Best Friend Argument
 

My best friend tells me that if you are initated and dislike yoru Panhel sorority you are in, you can defilliate and request to be cleared of that, and join a different one a year later. I am very shocked by that though. I can't even understand why you would want to quit, but he is in IFC and I assume it may be different then Panhel. At least for us, I am nearly positive that when you join one, it's for life. And if it's sigma kappa, why would you want to quit? :-)
Also, I say if you quit, you have no other possibility after initiation. Even if your chapter shuts down...
Arent' I correct?

Some Answers
 

I think your friend may be a little confused between new member and initiated member. If you pledge an NPC sorority and de-pledge BEFORE you are initiated, you must wait a year before you are eligible to pledge another sorority. If you are initiated into any NPC sorority , and you decide to terminate your membership/disaffiliate (whatever that particular organization calls it), you cannot join another organization at any time. If a chapter is shut down, its members are typically given alumnae status, but are still members of the national organization. I don't know about NPHC sorority policies, though...
Hope that answers your questions.

~ ShyViolet

Sigma Sigma Sigma

Don't know about PHC groups.. but..

With Sigma Nu to actually disaffiliate after being initiated you must petition the High Council. If they grant it and then you go and join another group I guess it's up to that group whether you get to join them or not.

Shy Violet is 100% right...doesn't matter if you self terminate or your chapter is closed, if you have been initiated, you cannot join another NPC group EVER.

You can join a service sorority, a social-professional sorority or a local, but not another NPC.

This is consistent with the NIC's by-laws. One NIC fraternity can initiate a man previously initiated by another NIC fraternity if the national office of the first fraternity verifies in writing to the national office of the second fraternity that the man in question is no longer a member of the first fraternity.

Although I can't think of any circumstances where I'd actually be in favor of such a person.

ShyViolet is right. If you disafil. before initiation then you have to wait a year before accepting a bid from another chapter. If you disafil. after initiation that's it. You can't join another house.

Yup. There is no such thing as a "sorority annulment" so it's best to be sure of your decision, prior to initiation, because once you are initiated into an NPC, there is no going back.

The NPHC system works the same way. You are pretty much a member for life.

I know a girl who transferred to my school and rushed a sorority after being initiated into one at her old school. The girls never found out about it though. I'm sure that kind of shadiness isnt rare in situations where people transfer from different schools.

The only way to stop that would be for groups to share membership info. I wouldn't be very comfortable with that. You're right though, that's really shady on her part for not disclosing that. What did she do, burn all of her old sorority's memorabilia?

I'm not sure what she did with all of her old shirts and things like that, but she never went through with it. She dropped the day of initiation, just never showed up to it. She was worried that they might one day find out her "past".

What does everyone think about this?
 

Say a member of your GLO terminates their own membership. Should he/she give back things like letters? Like especially ones that were passed down through the "family?"

I ask because this happened in my chapter. A girl quit the sorority and disaffiliated, but refused to give back the passed-down stuff so that it could be passed on to new members once they were initiated. She also wouldn't give up her pin, arguing that she paid for it. But the pin is the property of the GLO technically, and a person who is not an initiated member shouldn't have it, IMHO. And I could be wrong, but I think you're supposed to send it back to nationals. I also don't think a non-member should have letters. We couldn't figure out why she wanted to keep the stuff, since she made the decision to leave and they obviously meant nothing to her.

So what does everyone else think?

Re: What does everyone think about this?
 

Perhaps she wanted to do something naughty in 3S letters, to make you all look bad. Sororities do this quite often at our school, especially to sororities who steal other sororities bus ride songs. You know what I mean, SSS1365? ;)

Re: Re: What does everyone think about this?
 

Ya know Timber, I'm not sure I get you with the whole bus ride song stealing thing.

Anyway, no this girl was not the type to do anything bad, and she never did. But she would still WEAR the letters, even after "disaffiliating" (but didn't do anything naughty in them :p)

Well this was a couple of years ago, and I've since graduated. I just wanted to see what everyone's thoughts were on a situation like that. Thanks for the input :)

I don't think that's normal. I don't see why you'd want to keep letters of an organization that you didn't want to be a part of. I love Sigma Kappa and couldn't even imagine disaffiliating, but if I were too-- It would have to be because my letters don't mean as much to me as they do, and to keep them or the pin or anything (esp something passed down from one person to another that would just be stopped) just sounds stupid.

It is required by some organizations that upon termination of membership (by the sorority itself or by "de-pinning") the woman must forfeit her badge. I've seen huge problems on my campus with girls depledging, never becoming fully initiated members and not returning shirts, letters, or any other items given to them, and they continue wearing them, representing the sorority. That's a really tough situation. I too don't understand why someone would want to keep those letters when SHE chose to disaffiliate. ????? :confused: :confused: :confused:

expelled guys wearing my letters...grrr :mad:

What she said.

We had WONDERFUL alumnae when I was an active, and the two times it happened (once a pledge, once an active), they paid a visit to the person in question, collected every bit of the lettered or crested material, and wrote out a check. They did NOT fool around!!

I'm just curious, we require sisters who are deactivating to give back anything with letters on it. We don't pay them however, it is accepted that you buy the stuff and if you choose to deactivate, we recieve the stuff, and will later give it to new members or sisters who can't afford to buy letters. But we def don't reimburse, it was their choice to disaffilitate. (we do show up at their door and request memorabilia.)

Tau Love
lil E

That's gangsta! :)

And in a perfect world, they would turn it all over without a second thought, and you would never see a t-shirt or pin on ebay.

Our pin is NEVER bought back by the chapter - it is forfeited. However, the other stuff (mugs, t-shirts, etc) that the sister had purchased was what our alumnae paid for.

A friend of mine has had to go through this situation at her school back at home. What about sisters who have had to disaffiliate because of their grades? They love their sisters but are not up to par with the GPA needed to remain active even after having working to get their grades up for a few semesters. Would you require them to return their letters and all of their memorabilia?

My friend wouldn't wear the letters since she is no longer active, but we were talking and she said that she plans on trying to become reactivated even though it might mean a very nice donation to her GLO. And when she became active again, she wants to be able to wear her shirts and all again.

(edited to add the last paragraph)

We have had a big problem with guys wearing letters that disassociated. We just got chartered last week so up until then no one was initiated so there have been a lot of guys that had letters that quit before chartering and now still wear the letters. Personally when I see I want to go rip the shirt right off thier back and "politely" explain to them they have no right to our letters.

I think that their letters should be given back because they are disaffiliated and for us at least, it's policy. I feel that Sigma Kappa gives you probation and enough warning to get your grades up and if you can't, even if they love the sorority and disaffiliate because of that-- they are not a member of the organization and regardless, should not wear the letters.

In my humble opinion of course.