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Ok, I'll preface this with: I am new to the whole Panhellenic thing. As a member of a local chapter that wants to go National so badly it hurts, I have tried to learn as much as I can about how Panhellenic works. On my campus we have a struggling chapter. They are the main reason that my group has not been allowed to pursue a National Organization officially. (We've been speaking to one group quietly, and have been given advice on what we need to do to prepare ourselves but our local Panhellenic does not want to bring on another National group with one already struggling to make their numbers.) It's rumored that the struggling group may close and recolonize next year.
Okay, so now on with my comments....
My understanding is that NPC has a relatively new rule (3-4 years or so old) that says that a group can close its chapter and recolonize within one calendar year without having to repetition Panhellenic or go through a Panhellenic vote. After the one year, the chapter is subject to all of the usual permissions - i.e., the campus must be ready for expansion and the local Panhellenic must vote for expansion - and then there is no guarantee that the chapter that recently closed will be the one selected to expand.
If my understanding of the policy is correct, then I don't blame an NPC group for wanting to reopen a chapter within the year. Otherwise they are risking never returning to that campus, right? If you ask me, NPC may be setting the member organizations up for failure.
With that said, I don't really see anything wrong with wanting a new chapter to be able to establish its own identity. How can they do that when everywhere they look, women are wearing letters that don't actually belong to their local chapter? What's so wrong with asking members of the former chapter to quietly fade into the background while this new group of women build their new chapter. Seems to me that letting the "old" chapter members be involved is like seeing a sign on a restaurant, "Under New Management", walking in, and seeing the same hostess, servers, and bartenders... why would I expect the food to taste any differently?
Personally, I think this particular issue is OLD. Alpha Xi Delta's name keeps coming up over an issue that is three years old. AND, I might add, that while the perceptions of a chapter member are very real and I don't doubt that this is how she perceived the way everything played out, there are at least two sides to every story and we have only heard one - okay two if you count the campus newspaper which I always take with a grain of salt.
I think this has been a good discussion but I would suggest that if anyone sees a reason to continue the topic, that a new thread be opened that isn't aimed at one group in particular.
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