Greek Speak: Let’s Get Political!

November 9, 2010 5:00 pm     Posted in College, Reality  Sorority Girl g+ page


By Sorority Girl

[We scoured the country to find the ultimate sorority girl to share her sisterly expertise with you. After reading through tons of applications followed by hours Facebook-stalking all the candidates (which proved difficult thanks to FB's privacy settings....), we found her. She gave you the lowdown on what happens if you get cut from a house and the rules of the sorority date party. And now it's time to talk about sorority house politics.]

To run, or not to run – that is the question. Sorority exec elections are right around the corner for most chapters, putting a lot of girls on the fence about whether or not to run for a position.  Going for any title – from new member educator to secretary to president – can cause drama and tension between sisters and put friendships on the rocks in the house.

So, to run or not to run?
Answer: debatable.

Let’s take a closer look at what chapter elections involve to see if an exec position is right for you:

It Gets Personal:
You and a close friend are running for the same position. Obvi an issue. What happens if you win? What happens if she does? What happens if neither of you do? I don’t have an answer for the first two questions, but clearly for the last, you’d curl up together with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and admit to each other how much the other one would have been better at the position anyway. Ahh, sisterly love.

My best advice: keep your chapter’s best interest at heart. Win or lose, feelings are going to be hurt. One of you is going to feel disappointed and embarrassed or happy and a little guilty for winning. Don’t let a title come between a friendship. That chapter voted for who they thought would best serve them, so while it seems personal, it’s all business.

It’s a MAJOR time commitment:
Attention all pre-meds to chemical engineers and everyone in between – this one is for you. You don’t have time! Unless for some reason you are a God-sent, genius-freak who has a 4.0 and too much time on your hands, running for an exec position could get a little overwhelming! Please, please, please think it through before running. Not having the time to dedicate to the position means that you won’t have time to fulfill your duties… aka you are going to make sisters really angry, especially seniors. Don’t overload yourself- no extra time = no exec!

It’s Up to the Chapter:
It’s been a lifelong dream of yours to take diligent notes at every chapter meeting, send detailed and well thought out minutes to members who miss chapter, and one day be named chapter secretary … but your so-called BFF doesn’t quite agree with your dream. How dare her, right? Your got an A in handwriting all through elementary school – you  were born to be a secretary.

My advice: go with your gut. If you would benefit the house by being the secretary – then go for it! Every house is different, but the sisters will either vote you into that position or an election committee will place you into that position. Either way, if you end up there it is because other sisters think you can do it. So if you want it, go for it.

It’s Great for your Future:
Not only does holding a chapter position look fantastic on a resume, but you will learn a lot about leadership, responsibility and time management – all things you wouldn’t be able to learn from your typical college course load and all things that will benefit you in your post-grad life.

What else do you want to know about sorority elections? What CRAZY things have happened in YOUR sorority during elections?

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5 Comments on "Greek Speak: Let’s Get Political!"

  1. Steph says:
    Tue, 9th Nov 20109:42 pm 

    my whole chapter is in a frenzy about elections, which are in less than two weeks. I was on exec last year, but I'm nervous about running for VP of recruitment. Any ladies on here have input or advice for running for/being VP of recruitment? seems like a lot of work, but there aren't a lot of qualified candidates running from my chapter.

  2. Emme says:
    Tue, 9th Nov 201011:39 pm 

    If your going to be VP Recruitment be prepared for your chapter to really hate you at times. You will be the one that has to whip them into shape and deal with the realities of recruitment. Granted I go to school in the south and recruitment is exceptionally intense when you have 1000 girls running through your house in a week, (literally 1000, it's insane) but after being very involved in recruitment over the last three years my observation is a good VP recruitment isn't afraid to step on people's toes and be a bitch when its called for. This goes for anyone on council be prepared for people to hate you once in awhile, make the best decisions for the chapter, and you better love your house and sisters because it is very likely you will see some ugly things that make you hate them just a little as well.

  3. Lauren says:
    Wed, 10th Nov 201010:25 am 

    I don't know how intense recruitment is at your school, but at my school it gets pretty crazy (we're in New England, so it's not as bad as the south, but my school has the best greek system in the region). Usually girls who get VP of recruitment have helped out the previous Recruitment chair during this time and have seen what goes into recruitment from an in depth, behind the scenes perspective. They are usually awesome recruiters themselves and are very outgoing, sociable and friendly. If your school does formal recruitment, you should also probably be very organized and have a great work ethic, as there are a lot of rules to follow and you need to do things on time.

  4. Christiana says:
    Wed, 11th Jul 201210:13 am 

    Another custom dgneesid birth announcement- I love designing theses cards!a0 It’s so fun for me and no 2 are alike.a0 Here is Natalie’s birth announcement- a folded card with room to write your own note.a0 Such a great idea her mom had!a0 You can view Natalie’s session here.

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