sorority recruitment with a chapter that's not listed?

mystikchick · #1 02-27-2007, 03:27 PM

hi everyone,
i've been a longtime lurker, but i finally got around to registering because i have a question...my freshman year of college (i'm now a jr), the one NPC sorority on campus held an informal info session which I attended, but nothing ever came of it. I wondered last year if they were still around, and checked the sorority's official website, but they were listed as having been shut. to my surprise, today i saw flyers posted around campus advertising info sessions over the next two days for said sorority, and being confused, i went back to the website and searched for it, and they aren't listed.

i would like to attend but i don't want to get into anything that's not officially sanctioned. does anyone have any advice?

33girl · #2 02-27-2007, 03:38 PM

This could be one of two scenarios:

-The chapter could be recolonizing/reorganizing and the natl website just hasn't been updated; or

-The women are keeping the chapter going underground without official sanction. (Although flyers aren't very "underground," LOL.)

To be safe - email the sorority's national office and ask what the status of the chapter at your university is.

Bravo to you for being smart and checking this out!!

mystikchick · #3 02-27-2007, 03:42 PM

ok, i will do that. thanks for the help

FSUZeta · #4 02-27-2007, 03:45 PM

the sorority may have tried to start a colony two years ago, and perhaps did not get the student response they had hoped, or something else might have happened that kept them from getting the colony off the ground.

it will only cost you a little of your time to check out one of the info. sessions. they may explain at the sessions what happened two years ago. if it is legit, there should be some national officers there or in the least some local alumnae, and the administrator who would be over greek life.

i cannot speak for all npc sororities, but our national website is not updated as often aswe would like. that may be why there is no info. on the webiste you visited.

mystikchick · #5 02-27-2007, 03:51 PM

that makes sense. the last information session i went to though was a group of senior members. according to the website (the chapter came up when i did a general search based on university name), the chapter reopened in the mid-80s, but then "left campus in 2004," which is when I was a freshman. Nevertheless, I did email HQs and I will attend the information session to scope things out a bit further.

FSUZeta · #6 02-27-2007, 04:56 PM

good for you!! 33girl gave excellent advice.

DeltaBetaBaby · #7 02-27-2007, 07:10 PM

The Greek Life office at your school may also be a good source of information.

mystikchick · #8 02-27-2007, 10:49 PM

well, i took the advice offered here and went to check things out for myself. it turns out it's a group of four women who were initiated the spring of their freshman year, only to have had the chapter shut the following fall. before they leave they want to try and get the chapter reopened so that there's a group on campus for women who want to bond with other women. rest assured, they've gone through all the appropriate channels and hope to be able to let us know next week whether the campus administration/their national HQ will give them the go ahead. they say it looks hopeful, but you never know until it's actually confirmed. should that happen, they'll try to do an expedited rush so that bonding can start to happen before summer break.

the enthusiasm in the room was contagious. when i went as a freshman (apparently right before the chapter shut due to serious financial issues and a lack of initiative to recruit because its members were going through intense personal stuff and a hostile campus climate), it was me and five sisters. it was BEYOND awkward trying to make small talk in that vast lounge. tonight's meeting (the first of three) had 26 girls attend, mainly freshman, two-three sophomores, and me. it was kinda cute how excited some of the girls were getting, so it would be awesome to have this actually come through.

i know there's no guarantees on my being selected should rush happen, but after reading so many threads here (yeah i'm an addict :P) it would be kinda cool to be able to at least get a taste of it myself. at least then i'd never have the "if only...but my college had no sororities."

so, i'll keep everyone updated, is the long and short of it. many thanks to all those who gave me advice here

Stef the Pef · #9 03-01-2007, 04:10 AM

Yay! Good luck, mystik. I'm glad they're excited about getting started again.

FSUZeta · #10 03-01-2007, 07:41 AM

oh yes, please keep us posted.

i hope that it works out for you.

mystikchick · #11 03-06-2007, 11:52 PM

so i do have an update, of sorts. it seems from the emails they've sent out they haven't yet contacted nationals about the prospect of recolonization, which kind of makes sense given the campus i'm on - my guess is they're trying to build a strong case to present. i counted the numbers on the email list, and there's about 45 girls on there. this blows me away, because given the school, i would NEVER have guessed this would ever be the case. They've gotten clearance from the office of Student Activities (we don't have a Greek Life office) and have applied for recognition as a registered group on campus with the Student Activities Board. If they have that, they have permission to exist as a group on campus, which I suppose strengthens their case.

they did hold a 'wine and cheese' party on friday night that i didn't attend (too exhausted), but a friend of mine went with a friend of hers who wanted company since she didn't know anyone there, and well...i'm a bit ill at ease at what i hear happened. the one sister who's kind of "out there" for lack of a better term started a game of "never have i ever" and apparently the questions were extremely racy (examples given to me: "never have i ever had a threesome, never have i ever had anal sex, etc") and apparently those fingers were dropping pretty damn quickly

i don't mean to sound judgmental, but as i've seen so many of you tell prospective members in their rush threads, try and potentially envision these girls as your sisters, and i've kept that in mind, and i don't know how comfortable i'd feel being around girls whose values differ so greatly from mine, but...we'll see.

if they have events post-break, i'll try and attend. right now they're just trying to boost enthusiasm and encourage bonding (which maybe isn't the greatest idea if they don't know for sure they're coming back to campus...no?) they're having a lunch on thursday in the freshman cafeteria, but since i'm fasting I don't think I'll go...

still interested, but more cautious now.

KSUViolet06 · #12 03-07-2007, 12:31 AM

I'm so confused:

So does this group consider itself a sorority or a club? Or are they more of a sorority interest group? Are they holding "rush" and handing out bids to girls to join their club that will hopefully become an NPC sorority?

Anyway, think it over because if you don't like them as a group, then you won't like them as sorority sisters.

This is certainly an interesting situation. I mean, it's great that they are trying to bring a chapter back. But do keep in mind that if the chapter was closed in just 2004, it's not likely they would be brought back so soon.

mystikchick · #13 03-07-2007, 01:01 AM

you're not the only one. it seems the way they're thinking of themselves is as four sisters who are have formed an interest group comprised of girls who would like to see a sorority on campus, and since they're the only sorority (i believe) that's ever been on my campus and there are still (though not for long, since they're all seniors) initiated sisters on campus, that this is the best way to go about getting a sorority here.

the events aren't rush, but a way to sustain interest and get everyone to know each other.

though a part of me wonders if it's wise for them to have said that everything looked really hopeful when the email i got from their national headquarters said they weren't recolonizing any time soon, and the fact that i SWEAR they said last week that they'd already been in contact with nationals at the info session but then in the most recent email said there would be no meeting since they hadn't gotten a chance to get in touch with nationals yet.

they're optimistic, but i don't really know anymore where their optimism is coming from. perhaps the fact that for a chapter that was never large, they've managed to get such a large interest going...

i mean i'm still hopeful but at the same time, there's a lot working against them, not least of which is that recolonization is difficult, and it just seems weird, their seeming lack of contact with nationals BEFORE starting all of this, though as i said, given this campus i think they figured if they could go to nationals with strong evidence for why they should come back to campus things would work out?

question: does recolonization mean the same thing as "get their charter back?" because that's how it was presented to us at the info session.

(sorry if this is rambly, i'm trying to write a philosophy paper)

KSUViolet06 · #14 03-07-2007, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystikchick

question: does recolonization mean the same thing as "get their charter back?" because that's how it was presented to us at the info session.

Basically that's what it means.

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm raining on your parade. I'd just hate for you to waste your time on this not knowing how things work and being dissapointed in the end. I'm just totally confused by this.

When the sorority closed, were these seniors given alumnae status? If so, they wouldn't be able to "spearhead" a recolonization effort because they are no longer considererd collegiate members of the sorority.

Is the school aware of their intent to bring the sorority back? I know you said they're registered as a club, but the school has to support the idea of bringing on a sorority again.

These are questions that need to be answered by someone before they proceed.

Best of luck to you in this interesting situation.

mystikchick · #15 03-07-2007, 01:32 AM

no no, not at all. you're expressing the same concerns i'm privately having.

i actually have no idea what their status is, all i know is that they were initiated only for a semester when the chapter closed (under advice from nationals) but hearing this (that alumnae can't spearhead a recolonization), if they were, i'm not sure they necessarily know this...

the school is very aware of their intent to bring the sorority back, and said that as long as they got approval to exist as a group, that was fine with the admin

it's just...the most i think about this, the more it makes me wonder if they're being overly optimistic, if they've done their homework, if they're going about this in the right way...

i'm raining on my own parade, but realism is good