Sorority Chapter at U. of Utah May Close April 30
 

According to the January 24 '06 Daily Utah Chronicle Delta Delta Delta has informed its U. of Utah chapter that its charter will be revoked April 30, 2006. Apparently the reason is related to low numbers. The chapter intends to appeal the action. In addition the chapter is planning recruitment events.

The article, which has more details about campus total, the notification, and so on, is at:


http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/me...hchronicle.com

OR

go to the student paper's main page

http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com

and use their search function(s).

Is it Me, or does there seem to be a problem at Ut?

This isnt the first as I remember!:(

Three Other U. of Utah Sororities Warned by Their HQs

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, three other sorority chapters -- in addition to Tri Delta -- have been warned (or encouraged) by their HQs to increase recruitment. The three, which are not named, are under total, although apparently not as small as the Tri Delta chapter. The article is at:

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3435135

This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. Why doesn't the college Panhellenic just lower total?

Not everyone is going to have chapters of 100+! It almost sounds like they want to get out of Utah for some reason cough cough Mormons cough cough.

Basically what I was intimating to! Not a Greek Problem, but a State or Un. Problem.

If that is the case Leave Utahaa where they belong, no where!

They have thier own little world anyway!:rolleyes:

33girl, it looks as if U of Utah's Panhellenic "recently" did lower total. Excerpt from the student paper article mentioned in the first post in this thread: "Currently, only two out of the six sorority chapters are above total, which was recently reduced from 80 to 63."

Exactly how "recently" I don't know, but obviously the new total of 63 has still left four chapters below total and under the gun from their national HQs. A tough, tough situation for the chapters.

TWO out of SIX???

That seems a little odd. It makes me wonder what the whole story is.

And I feel bad for the tri-delta chapter... having to recruit when it's been publicized that they're closing. Seems like it was either publicized too quickly or leaked.

And what religion are you guys? 'Fess up, I'm sure that someone can make a snide remark about it.

We used to have a chapter there, too. My understanding (from both sorority friends and Mormons who have gone there) is that the pressure to be in LDS only groups is getting only harder to overcome. It's certainly not a Mormon school, but there is a super high percentage.

Now, while I do not believe in the tenets of the Mormon church, I respect it - just as I would want my religion to be treated with respect. So, if that's the case, I can certainly understand either going to a REALLY low total (40? 45?), or disbanding.

Oh noes, not a fake internet personality telling people not to make fun of teh mormonz.

not just a fake internet personality but one that couldn't be more unique with his/her name -
um just a thought, but didn't somebody already get sock puppet first

why would we need two?

Haha that reminds me of people who try to put something stupid like "COOL" on their license plates, but "COOL" was already taken so instead they get "CQQL" as if the Qs weren't just symbolic of what tools, er, TQQLS they are.

Then they should have reduced it more, to 40 or so. This is why I always complain about too high totals, all your HQ sees is you're under total, not the fact that everyone is under total. However, if they have something in their local panhel bylaws that says the total lowering needs to be unanimous, the two who are at it probably pitched a fit and refused to go any lower.

I'm not making fun of the Mormons, just saying that if they have a big influence 1) there might be pressure for the students to only join LDS groups and 2) the national groups might be getting sick of the power LDS has there.

I don't think it has anything to do with Mormonism- Tri Delt has been struggling on that campus for at least the past 10 years. They would usually be the only chapter to not make quota, and they would miss it by a lot. It is hard to build up a chapter after years and years of being so much smaller than the others, and if Greek interest in general has gone down, the smallest chapter will be the hardest hit.

I was more referring to the fact that there are three other chapters that are being warned by their HQ that they may face closure in the near future if their numbers don't improve.

Update May 19 '06

According to this article (below) the Delta Delta Delta chapter's membership has not increased significantly, so the chapter is closing, the members will have alumna status, and the house will be sold:

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3840405

What a sad note to see.

It is funny, but it seems Greeks are on an upswing across the country with expansion.

Maybe that is the difference between NPC and NIC Organizations.

It seems that and speaking of mine only, they are starting to work with:

1. Troubled Chapters such as mine.

2. Recolonizing closed Chapters.

3. Expansion into New Areas.

I am always troubled when Chapters are closed who have been at schools for a long time.

What is the problem, try to correct it and move on. There are to many Alums who are left with a bad taste over it. It is a ripple effect for donations.

Agreed. My chapter was closed THREE WEEKS after my initiation. Talk about leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

nevermind :)

They will have ALUMNAE status, not ALUMNI.

I would expect a paper to get that much correct.

That's incredibly sad to hear. What they should have done was lowered total and tried to rebuild the smaller chapters. It's sad to see a chapter who's been there for a long time like that go. I just don't think the nationals are being as supportive as the Utah Tri-Delts as they should be.

I am a PNM going into rush at University of Central Florida. Also I am mormon, though not always the best at practicing it...As much as it is upsetting, it definitely doesn't suprise me. The University of Utah Mormon students are kinda looked down upon by BYU students (that I know) because they don't attend BYU students. It also doesn't suprise me because when I tell church members that I plan on rushing, I don't get the warmest responses. Usually the responses come the repuation of sororities that they alll drink and sleep around. Plus most Mormon members are pretty old school and if my parents (only my moms a member)weren't pretty cool, they wouldn't be (possibly) paying for me to join. I personally refused to go to BYU and even looked at University of Utah, but its too far away from home. Again I hope this Tri-Delta chapter doesn't lose their charter, but I believe if they did some positive campaigning and students and especially parents get to know its not all about drinking and all that.

What's wrong with a chapter of 20-30 members? Doesn't make sense to require 63 members from each sorority when that number cannot be accomplished. It's like Panhel is saying you're not a chapter or have good sisterhood unless you have at least 63 people around.

Nothing is wrong with it except that it cannot compete with the other sororities. Right or wrong PNMs are influenced by what they see of the chapter. Why will they want to join a chapter that does not appear to be thriving and when there are rumors of its closing anyway?

Posted earlier:

"That's incredibly sad to hear. What they should have done was lowered total and tried to rebuild the smaller chapters. It's sad to see a chapter who's been there for a long time like that go. I just don't think the nationals are being as supportive as the Utah Tri-Delts as they should be."

Am I reading this correctly? The solution to strengthening a weak chapter is to weaken the prosperous ones? Why punish the successful chapters by reducing their numbers? Do you think success-oriented women will then want to join the weak chapter?

That's the way NPC works. It strives for an even playing field.

Horrible Horrible Horrible. Communism and NFL salary capism at its best.

Let's say you have five car dealerships in a row: one each for high end cars (Mercedes, Porsche), and one each for good solid mainstream vehicles (Ford, Toyota), and the last dealership sells Yugos.
Everyone wants the car market to be strong, but smart car buyers don't want to buy Yugos; it's not a good value for the money.
Restricting the other dealerships won't make more people buy Yugos. The individual dealerships will weaken (fewer sales) and the market demand for good cars will probably remain stable but be frustrated by the lack of product.
Let Yugo fall where it will, and allow the other dealerships to prosper in the atmosphere of the free market. The "playing field" tilts this way and that naturally based on the economy and the price of oil.
It sounds as if NPC's attitude is that any sorority chapter is just as attractive to new members as any other chapter. That's like saying, "All cars have four wheels and provide transportation and it doesn't matter whether it's a Porsche or a Yugo."

Help me understand. If most women want to buy Porches or solid Ford-Toyota-variety cars, and only a few women want to buy Yugos (I assume they're all about the same price) why would NPC artificially restrict sales of high-end cars? Only a few women want the Yugos. If Yugo is a good bargain, then let them succeed or fail based on their value and appeal. No women - few anyway - women who really want high end or solid quality cars are willing to accept Yugos, especially if the cost is about the same.
Don't punish the strong in an effort to boost the weak. The reasons for one chapter's failure may be beyond the ability of NPC to fix. And from what you say, it doesn't sound like NPC even wants to "fix" it, but is willing to accept or even encourage a perpetually weak chapter as an alternative for the small number of Yugo buyers.

Yes, because Yugo buyers, who have no interest in Porsches or Fords, need Yugos to buy. It is also up to Yugo HQ to decide if its franchisee is meeting the agreed upon goals in terms of sales, customer service, etc. If the franchisee isn’t then Yugo HQ must decide the next course of action. Sometimes this involves terminating the agreement.

Firehouse: You are applying capitalistic ideals to a non-capitalistic system and trying to understand it that way. It's not a capitalistic system, whether you agree with it or not.

In your example, the goal is simply to allow the best to survive and the others to die off.

NPCs goal is for all to be equal, so there is no best and worst. There is no Yugo and no Porsche. There are only Cadillacs (all high quality, but none head and shoulders above the rest). So, to raise the Yugo to the level of the Cadillac and to bring down the Porsche to the level of the Cadillac is the goal. If all the chapters on a campus are Cadillacs, then you have one very strong Panhellenic system.

Additionally, a weak chapter at one school is the strongest at another. You aren't only joining one chapter, you're joining a national organization, all of whom have their own strengths and weaknesses.

I've never seen a chapter closed for small numbers without extensive attempts by the organization to make it viable. But, if you don't have enough members to pay for your housing, etc., even after those valiant efforts, you simply can't afford to continue there. It's a horribly difficult decision to make for everybody involved and is never done lightly. It's heart wrenching for everybody.

Thank you for your comments; I enjoy the exchanges.
It's not important whether I agree or disagree with the NPC way of doing things. The sorority system is long established and extremely successful.
It's fascinating though to see the difference in thinking between men and women. you give the example of NPC (or PanHel) knocking the Porsche sorority down to Cadillac status at the same time trying to raise the Yugos up to be viable. I cannot imagine the shrieking and threats that would ensue if the IFC tried to tell the Porsche fraternity that they had to reduce their numbers and aggression so they would be "brought down to be the same" as the other chapters. Men are very heriarchical by nature - we want to win and to defeat the competition. Women are very cooperative by nature; they instinctively want to find a middle path to benefit everyone.
There are disadvantages to both approaches. Men and fraternities are (as you pointed out) willing to let the weak die and the strong prosper. In a fraternity system, an aggressive fraternity can raise its status through successful competition in rush, sports, etc. The system's weakness is the looseness of the overall fraternity structure. Rush numbers from year to year can be erratic.
Sororities have a very tight structure that ensures good rushes year after year, and evens out the impact in down times. A bad effect of the sorority system is that this rigid rush structure means that a weak sorority cannot get better - it only rarely if ever happens in a big system. We have a very strong sorority system here, yet we've lost an average of one sorority every four or five years for decades. Some sorority always fits the profile of the weakest sister (no point in detailing that here; everyone understands it). They hang on for as long as they can, but it's terribly difficult for them.
I do understand the differences, and it's interesting to see how single-sex fraternities and sororities handle their business.

ditto
 

Gotta agree with firehouse ,very thoughtful post.

I agree that it is a worthy exchange and you're right, it does seem that there is always an underdog in the sorority system, despite our efforts to the contrary. I have seen though, on many campuses (especially in Michigan, where I am most familiar with the chapters), that the underdog changes over time. The strongest chapter today may be the weakest in 10 years, but it ends up rotating. This might not be true in the South, but I've seen it at the schools I've worked with for many years.

Does it appear to you that the dynamic changes depending on whether the sororities occupy big houses or are housed in dorms?

Actually, I see that dynamic most on campuses with no sorority housing at all, or unofficial housing (where members just rent a house together and call it "the house" without any assistance, funding, house association involvement, etc.).

It's also much easier to keep those chapters open, since there is little financial dependency on their size. If the dorm situation demanded a certain number of members, then there is just as much pressure as when you own a house.

Actually this plays perfectly into my psych of relationships/sex class that talks about the major societal difference between men and women. Men are more hierarchal and encourage the competition that leads some to rise and some to fall. Women are more communal and tend to form networks. (This isn't to say that some women don't lead and some don't follow, just in a different way)

Sorry I just found the comparison between what I learned and greek life fascinating....

/on topic.. closing chapters sucks but closing now and reopening in 4 or 5 years may allow for a stronger chapter overall. It can be harder to rebuild than to wipe the slate clean.

Update: Court Case About $$$ From House Sale

A Salt Lake City paper is reporting that a lawsuit has been filed over the question of where the proceeds from the sale of the Tri Delta house will go.

See story:

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_4111098

Brief excerpt:

The Delta Delta Delta sorority has left the University of Utah, but a debate over what legacy its house will leave went to court this week.
The national Delta Delta Delta sorority filed suit in 3rd District Court on Thursday claiming its Theta Phi chapter, which had been on the U.'s campus since 1932 and has owned a house on Greek Row since 1939, has refused to hand over the house title.
Utah alums say they have good reason: They want proceeds from the sale of the house . . . to benefit the local community, rather than going into the national sorority's general operating fund. . . .