Are we open to women with children?

[nittanyalum]

To throw a small wrench into the conversation, what about chapters that have housing requirements? A thrust of the conversation so far seems to be that most would have no problem with a member with a child/children as long as they're held to the same requirements as other sisters. So what about chapters with houses that need to fill them and have only very specific exceptions to living in in their bylaws? (and have suspended members for not fulfilling their housing obligation) Would the sister with a child get an exception while the sister with a fiance or other "good reason" (per her view of her life) would not?

[Drolefille]

Most housing requirements have exceptions that are strictly laid down in the rules. My sister's house is that if the student lives at home they don't have to live in. A student with a child is different than an engaged student or "don't wanna" student and the latter two will just have to deal with it.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Most housing requirements have exceptions that are strictly laid down in the rules. My sister's house is that if the student lives at home they don't have to live in. A student with a child is different than an engaged student or "don't wanna" student and the latter two will just have to deal with it.

I agree a woman with a child is different, but since the main response had been there would be no issue as long as she was held to/could fulfill all the responsibilities of a sister, I was just trying to add a dimension to the conversation in terms of whether her not being able (although for valid reasons in her own right) to fulfill a chapter's housing requirement would be a consideration of her membership. Affording a house is a crushing responsibility for some chapters, particularly small ones or rebuilding ones and the bylaws I've seen that give exceptions (if any) for living in specify not just living "at home" but very specifically living "at home with their parents". So again, I was just saying that on the face of it, most chapters won't have built-in, automatic exceptions for someone with a child, so it may not be just whether someone can attend events that factors in to whether she can fulfill a chapter's needs and requirements. Not trying to be difficult, just stirrin' up the pot with the un-fun reality that sometimes chapters make very hard decisions that don't seem fair because they absolutely have to.

[sageofages]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

I agree a woman with a child is different, but since the main response had been there would be no issue as long as she was held to/could fulfill all the responsibilities of a sister, I was just trying to add a dimension to the conversation in terms of whether her not being able (although for valid reasons in her own right) to fulfill a chapter's housing requirement would be a consideration of her membership. Affording a house is a crushing responsibility for some chapters, particularly small ones or rebuilding ones and the bylaws I've seen that give exceptions (if any) for living in specify not just living "at home" but very specifically living "at home with their parents". So again, I was just saying that on the face of it, most chapters won't have built-in, automatic exceptions for someone with a child, so it may not be just whether someone can attend events that factors in to whether she can fulfill a chapter's needs and requirements. Not trying to be difficult, just stirrin' up the pot with the un-fun reality that sometimes chapters make very hard decisions that don't seem fair because they absolutely have to.

I think if the chapter has a live in requirement as rigidly stated as you have presented, then membership for a single mother would indeed be difficult, if not impossible. I think it would be unfortunate at best.

I know that the "culture" of a campus can not be ignored in these circumstances.

When I attended college, Wright State at the time was primarily a commuter campus (although it appears to be moving away from that in recent years). There was no real on-campus housing to speak of. The very nature of that, made it a true possibility for me to be an active and involved sorority person.