My daughter happily pledged a sorority at UT! We are from out of state, and she ended up at the sorority where she knew an active member from her HS (and met many of her friends from the sorority over time). Connections are key at UT - just about everyone at UT graduated near the top of their class, so hard to distinguish yourself there. For future PNM's, get your recs, and try to meet current sorority members ahead of time (whether that is through friends of friends, etc.). Also my daughter has 2 sophomore friends who successfully pledged - they made lots of Greek friends last year, and that really appeared to have helped.

Thank you for all the advice here on GC!

Are you kidding me? It's sorority recruitment, a VOLUNTARY event. No one is forced to go, no is forced to say in the house during dance party. I'd be beyond bothered that my university's president is so involved in Greek affairs both as a member. But also as an alum, the president has far more important things to worry about.

KD took 66

And again - slippery slope. If he sticks his nose in this, it sets a precedent for him to stick his nose in everything. Not to mention, harassment by the president might make this chapter into martyrs for "free expression" - which is the LAST thing anyone wants to happen.

Here is the organization's statement on hazing, you can determine if separating PNMs and talking to some and not others creates an environment of superiority/inferiority:

Hazing is prohibited.

Hazing is any action taken or situation created, organized or conducted regardless of intent by any new and/or initiated member of XYZ or their agent(s) for any other individual where participation may be voluntary, forced or coerced that occurs, regardless of location, that has the potential to cause or actually results in emotional, mental or physical discomfort; illness; injury; consumption of or opportunity to consume alcohol; that may create a superior/inferior relationship between the participants; and/or may reflect unfavorably upon the individuals, chapter or Fraternity. Permission or approval by a person being hazed is not a defense.

Any chapter or individual member whose actions or attitudes are not in accord with the Fraternity’s policy against hazing will be subject to disciplinary action by the chapter and/or by Grand Council. Acts of hazing may result in civil and criminal liability on the part of those individuals engaged in such activities.

Chapters and members must follow all applicable federal, state, local and province laws and university policies regarding hazing.

The elimination of hazing is the responsibility of each collegiate and alumna member of XYZ.

This isn't your fight, it's not even your organization. This is a matter for UT Panhellenic, Nationals and maybe the NPC.

Honestly, butt out. I'd find it so odd to get a report of hazing from someone who isn't in the organization or even at UT. It's like stirring the pot.

If the system wants it to change, then the system will change it.

And you presume I don't know people who had to be part of this. All I did was post their statement, relax. If people don't like being talked about, then don't give people a reason to talk about you.

Wow when I read this, it really does sound like hazing. It would be one thing if they did the dance party with ALL the pnms but to only do it with the ones they don't want definitely would cause mental discomfort and a superior /inferior environment.

Has anyone reported this to NPC? If so, what was their stance?

The fact that this is happening makes all Greek organizations look bad: Whether it's fair or not, guilt by association is a real thing. There are many people contributing to this thread who aren't a member of the organization in question, nor are they connected to UT. This seems, to me, to be an appropriate place to have this discussion.

Regarding your last sentence, I would assume that the system does want it to change or else they wouldn't impose a fine on this chapter. Is there another reason the fine would be in place if the goal wasn't to attempt to put a stop to their behavior?

That wasn't my point. This site is the perfect place for the discussion and I never said otherwise. My point was that I don't think people who have no ties to UT or XYZ should be writing the school or the organization about it.

Oh.
It's hard to see that point since neither your post nor the post you quoted made any reference to writing the school or the organization.

We are greek. We are members of the NPC umbrella. We have a right to talk about something when we see something that doesn't feel right or just. I never said I was going to e-mail the president of UT, and I have no such plans. Calm down. You seem very scared that people are even talking about this.

I'm not saying don't talk about it. I've never said that. And if you had been here more time you'd know I'm not someone who shys away from the tough questions or the taboo topics.

But somewhere in this thread it was suggested to write the University president of UT. I don't agree with that.

We'll have to just agree to disagree.

Then why didn't you address the person who suggested e-mailing the President? That wasn't me.... I merely posted the organization's statement on hazing and expressed my feelings about the behavior.

And while you may not agree with e-mailing the president, you have made it very clear that this is nobody else's business except for those who are part of this organization or UT panhellenic. Well, unfortunately, this type of behavior effects all organizations, and feeds into the negative stereotypes about greeks. And attempts or pressure to silence people from addressing it in whatever fashion (e-mail, discussion, whatever) comes accross as defensive.

Especially since Bill Powers is on his way out the door.