supahotboi |
04-24-2012 11:13 AM |
Starting a fraternity chapter, looking for advice part 2
I deleted the 1st thread since things were getting out of hand. If you plan to post in one of my threads, be relevant or get out. I'm not interested in wasting any time arguing in circles about nothing. Also please no ladies posting, this is for fraternities, completely different realm here. Lastly, if you haven't started a chapter or have a real idea of how one starts, do not post. Starting verses. maintaining a chapter are two completely different concepts and I don't want advice for something that's not relevant. This isn't something I'm looking to argue about. And please be mature (like spending 5 posts commenting about my screen name, like really are you 4 years old?) since if not the mods will take care of you, thank you.
So again in the last thread I mentioned about how me and 2 of my friends (and possibly another guy I know) wanted to start a fraternity. However, we have not really had much help with the process of going about it and after a year we haven't went anywhere. If anything, we got involved with a bunch of sketchy people that have given us headaches along the way that just wasted time that we spent that could have been used a lot more wisely.
Again, not really looking to explain my entire situation since it's not really important, theres just too many things about myself, my friends and many other factors that are too much to talk about and since we are on the internet, there is barely a lot many of you aren't going to know about me regardless. Do not ask me why I want to do this or why haven't I rushed another fraternity or why haven't I talked to real people about this since these are very personal questions that don't need to be shared and that I know I have legitament reasons backing this.
We been in contacts with a National fraternity and they haven't done much. We met with them once and they want us to find 15-20 guys to start a colony. The expansion team has recommended me to an adviser (who was a guy that actually helped started another chapter out in the Mid-West) and he works a full-time job and doesn't have much time to do much. We have had barely any talks with the expansion team about anything outside of 2 phone calls at best. The adviser wants me to go out, find a bunch of guys, take them to him (which is an hour drive away from me), meet the guys, and then make a move. Again, theres no guaranteed from the headquarters right now about anything. They want to meet us, see if they are worth their time and then move forward. While it's understandable to some degree, it just is easier said than done since all we have is their word.
At this point it would be very awkward to move forward IMO. My friends are a little confused about the whole process as well and not even sure if this is real or if anything is going to happen. Me personally I know a lot about the fraternity process and about the system more than they do so I know more about whats expected. To find a bunch of guys that other fraternities haven't found and to convince them to buy something that has no security is just not good. It does not seem like we will get the people we are looking with this process.
Thing is, I'm a guy who is not just about one thing. I have a bunch of hobbies and have a lot of connections to different things. However, not too many people I know are interested in Greek Life since the rep it has at my school is not a high one. The percentage is below 4%, outside of seeing letters everywhere and some events here and there, Greek Life is just nothing that is really that great at my school. Organizations are constantly getting put on probation and coming and going. There isn't really any stability in the system. Then again I go to a commuter/up and coming university that basically helps just pass students to get their money, so in a way the attitude of the university is something that is reflected in the Greek system.
Because of this factor, me and my friends feel we have a great advantage with our idea since we look to make a great positive impact on the system that needs this. However, it is just an idea. To communicate this idea, it's rough at our stage because we lack any credibility. We are just a bunch of students who go to the school looking to get by, hopefully be successful some day, do things that regular college students do, and are decent people who just want to have a good time and learn some new things. We don't have any real marketing or are officials or really are any sort of credible leaders in this area.
The real question here is, how do fraternity chapters start up? What is the typical process? I tried googling "starting fraternity chapter stories" and nothing. It seems difficult for students themselves to start this up and I can see why. I plan to talk to the university this week and figure out their future plans for Greek Life and see what I can get involved with, but right now, everything seems very vague. The Greek Office has not been that helpful for the most part and even thinking of reaching out to other organizations at this point. The thing I am really seeing is what is there to expect (other than the time commitment, the work, the money, and many of the givens). It's already been a difficult process and I can see it getting harder. However, it's not just me facing issues, but the people that are in it with me are 100x more confused than I am.
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