Delta Delta Delta Closes Penn State Chapter (Hazing, Risk Management)
 

Tri Delta has withrawn the charter of its chapter at Penn State, citing hazing and risk management violations. The campus paper has indicated it will have another article Monday with more info. In the meantime, see:

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive...disbanded.aspx


See also the anouncement and press release on the Delta Delta Delta HQ site at

http://www.tridelta.org/news/media_s...er_closing.asp


Excerpt from campus paper:

December 4, 2009 3:01 PM
Delta Delta Delta disbanded

By Caitlin Sellers
Collegian Staff Writer
Delta Delta Delta is no longer a sorority at Penn State.

The national Delta Delta Delta sorority withdrew the Penn State chapter's charter today, in response to what the national organization says are hazing and risk management violations.

The chapter has been under investigative probation by the national sorority for these violations since Nov. 5, according to a press release from the national sorority.

"While our board made this decision with a heavy heart, especially given the 62-year history of this chapter on the Penn State campus, we are confident that this is the right course of action to protect the members themselves and the standards of our organization overall,"Jackye Clark, fraternity president of Delta Delta Delta, is quoted as saying in the release.

Individual members involved with the allegations will be sanctioned individually, with the possibility of removal of their memberships, according to the release. Members unassociated with the violations may remain unaffiliated members of Delta Delta Delta.

New members yet to be initiated will be released from their membership and allowed to join another sorority, according to the release.
. . .

Don't they mean alumnae members? I mean, the chapter is closed, but they are still Alpha Phi Chapter DDDs.

And how long is pledging that they wouldn't be initiated by now?

I don't think this writer was quite on the ball.

From what I know, Penn State's formal rush concludes at the end of October, so it's possible there are still organizations that have not held initiation.

oh, then that makes sense. I thought they were done w/ rush at the end of September.

As an aside, I was looking at some of the other articles in the Collegian re the Greeks. Can someone please explain to me the concept of an "away bar"?

They are members of the Alphi Phi chapter of DDD but according to our Bylaws, they are classified as unaffiliated collegiate members since a chapter no longer exists on the campus where they attend college/university. When they graduate, they will be considered alumnae members of Tri Delta.

Former new members are being treated in accordance with NPC UA's.

Thanks for the clarification. :) If they transfer somewhere else with a DDD chapter, can they reaffiliate, or is that a case by case basis?

If they are in good standing, they can affiliate at any other Tri Delta chapter.

One of the founders of the PSU chapter (or so she said) lived next door to us when I was growing up. She now lives only about 20 minutes away - I'm sure this is breaking her heart! I can remember her showing me The Trident and pointing out what her chapter was up to.

Hmmmmm....I'm not sure what an away bar is, but I am saddened for the women of Tri-Delt. Penn State has a rich Greek history, and even as a member of another sorority from PSU, I think this is a sad day for all of the chapters.

The rules have been changing a lot lately, regarding socials and what not. Maybe that is what the away bar is about. As far as initiation, I know my chapter just initiated the girls not too long ago. Tri-Delt may be a few weeks after my GLO for initiation. This is sad news.:(

So sad. For the collegians to throw away so much for so little. And not just for themselves but for all of their Penn State alumnae to lose their chapter as well.

At the same time, I'm really thankful to have Tri Delta leaders who won't tolerate such behavior. It is contrary to everything we stand for as Tri Deltas.

Sad, sad, sad...

Unless you know the ENTIRE story personally, and were there, I would be extremely careful about comments like "throw away so much for so little." To automatically assume the collegians are 110% in the wrong is as disloyal as questioning the decision of your HQ would be.

Also, unless you know alumnae personally, you don't know what their outlook is on this.

I'm sorry but assumptions like this grind my gears. It's a time to support all your sisters, not just the ones in national office.

I do support my Tri Delta sisters. I feel badly for the alumnae who have lost their chapter. As a sister from a closed chapter (numbers, not hazing), I know what it is like to not have a chapter home any longer. It is awful. Having been through the experience of seeing my own chapter close, I feel deeply for the women involved.

And as an alumna who understands the value of sorority membership as a life-long opportunity, I DO think it is throwing away a great deal. No, I don't know the whole story. But I do know that if some of those women end up losing their membership over this, they have lost a great deal.

I don't really understand why you were offended by assumptions you thought I was making, but trust me. I'm grieved for everyone involved. I don't need to know the whole story to know it is a very sad situation. Breaking the rules of the university and the sorority shouldn't be tolerated by any organization. And if we don't police ourselves, you can be sure someone from outside of the Greek world will step in and do it for us. So, from that standpoint, I'm thankful that our leadership is apparently trying to protect the organization as a whole by addressing what must have been a bad situation.

I don't understand why you wouldn't understand my offense, quite frankly. I have no idea what the violations were or why they came to light, but unless you do, to categorize them as "so little" is just like sticking a knife further in these women's hearts.

This is a chapter that won the "chapter of the year" award at Penn State last spring. A chapter with a heavy hazing culture doesn't get that way in the space of 6 months, and I would think that Penn State isn't stupid enough to give such an award to a sorority with that as its M.O. (They did have 19 other sororities to pick from.) So when hazing and RM are used as reasons, sorry if that makes me do a WTF and question a little bit.

I'm not going to speculate about what happened because I don't know. But a chapter doesn't have to have a "heavy hazing culture" to get shut down. One bad incident can be enough. And if DDD was the chapter of the year last year, that makes it even sadder.

Re: my comment about "so little". I have no idea what happened other than what was said in the press release. The chapter violated the codes of the university and sorority. It says the Executive Board acted swiftly to revoke their charter. The fact that there wasn't even a probationary period to rectify the situation tells me a lot personally. Yes, I am giving the benefit of the doubt to the Executive Board. No Executive Board pulls a charter on a strong chapter that quickly without some pretty substantial reasons. It doesn't mean I don't care about the collegians and alumnae at Penn State. It just means that as a Tri Delta who has been around the block a few times as both a collegian and alumna, that I have some idea of what goes on when these kinds of decisions are made.

Whatever the women apparently did, it was "so little" compared to what they have given up. Whatever the hazing and reckless behavior was, they all lost a lot as a result of those choices. Whatever they did - whether it was for a night, a weekend, a week or whatever - for that "fun" they have lost out on months, years and perhaps a lifetime of sorority membership. So for "so little" they have lost much.

I hope that better explains my perspective. :)

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

Agreed. :)

I can tell you that sororities with heavy hazing cultures do win awards such as that, at schools everywhere. It's funny how hazing can be well known among various chapters, but the school officials either don't know anything about it or turn a blind eye until forced to deal with it for some reason or another.

I agree. I know that fraternities are a different ballpark in terms of rules but the concept is still the same. There were two fraternities on my campus who were very strong. They constantly won awards from both the school and their nationals, donated lots of money to their individual philanthropies, and had prominent alumni sitting on school executive committees or were executives at local companies (meaning they donated lots of money to the fraternity and school). Both the school and nationals turned a blind eye to the public hazing and risk management issues these fraternities were continually involved in. It wasn't until some major incidents happened that both the school and nationals finally relented and yanked the charters.

In some ways, I wonder if stronger chapters can get away with more because people are willing to do "anything" to be a part of them? I have definitely seen some sorority chapters that were very strong in every area EXCEPT that they hazed horribly. Are people more willing to do stupid things to get into a "top tier" chapter?

Yeah maybe, but you would think if the sorority is smart enough to hide it or if the school is that blind/laissez-faire about it, that the situation wouldn't change in THAT short of a time unless there were really heavy duty (I'm talking legal involvement or death) things involved. And something that heavy duty would have been in the newspaper.

I'm not saying they didn't do anything wrong, because obviously they did - just that I don't like when people automatically assume a chapter closed through the complete fault of one party. There are at least FOUR entities involved in every chapter closure and very very rarely are there 3 angels and one devil.

Eh, you never know.

There was a chapter on my campus (back when I was active) who was caught doing something that, in more than one way, was illegal. Their chapter wasn't closed because of it, and they were able to get around the legal issues because they knew someone who knew someone who helped them out. It was never in the newspaper, and I'm willing to bet that chapter never tried something of that magnitude again.

But again, something like that rarely happens.

In this case, I don't think anyone can make judgment calls based on the information provided.

I have heard a lot about this (due to it happening at my school and our sororities sharing the same building for our suites), however I will say nothing publicly except that I feel so badly for Tri Delta and especially all of their sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are now left with few choices and no home. It is certainly a regrettable situation for them to be in, though their nationals would not have pulled their charter without cause. I suppose we will just have to trust the truth of the allegations against them in this situation (although from what I have heard they are not even close to being as serious as most would think, considering the punishment, though I will admit that I do not have all of the facts). Nevertheless it is a sad situation for Tri Delta, and for Penn State Greek life as a whole.

As a side note, I would like to just implore those reading the Collegian's take on this matter to think well upon what they read in this paper and to take everything in with consideration as to its source. All media does have a natural bias, because it comes from biased humans. The staff writers of the Collegian are rarely to never a part of Greek life, and some (though not all) do not have the most balanced view of it. And that is all I have to say about that.

^^That last paragraph gives me a good idea for a thread.

Sometimes it also comes down to proof. There can be rumors (or stories or suspicions or gut feelings) that are known /felt by students, faculty, or administrators around campus. It can be more challenging to get to the details and have proof. I have seen this on quite a few campus, with chapters of varying strengths and sizes. Sometimes one seemingly isolated incident can just be the tip of the iceberg.

This is why I pay particular attention to what my students say (and don't say) and how they share information when in my office. You never know what you might learn!

Update Dec. 7 '09

A little more . . . from the campus paper's Dec. 7 issue online:


Excerpts:

By Caitlin Sellers and Somer Wiggins
Collegian Staff Writers
Delta Delta Delta sorority has lost its charter after its national organization found the chapter in violation of the Penn State Code of Conduct and Tri Delta Policy.

The chapter has been under investigation since Nov. 5 for "alleged hazing and risk management violations," according to a press release from the national sorority.

Delta Delta Delta sorority members who violated membership obligations will face individual sanctions and possible membership removal, but those unassociated with violations can remain unaffiliated members of Delta Delta Delta sorority, according to the release.

Deena Berger (junior-psychology), the chapter's former president, said she plans to comment in the future on the chapter's closing.

The allegations of hazing were primarily addressed by the Delta Delta Delta national sorority, said Kara Zinger, the Panhellenic Council (PHC) vice president for communications and a member of the Collegian's business division. . . .

The . . . chapter of Delta Delta Delta sorority was established in 1947. According to the press release, the sorority hopes to recolonize at Penn State in the future.

Affinity Public Relations President Karina Shaver . . . said there is currently no set timeline for the sorority's return to Penn State.

She said the PHC is not looking toward adding a new chapter of a national sorority to Penn State as a result of Delta Delta Delta's disbandment.

. . .
About two weeks ago, several members of Delta Delta Delta sorority created Trilogy, an independent organization, . . . . Trilogy will keep the sorority's original THON pairing with Kappa Delta Rho and the same Four Diamonds family. . . .

Delta Delta Delta's former members will also continue to live together in their dormitories next semester, Shaver said. Their residence will no longer be considered a sorority floor, and the chapter meeting suite will no longer be used by the students. . . .

So in other words, they're still going to do THON (this is a huge huge HUGE deal) and they're still going to live together. But they're not going to be paying national dues or have any national or Pahellenic rules to follow.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmkay. There may be a shortage of waffles at the Eggo factory but there apparently is none at Penn State. :rolleyes:

I knew a girl in this chapter. She graduated two years ago, I don't speak to her but I really wish I knew her thoughts on all this!

I think that the Delta Delta Delta national is going to have decide pretty quickly whether they consider this group an informal continuation which wiil eventually bring Delta Delta Delta back to Penn State or a group whose existance will keep Delta Delta Delta from returning to Penn State as long as it is active.

I wouldn't want to try to return the Sorority to the school as long as these girls (and those they recruit!) consider themselves to be the true Delta Delta Delta's on campus.

This is what I was thinking.

How would they still be able to participate in school-sponsored functions (ESPECIALLY something as huge as THON), and not be a recognized organization? If this occurs, I think there might be some hostility from the other groups.

Is this a decision that was made by the school AND the national organization collectively?

Hmmm. Another update in the school paper -- this one addresses the THON issue (at least somewhat) and says that 61 members of the now-closed Tri Delta chapter resigned from Tri Delta, apparently at least in part due to their feelings about how THON participation.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive...o_inquiry.aspx

Something interesting about all this (interesting to me, anyway) is that this new "Trilogy" organization was reportedly (in a previously-mentioned news story) formed before the Tri Delta chapter was officially closed. The resignations were, reportedly, also prepared prior to the official closure. My tentative conclusion is that many members of the chapter essentially saw clear signs of the upcoming handwriting on the wall -- the closure was probably not a startling development once the investigation got under way.