What does it mean to be "inactive?"
 

I have a cousin who had a bad semester gpa wise (at ADPi if this helps differentiate policies) and then was pulled out for a semester due to family problems. Does this mean she can't be "active" again? I don't think her grades are any higher. How exactly does this work? If she did get her grades up, could she be "active" again? I'm a little hazy on academic probation and those rules. How many semesters can you be "out" of a sorority before they don't let you back in?

Your cousin needs to speak with her Chapter Advisor. She will have the details on her specific situation and be able to answer her questions.

Well...
 

She's actually out of the country right now. I'm not even sure if she knows if she wants to join it again. I was mostly asking this out of curiosity for myself.

It depends on the sorority, the chapter, and the situation.

Thanks
 

Is there a general procedure? How does it work with your sorority? These are all curiosity based. They don't have to be accurate. I just wanted to know how those situations are handled. Thanks:)

Each sorority handles these situations differently. When these situations come up, they are typically confidential between the member and the standards or honor board. Quite frankly, it's none of your business as a nonmember.

If your cousin wants to return to her ADPi chapter, she NEEDS to contact the chapter advisor. The chapter advisor can guide her in everything.

No one, not even us ADPi's, can comment on to your cousin's situation as we aren't directly involved in it (and even if we were, we still couldn't comment).

ADPi, along with other sororities( I'm assuming) specifically give their new members information regarding grade expectations upon joining. Your " cousin" should already have this information. Why is this any of your business?

I'm a chapter advisor and I agree that her outcome is really going to depend on the situation.

As for general guidelines, it's tough to say for a few reasons 1) I'm sure that all sororities handle their inactive statuses and academic probations differently. Us giving you a "general guideline" would be useless as it could be far of from one group's policies to the next and 2) knowing a specific sorority's policies is only the business of members of that organization.

If you are part of a sorority, I suggest you reach out to a chapter advisor or someone on your executive board to get clarification on your chapters policies regarding inactive status and probation. I would assume that by now many chapters even have their local by-laws online available to its members. I would start there and if they are not immediately available to you, reach out to the people I suggested.

This is all really none of your business.

...
 

I was just curious as a pnm how sororities handle situations like that in case I was ever in that situation... I'm sorry. And she had no clue when I asked her (admittedly she was in a hurry when I asked), so that's why I turned here bc I figured someone might help me with my question

That said, thank you lovespink88!

To be fair, even as a member of a sorority it's none of your business. This is an individual and sorority policy issue, and is not something that should affect you unless you find yourself in a situation where you are either going to be or already on inactive status.

Keep your grades where they need to be (you will be advised of this as a new member), and you will never need to know unless you are part of standards or honor board.

Our collegiate members can go financially inactive for emergency reasons for a limited period. This mean they don't pay dues or participate in the sorority during the period of inactivity. However, in your cousin's situation, if she doesn't return to school, she'll be considered an alumna.

I don't see where any of this is "secret," but as others said, it's between your cousin and her chapter.

To me, it's not even so much that it's a private information issue (although I personally do think it's private). The biggest reason I avoided getting into it is because your sorority's policies and my sorority's policies may be very different. For instance, based on the example you just gave, there are 2 different things that my sorority does differently. There's just so many variables in the situation that her specific question can't be answered.

If you were hoping that your cousin might write a recommendation for you, it might work out better if one of her friend's who is in good standing with the chapter write one for you. You might ask your cousin to put you in contact with someone and proceed from there.

I can appreciate that and it is good to note that sorority polices differ. I answered because her cousin is an ADPi.

Well, it is a membership decision. And for that reason could be considered "secret." Also it's just plain rude to be so nosy about someone else's financial/scholastic/personal situation.

Asking personal questions can startle, bring up bad or sad memories, and just plain embarrass people, perhaps this is why the member was vague.

Hey cuz! So tell me about how and why you flunked out of college! Hmmm, pretty much not cool. Going to a bunch of strangers for more dirt, also not cool. This might be a good teaching moment for you: some things really are none of your business and making yourself look bad isn't going to get you closer to knowing more gossip. If /when your cousin wants to discuss it with you, she'll let you know.

Whoa whoa whoa. Y'all are becoming too aggressive. I was not getting "dirt" on my cousin. I was legitimately wondering if there were policies about grades and becoming inactive bc I want to study abroad. There's also the possibility (however doubtful) something may happen with my grades bc I have been having serious health issues. I didn't want to blast my problems, so I asked the question in the easiest way I could. There is absolutely no need to accuse me of anything when all I did was ask what being inactive was and if you can become un-inactive. Don't answer the question if you're really that hung up on hypothetical "privacy"

The only valid answer is for you - or whomever - to check with your own chapter. We can't really answer the question for you unless we are members of your chapter. And how your chapter handles these issues is private. If you don't care about your private business being made public - fine. But I am sue your chapter and GLO do. And we respect that,

I thought this was about your cousin and general curiosity? Why are you talking about YOUR studying abroad?

Try to get your lies together then come back. Thanks

Right..
 

How exactly was that lying? I didn't even know there was a thing called inactive until it happened to my cousin. That's why I'm curious for myself. I fronted her story so as not to have to go into my issues. I brought myself up to explain that I'm not prying into my cousin's privacy. No lies. Sorry you didn't understand

If you have grade and health issues, do yourself a favor and get a handle on them BEFORE you try to pledge. The new member period can be very busy and not necessarily conducive to making problems better.

She's a PNM.

turtlebutter, I suggest you step away from the keyboard, take a deep breath, and then consider how your posts might come across to people who know nothing about you and can only go by what you've written. I don't think anyone has been aggressive, nor do I think anyone suggested that you were getting "dirt" on your cousin. What they said was that the reason your cousin didn't say much was because your question might have made her uncomfortable or embarrassed.

What people have also very clearly said is that there is no real answer to your question, so there's nothing anyone can tell you to satisfy your curiosity or help you plan for what might be -- policies about this vary from sorority to sorority and perhaps even from chapter to chapter. And often, it's something only the member in question and relevant officers really know the details of. Consider this a chance to learn that there are some things that aren't discussed outside of membership, and some things it's not considered appropriate to ask questions about.

Good luck with recruitment.

Please heed the advice that MysticCat gave.