aggie greek life is too cheap

Honestly...I really think that if our dues were the same as Bama's (which I believe are by far the most expensive in the country due to their huge housing expense burden), we'd lose about 1/3 or more of the sorority population at A&M. Our dues are affordable enough that members can use money from a summer job or part-time job to pay most or all of their dues- and a good chunk of members in all houses do contribute to paying their own dues.

Also remember that Bama is completely different. Half the actives are OOS and paying basically private school tuition+living expenses at around $50,000/yr vs A&M where over 90% of actives are in-state and paying less than $25,000/year. I have friends at Bama and the biggest difference in Greek Life is that 1) houses are on campus and 2) the houses are almost all new and huge. Oh, and average chapter size is around 450. But their parties and events and philanthropies are no more elaborate than ours, they just have 2X as many members.

Also, UT dues are also way less than Bama's. Think they average about $4k/year. Makes sense as cost of living in Austin is much higher than in College Station so date party/formal venues, property taxes on the house, etc cost more.

@OP, your parents must be beating their heads against the wall

@well, we can't buy 100 yrs of greek tradition, so what else is at play?

Daily lunch at house included in many dues amounts

TAMU Greek Life isn't nearly as involved as other comparable schools. Houses are older, not really as fancy, and sororities here don't DO as much as a whole. UT's houses are on WAY more expensive land and they're a lot nicer, plus they throw more/better parties. SEC schools have huge houses, lots of Greek Week and homecoming style events, big alumnae and philanthropy events, and because the houses are on or close to campus, lots more meals at the house.

Aggie sorority row is way too far away to go to hang out on school days and it's too small/plain not nice. I'm kind of with the other thread who posted that we need house rebuilds or renovations. Having a place to meet with your sisters helps with bonding. My freshman year I just ended up hanging out with random sorority girls in my dorm in the nice lounge areas of Hullabaloo more than the actual house.

@well:
I know tu sorority and frat mom's/dad's/parent's weekends are really nice. I have greek friends there and they spend money on catered dinners under their tower, brunch at the Driskill, etc.

I don't know why but the frat dues are crazy (5k-9k/year for mid to top houses). I guess for their builds.

@well, I'm really trying to understand here so I re-read your post and listed your points by subject:

TAMU is not as involved
Sororities here don't DO as much as a whole

UT houses are on WAY more expensive land
UT houses are a lot nicer
UT throw more/better parties

SEC schools have huge houses
lots of Greek Week and homecoming style events
big alumnae events
big philanthropy events
houses are on/close to campus
lots more meals at the house

Aggie sorority row is way too far away
Houses too small/plain not nice
Houses are older, not as fancy
We need house rebuilds or renovations

Having a place to meet with your sisters helps with bonding.
My freshman year would hang out w/random sorority girls in my dorm, the nice lounge areas of Hullabaloo more than the sorority house.

After reading it this way... It seems you want TAMU:
1. Do more BIG EVENTS together as sororities (greeks)
2. To build nicer houses
3. To move the houses closer to campus so we can hang out more together

I'm pretty sure my "cheap" dues gives me just as good of an experience as I would at Alabama. In fact, come to think of it, I wouldn't change my experience here for anything because it's what YOU make of it. This thread is pretty damn shallow, IMO.

IMO
Big Events is the easiest to begin. Not easy to manage but easiest of your 3 wants. Get your chapter together and do it.

House reno's will eventually happen. My guess they will still be big boxes, just with fancier porches and columns. More amenities inside.

Sorority row will never be moved closer to campus so you can hang more at the house. Plus there are a ton of girls that don't want to live in.