"Early Bids" by One Dartmouth Local Sorority
 

One of the local sororities at Dartmouth will “offer early bids” today (Sept. 22), according to the student paper. For details on this relatively unusual move, see:

http://thedartmouth.com/2011/09/21/news/rush

Excerpt from the much longer article^^:

“Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority will offer early bids to members of the Class of 2014 on Thursday, Sept. 22, before the official Panhellenic recruitment process begins Sept. 30, according to an email sent by Panhell to female members of the Class of 2014 on Tuesday. Students who receive bids will be able to bypass the formal rush process, the email said.”

My first reaction is that this sounds like a small group trying to catch up, and put a positive spin on it.

Very probably true, and pretty much supported by several of the "comments" linked to the story in the college paper. Whatever it is, it seems to me that it's unusual to do it a week before recruitment officially starts.

My immediate thought was that this situation would cause EKT to have an unfair advantage. One commenter mentioned something to this effect, going so far as to call it dirty rushing.

However, the article says that

[Emphasis mine]

In a world where locals are often on the outs, this Panhell seems to be on the right track.

WOW :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I read the history of this local, which is a former Kappa Alpha Theta chapter. Just. Wow.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~ekt/about.html

That is quite a history.

Shoulda seen that page back when it mentioned elements of Theta ritual that the local disagreed with. I don't know when they edited it.

I wish I could type a longgggg whistle... how disrespectful. Glad they thought better of it & took it down.

I can't believe that's on a website where the public can see it.

Sigma Delta used to be a chapter of Sigma Kappa. Same deal.

One of my close friends was in that house and graduated in 1992 (the year of all the controversy) and I've heard a lot about that time period from her - the version they have on the website now is a very sugar-coated version of what went on. VERY sugar-coated.

They ultimately wanted to be a local and govern like a local and behave like a renegade fraternity, but have the benefit of national affiliation after they graduated and scattered to other cities. Given the circumstances, I can't see the national doing anything BUT what they did.

LOL...apparently there were no art majors around when they founded EKT. blue and red are not "opposites"...blue and orange/ red and green would be "opposite" or complimentary colors. Just something I noticed.

You have to remember that things were VERY different (as in much looser regarding risk management) when EKT colonized as a chapter, in 1984. IMO, Theta made the mistake by not taking a firm hand with the chapter to begin with. At any school, but ESPECIALLY a school like Dartmouth, you can't just assume that things will be done just because a large governing body says to do them. If you don't want to deal with that sort of challenge, don't colonize at Dartmouth.

Some of those comments are asinine. Actually, I don't know why this is an article. Sorority gives out open bids to eligible members. Why is this front page news?

They got rid of the elements of the Theta Ritual between December 4, 2004 and February 6, 2005.

I read the

"The sisters of EK Colony had received consultants before, and were usually able to squelch fraternizing and imbibing for long enough to accommodate them. "

and went "This is part of your justification as to why you left KATh?

I'm surprised that with as much disdain that they seem to show for NPCs that the PHC is helping them out like this. Now there's a group of women who understand that letting the low man on the totem pole go out hurts the whole system.

Dartmouth has a VERY interesting Greek history, at least according to Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmou..._organizations

I found their website to be annoying.

Yeah, there is that.

I particularly enjoyed their misuse of terminology i.e., continuing to refer to the chapter as a colony and all the members having to "depledge" Kappa Alpha Theta to become a local. I had to read it more than once to figure out what they were trying to say. :confused:

I can't believe I read that much of their website. LOL. I found it interesting and respect their right and ability to become a local. It was just something about the tone of their site beginning with the loooooooong "we are dancers, we are doctors, we are..."; then the account of the history with Kappa Alpha Theta; and ending with the updates on where the sisters are now (as of a couple of years ago).

That's their local and their right. :) It is good that they edited their site out of respect for Kappa Alpha Theta, including the previous chapter's Kappa Alpha Thetas who they claim to still keep in contact with.

And not very well written.

Like a fly-by-night blog entry?

Dartmouth's history
 

The *odd* thing for me is that there are a *lot* of local fraternities and sororities at Dartmouth who were once part of National organizations and left due to what they considered discriminatory rules on membership, by race, religion or even gender. (Dartmouth is probably one of about 3 or 4 schools in the Northeast that most pushed the idea of non-descrimination clauses for the fraternities on campus in the 1950s and 1960s.)

Somehow not being part of Kappa Alpha Theta because they didn't want to have to hide their booze just doesn't rise to the same level.

I know we use the term "double secret probation" jokingly on here, but I can't believe they used it on their website...unless Theta actually has such a thing. It seems like a silly term, though, since most probations are decidedly not secret.

Well, it is at Dartmouth, the model for the fictional Faber College. Maybe it's a Dartmouth thing.

Yes, I kid.

No, it just greases the wheels for all chapters on that campus to view affiliation with nationals as something that's optional, fluid, and even reversible. This is something unique to Dartmouth that sits alongside the universal Ivy League perspective that they don't need the national credential for networking purposes, as the university and the chapter will provide all the inter/national connections they need. That's pretty widespread even on campuses where there's little to no history of locals (like Penn).

I find that so interesting.

It is probably not uncommon for chapters across councils and conferences to not want to abide by every aspect of ritual, policies, and guidelines. If they get caught not abiding, it seems like most chapters prefer to abide than get shut down especially if becoming a local is not considered an option. When DST chapters have their charters revoked, it is a big deal and a local sorority that was once a DST chapter would not be given much respect.

I think the situations are very different for the NPHC fraternities and sororites especially on an HBCU chapter than they are with an NIC/NPC group.

Let's say that Sigma Alpha Epsilon (just to pick an NIC) gets its charter revoked at Eastern Michigan University and they can't come back for five years. There is *absolutely* no guarantee that Sigma Alpha Epsilon will come back at the end of that time, the school may not have any fraternity housing in five years because another NIC fraternity has come on campus and grabbed the house. SAE will have to wait for the school to decide to expand its greek life to come back and the school administration may just simply forget about them. An SAE legacy who comes to school two years after their charter is pulled is just out of luck.

OTOH, let's say DST is revoked at Norfolk State University for 5 years. The school and the sorority fully expect when it is revoked that in 5 years, DST will be back on campus with a line with full support of the local graduate chapter. And presuming a DST legacy comes to campus during the banning (presuming this doesn't cause her to switch schools), there is always waiting it out and going graduate. (and *all* of the NPHC brothers and sisters *know* this). There aren't going to be any locals derived from a DST chapter.

*Very* different.

Yes, it's "double secret probation" for everyone, everywhere, anytime we feel like it.

And now I suppose you're expecting to see photos of our catsuits, our sequined stockings, our hats (see? you didn't even know there was a Theta hat, did you?), our official vehicles we use to transport our members, and our real badges (not the ones you all *think* are Theta badges).

ha. ha. ha. Me, I'm just going to throw a few ADPis down their Velvet Volcano and start a little cat fight. I think I'll go pick on Honeychile.

yes I'm kidding too. Move over on the sofa, MC.

Whether at a non-HBCU or an HBCU, this is not true. When a Delta chapter loses its charter (which is different than suspension, probation, not being allowed to have membership intake, or being dormant for whatever reasons), it is about much more than just "let's wait 5 years." If it is a matter of waiting and putting the chapter essentially on hold for a few years, the chapter will usually be put on probation or suspension. The chapter will generally not lose its charter. I was talking about locals being formed from chapters that have lost their charters and the members decide to depledge.

We have alumnae chapters, not graduate chapters so aspirants go alumnae. There are aspirants (legacies or not) who join other sororities when there is no Delta chapter or they do not like the chapter. Switching schools solely because there is no chapter or you were denied by the chapter is not as common as people assume. And the aspirants who decide to form a local sorority or join a non-NPHC/non-NPC sorority are not prohibited from pursuing Delta at the alumnae level.

I do not know what you mean by "and all of the NPHC brothers and sisters know this." You were talking about aspirants.

There theoretically could be if the chapter loses its charter and the members depledged (or were expelled by Delta) rather than graduating and remaining a Delta. It has yet to happen for a number of reasons and, like I said, they would not receive much respect. That does not make it impossible since times change. So, with that said, I am really intrigued by how some locals are formed and what that means for future students who may have wanted to join the national sorority or fraternity as a student.

Yep. But I understand they had a lot of other renegade stuff going on too. Example... my friend did a semester abroad when she would have normally pledged her sophomore year. So rather than going through (then) rush and pledging/initiating, she was offered a bid by two other KATh's who were in her study abroad program. She said she "skipped" normal pledging and that they performed her initiation ceremony for her over there. I remember asking her if she went through it again back home and her response was "no, we didn't believe in doing all that formal mumbo jumbo".

That certainly seems like blatant disregard for ritual to me.

It amazes me that still call themselves "Thetas". The alums from that era that I've met explain it as "I'm a Theta... used to be a Kappa Alpha Theta but I was a Theta first and I'm still a Theta."

I would find that SO annoying if I were a KATh.

One would expect better writing from Ivy Leaguers.

Goodness gracious, loose lips sink ships.

As I posted above... this was in 1992 (when all this went down). I think that ship has already sunk. ;)

The ship has sunk but it hasn't disappeared. There are three loose lips:

1) The Kappa Alpha Thetas who allegedly bid and initiated her overseas. That is perhaps one reason the chapter was rogue.
2) Your friend for telling you the story.
3) You for repeating that story even 19 years later. Is your friend officially a member of Kappa Alpha Theta or not?

Definitely not anymore. And that was my point... they had a blatant disregard for what it meant to be in an NPC organization and were doing their own thing. They are pretty upfront about voluntarily discussing it too.

Not anymore or not ever?

That much is obvious. ;)

Update -- story from Friday, Sept. 23, 2011 newspaper site

This article gives a few more details (not many, and nothing about the exact number of bids offered / bids accepted):

http://thedartmouth.com/2011/09/23/news/rush

If I am to believe her version, "not anymore". She graduated in 1992 so it would have been prior to that.

As I've stated, things were a LOT different back in the 80s. I went to a chapter colonization where alcohol was bought, and served to underage women, with national officers in the room. Whether they didn't realize they were in Pennsylutah and our drinking age was 21, I don't know, but I doubt it. I'm betting that the Dartmouth colony began in a similar manner, and then when things started cracking down, the collegians had an immense problem with the hypocrisy and script-flipping of it. As they should, as MANY of us who went to college in the 80s did. The heads that had been looking the other way for a LOOOONG time were suddenly three feet up your ass.

I completely agree. And I don't think it's unique to Ivy League schools either. I think a lot of it depends on how cohesive and friendly the Greek system is. If you have friends in all the groups and you all party together, you're going to feel like this - but if the system is full of backbiting and trash talking and a very rigid social structure (as in ZXY sorority JUST DOES NOT go to ABC fraternity parties because that's PQR's domain and PQR is higher in the pecking order) you're probably going to develop a much deeper feeling for your chapter and your sorority on a national level than for your school.


There are most likely many other chapters out there who also don't believe in all that "formal mumbo jumbo" and only do it when national officers are around. Give these girls credit for finally saying, as they state on their website, that they should either be all in or all out.

As far as going by "Theta" - at some campuses Theta Phi Alpha call themselves Thetas. Not to mention the local sororities out there that do the same. KAT doesn't own that nickname or any rights to be indignant if other groups use it. If you could do that, there would be many Alpha Phi Alpha members who would be going to some of our chapters and kicking butt. :) Not only that, sometimes you just end up being what the campus calls you. We could say "Alpha Sig" till we were blue in the face and people still said ASA.