I hate to say it, because you seem to be the kind of member we'd all like to have, but I can see the adviser issues here. The event itself does have risk management issues. Unkinown people in the house after "hours", who would cook the food (possible health department issue not to mention insurance issue), possibly needing an adviser there at a non standard time, etc. Just the first few things off the top of my head...and some chapters may have ways to deal with these things whereas yours may not.

As for the banners, etc, those can be issues as well. We control that kind of thing in my GLO = national policy speaking. All tee shirts have to be approved, etc. While it might be cute, it may not be something you'd wear to visit your grandmother. And I think that's probably what the advisers are looking at.

It's entirely possible that you have crappy advisors. You wouldn't be the first chapter, and you won't be the last, faced with this issue.

First off, thanks for the subsequent posts, they cleared up quite a bit.

So I'm going to guess...you are at an Ivy or an Ivyesque for your area sort of school (which the sorority is very proud to have a chapter at because of its stellar academic reputation). Your advisors are from a Big 10/Pac 10/SEC school. They don't understand that students at the school in general, and Greek students in particular, have a different set of priorities and values than they may have had in their undergraduate experience.

The stress caused by the advisors and HQ constantly telling you that the members you're choosing aren't good enough and you aren't bringing in enough philanthropy $$ (while to the world they trumpet the fact that they have a chapter at Ivyesque U) has caused retention problems, in-for-a-buck-in-for-a-quarter risk management issues, and a lack of women who truly represent and are proud of what the chapter is about running for office (hence the suckup mealy-mouthed president). Even though you think the advisors are ridiculous, shallow and full of shit...someone telling you all the time that you're doing everything wrong is mentally and emotionally draining.

I advise you to go to your alumnae (and not the ones that graduated 5 years ago, the ones that graduated 15 years ago) and ask for their assistance and possible inclusion on your advisory board. It also might be a good idea to get in contact with chapters at schools similar to your own. A lot of chapters who have difficulties of this kind think/are made to think they're the only ones...when nothing could be further from the truth.

I don't think your advisors are evil, just clueless and unable to separate their sorority experience from what someone else's might be. If our groups were that homogenous on a national scale, we wouldn't bother having rush, we'd just pick people by their photos and resumes.

Oh, and that photo thing. I think you should tell your advisors that you couldn't take photos of the girls you want for your pledge class as they were all quite insistent that vampires can't be photographed.

I have to agree with Titchou here. My chapter and (if I remember correctly) all other chapters on my campus weren't allowed to hold bake sales, or any other official event where the members prepared food. It's a liability issue that most fraternities and sororities don't want to deal with.

Also, in regards to the slogans - everyone wants theirs to be the cutest.. Or the funniest.. Or the most clever... But I promise you that this isn't why girls join your sorority or why people donate money. Did you join your sorority based on a t-shirt design? Probably not. Design a t-shirt or slogan that SAYS something and MEANS something. Make a t-shirt or banner that piques someone's interest. As an example, which I believe I found on phiredup.com, a chapter made a t-shirt that simply said "Ask Me". When people asked, they talked about their sorority and Greek life experience.

Use your creativity instead of reverting to silly slogans that have been used over and over. Think outside the box. You don't want to be like every other chapter on campus.. You want to stand out.

In 2006, my chapter won the award for Top Chapter at our national convention, and we also won the highest philanthropy award. At the time, we didn't have any more than 15 members. We hosted a pageant (which the chapter continues to hold every year), we participated in the JDRF walk in town, we participated in Habitat for Humanity, and took part in countless other events. We never raise the most money.. But national organizations generally reward huge efforts and dedication. The numbers aren't so important.

Your advisors need to realize that.

It sounds like the active members need to learn to pick their battles, and if things get out of hand, a change in advisors might need to be discussed.

Does your chapter re-elect your advisors year after year? Every other year?

At my alma mater, the SCHOOL wouldn't let you do that for the same reasons. You had to jump through hoops to get special approval. It was much easier to use Aramark or host something off campus.

This definitely could have been the case on my campus as well. I just always remember being told by older chapter members and advisors, "No bake sales!" I'm surprised so many chapters at the OP's school are supposedly taking part in these types of events.

I'd also guess that she may be in a location where it is hard to get advisers, and so the HQ doesn't get to be terribly selective in who they put there.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Interestingly, at my school there are only a few buildings where we aren't allowed to sell baked goods and beverages, and each semester about a dozen greek organizations have a late night food fundraiser.

As for advisors, I don't know how elections work, or how many volunteers we have in our area. Unfortunately my chapter is only 6 years old (we started on campus, left from the 70's to 00's, and came back), so we don't have many alumnae. Sororities are popular on campus but I guess the commitment isn't as strong as it is at other schools; our recent graduates don't feel the need to come back and visit haha.

Not all groups "elect" advisers. I would venture that the majority are "appointed" by the powers-that-be. If you have an alumnae group in your area, I'd see about visting with them at one of their meetings - or having an event for them at your campus. You can show them what great ladies you are and "rush" them to be advisers!

I can also tell you that no matter what other groups on your campus do, if I were involved with your chapter, you would not be having a bake cale or midnight pancake event as you described. I had to shut one down when I was Director of Housing due to house risk management issues....and the chapter typically made a decent amount of money - it was a taco event. But that mattered not. It was open to the public and the "public" was not the "public" we wanted in the house. IS there a late night food place - IHOP or some local cafe - that you could partner with and have it there and the chapter's philanthropy get a portion of the proceeds? Chick-Fil-A does that here. Am sure there are others as well.

I understand how frustrated you are. However, learning to build consensus across different factions in an organization is a leadership skill. You can quit or you can view this as a learning opportunity and continue to work on it. Bringing different factions to consensus is difficult. It is a valuable skill, though.

If I were going to start doing that, I would sit down with the advisors and listen to what they want. Don't talk; just listen. Go away and think about what they said, and then try to incorporate their concerns into your plans.

There's a difference between leading and managing; and advisors also need to understand what it means to advise.

"Sometimes one man with courage is a majority" - Andrew Jackson. OP, you can be that one man with courage; that's all it takes to start a change. I am willing to bet that there is at least ONE advisor (or potential advisor) who is willing to partner with you in formulating positive goals and initiating change.

My sense is that the OP is NOT going to resign. The information and feedback in this thread, along with her responses, encourage me to believe that she's going to make a positive difference in her chapter.

Yeah, I never heard of such a thing...I certainly wasn't "elected" when I was part of an advisory board.

Unless ASTalumna is talking about about the school forcing you to have a faculty member as an advisor.

I am guessing/hoping that the groups on her campus who do this don't actually let them IN the house. One of our chapters always used to have a chili feed and every picture I've seen of it, they were in the yard.

This is one of those things where you have to sit down with the advisors (who I assume are the ones approving or disapproving your absences) and make them understand what a fellowship IS. Lots of schools don't offer it, and lots of people don't understand it. A letter from the professor you're working with briefly outlining the requirements you have to meet would go a long way.

If it was other members denying the requests, I wouldn't be too hard on them - they were probably just following the policy in your member manual or whatever. Even if you've cleared this problem up for yourself, it would be great to set a precedent so if anyone else has the issue in years to come, it's not such a cluster@#$%.

On my campus, groups would do fundraisers with Krispy Kreme and make a FORTUNE! Students could make orders ahead of time, and there would be a pick-up date, time, and place (usually in the student union) where they could get their donuts. Some extra boxes would also be ordered so people could buy them there on the spot if they wanted.

I guess "elect" might not be the best word. It's not as though we had a group of alumnae all vying for the position, and the chapter was able to pick and choose who to put in the position. But we did vote (once every 2 years, I believe) to keep the current advisor we had. Our chapter advisor was awesome and has held the position for at least a decade (maybe close to two decades now?), so voting was basically just a formality. However, if there had been multiple people who wanted the job, then yes, it would have essentially been an election, but we all know that advisors don't just grow on trees.. on some campuses (mine included), advisory boards are difficult to fill.