Local or NPC?

[mermaidkween]

I'm thinking I already know the answer to this question, but we'll see.

I go to a pretty small school, and I wish that we had at least one non-major-related Greek organization. I was thinking about it and I wondered, "Why not start one?"

My question is, might I be able to start a chapter of an NPC-recognized sorority? If I could, what would the steps be for that? (Or, would Nationals have to recognize any colonization potential we have?)

If that's not an option, how would I go about creating a Local? I've got the name picked out already, and no one's using it yet except for some obscure honor society with one chapter -- so I hope that doesn't rule it out. Also, if I did get this going, how would I go about colonizing other schools, since I do want to take this further than just home turf.

Any advice on this is welcomed.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by mermaidkween

I'm thinking I already know the answer to this question, but we'll see.

I go to a pretty small school, and I wish that we had at least one non-major-related Greek organization. I was thinking about it and I wondered, "Why not start one?"

My question is, might I be able to start a chapter of an NPC-recognized sorority? If I could, what would the steps be for that? (Or, would Nationals have to recognize any colonization potential we have?)

If that's not an option, how would I go about creating a Local? I've got the name picked out already, and no one's using it yet except for some obscure honor society with one chapter -- so I hope that doesn't rule it out. Also, if I did get this going, how would I go about colonizing other schools, since I do want to take this further than just home turf.

Any advice on this is welcomed.

You cannot start a chapter of an NPC group on your own unless 1) the campus is open for NPC expansion 2) the NPC group accepts your group. You could theoretically start a local group on your campus with the thought of becoming a colony of an NPC, but be aware that the group you have in mind when you begin may not be the one you ultimately end up with - therefore it's not a good idea to make your group look too much like an established NPC (colors, etc).

You need the approval of the school to begin any sort of greek group, unless you are going to be a noncollegiate sorority. Check out the locals and up and coming nationals forums for more info.

[emily2228]

Hey, my campus had no Greek Life and I went through the whole process with the NPC, and actually just finished up with colony process, and now we are a chapter with Theta Phi Alpha.

I have to warn you though-it is A LOT of hard work, and you def need the schools support, and a group of hard working & dedicated women. The whole process took about 2 years...I would contact the NPC for more specific details. If you do decide to go through the process feel free to contact me, because I am sure you will have tons of questions! Good Luck!!!!

[Buttonz]

I would contact both your school and then NPC to see if it's doable. It is a lot of hard work.

It probably is a little easier to start a local, but before you choose that because it might be a little bit easier, you have to weigh the benefits of national vs. local. Also, your school might be more open to it if you went national over local.

[ekDZ1535]

Your first step should be to stop by your student activities office or the advisor of current student organizations. Many universities now have rules against having local organizations and all student organizations (Greek and non) must have a national/state affiliation outstide of the institution (for liability reasons).

For expanding, you will want to contact your NPC area advisor - if you go to www.npcwomen.org (which I can imagine you're already familiar with ), you can get the contact for your area and she will be able to help you from there.

A word of warning, if you start an interest group (and likely that will be something you'll need to do for your institution to take you seriously), do not focus on being a part of any one chapter. What will happen when you open for expansion is that you can invite up to three NPC groups to present to you and you will choose one of the three to be your new colony - it's a very interesting process and likely well worth the work! Good luck to you!

[mermaidkween]

Hi guys!

Thanks so much for all of the advice, it was exactly what I was needing -- don't stop if you have more to say, though!

I'm willing to put the work into it, but the problem might be getting the school's support. We have one "fraternity" - Sigma Alpha Iota for the music people, and we have Greek honor societies, so they might be into it, but I'd have to present the idea to them in a way that makes it seem like a lot more than a social thing. Any ideas for that?

I can't really decide what I ought to do, though. I thought it would really be awesome to be Alpha Sigma Chi, since that's our school's initials, but I don't know.

Our Student Activities Director recently left, and we don't have a new one yet. So it might be a while before I can talk to whomever ends up in the spot. Bit of a problem. But yeah....anything else you can tell me that tries to address my other issues?

(Oh, and I've barely looked at http://www.npcwomen.org...I've just got friends "in the know." It seriously helps when you're trying to do things like this! I wrote a spoof article about our entire school becoming a sorority -- fat chance, I know -- but they were an invaluable resource for that, too.)

[PiKA2001]

You might have a hard time starting a social sorority on your campus with no director of student activities director on board to guide you through the process. Also, don't even bother trying to present your idea to the greek honor societies because they aren't really fraternities or sororities to begin with ( in the sense of what YOU are looking for ). Have you thought about maybe trying to start an underground group?

[mermaidkween]

Well, I won't know who the new one is until the next school year, I think. And I don't even want to be associated with those honor societies, really. I know that they're not sororities (for the record, we're a women's college).

But maybe underground could be okay. Of course, it would be harder to get support that way, but it could be a last resort.

[33girl]

Alpha Sigma Chi is a long established local sorority at SUNY-Oswego - plus they own the domain name. http://www.alphasigmachi.org/

It's also the name of a fraternity: http://www.alphasigmachi.com/

Staying away from anything starting with "Alpha" is probably advisable as there are a large number of national and local groups that use it.

[ekDZ1535]

Becoming an underground is only going to cause problems - you need the support of your school administration - consider trying to find other women on campus who already are working with such administrators - women in student government, involved with committees, resident assistants, orientation leaders, etc. You need to have others who have the same vision as you and will support you - an administrator may say no to one person who comes to the door but it becomes much more difficult with a band of women who all want the same thing.

As far as how to present it, first, hold out and way for the new student activities coordinator OR go to their boss - I'm not sure how your school administration is set up, but perhaps your Dean of Students would be the next best person to go to (at the very least, she'll know who you should talk to).

Next, get in touch with NPC and find out who your area alumnae person is and get in contact with her! She'll likely have a slew of presentations on the benefits of fraternity and sorority life - if you don't hear anything soon, PM me and I can email you other information. You need to recruit administrators like you would new women to join the chapter - you have to help them see why they should invest in this.

Don't focus on the name and things right now, esp. if you're considering becoming an NPC sorority - yes, that's part of the fun, but really you're better off spending time looking at other national sorority websites and seeing how they sell the sorority experience and what you can use to help your school to want to invest in it.

[mermaidkween]

About the ASC thing - bugger. I guess all of my Googling was for naught.


And about NPCs not favoring women's colleges--I think the real problem is that over the years, a lot of women's colleges have chosen to go co-ed for monetary reasons. So they're kind of on the brink of extinction, which is sad.


I think I can get a group together who would be for this idea. And if we work together and cross our fingers, maybe we can be the fourth college on that list!

[aopirose]

Originally Posted by mermaidkween

And about NPCs not favoring women's colleges--I think the real problem is that over the years, a lot of women's colleges have chosen to go co-ed for monetary reasons.

It's not that NPC doesn't favor women's colleges. It's that the adminstration of most women's colleges, and a few co-ed schools, are not in favor women's fraternities/sororities. The thought is that such organizations are not inclusive and divides loyalties and thus not in keeping with the missions of the schools.

[LaneSig]

Texas Women's University (although it does accept men) also is a "women's" college that has Panhellenic. They have chapters of Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, and Sigma Sigma Sigma. Check out their website for some insight into GLOs at a primarily female college.

[mermaidkween]

Hello all who've given advice or made any contributions whatsoever. Here's a little update, if you care.

Right now, I'm still trying to figure out who exactly to contact at my school, but I'm keeping this idea amongst students at the moment, and using SGA to find the appropriate contacts. I haven't met any real opposition thus far, so that's good. Hopefully it can all work out, but if I can't get a real sorority going, maybe I can at least start a student interest group (Facebook recruitment for that, I guess) and try again next year. I don't think I'll give up until I get some semblance of what I want... I can be quite persuasive.

[PenguinTrax]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Alpha Sigma Chi is a long established local sorority at SUNY-Oswego - plus they own the domain name. http://www.alphasigmachi.org/

yeah - love the pic on the front page with the girl holding a huge WINE bottle...