Chi Omega Closes Its Chapter at Wittenberg
 

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/ne...rg-282786.html

Excerpt:

. . . The Tau Gamma Chapter of Chi Omega, established at Wittenberg in 1924, was ordered closed by the Governing Council effective Aug. 27, “due to activities found to be inconsistent with Chi Omega’s national policies,” according to a Chi Omega release.

In March, the sorority had been put on probation due to hazing. The chapter was given directives it had to follow for reinstatement this academic year. According to the Chi Omega release, national team representatives met with chapter members and university officials on Aug. 25 and decided those directives had not been met and ordered the chapter closed.

Chi Omega national representative, Beth Stavos, was en route to Wittenberg from Tennessee on Friday, Sept. 4, and could not be reached for comment. No other details were given. . . .

The official Chi Omega announcement is on the Chi O web site:

http://eleusis.chiomega.com/news.asp...09TauGamma.xml

I happen to know a recent Chi O alumna from Wittenberg. This is sad and disheartening to hear.

They had such a cute house on that campus too. I always enjoyed driving past it when I visited home. I knew many local girls who were Chi O's at Witt. I hope they are able to come back in the future.

One of my high school friends advised that chapter. Hmm.

This is not the first Panhellenic chapter to close because of hazing at Wittenburg. Is this a cultural issue at this school that needs to be addressed?

Wittenberg certainly does not support a culture of hazing. The fact that this chapter was closed speaks to the university's commitment to its strict no-hazing policy. While what happened to the Chi-Omegas was unfortunate, I hope it goes to show how serious both our administration and our PanHel council are about not tolerating hazing. As a Greek woman at Witt, I can proudly say I have never been hazed, nor have most of the other Greek women here. Mistakes happen, but hazing is NOT, nor will ever be, acceptable at Wittenberg University.

Did Wittenberg put the sorority on probation in March or did Chi O nationals put them on probation? If it was the latter, it really has nothing to do with any policy or commitment the university has. Just saying is all.

How did I miss this? I didn't think you were ELCA, but I met a woman from your chapter through a national ELCA meeting, crazy. This was about five to six years ago.

I don't actually know, but regardless of who put the Chi O's on probation, the Wittenberg administration has NEVER tolerated hazing of any type.

For more information, I can only refer you to the article published in our local newspaper. It contains about as much information as I (or anyone else at Witt) have access to.
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/ne...rg-282786.html

I do not feel comfortable saying anything beyond that, since most of what I have heard are unfounded rumors. I only commented on this post since it hit so close to home. I am proud of the fact that I have never been hazed, and credit this both to my organization and to the university for their steadfast stances against hazing.

Umm, bully for you.

I just feel like you're passive-aggressively bashing Chi O when they're down and that's not cool. Dancing on a grave is not nice.

edit to add that I'm not saying you are basing your info solely on the news sun, but just that people should know that the news sun in general can be biased and not tell the whole story. I just wouldn't trust the news sun for the whole story IMO.

So you are local huh....then you should know better then to trust the News Sun for 100% accurate information...Just saying.

My intent was never to bash anyone. I'm sorry if it seemed otherwise. As a Greek woman at Wittenberg, I simply wanted to establish the fact that the majority of the sororities on our campus do not haze. I had hoped that our administration's swift action (in partnership with Chi Omega Nationals) attested to that. 33girl asked me if the University or Chi Omega Nationals had put the chapter on probation and I responded honestly that I didn't know. I referred to the News Sun because, in addition to being in the OP, it is the only source of actual information in this incident (other than the announcement on the Chi Omega website, which says almost exactly the same thing as the article). I felt that, regardless of the newspaper's reputation, this article was more reliable than the rumors I have heard on this campus.
I did not post on this thread to bash the Chi Omegas. In fact, the only reason I said anything in the first place was to defend my school after JustInterested wondered if there was a culture of hazing at Wittenberg. I do not know what happened to cause the Tau Gamma chapter to close down and therefore refuse to judge them as anything other than what I know them to be from my experience (which has always been positive). I apologize to anyone who may have taken my statement otherwise. While something obviously happened to cause the chapter to close, I refuse to condemn every girl in that house as "bad" because a few in their house made mistakes. I hope others can do the same for Wittenberg and do not judge us as having a "culture of hazing" we don't possess.