Clemson Theta closing
 

Don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but Clemson Theta has received their closure letter.

Hundreds of active Thetas at Ole Miss and Clemson now without a home away from home.

The past few weeks have really been horrible for the “sisterhood” of Theta.

I do have a copy of the letter from headquarters. The worst part is the new members at Clemson were indeed initiated.

It is a shame for both these chapters. With the temporary nature of active members, it is hard to make them bear the responsibility for being there when the charter is taken away. It can be said all you want that they are not to blame, but they will and do feel it. They are the ones there and they are feeling it most immediately and directly. They will be the ones closing the doors on the last day, packing up and moving out for the last time.

As a grown-up, I fear these national organizations are too far removed to understand that visits from various volunteers (who,when,what, for what expected outcomes) would help move the needle. And in what direction? How can you say 270+ at Ole Miss who are such successful fundraisers for CASA or 140+ at Clemson are not sustainable chapters sizes. Both schools are moderately sized and yes, other chapters at each school are larger. So what? Is this sisterhood to just cut them off and say 'ok enough here'.

Frustrating to see all these young women who had hoped to have Theta a part of their collegiate experience lose it. It is apparent they didn't have a chance; oh and no appeals allowed.

For those with an upcoming visit from Nationals, be forewarned it is unlikely you are going to avoid a similar fate. Especially if you're differently sized than other chapters at your school.

I just heard about this from my best friend who is a Clemson Theta, and that chapter is the other chapter I preffed. The women in the chapter then and still are lovely people, but when Pi Phi colonized and nearly immediately got up to total I knew Theta was doomed. They’d been taking a smaller and smaller share of quota every year I was on campus and after, and I don’t think there was ever a sustainable way for them to grow. Yes 140+ seems like a lot but when other chapters are mostly over 200 it’s much harder to operate on the same scale as the other Panhellenic groups. Campus culture was very unkind to them as well.

I feel very bad for the new members who were initiated before this decision was made, because the writing had been on the wall for a while and I very highly doubt the choice to close was made just this week. I do think waiting four or five years before returning will be highly beneficial for Clemson Theta.

Operate is a verb which means an outcome or outcomes. In what way we’re they not operating other than bringing in as many new members as other chapters? Looking back at the published #’s on Clemson’s own site they were always in the 140-150 range going back to 2010. So this didn’t just come about, this has been their size. Have they not been able to develop leading women? Have they not been financially self sufficient or irresponsible? What about being smaller has impacted sustainability? Was it not enough of an improvement to place 2nd in a fundraising “competition” this semester despite being smallest?

To make it about that is superficial and insults their intelligence. And mid-semester after initiation? Disgraceful and distracting seeing as they’re students!

The women at nationals are out of touch. They owe it to these chapters to be transparent about their objectives and also let every other on their hit list know what’s up. Because there are certainly others. The actives are going to vote about closing up end of semester or end of year, which may show they’ve learned something after the Ole Miss mess. But not enough.

I don’t understand the justification for closing a chapter for low numbers without a house. With such a low operating cost, how much could numbers have really affected nationals’ bottom line.

I also don’t understand why the chapter wasn’t given a probation period to try to fix the situation. Yes they may have told the chapter their numbers were low, but if they didn’t link that to a potential closure, then that is no warning. The girls should have been given the opportunity to COB a few times and another fall recruitment before drastically removing so many collegians’ sorority experience.

Exactly. These girls were drawn into the chapter, choose to join, been dedicated and because they’re different they lose the experience. I know it stings for them and will every time they pass their hall or walk around campus, now and as alumni. Bad behavior and pull a charter a sure I get that. Not embracing Theta and contributing to school and community? Ok some penalty. But to bring it down to the size is appalling. Really bad form for an organization I had so much respect for.

Wow. That's heartless to do that after initiation. As celebcj said, were these members not given a speech saying, "Here's the problem and you have X amount of time to fix it and we're here to help"? My niece is a Theta alumna so it makes me even more sad (not this chapter). I don't understand why Panhellenic would allow expansion if an established chapter is hurting. Can someone explain the rhyme or reason for that?

I agree 100%. I posted a similar sentiment on the Ole Miss Theta closing thread. These chapters are smaller by campus standards, yes. And maybe they haven't been meeting quota. But, they are so much larger than so many other chapters on other campuses. They are serving their mission of providing a strong experience of sisterhood for their members. It is so incredibly sad that they are being shut down for what seems like a superficial reason. I would not have been surprised if it were another GLO who has recently come under fire for their beauty based recruitment standards, but I am surprised that this is coming from Theta.

So incredibly heartbroken for their members.

I posted this in another thread, but I mentioned that my campus expanded twice when I was in school and I think both times we were under total (first one a lot, second one a little). We got reamed by HQ for voting in favor of it, but the fact of the matter was if these women had wanted to join us they would have, and there was no point in being a wet blanket.

Is this maybe a regional culture issue with the people sent to assist or national council? There are a couple very southern NPCs that seem to have a difficult time once they get over the Mason Dixon. My own sorority does a heck of a lot better in the Midwest than in the Deep South. NPC does have 26 national groups, but even with the country becoming more homogenous in many ways, differences do still exist.

And as long as we (we=collegians, alumnae, fraternities, campuses, HQs) keep emphasizing reaching quota and total as a sign of sorority success, chapters will continue to be closed because of low numbers, even if they are financially viable. ETA: I have zero idea of either recently closed Theta chapter’s $$ situation, I am speaking in generalities.

33girl - one daughter is currently at Clemson and part of the Theta chapter there; my older daughter graduated from Ole Miss and while she was not a Theta she had MANY friends in that chapter. As for finances, Clemson was awarded a financially-based award at the national convention. They were in the black, operating fine both servicewise and socially. My Theta and her sisters are devastated. Definitely a bait-and-switch and focused on the numbers reflected poorly on Theta Nationals; they were told they had a 'bad reputation'. My oldest told me the girls at Ole Miss had been treated poorly by Nationals for several years (e.g. you need prettier girls etc.) That also disgusts me.

My daughter is a sophomore who joined last year; for the new members just initiated this is outrageous.

This challenge will make them stronger but they should have been given a plan by this 'Grand Council', should have been led by them, given KPIs to meet and then consequences if they didn't.

I believe I stated above they were at 140-150 members in each report on the Clemson greek life site for the past 8 YEARS! Why now? And why no serious chance to work together with Nationals. No way they can claim they wanted Delta Phi to succeed.

This headline is...interesting

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ind...amp/2011585002

Wow. Perhaps there's something I'm missing, but... I just don't understand.

I am ashamed at the way these closures have been handled. The situation at Clemson was almost a mirror of Ole Miss. Failure to meet quota by a large amount for years, new chapters colonizing and quickly growing to chapter total, and the chapter significantly smaller than all other houses on campus... these are the benchmarks that Theta is looking at. These closures could be seen coming from a few years away, if things didn't turn around. It baffles me that Theta keeps touting the 17-18 visits by staff, because clearly those visits are not helping. Neither chapter realized what trouble they were in because they were not told and given a chance to rally. That is heartbreaking and so unlike the Theta that I love.

My daughter is a Theta. This is so unlike the Theta that she knows, and I have grown to admire through her affiliation. Has there been a recent change in leadership?

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Thetalady. I, too, am grieving for these girls. Upper leadership within the chapter may have had some ideas, but after talking to some friends with daughters in the chapters, it appears the general membership did not. They were just blind sighted.

One one hand, I understand that if your chapter is struggling on a campus, it can be discouraging for the girls. I am thinking of one chapter on my daughter's campus. During recruitment, several PNMs were downright rude to the ladies of that house. My daughter was so mad at this...and her momma too. Part of me hurts for the girls of these two schools who were subject to some of the ugliness the ladies of this chapter experienced. There is nothing worse than opening your home to guests that spit in your face (figuratively) and then with RFM, you are required to invite some of them back over and over again. This taints the experience for the girls who truly want to be at your parties.

I'm not sure the Clemson or Ole Miss leadership ever got a break as I am sure they were constantly pressured to COB. This is not an experience any girl should encounter and if I were a betting girl, I would guess that this was at the forefront of the Grand Council's mind when they were assessing the situation.

On the other hand, Theta encourages leading women and in some cases have been trailblazers. From what I understand, some of the women in these chapters were not "traditional sorority girls." They were smart women who valued the 4 points of the kite as is evident in the fact that they were top fundraising chapters despite their size relative to other chapters on their campus. They valued sisterhood above social status and may have just been ahead of their time in areas that are slow to change. It's a sad fact that sometimes the best people are often overlooked because they don't march to the beat of everyone else's drum.

I am just so sorry for the way this was handled. I am glad that they are giving the Clemson girls the ability to select their closure date. Part of me wondered if it were possible to allow a chapter to "age out" by simply not participating in recruitment, but then my brain starts spinning with the negatives of that option...

This last weekend, I attended an event at my daughter's chapter. They are very strong and highly respected on their campus and that is what I wish for every chapter. Hopefully some good will come from all of this. I can only assume that Grand Council has a great amount of wisdom and they see things we do not. I hope that this is the last time I will see Theta and closure in the same sentence on Greekchat for some time and that my sisters at Clemson and Ole Miss find new and unique ways to celebrate their sisterhood.

Yes, we had a new Grand Council elected in July 2018 for a 2 year term.

Anyone know or want to share what the new GC's platform was? What attracted the membership to install them as leadership?

Obviously Theta Nationals cares more about Clemson Theta’s Greekrank standing than anything else. It also sounds like they have their own beauty standard recruitment policy.

It saddens me so to read this. Back in the day, there was one and sometimes two GLOs that were about a third smaller than the other sorority chapters on my campus. But they didn't let that get in their way, and the campus atmosphere was such that they weren't disparaged by the other GLOs. They had a wonderful sisterhood, which is what some PNMs value above all else. Why can't people let these chapters be who they are and value what they are? It seems to me that there should be room and a group for everyone.


I have to wonder if the Panhellenics at both Clemson and Ole Miss took any proactive measures to stop the kind of toxicity directed at one group at both of these schools.

NPC actually came to Ole Miss about 4 years ago to address the vicious behavior in the Greek system with all of the chapters. It clearly didn't help much.

It was not just Greek Rank and it was not just the sororities. Many of the fraternities were horrifically mean to the Ole Miss Thetas. I am appalled that they were allowed to get away with their cruelty. To my knowledge, nothing was done by the University specifically regarding those incidents. The school administrators have sort of shrugged and say they can't do anything to make the students be nicer to each other.

Finally about 2 years ago, Sigma Chi went too far in making sexual comments during the annual Derby Days Queen competition. Derby Days is no longer permitted at Ole Miss as a result.

If you don’t have a house to maintain, or are in dorm wings that can gradually decrease the amount of rooms used, I wouldn’t see why ever not. It would allow the women to spend their chapter’s last days with a focus on fun and sisterhood, instead of being worried and stressed and forced into holding near constant open bid parties. Contrary to what some people believe, there is no minimum amount of time that must lapse before recolonization. And if the women are on campus anyway, what’s the difference? Keeping the chapter open might be a better alternative as the women would still be bound to follow risk management policies. I’m not sure how much “unaffiliated collegians” are subject to those type rules.

According to my daughter, they gave them to end of the year because they already initiated their new member class a few weeks ago. Since Ole Miss had not and their new members were given option to NOT be initiated, they have only until the end of the semester. I'm not sure how it works at Ole Miss in terms of when/who lives in the house, but at Clemson it is typically the sophomores and after that year they move off campus. That is why my daughter is doing - she's living with 3 of her sisters next year, across the street from a house with 5 others :)

Between 33girl's post and the one she was commenting on, interpreted it as: Let these women continue operating as a chapter, each class will graduate, no one will be recruited, and eventually the chapter will close on it's own. Then recolonization could occur within a year or two.

But perhaps I'm mistaken.

Ohhhh yeah. I was right in the middle of that shiz and would never ever advise it. I just mean that keeping the chapter open and not participating in rush is no different than closing the chapter and the women still being on campus. The women are still going to be on campus and graduate at the same rate. It’s their presence that creates the tension, not whether the chapter is actually open or closed. Keeping it running for say 2 more years isn’t going to postpone a recolonization. (I.e. there is no written rule that a chapter must be closed for x years.)

Clemson doesn't have a chapter house, right? So with such a low operating cost, how could the financials have been THAT bad to warrant a full closure? I think there's something more to the story.

I think that these things happen not so much for financial reasons as for PR reasons.

Theta cares more about Greek rank!! They couldn’t take another mature chapter being considered bottom tier.

Bingo Kempk - there were no financial reasons: they were given a financial award at a recent national conference, there were no sisterhood reasons, there were no scholarship or leadership reasons either. They felt that the success of a recolonizing chapter getting closer to campus average was the nail in the coffin. My question is how come when they knew that was happening they did nothing to assist that Chapter in having a stronger recruitment? It is a competition after all - they were content to let it go, just as they were at Ole Miss. ADPi was a recolonization too don't forget, and is a strong force in the South. APhi is another strong sorority. What did nationals do really to help EZ chapter there? Somehow a chapter which was under the size of other houses at that campus led in all the advertised important features, but it was the underlying size of chapter and reputation which did them in - things that were not considered by the members of those chapters to be detrimental and yet they were. Sad.

No Easy Answer
 

As someone who has volunteered for over 2 decades as a national officer in the membership department for my GLO, I agree that closing a chapter due to membership numbers is a very difficult situation.

I have worked with chapters that struggled for years with membership. Some have made it, some did not.

The negative factors I have seen:
Toxic/negative campus environment. Fraternities who refuse to have mixers with the chapter. Chapter reputation as the "fat girls" have members told not to be seen eating in public. Never having a chance to be paired with a strong organization for Homecoming or big campus events. Only having half the women who match with you on bid day actually show up year after year. Being told constantly to COB or else.

Chapter members who accept their reputation/situation. "we like being small because we are so close". "We suck! We are losers" (actually said during a workshop I was conducting and no one challenged her besides me).

Successful reconstructions:
Other NPC sororities networking with our chapter and supporting our philanthropic efforts and doing "Super-Swaps" with frats that normally would not have a social event with us.
Chapter embracing/changing their internal identity. Rather than being the awkward sorority, recognizing that they have top grades and embracing/promoting the new reputation as the "smart girls on campus."
Being willing to go beyond their comfort zone and try something different during recruitment...whether that is party structure or content, changing "what has always been done".
Changing how they prepare for formal recruitment. I was astonished to visit a chapter on a large campus where my chapter did not have any PNM review sessions or matching chapter members with PNMs who had similar interests. They had just not ever done it or been told to do it because "we are laid back". The first year this was implemented, recruitment stats improved. The second year, the chapter met quota and got quota additions...and everyone showed up on bid day.

These are just a few examples in my experience. Closing any chapter for any reason is painful to many people beyond the chapter women and their alumnae. We have all been through this with our own organizations and I hate that Theta will close 2 chapters with long histories on their campuses.

Well, that is just complete crap. You really think that any adult takes the vile content on GR seriously? Only 18 year old girls listen to the petty gossip there. Oh, well I guess you might be a petty 18 yr old girl......

Having done my turn on more than one occasion as the Council appointed "save the chapter" adviser, it's never an easy answer for any chapter. There are a myriad of reasons when a chapter is closed. It's not just one- unless a risk management issue. Changing the chapter culture is difficult. And yes, they "like" being smaller and are truly afraid to change...mostly because they fear failure...so they just want to stay as they are. And sadly that isn't usually possible.Every NPC group wants their collegians to have the best AZA or whatever experience. It's just not always possible. LadyBug is spot on. And FYI, my chapter of initiation was closed about 12 years after I was there...and we came back 32 years later. It's hard- very hard.

Ladybug I concur -- I don't know if any of that was attemped but it certainly does seem to make a lot of sense. I remember when my oldest was going through at Ole Miss and she talked about how the women at houses she was attracted to connected on some level with her - major, where she was from, sports she played, etc. When she got to the other side, she realized why - they planned that! They matched people up deliberately - it's not rocket science. You want the PNMs to picture themselves there, as they'll see someone or several someones they already have something in common with. This is why too at many schools there are clusters of girls from same hometowns or high schools or involved in something already at the school (e.g. cheerleaders or dance team) are swept up into certain houses. They already have something in common. To go into recruitment not thinking that way is to be unprepared and not setting yourselves up for success.

Why do you resort to ad hominem attacks when someone disagrees with you?

Good night, this is getting a little crazy. Where is AZTheta? I think her voice would be very useful right about now.

Seriously, this is getting out of hand. Why do we need an entire thread to discuss the closing of a chapter? It’s devastating to have to close a chapter and this thread that was started is just pouring some salt on wounds. Can the Mods please lock this? I’m disgusted by the desire of some posters to go out of their way to share a chapter has closed between this one and the Ole Miss threads. I’m not even a Theta but, one of my favorite NPC sisters (AZTheta) is and I am sick and tired of seeing page upon page of pointing out a chapter having low numbers. What was the point of starting this thread? Are you a Theta? If not, how about instead of making baseless statements that Theta spends too much time on “that” site, you focus on your own organization—or better yet, yourself! Mods please lock this thread and the Ole Miss one to let them die. I’m done with watching Monday morning quarterbacks with no ties to this organization tell us what they think should have happened with the painful decision to close a chapter.

There’s one or two trolls in here who obviously need the ban hammer. Other than that, this is a pretty civil thread and many of the posters in it are speaking in generalities.

Thank you to my Panhellenic sisters for the wise words. Yes, I agree with als463 (+hugs to you my friend! long time no hear) - do we need two threads on chapter closures? Why? What purpose is this serving now? I do hope that the thread(s) won't be removed as there is some very sound advice in them.

To the trolls (or socks? specifically in reference to one very new poster's comments which I found insulting, to put it politely): be gone with the lot of you, as your ilk serves no purpose here. Your baseless slurs are not helping matters. AAMOF it reminds me of the expression "pouring salt in the wound".

I have no inside knowledge of these charter revocations. There are those who do, and obviously, as my dear Theta sister put it in another thread, we are not going to air our dirty laundry to satisfy you. The manner in which HQ is handling things is of concern to many alumnae and that is all I am going to state. Period.

My heart aches for Harvard, Ole Miss, and Clemson. Those actives and alums are heartbroken. Show some compassion for them and BACK OFF.