I love my sorority, but how to depledge?
 

I got a COB bid to a NPC sorority that is perfect for me. The girls in it are spectacular and I LOVED my experience so far. But because of work and sudden financial issues, I need to depledge. I fully planned to initiate so I went through several weeks of new member programming and now I feel guilty for not informing them earlier on. What is the least offensive/troublesome way to go about depledging now?

If I can, I would want to stay friends with the girls I met. I also may try COB recruitment for this house again next year. How would the house and sisters view depledging, is it possible to keep good ties?

Talk to your pledge educator and treasurer right away. There may be a way to work around this. And yes,you can keep good ties, if you are honest and communicate openly.

^^^What she said. Or perhaps speak with your chapter adviser.

If you think your financial issues are so temporary as to be gone in less than a year, I would really work toward other alternatives. They might be able to delay your initiation or suspend your pledge status or something else that is not depledging. They can also possibly put you on a payment plan you can afford, presuming you are being realistic about your financial situation and time constraints. Definitely talk to your FVP, president, new member ed person, an advisor, whatever it takes to get a valid answer. And don't take the first answer you get if it's not some variation of yes they can work with you. They may NOT, but I would want to hear that from an advisor at minimum.

And do use this as a learning experience about financial commitments. You have to think beyond the right now when making long term commitments - car payments, student loans, mortgages, cable contracts, etc. There are ALWAYS additional costs (who knew a car battery can go bad in less than a year?) and if you are right up against your budget, you're going to get in trouble.