NPC bids
 

Just something I want cleared up.
In the fall, there was one girl that the chapter was divided on, but the division was not enough to keep her from getting a bid. She didn't get pinned/go through initiation because of problems with her parents.
All the girls in the fall class disliked her (including myself) because she made us very uncomfortable. She made a lot of the girls think twice about joining, just because she might be one of their sisters. Her actions tend to be immature and inappropriate. We had two alums who fought for her very strongly, and pushed the vote in her favour (even though they don't get a vote).
The problem is this: if she decides she wants to join in the next rush (winter), do we have to let her in even though with the new girls she would be voted against very heavily (the fall class outweighs the old chapter)? I know that NPC bids are supposed to be honoured for a year, but how does it work if the majority of the chapter is extremely uncomfortable with the idea of her being a sister? Can it be contested?
We don't run by formal rush rules (there's only two NPC sororities on campus and the other one doesn't want to run by NPC rules for rush), so I'm not sure if this can be used as a loop hole (as awful as that sounds). Sorry if this should be in the rush forum, but I think it might be a little scary for PNMs to read, and I think it applies here as well.

Hey Lynzi,

First off, you shouldn't know how split the decision was...that's something I'll have to talk to Babs about ;)
Second, she was bid, so she is allowed to begin the NM process, however, just as any other NM or sister she must uphold the standards of sisterhood and her obligations to the sorority. Inappropriate actions may be something J-board can handle, thus putting her on the three-strp process which if she doesn't follow her action plan, she would be unable to initiate.

I suggest talking to Laurie ...she can help, and if not she can talk to others who can...

maybe you should also suggest ammending the local constitution to make the vote needed to offer a bid higher - like 60% or 75%.

your sister,
Casper

We had something very similar to that happen. A girl was offered a bid, but her GPA was too low for her to pledge. She got her GPA up and pledged the next semester, much to the chagrin of much of the chapter, esp. the younger members - the graduating seniors were her biggest champions. She eventually caused a lot of division - girls did refuse to join because of her, and she was kicked out for very clear violations of what being a good sister is.

I guess she shouldn't have legally gotten a bid with a GPA that low, but our advisor was MIA at times and so that slipped through. Unless you can find a loophole like that, though, you're probably stuck giving her a bid. I don't think how a bid is issued has any bearing on how long it's good for; even informal bids are a year per NPC.

I think a blind bidding system is preferred. Being the girl that everyone realizes was "borderline" is an awful place to be in.

We always had a rule (unwritten I guess you could say) that said if a girl was going to divide the chapter, we didn't vote her in. Now this was also 10 years ago.

Isn't your member selection process confidential?

What does your organization's bylaws say about the expiration of a bid?

Okay, this is one issue that alarms me terribly. A lot of you will totally disagree with me, but please hear me out.

RUN!!! There is NO new member who is worth dividing a chapter - I don't care WHO she knows!!!

We pledged a woman on whom the chapter was almost evenly divided. She caused such problems, she tried to get the entire new member class to quit! The chapter was so split that roughly half of the chapter went inactive after "the term of hell" when she was pledging. We went from the second largest sorority on campus to half the size, all over one woman who ended up depledging (and taking 3 others with her). It took us another 2 years to build back up to respectibility.

I wouldn't wish this situation on anyone!

*shivering as I remember this!*

honeychile

edited to add: I was one of the sisters who liked the woman mentioned above. If I could do it all over again, I would have respected more of my sisters, and not voted for her in the first place.

I believe the way it's done in KD is that if a NM does not initiate with her pledge class, her pledge is now considered extended. It is up to us to determine whether or not we want to let her continue to pledge. Talk with your VP-Membership. I'm sure the proper procedure is written in her manual.

Talk to some of the members who are pushing for this girl. Is it that they really like this girl or something else? We would have members push for a girl at times, only on principle (i.e. "We don't like the reasons other people are against her.")

I know that this might sound awful but, you should honor her bid, let her start her pledging process. I do not know what happens but the ones that do not belong always weed themselves out. I can tell you from experence. I totally believe in the greater power of the greekgoddess, there was something that pushed you to join your sorority and there will be something that pushes her out. They leave on thier own. This way your reputation stays good, you know how people get when they are rejected by a sorority/fraternity.

also- why is the chapter divided, so some girls not like what she is wearing or something like that or is because of something bigger?

My chapters member selection process in not confidential. We believe in having everything out in the open. We understand that everyone will not like everybody so we are able to talk pretty freely about member selection without hurting anyone's feelings.

Re: NPC bids
 

I would check with your NPC area advisor/ NPC delegate/ international officer who is responsible for rush/ membership development. Even if your campus doesn't follow NPC rush rules, your International policies are based upon the "green book".

I'm not disputing the things that others have stated about the risks that this woman could potentially pose (and I've seen both good and bad happen in similar situations).

The rule that one is bound for a calendar year by a bid was designed to cut back on 'dirty rushing'... i.e, stealing another groups new members. Since the woman chose not to accept the bid when it was offered, it's a little different than being matched in formal rush bid-matching. Your international officers can best tell you how to proceed.