This question was submitted by one of our readers. If you have a question you want me to answer go here to submit it: Fraternity Advice.
Question:
Is there a benefit to having smaller numbers in your fraternity?
Answer:
Yes there are. The following are a few that come to mind:
- You should know all your brothers better. It is easier to know 20 guys than 100.
- Each brother will have more opportunities at leadership roles. This means that each brother will have more input into the future of the fraternity.
- Each brother will have more opportunities with the intramural teams. It is much easier to crack the starting 5 on the intramural basketball team when your fraternity is smaller.
- Housing becomes easier. It is much easier to find a house to accommodate a small fraternity.
That being said, I think this is a loser’s mentality. Either your fraternity is growing or you are dying.
In my experiences, fraternities that say they want to remain small are the ones that don’t have the ability or ambition to get big. And that is a shame.
While the benefits listed above hold true, I think the benefits of being in a larger fraternity greatly outweigh them.
The obvious benefit is by having more brothers, you will have more money. This will lead to being able to do more things than the smaller fraternity, and should be a lot more fun.
Also, your status on campus will be greater. While status is a superficial thing, it is human nature for your chest to stick out a little more when people think you are part of an elite organization.
Also, fraternity recruitment should become easier. More guys means more guys recruiting. Also, a larger fraternity will have more of a presence on campus, which means the fraternity will sell itself.
Finally, and probably the most important reason, is for the longevity of your fraternity. If your fraternity is small, then you are only one bad semester away from being in serious trouble. What happens when your fraternity is 20 guys, but 5 of them are going to graduate this year? That puts a lot of pressure on your recruitment ability, and gives the fraternity very little room for error.
I can understand why a fraternity wants to remain small. You want to make sure you have real relationships will all your brothers.
This makes perfect sense. However, don’t ever let this become a cop-out for not putting in the effort to recruit and improve your fraternity.
This question was submitted by one of our readers. If you have a question you want me to answer go here to submit it: Fraternity Advice.
To learn more, check out our most in-depth article on fraternity recruitment: The Complete Guide to Fraternity Recruitment.