UARK needs more sororities!

[momof]

I have a few friends that kids are going to UARK and are in the recruitment process at this time. Cuts have been harsh and just trying to figure out why the University only has 11 sororities. The school doesnt seem opposed to greek life and all 11 will have houses by next year. Any one with any insight. They have 1717 PNM's this year!

[unarose]

This isn’t an unfamiliar topic of discussion here. I’d recommend this thread for more information—it’s not the newest thread, but I do believe it’s still relevant.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...hlight=Housing

[ForeverRoses]

Because of the 1717 women registered for recruitment, 1700 think they should all be receive bids to the same 3 houses and if they don't, they will drop. (yes this is snarky, sorry).

[ChioLu]

EXPAND!
With 1700+ women going through recruitment, you need more than 11 sororities.

[Iota_JWH]

Alpha Gamma Delta is colonizing next year

[33girl]

Originally Posted by momof

I have a few friends that kids are going to UARK and are in the recruitment process at this time. Cuts have been harsh and just trying to figure out why the University only has 11 sororities. The school doesnt seem opposed to greek life and all 11 will have houses by next year. Any one with any insight. They have 1717 PNM's this year!

Cuts aren’t “harsh” because of the amount of PNMs. RFM requires the chapters with the highest return rates (ie the most popular chapters) to release more women earlier so they won’t be led on or think a sorority is interested in them when they’re not. Prior to RFM, sororities would keep inviting girls back just for “insurance” or to affirm their popularity. Women who in reality had no chance were strung along and kept dreaming the impossible dream, rather than being realistic and looking at other chapters where they DID have a chance and would be happy. When it came time for pref night, they were let go and left with nothing.

Expanding at a school like this is a HUGE undertaking financially, mentally and emotionally for a national organization. They also run the risk of not seeing ROI (in all facets) for many years, if ever. If it was a matter of just opening a chapter and immediately running at the same level as the current sororities on campus, there would be many schools with chapters of all 26 NPC sororities. But it doesn’t work that way.

[momof]

Harsh might not have been the right word. I had told my friends daughters to expect huge cuts the first day. I like RFM and think that it helps place PNM's. ForeverRoses is correct and it breaks my heart to be on the UARK sorority page and hear that some girls got cut from all sororities this morning and that their was a long line of girls about to drop because they were not happy with what they had.

On a side note.
I dont understand how going to 2 parties total 45 min. Talked to just a handful of girls and decide that you want to drop out because you don't like who invited you back. These chapters are huge, your pledge class 100+. Something is wrong with you if you cant find your group within 300+ girls.

I am really surprised on how fast Phi Mu and AXO built houses. They both came onto campus in 2012 and having rush this year in their new homes. Let me tell you that Phi Mu house is gorgeous!! 5 years and to have a homes like that is amazing to me.

I am so proud of the 2 girls that I know that are going to Sisterhood parties today and tomorrow. 1 girl had just 4 after the first round of cuts and this morning just has 2 left. I keep saying it just takes one. Was she disappointed yes but open your eyes to who wants you. The second girl is doing better and has had a very open mind, she just wants to find a sisterhood. She only has 4 parties for sisterhood and having a great time meeting new friends.

[Titchou]

Folks, while it may look like the U is favorable to getting new chapters, they aren't making it easy. Getting land from them - that you want to live on - is no easy process. And then you have to raise the money, pay the mortgage and when you leave it all goes to the U and you get nothing. Not many groups are willing to invest in that.

And DG is building a new house right now and will move in next year.

[TXDG]

Why aren’t there more?

1. It literally takes millions of dollars to colonize at a school like Arkansas. You HAVE to come on campus with land + house plans or you’re sunk.

2. I can’t imagine many groups that aren’t already there have sufficient alumnae support living in northwest Arkansas. I might be wrong but??

3. The sorority women on campus need to be more supportive of new groups. It’s kind of the same situation at Ole Miss v Alabama. Alabama has embraced their new chapters and Ole Miss does everything to cut them down and put them in their “place”.. Hence, Alabama has regular quotas (Pref attendance divided by the # of houses) and schools like Ole Miss and Arkansas end up with tiered quotas - and more new members feeling like “their” top tier bids were stolen from them. It all starts on campus, IMO.

[ladybug12]

I am going to disagree just a little bit. Alabama added DG a few years back...the first new (although it was a recolonization) chapter in some years...plus they had 16 or so chapters on campus. When Ole Miss added ADPi there were only 9 chapters, Alpha Phi followed a few years later. Arkansas also had less than 10 groups when Phi Mu and AChiO came on campus at the same time. I see the tiered quotas as a way for the newer chapters to build their membership numbers quickly as they try to get established on campus...and also to help pay for those huge new houses they have to build.

[SWTXBelle]

And don't forget the importance of having local alumnae to help support the new chapter and act as advisers. It's often a catch-22 - you have to have alumnae to have a chapter, but you often need a nearby chapter or two to have significant numbers of alumnae.

[irishpipes]

The Phi Mu and AXO house builds have actually been very slow (6 years) compared to DG and AOII (2 years). This is no slight on either group - the university is very difficult to deal with, and as Titchou said - they won't sell the land. They lease the land to the sorority, so you own a house on leased land. To say that situation is less than ideal is an understatement. Additionally, NW Arkansas is a fairly remote area. Walmart has brought some money to the region, but many groups would have little alumnae support right there for the kind of constant advising that a new, very large chapter would require. I will also say from personal experience on this campus that the tier structure goes beyond the student body - it is perpetuated heavily by local alumnae. I was very disappointed with the lack of support from some of the other NPCs.

Arkansas has grown exponentially with the implementation of the program which gives in-state tuition to students from neighboring states. The academic requirements to get this benefit aren't too high, so a lot of out-of-staters are taking advantage of it. This means an influx of PNMs from Texas and Oklahoma who bring with them preconceived notions of what groups they want, based on who is strong in their states. It is really hard to break into the social structure at a school like Arkansas, so it's no wonder many groups aren't interested.

Also, keep in mind that very, very few PNMs are cut from all sororities. They might be cut from all the sororities they wanted, but that's a huge difference, and adding more chapters won't help that situation.

[mkaytay]

Not totally related, but I went on some of the instagrams to see their houses (all of which are beautiful!) and was FLOORED by the amazing use of balloons at their parties. Check out AXO: https://www.instagram.com/explore/lo...y-of-arkansas/

Is this a normal Arkansas recruitment thing, and do the sisters have the in house skills for this or is there a company in Fayetteville that is crushing it?

[carnation]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

Also, keep in mind that very, very few PNMs are cut from all sororities. They might be cut from all the sororities they wanted, but that's a huge difference, and adding more chapters won't help that situation.

Perfectly stated!

[fraternitynik]

I don't think cuts are necessarily a problem. . . I think more harm than good is done when people are overly eager for 100% of PNMs to join a fraternity or sorority. At the very least we know some level of selectivity is taking place (whether that's superficial or not depends on the organizations)

As for more sororities, there are a couple challenges. NPC sororities are slow to grow - each extension of the sorority is a major financial investment. At a place like UARK, it seems as if there is a demand that NPC sororities acquire housing (to be "competitive")

I've written about it before, but I do think that the sorority world might benefit from a little more openness in terms of letting women create groups. It might create an alternative standard, which can be confusing, but it's a real shame that 10 fantastic women who didn't find the right fit and want to create their own social/literary club would never qualify as a sorority simply because the NPC is a tough club to become a part of.

In any case, I think that UARK has been working to address their crowding issue for a while. 300-person chapters are great for revenue, but there is a point of diminishing returns after 150 or so people in an organization.