Loyalty, leadership, service, and rigorous academic standards are all ways to appeal to your school’s administration. [1] X Research source Sports often work as a big draw too.
You can also stay independent. There are not many independent fraternities because they lack funding that national fraternities have. Alumni networks are key to maintaining a fraternity. However, there are benefits to staying independent. First, you get to decide all your rules, symbols, rituals, etc for yourself. Second, you don’t have to deal with all the paperwork of filing for colonization with the national organization. If you just want to have a group of close friends who do things together while you are in college, and are not so worried about “building” something that you will graduate before you can enjoy it, this is the better option.
You might want a fraternity that is associated with athletics, or theater, or a different activity. Try to pick something that you are interested in and will also interest a lot of other people. For example, you could try to start a fraternity that is very interested in community service or one that wants to be known for holding a lot of fun social events. For example, many fraternities have their own songs. However, one popular fraternity in Nevada called Omega Xi made a name for itself by choosing ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’ as their song.
Your administration will probably try to dissuade you from starting a fraternity because it doesn’t look good for them to support failed projects. This may be a reason to remain “unofficial” or “underground. "
One way to avoid hazing is to avoid the idea of a “pledgeship” altogether. Screen potential members carefully before offering membership, and make them full-fledged members immediately. At maximum, have a “new member training period. ” If you want to have new member training events every day, make the period no longer than two weeks. If you expect new members to meet weekly for training, no more than two months. Membership training should be only about teaching them the history, rituals, and ideals of your organization.
Also consider avoiding choosing a Greek-letter name altogether. Consider the Harvard clubs like Fly and Porcellian, Yale organizations like Skull and Bones, Princeton eating clubs like The Ivy Club, that all function as traditional fraternities, without being Greek-letter organizations. Avoiding choosing a Greek-letter name may also help you avoid the stigma of Greek-letter fraternities that now exists with many college administrations. Not being Greek-letter may also allow you to avoid being regulated by the specific rules established by colleges’ Offices of Greek Life. You also could design and select your regalia, symbols, and mascots.
Make sure that you include all of your members on the editing and fine-tuning of your Constitution. This is vital to creating a good organization.
Come with details about name, values, and organization as well as a list of all the people you have gathered who are interested in it. The administration will be much more open to your idea if it is clear that you are on top of it. Of course, if you avoid branding yourself as a Greek-letter fraternity by adopting a non-Greek-letter name, you may be able to avoid these requirements entirely.
Your pitch should include all the aspects that you have organized so far including structure, constitution, name, mantra, regalia, and location. However, you also need to explain to them how your fraternity will survive moving forward and how they will fit into the daily life of the campus. What do you bring that no one else brings? Why will you succeed? Draft a plan that starts by addressing the basics and then moves on to the details. For example, maybe you are selling a fraternity that is based on political activism. You need to explain not only the idea behind your fraternity but also how you will organize events centered on political activism and how this fits into the college’s mission.
A good pledge process should allow the members of your fraternity to get to know your pledges and vice versa. This way both of you will be able to judge if the pairing is a good fit. You should hold a lot of events with pledges that fit the values of your fraternity so that the pledges can see what life would be like inside the fraternity. For example, if your fraternity is based on political activism, maybe you could ask your pledges to organize and execute a protest or event bringing awareness to a certain issue your fraternity finds important.
Events like pig roasts or sports games are great examples of alumni events.
