Getting rid of collegians because they don't fit the image?

[Xylochick216]

A sorority on my campus was reorganized a few years ago after several incidents. Their HQ came in and interviewed all of the girs. From my understanding, most of the seniors and juniors were given alumna status because they had been the biggest part of the problem. They were small for a year or two, but they're thriving now and they have much fewer problems. It turned out to be a good thing for them.

[Little E]

I totally agree his post is missing something, but perhaps these 'bad seeds' were not entirely thrilled at being removed from active status and so they were told by HQ whatevery you tell people when you're giving them the boot and then their anger translated into "National says were not the right image" Angry girls have a tendency to be told one thing and somehow through our brains we can make it something totally different - usually something more dramatic and to our benefit. (I don't mean this to sound so disparaging, but I'm not sure how else to say it.)

[AlexMack]

Originally Posted by Little E

I totally agree his post is missing something, but perhaps these 'bad seeds' were not entirely thrilled at being removed from active status and so they were told by HQ whatevery you tell people when you're giving them the boot and then their anger translated into "National says were not the right image" Angry girls have a tendency to be told one thing and somehow through our brains we can make it something totally different - usually something more dramatic and to our benefit. (I don't mean this to sound so disparaging, but I'm not sure how else to say it.)

No, that's how I interpreted it. In their minds, they're getting thrown out because they don't fit the image. God knows why they're actually being asked to leave.

[_Lisa_]

Originally Posted by centaur532

No, that's how I interpreted it. In their minds, they're getting thrown out because they don't fit the image. God knows why they're actually being asked to leave.

Exactly! Like not meeting the minimum standards, or consistently taking in much less than quota, or not meeting the chapter GPA requirements for several semesters in a row.

[33girl]

Ok, at a place like DePauw, why would they leave those 12 there to do all the work, especially when they're seniors and especially since there's an NPC rule that they can take everyone out and still keep their spot for a year - right?

I think if I was those 12 seniors I would have told the nationals to go shit in their hat, unless they completely hated the rest of the chapter.

As far as not taking quota, not reaching standards, GPA etc - that is a CHAPTER issue. If the CHAPTER hasn't met quota since 1973, they should close the CHAPTER, not kick individual women out. You don't say that your chapter hasn't done a, b, and c, and then leave 12 girls there, especially if they are the girls who have been there the longest and therefore had the most time to remedy the issues.

Do I think a national will remove girls just because they don't fit the "image" if the chapter's numbers are high and everything else (risk mgmt, $$ etc) is OK? No. Do I think a national will remove women or close a chapter if they don't fit the image AND their numbers are low or the chapter has other issues? Definitely. Do I think a national will let the same sort of RM or treasury issues slide if the chapter is over total and all the girls are drop dead gorgeous and it's the most popular sorority on campus? Definitely.

[WVU alpha phi]

My chapter had a hazing incident occur two years ago when we were already on probation.. Nationals came in, individually interviewed every girl in the chapter, held meeting with the entire chapter, kept an ELC in our house for 6 weeks, things like that.. the end result: our president took early alumni status (it was either that or termination), our social was terminated, and 2 girls quit on their own. Not once did I get the impression that Nationals was trying to "clean out" girls who didn't "fit the mold." From a chapter of 90, only two girls were forced to be early alum or terminated, and it was only those two because they were mainly the ones who "put us at risk".

[33girl]

Originally Posted by WVU alpha phi

My chapter had a hazing incident occur two years ago when we were already on probation.. Nationals came in, individually interviewed every girl in the chapter, held meeting with the entire chapter, kept an ELC in our house for 6 weeks, things like that.. the end result: our president took early alumni status (it was either that or termination), our social was terminated, and 2 girls quit on their own. Not once did I get the impression that Nationals was trying to "clean out" girls who didn't "fit the mold." From a chapter of 90, only two girls were forced to be early alum or terminated, and it was only those two because they were mainly the ones who "put us at risk".

That's a whole different matter, and it sounds like the appropriate action was taken - the individuals who did the deed were punished, not the group, since it wasn't a "group" mistake.

[Wine&SilverBlue]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/ed...04de9e&ei=5087

[_Lisa_]

Originally Posted by 33girl

As far as not taking quota, not reaching standards, GPA etc - that is a CHAPTER issue. If the CHAPTER hasn't met quota since 1973, they should close the CHAPTER, not kick individual women out. You don't say that your chapter hasn't done a, b, and c, and then leave 12 girls there, especially if they are the girls who have been there the longest and therefore had the most time to remedy the issues.

For the record, I agree with you, but I am unable to read the article since I'm at work & LJ is blocked by our firewall. I misread the first post & thought it said "I know of sorority chapters closing and reorganizing, but telling all 12 members to leave because they don't fit the image? Is this even normal and possible?" as opposed to "all but 12."

[AEPhiSierra]

Am I the only one who actually believes image could have played a significant part in closing chapter. I doubt the group was actually told that was the reason though because it's not the politically correct thing to do. While I am not saying national orgs have a singular image of what they want every chapter to look, act, dress like, etc. I don't find it hard to believe that a chapter could fall into an image that a national organization doesn't like and doesn't want to represent their organization. I would think that chapters with this problem tend to be smaller and that would be the official reason for the closure. They probably didn't like their image and figured restructuring would be the easiest and cheapest way to improve the image and resultingly bring them up to total.

Also, I don't really think there is a one year rule with NPC chapters being able to come back on campus, I think it is a courtesy that is extended by some campuses (give the org another try b/c they have been there for a while and/or its' easier than going through a whole expansion process). They probably kept 12 members so they could keep the charter but my guess is those 12 will not have the final say when it comes to new member selection

[kddani]

With image, maybe there was a chapter problem with drinking and drugs? That would certainly cause a bad image.

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by AEPhiSierra

Am I the only one who actually believes image could have played a significant part . . . .

AEPhiSierra, I don't find it too hard to believe; the relatively recent report of DePauw's Greek commission , which is in PDF and can be accessed with a click or two from:

http://www.depauw.edu/univ/greekfacts/

mentions in its section on "Affiliation" (i.e., recruitment / intake) -- page 14 of the report, at least as it showed up on my screen -- that for the seven NPC sororities, the "stereotypes" are "pervasive," the competition among sororities is "intense," and many women are interested in joining only certain chapters. Those who do not get bids at all, or who don't get bids to the chapter(s) they want, "harbor resentment for years." The report mentions that 31 percent of Greek women at DePauw think the recruitment process "is not fair."

So I can imagine that "image" could be a huge problem in that particular Greek system. I'm not saying it was (or that it should be in a perfect world), but I think it could have been.