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I am not Zeta Psi; an Acacia alum; but I believe in the Greek system and support Zeta Psi's effort to expand. Zeta Psi, like Acacia is a small house, with about 50 chapters, similar to Acacia with 44. So, we face the same challenges - building a house with alumni support. With a small number of houses, there's not enough dues money to support a paid staff.
As an alum of Acacia, here's my life story. I went to a top school (RPI - which also had Zeta Psi) and spent a career in technology and retired well from the dot com boom. I gave up the 80 hour weeks for a comfortable retirement job, and have a 14 year old son, who just won the National Spelling Bee. One of his prizes was a scholarship from Sig Ep, which included a trip to their conclave.
For an old alum like me, it was an eye opener. I, personally, got a lot out of Greek life, but I thought those days were over, As I've moved around the country, I saw many houses fold, and pledges die, at my house and others. My eyes were opened at Sig Ep. They hafe a mentoring/coaching program called Balanced Man, and have been very successful, in changing the image of Greek life. Most of the other giant (190+ chapter) houses have adopted similar programs, as well as many smaller (100 chapter) nationals. Although Sig Ep has a paid staff of three dozen, replicating a mentoring program could be done by volunteers.
Here's my view. Demographics matters. Zeta Psi tends to focus on the top 100 colleges, which is a philosophy with a lot of merit. Britain has a strong distinction between "University" and "College", but America has more a gradual scale, as you go down the scale of selectivity, "universities" tend to morph into "colleges". However (I spent much of my career in demographics and org behavior), the difference between the top hundred, the second hundred and the third is not that great. Kiplingers publishes the top 366 colleges, and this is the key breakpoint.
Here's two reasons. One is the new ivies. Lately, there are more qualified students than ever. Millennials are better prepared than Gen-X. The quality of student has pushed up the quality of the schools. And the kids are smarter about picking out a college. They know about majors and the individual fine points of each college, not everybody wants to go to Harvard; students want the specialized network of a particular profession, not the generalized networking that comes out of the top ten. The students know their personalities, they'll pick a small relational school over a giant state campus. The world got flatter, at least the top 366 colleges have gotten flatter.
The second reason is alums. Alumni are like artillery. They are powerful, economical, and they win wars. But they have limited range. Acacia's only west coast house is within an hour of six million jobs. If an alum is going to help, he probably won't drive farther than an hour, on a regular basis. But for us (Acacia) one of every six new grads, that will take a new job within an hour of a chapter, will be near our Berkeley house.
I am like many alums of the sixties. I don't want to sit around and do nothing in retirement, I have the health and resources to give back to what got me here. Mitch Anthony wrote a book - The New Retirementality - and that fits us perfectly. Greek life has resurfaced just as we checked out of our 80 hour a week gigs, and the talent is there for the asking.
Our (Acacia) challenge is to expand where there are lots of alums, to enhance the alum chapters located where there are lots of jobs, and to augment our version of Balanced Man at the local chapters. As much as the millennials are smart students, there is a lot they will learn in the five years after graduation. We want our alumni presence to help them network, and find good jobs, plus give them career tips to help them succeed.
If an alum sees his chapter as undergraduate-only, he will rarely connect his earning ability to his undergraduate experience. But if he sees brother alums helping him get jobs (and raises), he will associate income to his Greek letters. And give back. I saw SIg Ep raise 16 million bucks in half an hour, their alums believe, and their undergrads are grateful (and will come back to Conclave with their own successes).
Zeta Psi has a number of huge strengths (I often comment that you have 50 chapters, but that's in "degrees celsius" - Zeta Psi acts like a house with 90 chapters). Your headquarters is close to NYC, which is an advantage over being located in the midwest (away from jobs and alums). The Washington and Wall Street programs are remarkable - perhaps you can do some weekend intensive coaching (ala Balanced Man) along with them?
You should consider merging with another fraternity? Having chapters in Texas and the south and the rockies will help you. Plus it will give you the strength to have paid field staff, to help you grow and implement programs, and to motivate the alums, who, right now, are too far from a chapter to help. Zeta Psi is the "biggest of the small houses", and could easily merge with a medium (60 to 90 chapter) national and still keep much of the identity and heritage.
Fraternities are changing, and, during any "sea change", some will survive. The best nationals will have two elements. One is a good mentoring program (Balanced Man). The other is an excellent alum program, that continues to mentor the new grads, during the important five years after graduation.
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