Originally Posted by Katy Q
So I've been in my chapter for over a year now, and it's great. I live in the house and am a member of the exec board. I've made some great friends and my college experience has been greatly improved by my involvement in my chapter.
Here's the problem. As a part of the exec board, I work very closely with our chapter president. Last year, we had an amazing president who understood just how to walk the line between fun/approachable and strict/tough. She was very personable and almost everyone liked her -- and even if they didn't, they respected her.
To put it mildly, people do NOT respect our current president, "Sarah." She constantly has a bad attitude, talks badly about chapter members and other chapters on campus, disciplines members who break rules but frequently breaks rules herself, and rarely opens her mouth without complaining about something. Sarah is very difficult to work with because she does not tolerate constructive criticism and lashes out at anyone who disagrees with her during exec meetings. She is paranoid about other exec members trying to "undermine her authority" and therefore frequently micromanages our responsibilities. At the same time, if any one of us should approach her with a question/concern/etc, she will brush it off and dismiss it as "not her problem." She refuses to assist with activities we ALL participate in, like setting up for initiation ceremonies, cleaning the house after events, etc -- she perceives these duties as being "beneath her." She also skips class on a regular basis because she is "too stressed" from her responsibilities as president.
Because of Sarah's horrible attitude, the exec board is very divided. There are three exec members who are very much "in her camp" and stick by her and her ways. The other seven of us really disapprove of her leadership and think she's taking our chapter down a bad path. Because of this divide, meetings are uncomfortable and unproductive.
I and others have voiced concerns about Sarah to our chapter advisors -- however, they generally brush off these worries because, as far as they are concerned, Sarah is a model president who turns in all her reports on time and stays on top of her responsibilities. They do not spend enough time here in the house to understand what is happening and observe Sarah's bad attitude and poor time management skills.
I am at a loss as to where to go from here. Sarah has alienated all but a few chapter members and the subject of her poor leadership is frequently discussed in the house. Because she does not command respect and is so unpleasant, I'm afraid our chapter is becoming a bit of a joke.
If anyone has any advice about how to handle a bad president, I would really appreciate it. I'm becoming really frustrated with the way our chapter is being run. We've made great strides in the last year or so, and I'm worried Sarah's leadership will reverse much of the progress we've made.
Thanks, and sorry for the obnoxiously long post!
Katy Q
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