warning, this is long, sorry!
i read the thread earlier in the day and actually emailed my old greek advisor the link. i had a few different thoughts on the subject... first off, i'll mention that there's no real way to know all the precise details of how this all came about, since alot of emotion was involved....
also, i have to say that my experience with greek life didn't include locals, so i don't really know much about what national chapters usually incorporate from their local legacy. i come from a "younger" chapter as well - only 20 years, so we never had quite as much of a problem with the possibility of "going against tradition to conform to nationals" ... just to preface
my first gut reactions are of course to feel sympathy for this sister and the rest of her chapter who felt they had been put in such a situation that they had no other choice (in order to remain true to themselves) than to relinquish their charter. i can't imagine how they feel right now.
i question how their statements may have been taken out of context in order to build a case for hazing -- which was what brought on the review in the first place... and i feel so sorry for the poor girls who never felt any pressure or were submitted to hazing, but whose words
may have been used to insinuate something else... but this also leads me to wonder what incident instigated the need for such a review.
something had to have happened somewhere along the way to bring it on.
i can understand celebrating their heritage and local history, and agree with the journal's author that without that foundation, there would not be a chapter of chi omega as it stood at wake forest. i feel sorry that she was criticized for "not being a true chi omega" (paraphrase) in the other thread, because i think that the reason she placed as much emphasis on it was because she felt that that was the reason their national office had taken them under review, and was trying to explain that fact. i'm sure that until this situation came to light, these sisters believed themselves to be sincere members of chi omega... if they didn't, i don't think that their administration would have held them in such high regard. i can understand why their chapter would not be happy if they were not allowed to teach new members ANYTHING about their prior history other than, hey we were a Society, and then we were Chi Omega, and that's where it all started.
now, i have to go on and say, yes, obviously, since the author did in fact admit to it, their chapter did have standards issues. using fake id's at functions? good lawd that's a huge risk management issue. these girls are SO LUCKY that they didn't have a situation where someone was hurt, etc. in the past. and i don't think that it was out of hand AT ALL for their EO to clearly state that it was the Eboard's responsibility for them to follow the rules in house and at functions. sorry, but the rules are the rules, if you're a dry house, you're a dry house. i don't know what their housing requirements are, but i don't think it's too much to say, if you are under 21 and/or live in the house, you have to follow the rules/the law while at a sorority function/in house. if you can't follow in house rules then don't live in house. now, making each sister responsible for the other legally or answering to the sorority for behavior
outside of the house/sorority function i question. unless it's out of care and concern, i don't understand trying to make the sisters one another's watchdog while not in house/at a function.
i also don't think it was wrong if they were reprimanded for having early morning meetings for pledges. now, this wasn't given specific times, but if it's before dawn, yeah i don't understand why it had to be done that way, and i think according to panhellenic, that is considered "hazing"... i'm fairly certain that
there is some rule that says that events that take place late at night or before dawn is extreme, and therefore can be considered hazing (that is SO paraphrased). i don't think that it would have been out of hand to require their chapter education to follow such rules.
ok so i've gone on long enough here, i'm going to wrap things up...
so, i guess in essence what i'm saying is that while i do feel sympathy for the sisters, i don't think you can fault their nationals for placing at least
some restrictions, etc. on the chapter. i do, however, question how the girls were made to feel uncomfortable with this absolute, or ultimatum, of which parts
may have been somewhat extreme (including attendance to an extent, i feel for the girls there--our chapter has excellent attendance but it's really hard have to fear that you might not maintain that absolute 90% every time when you have rigorous classes, work, etc) ...i just feel so badly for these sisters who felt that the ends that the review board came up with were so extreme that they couldn't align themselves any further with chi omega. it seems a shame that what had to have been an extremely strong chapter is no more.
now i wonder what these girls will do? try to become a local organization and participate in panhellenic that way? or completely dissolve themselves except as a group of friends? i'm interested to see how things turn out, especially since they seem to have so much support from alumnae, administration, etc.
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