Kappa Alpha Theta at Johns Hopkins University on Probation
 

From the March 5th Johns Hopkins Newsletter:

An investigation regarding events aurrounding the last Kappa Alpha Theta (Theta) formal is ongoing, according to several administrators at Hopkins.

"I am not free to discuss this matter as it is being investigated by the Office of the Dean of Student Life and Kappa Alpha Theta Headquarters," Director of Greek Life Rob Turning wrote in an email.

Although many members of Theta declined to comment because of the investigation, an anonymous pledge at the sorority confirmed that Theta is on probation.

"We're on probation and I think it is until next December that it is being reviewed, although I'm not sure when," the pledge said.

The anonymous source confirmed that one factor contributing to the sorority's probation was somebody breaking into Barnes and Noble while people were waiting for the bus.... "Theta is on social probation because of some bahavior at their date party. Now they can't have date parties or formals for a while," an anonymous member of Alpha Phi said.

The chapter president and several council officers were also removed, though it wasn't mentioned in the article. The chapter made quota of 40 New Members in Formal Recruitment, which ended about one month ago. The chapter members are understandably very upset that the actions of a few individuals have put the chapter in jeaprody, especially after a very successful recruitment. Theta is the largest sorority at Hopkins and has been on campus for a little over 10 years.

Here's the original article online: http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/m...-3662948.shtml

Ouch, not a very discrete article. Even though the author quoted anonymous sources...eek! There's a reason we have all of these rules about NPCs and media!

An anonymous pledge...

What a highly reliable source. Anonymous pledges always know exactly what is going on. Excellent piece of journalism.

Almost as reliable as an anonymous member of a *different* organization.

I agree. It's not a good article. I think the author was kind of grasping for straws since no Thetas would talk to her about it. In terms of quoting from Alpha Phi... the author is an APhi New Member, and they're probably the only ones she could get any info from about it.

Oh for sure! *end sarcasm*
I would think that would create a huge rivalry between the two orgs. Not good...

That's very panhellenic of her then! She should be ashamed of spreading rumors.

ugh...I will contact someone who can speak to the John's Hopkins A Phi's

OK, is anyone else cracking up that they allegedly broke into a Barnes & Noble? I mean, when I think of crazy collegians breaking into places, a bookstore doesn't really spring to mind.

Yeah, but they have a really sweet kids section...

Lol, I worked at B&N in high school.

Another article on Kappa Alpha Theta's probation was published in the JHU Newsletter today.

http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/m...-3705607.shtml


Some highlights from the article:

Although Kappa Alpha Theta (Theta) remains embroiled in controversy nearly a month after their national committee initially put them on social probation, the sorority still participated in a party at a local venue.

The sorority's probation, the result of various incidents including an alleged break-in at the Hopkins Barnes & Noble, resulted in the loss of their secret week as well as their big sister and little sister tradition in this year's pledge process.

On March 24, Theta held a party at Red Maple, a popular event space. The party was themed around the letter "P."

"It was P for 'probation,'" an anonymous attendee said. "I thought it was really fun. There weren't supposed to be more than 60 percent of the Thetas there but I think it was more like 95 percent."

"It was probably so successful because it wasn't official. Everyone could cab there instead of taking the vans and everyone basically just put money in a hat."

The party was in conflict with Theta's probation, which forbid large-scale parties. The sorority is now being threatened with more severe consequences.

According to Director of Greek Life Robert Turning, the conduct board and Susan Boswell, the dean of student life, are investigating the situation independent of the inquiry made by the national Theta organization. These inquiries are currently on hold, though, pending the disciplinary action the national committee chooses to take against Theta. Overall, Hopkins has been supportive of Theta with the hope that positive changes will be made.

The article went on to say that the school wants to support Theta because of the size of the group and the sisters' community involvement. Theta is the largest sorority on the Hopkins campus and had a very successful recruitment this year. Since the Greek Life office really wants to build the NPC presence (in fact, they tried to open for expansion last semester but were eventually voted down) I know they really don't want to lose one of the sororities, particularly the largest one.

HQ's gotta be pissed! The chapter not only disobeyed the restrictions HQ placed on them, they MOCKED them!

Absolutely. Usually I have a tinge of sympathy for chapters when they close, but I have none for these girls.

Way to go, ladies. :rolleyes:

Shows how much they value their chapter.

I'm sorry, but this is darned funny. I assume everyone had to come dressed in P themed outfits and drink Pabst, Pimm's and Pepsi.

To correct the poster above: I'm betting these women do value their chapter and the bonds formed within it very much. Their charter and national connection is what they could do without.

It's funny to me, too! Also, they broke into a BOOKSTORE. How Hopkins is that?

It's interesting to see how academically rigorous private schools often skirt the rules of their IHQ. Often times, those schools have less restrictive requirements in regards to drinking, housing, and activities than state schools do. Often times, the flouting of the rules is ignored by national bodies since the organizations like the "prestige" of having a chapter of their organization at that school.

True, that is VERY Hopkins... though rumor has it that they were just breaking in to use the bathroom.

Hopkins Theta Chapter Closed
 

The JHU Newsletter reported today that Kappa Alpha Theta Nationals "unanimously voted" to close Zeta Chi Chapter at Johns Hopkins University yesterday. They may recolonize with a new group of women in at least 12 months if both Nationals and the Hopkins Panhellenic vote to approve it. From what I've heard, sisters in good standing will receive alumnae status. Their New Members from this year's Recruitment (we have deferred, so they received their bids this February) were never Initiated, so they'll be eligible to join one of the remaining three NPC sororities next Spring.

Just for the record, here's the Panhellenic history for JHU:
Alpha Phi: 1981-Present
Phi Mu: 1981-Present
Delta Gamma: 1990-1995
Kappa Alpha Theta: 1997-2009
Kappa Kappa Gamma: 1999-Present

I find the whole thing very sad. Approximately 140 women, of which 40 were un-Initiated New Members, are now without a sorority. Last fall Theta was the largest GLO at Hopkins and was considered by many of the students to be the "it" sorority... and now they're gone in the course of just a few months.

http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/m...-3713697.shtml

No kidding. That just seems like a pretty big slap in the face to their IHQ.

I'm surprised they'd recolonize so quickly. Don't they usually wait 4 yrs for all of the current ppl to graduate?

Might JHU be open for expansion again soon?

I honestly don't know. They tried to open for expansion last fall but were voted down by Panhel because one chapter (Kappa) was not meeting quota. Last year we only took about half of quota, but we quite nearly met quota this year (just 2 girls short!) so there were rumors of trying again to open for expansion soon. However now after Theta closing it's very up in the air. My feeling is that they'll probably wait a year and try to recolonize Theta before they try to bring a new group on. Panhel seems supportive of giving Theta another chance with a new batch of women - the article states that Theta "wouldn't have to jump through hoops" in order to colonize. I'm not from the Office of Greek Life, though, so I don't have the official scoop.

That'd be up to their Panhellenic, right?

Anyhoo . . . here's what Theta HQ's site has posted:

http://www.kappaalphatheta.org/whats...m=HomeAreaLink

Excerpts from ^:

"Zeta Chi Chapter Closing

April 16, 2009 - Grand Council regrets to announce the closing of the Zeta Chi Chapter at Johns Hopkins, effective April 14. Recent chapter activities constituted serious violations of Fraternity policies and were contrary to the Fraternity’s basic principles. While Theta’s presence at Johns Hopkins has ended for the foreseeable future, the Fraternity values Zeta Chi’s alumnae, . . . .

The Johns Hopkins College Panhellenic has agreed to the Fraternity’s request for a recolonization plan. Under this plan, Kappa Alpha Theta will be given notice and an opportunity to recolonize . . . prior to opening the campus to extension by any other NPC group. "

Let me preface this by saying--I am not in an NPC, but I am somewhat familiar with their rules and regulations.

I do have a question, however. The women that were pledged to Theta in February, why can't they pledge another organization in the fall? I guess I don't understand why they have to wait a full calendar year when they didn't depledge and had full intentions of becoming initiated members.

I was mistaken in writing that. My apologies! I was told after posting that they actually are eligible for Fall recruitment and do not have to wait a full calendar year. Usually if a woman accepts an NPC bid but does not initiate she has to wait a full year before she is eligible for another NPC bid, but I guess it's different if the chapter is closed before she is initiated.

If I'm wrong about this, please correct me!

Yes, as the chapter closed before they were initiated, they are allowed this coming fall to join a different chapter.

This is very common actually. Many groups have done this with a lot of success.

Um was it just me or did anyone notice the outdated terms used in both articles. The first one a poster said was written by a APhi NM.

Non-members don't know and don't care what terminology we use now.

Yea but one of the authors was said to be a New Member of APhi. Then again I can't believe she even wrote the article, never mind the terminology.

She's a new member. I'm sorry if this sounds mean, but new members don't really know much of anything.

Are today's pledges even aware of terminology that happened almost a decade ago? Pledge, new member, Frat Ed, NME, who cares?

Technically I think they could join a new sorority right now if they wanted to, it's just that there probably aren't any chapters recruiting new members right now. I believe they're eligible to join a new sorority immediately.

Wow that's crazy. That's sad that some poor decisions led to their closure, but I totally agree with Theta HQ's decision.

So, if a pledge is not yet initiated, could she theoretically repledge Theta if they recolonize in a year or so?

If they have family members or family friends, probably. I sometimes slip up and use "pledge" and "rushees" cause it's just easier than being all "PNM" and all that stuff. Argh.

Yes. She would still have to go through the process where the colony members are chosen by national staff, though, and (IMO) would be scrutinized even more closely than someone who had no prior association with the sorority.

I know for me, even though I had no association with Greek life until my own recruitment, rush and pledge are still used in our culture when people refer to sororities and fraternities. And my chapter has been using "pledge class" for so long that old habits are hard to break...