STOP BEING SO STUPID!

[clemsongirl]

From Section 5A, page 37 of the 2014 NPC MOI:

"Sanctions shall not:
• Forbid formal or informal recruitment activities or the observance of an inter/national
fraternity event such as an educational program, ritual ceremony or historical celebration.
• Affect a fraternity chapter’s quota or total.
• Affect the time of new member acceptance and/or initiation.
• Forbid the right of an NPC fraternity to vote in College Panhellenic meetings.
• Include removal from the College Panhellenic. "

These sanctions are not legal, then, according to the MOI. If they want the chapter to not take new members, the chapter should be suspended from all activities.

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by clemsongirl

From Section 5A, page 37 of the 2014 NPC MOI:

"Sanctions shall not:
• Forbid formal or informal recruitment activities or the observance of an inter/national
fraternity event such as an educational program, ritual ceremony or historical celebration.
• Affect a fraternity chapter’s quota or total.
• Affect the time of new member acceptance and/or initiation.
• Forbid the right of an NPC fraternity to vote in College Panhellenic meetings.
• Include removal from the College Panhellenic. "

These sanctions are not legal, then, according to the MOI. If they want the chapter to not take new members, the chapter should be suspended from all activities.

Well then it's going to go one of two ways. Either the college will suspend the chapter from all activities, or they will permit the chapter to participate in recruitment.

Where the HELL were the advisors? And as for no one speaking up, well, that's endemic. You can train people all you want in bystander behavior. Still going to have these situations.

[navane]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

Where the HELL were the advisors? And as for no one speaking up, well, that's endemic. You can train people all you want in bystander behavior. Still going to have these situations.

I was intrigued to see that sanction being included as I had never seen it before. Usually, the campus "just" makes the chapter take cultural awareness training, but not bystander intervention training.

Depending on how it's presented, I feel that bystander intervention training can have a much better impact than cultural diversity training in this particular circumstance. Here's why I say that: if you don't know that dressing in offensive costumes is offensive, then yeah, it's hard to fix stupid and cultural diversity training will probably go in one ear and out the other. On the other hand, bystander intervention presupposes that you know that something is wrong, but you struggle with how to speak up or communicate your concern. In my opinion, that dilemma can be more readily fixed with training.

A few years ago, I sat for training called "Group Dynamics for High Risk Teams" (such as military, firefighting, police, nuclear plant employees, airline employees, medical/surgical staff, etc). A good portion of the training involved what you would know as bystander training - members of the group speaking up before something goes wrong, even if it means speaking up against your supervisor. I can't tell you how many times in my personal and professional life I have used the skills I was taught in that class to intervene when my supervisor or the group wanted to do something unwise or unsafe.

With the article reporting that 93% of the chapter participated in the taco sale, I have to believe that at least one of the members felt uncomfortable with the idea of costumes and knew it was a bad idea. Had she spoken up, she might have rallied another handful of members who were thinking the same thing and they could have redirected the idea before the incident occurred.

[BlueCarnation]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

Where the HELL were the advisors?

You'd be surprised...We have some chapters here whose closest alumnae live in another state (or any who live close aren't involved). They don't have advisors, except maybe someone from their headquarters who they talk to if there's a really pressing issue.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by BlueCarnation

You'd be surprised...We have some chapters here whose closest alumnae live in another state (or any who live close aren't involved). They don't have advisors, except maybe someone from their headquarters who they talk to if there's a really pressing issue.

My alma mater and organization both required a faculty/staff advisor in addition to the alumni advisor. That meant someone was around to review things even if the alumni advisor was far away.

I thought this was pretty common practice.

[BlueCarnation]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

My alma mater and organization both required a faculty/staff advisor in addition to the alumni advisor. That meant someone was around to review things even if the alumni advisor was far away.

I thought this was pretty common practice.

I think it is pretty common practice, but from what I have heard, at least 2 organizations don't have that (or haven't in the past). I know there are no faculty or staff advisors, per se. It's hard to get faculty or staff here to even admit they are/were members of Greek organizations; it's looked down upon.

[SoProud2BeAnAlphaXi]

Originally Posted by clemsongirl

From Section 5A, page 37 of the 2014 NPC MOI:

"Sanctions shall not:
• Forbid formal or informal recruitment activities or the observance of an inter/national
fraternity event such as an educational program, ritual ceremony or historical celebration.
• Affect a fraternity chapter’s quota or total.
• Affect the time of new member acceptance and/or initiation.
• Forbid the right of an NPC fraternity to vote in College Panhellenic meetings.
• Include removal from the College Panhellenic. "

These sanctions are not legal, then, according to the MOI. If they want the chapter to not take new members, the chapter should be suspended from all activities.

The MOI guides and binds the NPC member groups and the Panhellenic councils they form. As I understand it, these sanctions are coming straight from the University, and forbidding recruitment is something they can do and certainly DO do from time to time.

While this one crossed a line, it's getting hard to provide chapters with concrete guidance more nuanced than "Stay away from any theme or location that could possibly be construed as, or [as this situation shows] evolve into, anything disrespectful of a culture, ethnicity, or race."

Sorority dreamcatchers are popping up lately, and "senioritas" shirts, and Aztec prints/fonts. What to do?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by SoProud2BeAnAlphaXi

Sorority dreamcatchers are popping up lately, and "senioritas" shirts, and Aztec prints/fonts. What to do?

Send in Stacey and Clinton. You have no idea how much I want to kiss the Pitt AEPhis over in the rush forum for just having plain old classic white t-shirts on bid day. Some of this stuff isn't just questionable re ethnic issues, it's plain old ghastly fashion-wise.

The worst fashion crimes we committed were the Coca-Cola clothing knockoffs.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by SoProud2BeAnAlphaXi

The MOI guides and binds the NPC member groups and the Panhellenic councils they form. As I understand it, these sanctions are coming straight from the University, and forbidding recruitment is something they can do and certainly DO do from time to time.

These “forbidding recruitment” sanctions (as do most of the other sanctions) seem more in line with sanctions that may be given to an IFC chapter. The chapter is still allowed to operate, yet many of the social aspects may be limited for a certain time.

Since the chapter may be allowed to COB 30 members next spring, I wonder if any PNMs drop out of formal this fall to pursue one of the 30 spots in the spring.