AOII officially disbands Washington University chapter

[*winter*]

They are devaluing and denying the positive experience many women of color and women of lower socioeconomic status enjoy. At my school, most students were far from rich, and many people enjoyed their GL experience.

[APhi2KD]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I don't understand why they aren't fixing it from within. They have the ability to be inclusive. So be inclusive and fix it that way, right?

Not all GLOs are on board at the national level, though. And chapters trying to enact real change have experienced significant stalling or even pushback. If these women truly believe the harm caused by the orgs has outweighed the good and that they will continue to resist change and be injurious, I can understand their efforts to end the system.

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by APhi2KD

Not all GLOs are on board at the national level, though. And chapters trying to enact real change have experienced significant stalling or even pushback. If these women truly believe the harm caused by the orgs has outweighed the good and that they will continue to resist change and be injurious, I can understand their efforts to end the system.

I can't understand it. Change comes from within. They need to be proactive, not reactive.

They also need to realize that not everyone feels the same, and that not everyone gives a rat's a** about them and their cause du jour. And that it's okay to not all think/feel the same way.

[33girl]

I wonder how many of these “disbanders” (or DBs if you will) have reached out to their friends who are members of these groups they are advocating for and offered them membership? Or who actually HAVE friends who are members of these groups? After all the negative publicity APhi got, I would think that “we offered my black friend a bid and nationals denied it” would be an easy way to get their way with their HQ.

[shadokat]

I see what you did there, DBs

Originally Posted by 33girl

I wonder how many of these “disbanders” (or DBs if you will) have reached out to their friends who are members of these groups they are advocating for and offered them membership? Or who actually HAVE friends who are members of these groups? After all the negative publicity APhi got, I would think that “we offered my black friend a bid and nationals denied it” would be an easy way to get their way with their HQ.

[LaneSig]

Originally Posted by APhi2KD

Not all GLOs are on board at the national level, though. And chapters trying to enact real change have experienced significant stalling or even pushback. If these women truly believe the harm caused by the orgs has outweighed the good and that they will continue to resist change and be injurious, I can understand their efforts to end the system.

As to the part that I bolded: In my opinion, many times the undergraduate members want action "Right Now!".

But, what the undergraduates view as stalling or pushback is really their organization saying "Let us look at this. We don't want to go off half-cocked and make the situation worse."

It makes me think of the issue that happened at Tufts a couple of years ago. A sorority wanted to bid a transgender woman. They asked their organization what the rules would were on the issue. The organization asked the chapter for a few days to go over their bylaws and get back to them. Many of the undergrad members threw a fit that the leaders didn't automatically say "Yes, go ahead and do it" right away, and those members resigned. All their organization asked was to give them a few days to go over the issue.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by LaneSig

As to the part that I bolded: In my opinion, many times the undergraduate members want action "Right Now!".

But, what the undergraduates view as stalling or pushback is really their organization saying "Let us look at this. We don't want to go off half-cocked and make the situation worse."

It makes me think of the issue that happened at Tufts a couple of years ago. A sorority wanted to bid a transgender woman. They asked their organization what the rules would were on the issue. The organization asked the chapter for a few days to go over their bylaws and get back to them. Many of the undergrad members threw a fit that the leaders didn't automatically say "Yes, go ahead and do it" right away, and those members resigned. All their organization asked was to give them a few days to go over the issue.

But what those members hear is, "Give us a view days to decide whether we want to be inclusive or not." On the other hand, they asked the question, so one would assume they knew it wasn't going to be an immediate 'yes' and it may take some time to work through.

Of course, due to the nature of our organizations (and thinking about this issue in relation to what seems to be the main reason for the Abolish Greek Life movement), a person of color joining does not have the same implications as a transgender person joining.

One of the things I saw popping up on social media from sorority members this summer - including from my own organization - was the demand that we all be called 'siblings' instead of 'sisters'. Apparently some individual chapters are already doing so. I had never heard of this before and it certainly seems it hasn't been brought through proper channels of our organizations, but I'll let others speak to that, if they so choose. Either way, an angry rant on social media is probably not the best way to go about change. Our members have been calling each other 'sisters' for more than a century. Perhaps that may change one day, but that change doesn't occur overnight because you got mad about it on your Facebook wall.

[Sciencewoman]

I'm curious about where the AGL movement seems to have a significant amount of traction. So far, it seems to be Northwestern, University of Richmond, University of Washington at St. Louis, American University...which others? These are all pricy private institutions, and perhaps there are a higher than average number of "stereotypical, well-off" students in GLOs...and also more intellectually-focused students focused on being change agents?

We aren't seeing AGL activity/discussion where I teach (large state school). I'm just wondering if the chapter closings associated with this movement are going to be "self-contained." What are the other campuses where closures due to AGL seem imminent or appear to be a serious concern?

[Cookiez17]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

I'm curious where the AGL movement seems to have a significant amount of traction. So far, it seems to be Northwestern, University of Richmond, University of Washington at St. Louis, American University...which others? These are all pricy private institutions, and perhaps there are a higher than average number of "stereotypical, well-off" students in GLOs...and also more intellectually-focused students focused on being change agents?

We aren't seeing AGL activity/discussion where I teach (large state school). I'm just wondering if the chapter closings associated with this movement are going to be "self-contained." What are the other campuses where closures due to AGL seem imminent or appear to be a serious concern?

You hit it on the head. The weird thing is I haven't seen much of it on Ivy League campuses, or even more liberal schools like NYU and UC Berkeley, but the orgs there seem to be taking action at a local level and doing change that way. That's what it should be, not just stepping down en masse.

[g41965]

Add Vanderbilt to the list.

[lake]

Originally Posted by Cookiez17

You hit it on the head. The weird thing is I haven't seen much of it on Ivy League campuses, or even more liberal schools like NYU and UC Berkeley, but the orgs there seem to be taking action at a local level and doing change that way. That's what it should be, not just stepping down en masse.

Doing it en masse brings more attention to those who seek it and is a much sexier story for the media. It makes it appear that important things are happening.

[moe.ron]

Originally Posted by Cookiez17

You hit it on the head. The weird thing is I haven't seen much of it on Ivy League campuses, or even more liberal schools like NYU and UC Berkeley, but the orgs there seem to be taking action at a local level and doing change that way. That's what it should be, not just stepping down en masse.

It happened in our chapter in Yale, they disbanded by wanting to go co-ed.

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2020/...nals-go-co-ed/

[chi-o_cat]

Originally Posted by Cookiez17

You hit it on the head. The weird thing is I haven't seen much of it on Ivy League campuses, or even more liberal schools like NYU and UC Berkeley, but the orgs there seem to be taking action at a local level and doing change that way. That's what it should be, not just stepping down en masse.

If after everything the sororities at Harvard and Yale have gone through to simply exist, it would be ironic AF if they were to bail now.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by Cookiez17

You hit it on the head. The weird thing is I haven't seen much of it on Ivy League campuses, or even more liberal schools like NYU and UC Berkeley, but the orgs there seem to be taking action at a local level and doing change that way. That's what it should be, not just stepping down en masse.

AGL is for people with time on their hands. Ivy (and similar school) students accomplish higher purposes.

[Sen's Revenge]

Has anyone reached out to their former sisters or brothers to try to gain understanding from them directly?