And they really don't seem to be filling an empty niche in greek system on our campus. There presence wasn't brought on by efforts of girls on our campus who didn't feel they found there place. It was them seeking out girls. They are a traditional sorority following the NPC model. They originally had wanted to affiliate with my national but were unable to for reason I am not completely sure of but it may have to do with some of the founders having disaffiliated from the two NPC groups on their campus.