Quote:
Originally Posted by thetalady
So if their chapter is not as diverse as they think it should be, what is stopping THEM from pledging the people that they think will make the chapter more representative? Their membership is totally in their hands, isn't it? I am clearly missing something....
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Right? They met for two hours over Zoom and decided to disband their chapter. It looks like this chapter has existed since 1990. So over the course of two hours they figured they had no problem throwing away what three decades had helped build. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that Zoom call to hear why they all thought to give up so quickly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by carnation
I don't get why some of these students try to turn in their charters and I think it's hilarious that some of their IHQs are refusing to accept them and instead, planning to re-rush for new members. How dare they attempt to throw away years of history and tradition.
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Well exactly. They just figure "Eh, we'll shut this down," as if the national organization isn't going to have something to say about it. And where are all the angry alumni of their chapter, because I'm sure they're out there!
What's strangest to me is that many of these chapters - including the example in the article - are
collectively deciding to disband. It's not just one or two members but essentially the whole chapter. So if the whole chapter feels that way, isn't there strength in numbers? Couldn't you work together to build a chapter you're proud of and to try and enact change above?
It's especially strange because this is considered to be the most activism-focused generation in decades, but they don't want to take the time to make change to their chapter or organization. Perhaps it's because they truly don't know what membership means yet? If we all really think back to being a college student, how much did we truly understand our organizations and all they had to offer? Knowledge and perspective comes with years and experience. These students don't have it. And as has been mentioned, they probably have it even less so because of COVID and how relatively little they're interacting with their brothers, sisters, and national organizations.
Take convention for example. I attended AST's this year - over Zoom, of course - and it was clearly different and disappointing that we couldn't all be together in person. What disappointed me most, though, was that there were hundreds of collegiate women who were experiencing convention for the first time, and that's what they saw and experienced. Did they learn much? Did they sign off their computers feeling inspired? Probably not. There were no stories to take back to their chapters or new friends made. There were no hugs and handshakes. There were no fun activities or late nights talking to newly-met sisters in hotel rooms. They didn't get to truly see a formal business meeting of the national organization take place. They didn't see chapters go up on stage to receive awards. Will they ever feel inclined to attend convention again? Do they see the larger benefits of membership? Do they feel a new connectedness to the organization? They should, but I doubt many of them do.
All I know is that this year is truly a challenging one for Greek life.
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