Unruly President? Please Help!!
 

Hello All!
I would really like some advice on a situation that has come up in my sorority.

There are a couple problems. First off our president goes out and gets completely wasted all the time proudly broadcasting that fact to Facebook, Twitter and anyone else who will listen which isn't the best publicity for us, second of all she is very close friends with VP and most of the upper exec. Obviously we all go out, everyone has been drunk but where it really concerns me is that in case of a situation the pres and vp won't be able to be contacted or will be too intoxicated to do anything. I only worry because bad situations have happened in the past with girls being taken to the hospital. I think our president just does not take responsibility for any of our girls and appears intimidating to some new members.

A few other girls and myself were advised to take her to standards by the alum board but I'm worried about the repercussions..I am also on upper exec and if you aren't on her good side then I don't know what will happen.

What is your input on this?
Also, our standards is hardly used and it is truly seen as a punishment...maybe 3 girls go each semester.

Thanks for the help and sorry about the long post!!

You absolutely need to follow the advice of the alumnae and call them to standards. Standards is there for this very reason. This is a risk management issue and the best way to handle it.

Agreed. This is detrimental to the chapter. Sounds like your chapter decided to elect the party crew to power. I assume your organization has rules regarding social media presence, officer intoxication at events, etc. As the official face of your chapter, the president should be above reproach. Having a good time is one thing, but making a name for herself in a bad way on social media, and not being available as an officer because she is drunk at events isn't acceptable. If she wants to party that hard, then she doesn't really want to be president. The two are mutually exclusive. I'd follow the advice of you alumnae.

Is the president/party crew exec in their positions until the school year ends or are they elected for fall semester as well?

Yes, they're elected fall semester as well.

Well, it depends. My chapter rotated the responsibility of being the sober officers. When it comes to dealing with emergency issues, you really need SOBER officers, not just "had a drink or two but not wasted" officers.

It's always scary to take people to standards, but if there was ever a case where it should be done, this sounds like that case.Your alumnae advisory board is trying to get you(and the chapter) to follow protocol. They most likely cannot do anything until the president is taken to your standards board.

You may find the proper procedure in your officer's manual, which might help you decide if you want to take her to standards or not. In other words, if there have to be witnesses to support the accusations that are leveled against the president, then you need to make sure that there are members who would be willing to do so. As you noted previously, if you get on the president's bad side she might make your life miserable. By taking her to standards, with no one to confirm your accusations, then you have basically just hit the wasp nest with a pinata stick.

And that needs to be well defined. Sounds like from the OPs post that this has been a problem, and that is the responsibility first and foremost of the president.

To ask perhaps the most obvious question....why did you elect Lindsay Lohan II as your president in the first place? I seriously doubt that her behavior has only been occurring since she ascended to office.

you would be correct...we have had problems with that as well...basically no one really takes our risk management seriously and how could they when even the pres breaks the rules?

Lol GOOD question! it's actually a whole other story but basically only 2 girls ran one isn't as personable but more "down to business" and then theres the party-er. Also something got switched up with our initiation dates so the new members got to vote in the election even though typically nm don't vote based on the fact that they really don't know many people after half a semester...

This is totes Clare vs Drew in Degrassi!

Then you guys have learned a lesson...the best liked person is not always the best president. Sorry, but y'all made your bed, you have to lie in it.

And the initiation dates thing is silly, as they wouldn't "know" the sisters any better just from going through initiation.

I thought her point was that because initiation was early this year the new(est) members got to vote at all, where normally they wouldn't.

Oh, that would make more sense. I thought she was saying that the NMs got initiated on the 13th instead of the 20th and so they got to vote in the election on the 15th.

Although I also question if that is really a kosher thing to do - it could be seen as hazing/denying privileges.

If the alum board is aware of the situation, and the officers in question have broadcasted their partying/drinking on "FB, Twitter, and to anyone else who will listen," where are the advisors? Are they aware? Or am I confused and by alum board you mean the advisory board?

Yes, I meant it the way angels&angels explained it. Normally they don't vote at all because it turns into a campaign trying to win over the new members.

Yes the alum board are the advisors. We are an extremely small sorority.

Thanks for everyone's help so far!! We decided to take her to standards.

Taking her to standards was a very good choice. The president doesn't have to be perfect, but that is not how a president should behave. It's possible that if she is held accountable, you may have to elect a new president (if that is within your sorority's bylaws). No member of any sorority should have that kind of behavior, it looks bad on the entire chapter when just one member (particularly the president) acts in such a manner. I haven't heard of a sorority that doesn't have an alcohol risk management program, and this violates alcohol safety and shows a huge amount of disrespect for the sorority.

question! are local sororities supposed to have a risk management program?

If it's a local, it's completely up to the rules they set when they first organized. If they didn't form a standards board, or judicial branch, or something like it, they there isn't one.
Seems like the school would require that of any organization.