I agree with what others have said....forget your sorority membership issues until you finish with your legal issues. I doubt anyone will vote to reverse this decision until your case is settled for good. If you are acquitted, you'd have a much better chance of changing the suspension. Actually being convicted of these charges may make the point moot.

Buddhabelly, sorry to hear of your situation. As a mom who's gotten that collect call from a county jail at 4 in the morning that my son was arrested for an MIP and PI, I can empathize.

From a legal standpoint, at least in the state of Texas, a first offense MIP and PI are a class C misdemeanor, which is like a speeding ticket or jaywalking offense. My son had to take an alcohol awareness class and do 30 hours of community service to have the arrest expunged from his record. This is the avenue I would have you explore with the DA if I was your mother. THEN, be aware that any subsequent arrest, the penalty and consequences increase, SO - NO MORE MIP's!!

As for the sorority, I agree that it is probably a matter of bad timing... The chapter's issues with nationals has put them under a microscope and an issue such as yours might be all it takes to bring down the house. I'm sorry for your plight, but you may be out of luck.

Good luck, and know that this is not the end of the world, you have a full life to look forward to, including the rest of your college years. Eventually, this will be a blip on the radar :)

Buddah-

As a mom, I hope you read every word of Srmom's post and take it to heart. You should reread the last part, in particular. I hope that it works out for you with the sorority. If not, use it as a learning experience. Bad decisions result in negative consequences- but this is not the end of the world. Good luck.

I think I can tell which sorority you're in, and according to the bylaws (found online) there's an appeal process. Why not give it a try? Just be very humble, and act quickly.

It's a VERY common practice for the Greek Advisor or other student affairs representative to receive a copy of all police reports on Monday in order to specifically look for incidents involving fraternity or sorority members. The Greek Advisor could have easily contacted the Chapter Advisor so the issue could be handled within the organization.

Also, I'm sure most sororities have under their causes for discipline (or whatever) a clause about violating federal, state, local, or university/college laws. That's a no-brainer that your membership would be removed for that, IMHO. Finally, it doesn't suprise me that a Chapter Advisor has the power to discipline members. Sure, we would rather defer to the chapter members to self-adjudicate, but sometimes the situation calls for swift and/or severe punishment. This could have been a case where chapter officers or judicial board was unwilling to take this action but since the chapter was previously under fire, the Chapte Advisor had to step in and override their decision. Pefectly acceptable.

As I said, sometimes chapter advisors are not members. Nonmembers should not have the power to terminate members. And at any rate - calling the member on the phone and telling her is COMPLETELY unacceptable. If this new advisor makes a practice of doing that, the chapter is going to end up in trouble somewhere down the line.

Different sororities/chapters might call it different things. The reason it's so confusing is because the actual definition of suspension is a postponement or TEMPORARY removal. Like when in school, if you're suspended, you're not allowed to return for a set amount of time, but if you're expelled, you're removed from school permanantly.

But anyway...

I completely agree. My understanding is that advisors are to oversee the workings of the chapter. But the advisor has no voting rights whatsoever. How can she then choose to remove a member without consulting with any active members of the chapter? Unless there is a by-law indicating that the advisor has the authority to do this, I don't understand how this could happen. And I highly doubt there is any national organization that has written in their constitution, "An advisor can remove any member from the chapter if he/she thinks she is justified in doing so." But hey, I could be wrong.

That means 4 of the 7 members of the National Council have to vote against your reinstatement for the suspension to stand. Another way of putting it is that if you can convince 4 of the 7 members to revoke the suspension, you're no longer suspended.

Well, it's not quite worded that way, and it's the bylaws, not the constitution, but you are. ;)

I agree that the legal problems are by far the most important problems. But I know which GLO she's talking about too, and if she follows this advice, then she loses. The bylaws in questions say that an appeal of the suspension must be made within 4 weeks from the date that the advisor notifies her that she has been suspended. She can't wait until the legal process is over without waiving her appeal rights on the suspension.

So she's going to have to go with convincing them that she's learned her lesson and that this will never happen again. Whether she also wants to argue that the advisor didn't even give her a chance to explain, or that probation would be a more appropriate discipline, is up to her.

Posting an online petition about your case doesn't show much discretion, sweetheart. I'm sure the folks at your HQ are thrilled about your enthusiasm.:rolleyes:

To be fair, it's not a petition, it's a general inquiry seeking the advice of people she assumed would have more inside information. It's not like she made a group on Facebook called "The Petition to Get Bhudda Belly Back Into XYZ" where everybody who saw it would automatically know her real name and the identity of her org.

To the OP: Good luck, dear. With the legal troubles AND with the sorority woes. To any naysayers: remember that membership is lifelong, not just a collegiate enrichment. So even though this might become just a "blip on the radar," it could also be a lasting wound.

Actually, that's EXACTLY what she did, I'm just not providing the link.

Oh. Well...ahem. Nevermind. :o

You're wrong. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/app...uus-suspension

Yes, thank you. I was already informed of this. And I already rescinded my prior statement.

Just playing the Devil's Advocate here, but that petition says it's sponsored by "the sisters of" her org, not herself personally. Maybe she didn't start it?

Seriously? A public internet petition? "Let's embarrass the local and I/natl GLO by airing all the dirty laundry." Yeah, that ought to win over her National Council. :rolleyes: :eek: