[Kevin]

Originally Posted by supahotboi

I didn't blow Kevin off at all. He had a lot of good points. But I don't agree on his perspectives 100% though. His organization pays guys to upkeep his fraternity. I cannot relate to that. I find it hard to understand where he is coming from.

You misread. I stated that we have a very successful chapter which is so successful because they are so very effective in summer recruitment. Summer recruitment is also treated very seriously within my much more modest (but respectable) chapter. I gave those examples to show you how much of an opportunity summer could be for you.

As far as expansion goes, we got started up when the University opened up to expansion. It sent out letters soliciting groups to come onto our campus and establish themselves with the blessings of IFC and campus life. Several groups presented and Sigma Nu was selected. Beginning in the Fall of 1999, HQ sent a paid consultant to recruit an initial group of guys to comprise the beginnings of the colony. I was a part of that group (but I didn't come on until the Fall of '00). The expansion consultant stayed for one semester, helped with the establishment of our candidate program, left a bunch of books and benchmarks to reach and then we had to figure out how to be a fraternity. It was mostly trial and error. Mostly error. We took three years to colonize. In that time, we fluctuated between single digits and finally got up to around 35 before we petitioned HQ for a charter. Maintaining a chapter once it's chartered is tough to do as well, but you haven't even been established as a colony yet.

Why I say what you are doing is a little suspect procedurally is that yes, I do understand that sometimes, organizations force their way into a campus and into an IFC by establishing colonies and working outside the system until they can force the system to embrace them, that's not really the way it's done in most places. Usually, the existing organizations have decided that in order to improve the quality of their Greek Life system, they want to add an additional organization. They then select one of those groups from a list of applicants. Then, that organization will then dedicate significant assets to getting that group off the ground. A group of 3-4 men calling themselves a chapter is going to be a money-losing proposition for a national organization, so there is significant reason why they invest heavily in creating a strong organization.

Maybe that gives some background into why I think your entire situation is a little suspect and that you seem to have gone about things a bit backasswardly.

No offense but I am not interested in the woman's perspective

Life lesson. Never say those words together. What comes after it or before it won't matter much. Also, I'm an adviser of a relatively successful chapter. I often inquire with NPC advisers as to their best practices because frankly, NPC groups have evolved as organizations far past what most NIC groups have been capable of in terms of membership development, property management, expansion, recruitment, etc. Sometimes, the smartest thing you can possibly do as a fraternity member is find out what the sororities are doing and then attempt to duplicate their success.

The fraternities that come to my school is not because of the students wanted them to come. The last 3 organizations that have came in the last 3 years was not because a bunch of students were interested in a fraternity and got together and tried to start one, but because the HQ is doing expansion this way.

That is actually something you'll want to bring to the forefront of your discussions with possible organizations you're wanting to be a part of. It sounds like there's a market for expansion and that if they dedicate sufficient resources, they'll get a good return on investment.

But the issue is of constructing relationships completely based on this. Are you telling me that I should go out there, find random joes or people I hardly know, and hang out with them just to start a fraternity?

Yeah, that's pretty much what recruitment is. You get to know different prospects, if they're of quality, and only after you've made friends with them, bring up the fraternity thing. It's pretty much dude dating. That's recruitment in a nutshell.

I'm not going to explain everything here because it's just leading to trolls.

Try to see where we're coming from. You've been given a lot of good advice. I can say that because I have been very close to where you are right now (granted with quite a bit more organizational support, which is something you could fix if you found a group which wanted to dedicate actual resources to a colonization effort). I know exactly what you need to do to be successful. You have other ideas. What you do with that is up to you and unless you're a Sigma Nu colony, I really don't have a stake.

You need to listen to the advice that's given and be more gentlemanly about it. Many of the folks responding do have significant expansion experience and are extremely experienced in the operations of a fraternity or sorority. Finally, never doubt the wisdom of the ladies of GC.