[Kevin]

My thought is, that if someone no longer has dedication to the organization, why keep them around? It's bad for morale. You don't want them around for Rush when you can't trust them to tow the party line, in our case, they count against us when they don't show up to Greek Week and Homecoming events, so what is the point in having them around.

I wrote the bylaw in my chapter's case referring to early alum status:

ALUMNI STATUS
A. Alumni status shall be conferred upon a brother upon his graduation or leaving school.
B. Early Alumni status may be taken under the following circumstances:
a. Marriage
b. Completing 4 years of school
c. By a 2/3 vote of active brothers

The 2/3 vote of the active membership covers the extreme hardship thing. The chapter loses your financial contribution and therefore has a stake in what's going on -- they get the final word if you don't qualify for either a or b.

In any case though, if your remain a student at the university, you must still pay insurance and national dues. Our HQ doesn't have an "early alum" status. Either you're a member or you're not.