Inactive member etiquette
 

Hello out there.

I have a question, and I suppose it is regarding the etiquette of the sorority email list in terms of inactive sisters.

Recently, we made a decision that caused two of our seniors to leave the sorority. All this occurred in the past week. They have not officially resigned from the sorority, so for simplicity, they are currently classified as inactive. Since they will be graduating in two weeks, we aren't going to take the usual procedures for when a member resigns.

Unfortunately, we have several more events planned, and I am unsure whether or not to include them in the email list, or take them off. I don't want to insult them, and they could be insulted by either action.

Any insight would be great.

GammaDelt

If they are inactive, they are inactive. Treat them just as you would any other inactive sister would be my suggestion. We don't have an inactive status, so I'm not sure what that means exactly, but since they are graduating in 2 weeks you only have to treat them as inactive for that limited period of time. After that, aren't they technically alumnae?

I think it's basically up to you. You have to define what "inactive" means. Did they sign any form saying they're inactive and what that means exactly? You said they "left" the sorority. I'm not sure if you have bylaws that dictate what happens after that. Rules vary by organization.

I think that email is a very un-obtrusive means to communicate information. If in doubt, I would leave them on your distribution lists as they can then choose to merely delete/ignore the emails for the next two weeks until they presumably become alumns.

You need to know whether they want to cancel their memberships or to go inactive. If they cancel their memberships, there's no alumnae future for them. If they go inactive, they'll need to have all of their finances in order. If the finances are up in the air, your chapter could easily be penalized and probably not be permitted to win any awards.

A quick talk with your Chapter Advisor should answer any questions better than a bunch of us on a message board.

The sorority is a local. I think awards are a moot point.

To be blunt, if shit went down that is so serious as to cause them to quit the sorority two weeks before they graduated, I don't think you want them anywhere near any of your events. Take them off your email list, and request that they submit formal letters of resignation (or whatever your procedures are for terminating someone from membership) as soon as possible. Wrap this up definitively before the end of the year - you don't need to have that cloud hanging over your heads all summer.

Good point. You may want to have the seniors resign their membership before becoming an alumn is an option.

Totally agree. If they "left the sorority," then they don't get to come to events anymore. Take them off the email list. And if you care about their status as alumnae, you should follow-up with termination papers. If your local doesn't really have much of an alumnae program, though, I don't think I'd bother with the paperwork. Just leave them behind, as they've done to you.

Y'all have been around since 1965..you don't have any rules regarding this issue? Are there any alumnae around? Do you have any written bylaws or procedures? If you don't, your chapter should remedy that immediately.