Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin
In most cases, or at least with my organization, the undergrads do not determine whether their chapter remains open--and it definitely shouldn't be done by majority vote. If you want to resign, then resign. If the anti-segregationist members of Sigma Nu didn't stand up and fight in the late 60s, who knows where we'd be as an organization today?
The chapter had 26 men, so it's probably at the bottom of the social pecking order anyhow and maybe these guys were just looking for an excuse to get out?
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No, this wasn't about popularity or social pecking orders. Greek life at American University seems to be a bit of a mess these days. Although it's a diverse campus with students from all over the country (though majority East Coast), there have been several well-publicized incidents of racism and sexual harassment/assault on campus in recent years. Many sorority women have also claimed that there is a "rape culture" among fraternities that has long gone unaddressed, despite many complaints. What the article doesn't say is that there was an incident during the last academic year involving a Delt brother openly spewing racist insults, along with other complaints which got them into hot water with the university and IFC. The membership's vote to "disband" happened before any disciplinary action might have been taken. So did the Delts have a "come to Jesus moment" regarding issues of institutional racism, diversity and matters of social justice, or did they simply cut and run out of embarrassment and a belief that the hammer was about to drop? Or perhaps both were at play?
In addition, there is an active Abolish Greek Life movement on campus that seems to have really taken off in recent months following the BLM protests, amid concerns that Greek life is simply not compatible with greater social justice issues. As was already noted in a separate thread, the AXiD chapter at AU essentially disaffiliated itself out of existence over the spring and summer (although there is still a chartered chapter at AU), due to 1) ongoing pressure from campus and nearby community entities regarding AXiD's affiliation with Autism Speaks; 2) the lack of action by the university, IFC and Panhellenic to tackle the ongoing concerns about racism, sexual assault, etc. 3) the chapter's perception that AXiD nationals isn't doing enough to address larger issues of diversity and inclusion. Now I've read that the Phi Sigma Sigma chapter at AU has also had so many disaffiliations that it is no longer functioning, and most of the other sororities have had a lot of disaffiliations as well.
While I've gotta believe that some of these disaffiliations can be chalked up to COVID-related attrition, there does seem to be a lot of strife and turmoil in the AU Greek community these days (along with a "follow the leader" mentality when it comes to cutting and running from membership).
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