Problems with my chapter

[LaRues_Lady]

Formal recruitment has just ended on my campus (I am intentionally not naming where I go to school or what sorority I'm in) and to say the least it was discouraging, disheartening, and disgusting.

We're a small chapter on campus (we have between 20 and 22 members, depending on when and if a couple of the girls decide to drop or not), and three of our girls were recruitment councilors and had to be unaffiliated. During our recruitment parties we only had about 10 to 12 chapter members show up and somehow they thought we'd get 25 girls...

Anyway, what bothered me the most and still makes me VERY hot under the collar, so to speak, is that there was a girl who was/is VERY interested in our chapter and wanted to pledge only us. She did her research and was VERY informed on not only our national organization but also our chapter (when we came to campus, community service projects we do...). The "problem" with her that was given in our selection session was basically her weight (she's a bigger girl but so are other members of my chapter) and she "smelled bad," which was an out and out BOLD FACED LIE. I spent significant time with this girl at the parties, even sitting next to her for over an hour and I can attest to the fact that she DOES NOT SMELL BAD (when I called the girl who said this on it, she back-tracked and stammered around). They were also commenting about how her "butt hangs out of her jeans," but hey, it happens to all of us at one time or another no matter how careful we are.

The decision on this girl was split right down the middle. The older girls (the girls I pledged with) voted TWICE to let this girl in and the "pretty" girls (who came in last year during fall recruitment, one of which is the one who said the girl smelled bad) are the ones who voted not to extend her a bid. When it came down to it, the advisory board (who had never met this girl) voted not to let her in.

This upsets me SO much because we've always prided ourselves on being the sorority on campus that wants to take you as you are, not wanting or trying to change you, and the only reason this girl didn't get into the chapter is because of her physical appearance (weight, didn't wear the most fashionable clothes [but they were clean and neat], and doesn't wear make-up [but really, if you're not comfortable wearing make-up, isn't that YOUR choice?]). She would have been a VERY good chapter member and someone I would have been proud to have as a sister.

We (the older members) are bringing this matter up at our next chapter meeting, but there are also other things going on that make me very uncomfortable. Underage drinking (I have Facebook pictures), unapproved parties with fraternities where there is underage drinking (I have Facebook messages of the underage girl who has organized the parties and is telling everyone that the fraternity [and not the licensed third party vendor we're supposed to have] is providing the alcohol), and many other things that according to our Nationals is not kosher. If I weren't about to go alum I would take these things to Nationals immediately but I've already put so much time and energy into this sorority and I love the sorority in general, but this chapter is a long ways down in the gutter from when I first came into it.

Also, because we had so few bids we extended, our ADVISORS decided to give bids to every girl who came to our open house even if they didn’t come back or show ANY interest in us, but not to the girl who came to EVERY party she was allowed to come to per NPC rules. That is the disgusting part of it all.

So basically, I am wondering how I can go about letting my National board in on the bad things in this chapter (underage drinking, illegal selection session…) and if they will take any action. They seem to be pretty strict on advertised parties with alcohol, so I’m wondering if they’ll do the same for a party that was held but not approved by nationals. Also, if something should happen and Nationals comes in and pulls our charter before I’m eligible to be an alum, is there any way I could still go alum? It seems that I’ve heard somewhere that seniors in the chapter can go alum if that happens, but this doesn’t exactly sound right to me.

Thanks for sticking it out and reading this post! And any help/advice/suggestions you could give me would be GREATLY appreciated. THANK YOU ALL!!!