UC-Davis: Co-ed Group Request to Associate with Panhellenic
 

An interesting situation has arisen at the University of California-Davis.

A group, Lambda Delta Lambda, has requested to become an associate chapter with Panhellenic. This has posed issues:

-Lambda Delta Lambda, while identifying itself as a sorority, allows males to join. This would be a conflict with Panhellenic and its protection under Title IX rules that allow for it to remain single-sex (as IFC is protected to remain single-sex).

-From what I understand, one of the advisors is pressuring the current members of Panhellenic to vote to allow LDL, suggesting that this is a gender identity issue (LDL was originally formed as a lesbian-friendly sorority), equality, and fairness. It's been stated that NPC is "old fashioned".

-It has been "suggested" to Panhellenic that if they do not admit LDL, they will lose university recognition.

I know that IFC has at least one member that has co-ed chapters (Psi Upsilon); but in my opinion, NPC organizations, with their UAs, are a whole different situation and I don't believe that a co-ed group could truly fit in.

It also bothers me that the administration and their representatives are pushing the ladies of UCDavis's Panhellenic into a "vote the way we want or lose campus recognition".

Thoughts?

I agree with you. Strong arm tactics are not the way to go.

I do not understand why co-ed greek orgs. can't have their own council? Was that even proposed?

I hope the UC-Davis panhellenic council contacts the area NPC representative. She would be a tremendous help in working through this situation.

Their request is to become an associate member. To what extent does that status reach? What are they trying to achieve from affiliation? They can't rush with the Panhellenic chapters so what other benefits are they after? Well, I suppose they could only take girls through formal and not be included in RFM, but that starts to be pretty contrived.

I would be interested to learn more about their intentions and plan.

To what purpose would be the associate membership? I think that's a more important question. Do they just want some sort of recognition? Associate members have different rights and responsibilities.

I question the accuracy of this. Is Panhellenic actually protected under Title IX? I doubt it. Panhellenic is not itself comprised of people, whether single-sex or co-ed; it is comprised of specific organizations whose single-sex status is protected under Title IX. There's a difference.

Likewise, I don't think that either the NIC or a campus IFC are protected under Title IX; the organizations that are members of it are. And at least on some NIC organizations, chapters of which may also be members of campus IFCs—Psi Upsilon and Delta Psi/St. Anthony Hall, for example—are not single sex. That would seem to indicate that allowing some co-ed organizations into the NIC or an IFC in no way imperils the Title IX status of other NIC or IFC members.

Of course, whether this org could "mesh" with Panhellenic is a different question.

Exactly - if they're recognized by the university, why on earth would they want the hassle of Panhel meetings, fees, etc?

As the Advisory Team Chairman for the DG chapter here, I can assure you all that we are way beyond the Area Adviser. The NPC President, NPC Counsel and UCD Counsel are all involved.

I think this is the crux of the issue along with complying with our Campus Panhellenic Bylaws, which reference Unanimous Agreements.

This was my thought, too. If the CPH has to admit both genders, that sure as heck doesn't mean the individual groups do.

Why does LDL need to be on a council at all? I bet this is something the school is pushing harder than the org.

Is LDL a selective membership group?

I guess I'm having trouble seeing how same-sex status is the crux of the issue. Title IX states that requirements that membership in school organizations be open to members of both sexes, but then exempts from that requirement "a social fraternity or social sorority which is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of Title 26, the active membership of which consists primarily of students in attendance at an institution of higher education." Panhellenic is not "a social sorority."

Good luck, dukedg!

I don’t know if this is the case at UC-Davis, but at Kentucky, all "social" GLOs must be affiliated with a campus counsel. I don’t recall the exact reasoning behind it, but it had something to do with administrative oversight and funding etc.

^^^ this. My guess is that someone in the administration wants to be able
to justify having LDL report to an administrator not just a faculty advisor? (risk management for actvities? Anti-hazing? Leadership training?)

Thanks, I need it! I don't want to share too many details on the arguments at this point since there are professionals on both sides much more familiar with the legalities than I am. Once there is a resolution, I will be happy to share more.

So, does this mean LDL wants to be part of the NPC recruitment week?

Is it a gender identity issue because the males of the group identify with being female?


Would this be so bad? At TAMU the NPC sororities were not recognized by the university until ~1990/1991. Before that they did fine in terms of recruitment and membership.

Did the university offer any rationale as to why they want LDL to join the CPC? Or, is it "do what we say, or else".

I don't envy your position right now, dukedg!

We just got word that this vote will be delayed until after formal recruitment this fall (which is late Sep/early Oct).

For what it is worth, the three affiliate members of the Kentucky CPC are not required to participate during/in the NPC Chapters formal recruitment week. All three (Ceres, Delta Phi Mu, and Phi Sigma Rho) hold their recruitment after NPC formal recruitment. To be clear, they may hold their recruitment during formal if they want, but all three have elected to hold their recruitment after NPC formal recruitment is completed.

As I understand it, none of the three affiliate members may hold executive office within the UK CPC – only the NPC chapters. Nor do they vote on issues regarding extension or NPC recruitment.

I believe the set up at UK regarding affiliate members of the CPC (NPC council), is similar to that of other campuses that also have affiliate members in their CPC.

Since Clemson has multiple groups that could be Panhellenic affiliates but are not, I'm curious: what benefit do these groups get out of Panhellenic affiliation versus not being Panhellenic associates?

Please.... council, not counsel :-)

OPA has a few chapters who are associate members of their campus Panhellenic group. They don't participate in recruitment, but they do participate in the other traditional Greek events on their campus -- which they wouldn't be able to do if they weren't associated with Panhellenic on the local level. Those vary from campus to campus but include Greek Week, philanthropy competitions, Homecoming competitions, etc. The chapters who have chosen to do this are happier with their relationships within the Greek community. They have a lot of fun with those activities and feel like it increases their campus visibility.

Our other chapters have no interest whatsoever in joining their campus Panhellenic council. Recognizing that each campus environment is different, we leave the decision up to the chapters.

OPA has a few chapters who are associate members of their campus Panhellenic group. They don't participate in recruitment, but they do participate in all of the other traditional Greek events -- which they wouldn't be able to do if they weren't associated with Panhellenic on the local level. Those vary from campus to campus but include Greek Week, philanthropy competitions, Homecoming competitions, etc. The chapters who have chosen to do this are happy with their relationships within the Greek community on their campuses. On the other hand, many of our other chapters would have to be dragged kicking and screaming into an associated Panhellenic membership. It's just not their thing.

Thank you for the explanation OPhiAGinger. It makes sense that other non-NPC sororities may benefit from being part of the CPC.


But the question is why would a co-ed group want to join the CPC?

Alpha Phi Omega discourages chapters from belonging to Social Greek councils (in fact in order to be the *only* non-social greek on the council, then the National Board has to give permission. Doesn't stop some schools from putting us into an *everybody* social greek council (NPC + NIC + NPHC + anyone else who actually has a membership council), but that's still not as bad as being on a school IFC council with only APO & Social Greeks). I've also seen APO at various schools put on service councils (With Circle K, Alternative Spring Break, etc), professional fraternity councils, "Non-NPHC" councils.

I keep expecting a chapter to announce that they've been put on a council with all of the other student groups whose names start with 'A'.

It may be that the administration is trying to nip risky behavior in the bud by having a robust, direct advisory system placed over the group. The CPC adviser may be the best option. If you look at the website for the group, you'll see a recent comment that provides some insite into what might be the administration's motives.

How many male members do they actually have? They may welcome male members, but still identify with the sorority experience and having a small number of mister sisters doesn't change that. If the university is mandating that they be part of a council for oversight reasons, the local Panhellenic council may be best fit.

This is how they define themselves on the UC Davis website: I think it comes down to whether the term "sorority" mandates single sex. I don't think it does. Your mileage may vary.

But I also have to wonder…. If the acceptance of LDL into the local Panhellenic council does not have any implications over how NPC chapters recruit their members or operate their own chapters, why would the existing Panhellenic members oppose it?

How many male members do they actually have? They may welcome male members, but still identify with the sorority experience and having a small number of mister sisters doesn't change that. I can't find any evidence that they have male members at all, just that they are open to it! If the university is mandating that they be part of a council for oversight reasons, the local Panhellenic council may be best fit.

This is how they define themselves on the UC Davis website: I think it comes down to whether the term "sorority" mandates single sex. I don't think it does. Your mileage may vary.

But I also have to wonder…. If the acceptance of LDL into the local Panhellenic council does not have any implications over how NPC sororities recruit or operate their own chapters, why would the existing Panhellenic members oppose it?

Did you mean their Facebook or their tumbler? I didn't see a regular website.

My understanding is that the term sorority was coined to mean a 'fraternity for women', and if so, then by definition the term sorority implies a fraternal group of women. As in people with two (2) X chromosomes.

My only guess as to why the existing Panhelleninc may oppose it would be due to "guilt by association". If the current NPC chapters do not identify themselves as LDL does, then the NPC chapters may not want to have any association whatsoever with LDL.

Daviswiki

From http://daviswiki.org/lambda_Delta_Lambda:

I also found this statement from the official Lambda Delta Lambda website-apparently they're not an exclusively-collegiate group. Not sure if that has any impact on their ability to join CPC.

ClemsonGirl, that LDL party is the kind of thing that drives university officials to mandate that all social Greek orgs be a part of an oversight council. Major risk management issue, obviously.

Somewhere in my 5 whole minutes of research into LDL last night, I saw mention of an "associates" status for people who didn't fit their requirements for membership. Maybe that's where the random, non-student folks fit into their inclusiveness. Because whether they are part of CPC or not, I can't imagine a recognized student organization being allowed to have members who were not part of the campus student community. And that "associate" thing is an end-around for a university rule that is there for good reason.

That is how the word came into common usage, but Sir Thomas More and others used it back in the early 16th Century to mean "sisterhood" (primarily in a religious sense—"fraternity" also had a primarily religious since then).

Given the self-description of Lambda Delta Lambda quoted above:

Quote:

Lambda Delta Lambda is a local sorority, comprised of a fun-loving, queer friendly, sisterhood with open minds. We regard ourselves as not being the typical sorority and are open to students of all sexualities and gender identities. While we are a Greek organization our message to the campus and community is one of acceptance and hope for equality.

I would not be surprised if the sorority is co-ed primarily in the sense that it welcomes people who are chromosomally-male but who self-identify as female.

That sort of thing is exactly why they SHOULDN'T be on Panhel. If it's about securing meeting space, they can't if they have non-student members. That's true for ALL groups.

uhhh, about their tumblr username....

Oh, that just stands for Fraternal Undergraduate Community of Kindness. :p

Fraternal Undergraduate Community of Kindness YEAH, you mean. LOL.

Dang spell chick (check). :o

First off, at UK “social” GLOs are required to belong to a council. Another requirement is that “social” GLOs must have a national board (i.e. national HQ). So there are no locals (i.e. one chapter only) at UK. As such, this is mainly about administrative oversight (risk management etc.).

As I understand it, the benefit is mainly the support (financial and otherwise) they receive that is similar to all “social” GLOs. An example is that the three affiliate members are included in the official UK Sorority recruitment guide, along with the NPC and NPHC chapters. Their information is also included on the official campus websites for (and listed under) “social” GLOs etc. They also have access to any discounts or funds for speakers etc. that NPHC/NPC/NIC/IFC GLOs have as well. These are just a few that I know of. What other benefits they might receive, I’m not sure.