Colony (fraternity or sorority)

A colony is a probationary body of a national fraternity or sorority. It can be considered a new Greek organization that is awaiting official recognition from their international headquarters to maintain a chapter on their college’s campus. A group wishing to become a member of a fraternity or sorority must first petition for status as a colony. The entire membership of the colony remains as uninitiated associates, usually learning and operating under the guidance of an advisor from the national organization and/or from a sponsoring chapter. If the colony prospers and meets its goals as set out by the national organization, the colony may later be chartered and the membership initiated. After this the sorority or fraternity will become a full chapter of the fraternity. This practice varies with different sororities and fraternities; however, many of them follow procedures and practices very similar to one another. Everything depends on the official nationals of each individual organization.

The first Greek society was Phi Beta Kappa and was founded in 1776 as a literary and debating club. The oldest social fraternity is the Kappa Alpha Society, formed at Union College in New York in 1825. This fraternity was soon followed by several others in the following years.

Several other Greek organizations were formed through the twentieth century. With each separate sorority and fraternity, others began to charter existing organizations at different schools. This became popular in the 1900s, especially after World War II and the Great Depression.

Different Greek organizations have different practices and procedures when establishing colonies and maturing them into chapters. Not only does this process depend on the specific Greek organization, but it also depends on the standards and rules that are set by each individual university. However, many organizations have a process that is similar to this:

Alumni volunteers will work with the colony to establish effective chapter operations, develop scholarship programs, teach recruitment skills and devise a long-term plan of action. For most Greek organizations, there is a good chance that there are at least several alumni near the given school. Most sororities or fraternities get into contact with these alumni through their nationals. Nationals also sends what can be referred to as "Education Consultants," who are paid by the organization, to spend time with the colony to teach them all of the traditions, values and ways of the fraternity or sorority. Staff members from nationals are also always on duty to assist the colony in any way needed so that they become successful.

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Wikipedia