I'm not sure if I can even ask this...

[BlondieCat]

Originally Posted by Entchen

I would guess this is almost certainly what is happening. Food is extremely cheap compared to alcohol. Unless the OP's dues are incredibly low, I can think of no way 1/3 of that would go to just food. And, if they're a national, "food" seems like the most logical way to account for that spent money, since they obviously can't admit to their national headquarters what it's really being spent on.

At my campus, at least, I've discovered that national sororities don't drink any less than locals, they just disguise it better.

Our dues are about $400, to everyone who was wondering. Also, there is no way that this money is going to alcohol because my chapter has advisers visiting ALL the time, and they would figure it out. When we DO have mixer type things, they are unofficial and we usually have to pay at the door. I trust that they money really is being spent on catering, food, and supplies, etc. but I just get really frustrated with some of the girls who flat out just say, "deal with it". We just elected a new council, so hopefully I can talk with some of them. I'd like to get this problem dealt with so the next 3.5 years for me, and hopefully anyone else who comes along with allergies, is safe!

Thanks for your help everyone!

[AOII Angel]

BlondieCat...you should go to your doctor and get her/him to write you a letter explaining to your chapter that you are medically unable to ingest the foods that they choose for the chapter. Have him/her specifically mention those foods that they commonly buy for the other sisters. It is different if you just don't like the foods they provide, but you have a medical reason behind your food preferences that should not be ignored. Give a letter to your chapter advisor and your executive board. You should then request to have a dues reduction since you ALWAYS must provide your own food.

[KappaKittyCat]

Originally Posted by Zeta13Girl

Something else that our chapter does in place of just putting out money for food is that they require sisters to sign up and bring food. For instance they will pass around a sign up sheet that looks sort of like below and if you dont bring anything you cant eat.

Some chapters aren't allowed to do stuff like that. It might sound crazy, but there's actually logic behind it. Kappa has a "no assessment" policy. That means that our dues will cover everything that the chapter does: parties, mixers, formals, etc. The policy is in place so that once you've paid dues, you're good to go for the year, and chapters never have sisters having to miss out on events because they can't afford it.

[FlaGirl07]

Our chapter allows that portion of the dues to be waived for sisters who have food allergies. That's a savings of about $850 per semester. Although, our dues are over $2,000 a semester so even without a meal plan, the chapter still takes in about $1,500 from those sisters