Hi, I'm Resigning
 

I have many questions in resignation from my sorority. It's a frustrating process and I'm about to punch a "sister".

I would like to go forth an explain myself here. I wasn't used to this forum format.

I am currently a member of Alpha Sigma Tau. I'm not a big fan of it. I turned in my letter already and I just don't even want to know anything about it any longer. It's nonprofessional and it's become a burden on me. I currently owe $200.08, most of the money is national dues, and a quarter of it is T-shirts and other shit I didn't need nor want, but apparently required. I gave all of my paraphernalia back, and the only thing I am getting harassed is the money. To make things short, paying AST back is the least of my priorities. VERY bottom of the list. I don't want to pay anything because I left with nothing nor do I want to remember anything. What will happen if I don't pay, and to what point will this turn into a legal suit?

I appreciate any response. Thank you.

If you don't pay, after a set amount of time, they will send your account to collections. You will start receiving phone calls every day and it will show up on your credit report. The amount of time before they give up trying to nicely collect on your financial obligation will depend on policy which may be set at a local or national level. Your treasurer or financial advisor would have more detailed information on the process.

You could try sitting down with your advisory board to work out an arrangement. You might be able to get them to waive the cost of the shirts and just have you pay the national fees for the semester.

Also depending on the degree of poor relations with the sisters of your former chapter, you might want to contact the HQ of that org. explain your situation, and your expressed desire to no longer affiliate and see if you can work something out with them about the remaining balance if they are national dues or they can at least explain the process/policies for non-payment.

Accounts are turned over to a third party, which is usually not shy about harrassing you and tying up your credit report for years.

also, I hope you have dated copies of your resignation letter and anything you've received from the sorority.

Pay your damn bills. You may regret it now, but when you pledged and initiated into your sorority, you knew that there would be financial obligations. YOU signed the bid card. YOU went through initiation. So make the responsible decision to pay your bills. It will go on your credit report, if it goes to a third party and to collections--that will follow you for 7 years.

Part of being an adult is knowing that there are still consequences for your decisions, even if you change your mind.

Wow, just tacky. You went out of your way to mention the organization and speak disparagingly about it. I've taken the liberty of removing the GLO's name from your initial post out of respect for my NPC sisters. You didn't have to call them unprofessional and a burden. If you don't pay your bill, people usually come to collect the money. Welcome to the real world. You don't have to come on here and tell us you intend to resign. Just do it. No post needed. Go pay your bill or don't pay your bill and get collections agencies to call and bother you but, certainly don't come on Greek Chat and speak horribly about this organization.

Seems like the perfect place for this blog post.


http://intentionaltjs.com/you-gotta-pay-your-bill/

I think by "nonprofessional" and a "burden" she meant it isn't a group that has anything to do with her future career and those are the only groups she cares to belong to or spend money on.

The organization she belongs to really isn't the point and I doubt her post will make anyone think badly of AST.

Regardless of how she meant it, it is still in bad taste to say things about an organization like that because she chose not to pay her bill.

It would be helpful if she would have mentioned how long ago she submitted her resignation. If she resigned last spring and they sent her a bill that includes this semester, and/or she still hasn't received final notice of her termination, yeah, I would be irritated too.

Good point. This is true. Even being annoyed with getting a bill, however, doesn't exactly warrant a hateful post on GC for the world to see. You are right about getting upset with bills being sent after the fact, though. I just think that with her attitude, AST dodged a bullet when she decided to resign her membership.

I agree with both of you, 33girl and als463.

1) Most people who come here complaining about their sorority and saying they want to resign usually have the courtesy to not name the group outright.

2) Even though VictorG named AST, I find it funny that she actually considered this to be an "explanation". I'm not concerned about her ruining our reputation in the least.

If $200 is a "burden" to her (small change in the real world) nd her solution is to ignore the debt, she has many painful life lessons ahead of her. She might also want to sink an extra $10 into a book on professionalism (her approach and writing is clearly unprofessional) and one on grammar.

Well, she titled the thread "Hi, I'm resigning," which suggests she's in the process now. She also says in her explanation "I am currently a member . . . ." So I imagine that the resignation letter was sent recently.

If you really don't want to remember anything about the sorority, then you need to make a clean break. The only way to do that is to pay your bill. As long as the bill is unpaid, there's still a connection—however negative it may seem to you—to AST, because you owe them money. If you really want nothing to do with AST anymore, paying the bill should be a top priority, not very bottom of the list.

I agree, this is how it works in my org too. I'm the financial adviser to two chapters and we just recently worked things out with a girl who was dropping so that she paid just national fees - it could be worth a shot for you. Every organization is different though.

I really, really think y'all need to reread....she didn't say "unprofessional," she said "nonprofessional." Those are two different things. She could have as easily said "nonathletic" or "nonreligious. " in other words, she doesn't want to be in the sorority or pay for it because it is not something that will advance her in her profession. This is how I took it anyway.

And yes, owing $200 IS a burden.....real world or college. Not everyone in Greek life is rich.

My bad. :o

1) LOL if you don't think being Greek will advance your career.

2) When you get out into the real world and start looking for a job, an unpaid bill of $200 on your credit report could make or break you when it comes to becoming employed.

I was speaking about her perception of "burden". I intentionally addressed her post and her approach to debt as being unprofessional because they are. I had no comment on the sorority being "non-professional" because, to me, that had little bearing on the other issues. : )

I guess we could take her post literally; but, my gut tells me that she used the phrase "nonprofessional" when she meant to say "unprofessional". She makes plenty of complaints about the sorority's alleged demands and says she's being harassed for money. However, she does not make any mention about not wanting to participate because it's not career-related. I really think she meant "unprofessional".

This is also what I'm guessing to be the case.

I would agree, but in the event that she did mean "not career oriented", her post and attitude are certainly unprofessional. Too many people use the preface "non" when it should be "un" or "dis" or "mis". Hence the suggestion for a grammar book!