Five Towson Sororities on Probation (Alcohol)

[whittleschmegg]

The university I attended was also pretty informal, so I can understand how some members may not realize how seriously they can get introuble for not following certain rules; especially as sophmores. I do however think a majority of the blame should be put on advisors and the recruitment chair on panhellenic. I was recruitment chair and it somewhat frightens me that a general statement was not made informing all members that even though this is tradition it is NOT PERMITTED and anyone caught disregarding the rules will be punished. I think it's a little irresponsible to punish women who most likely did not understand the severity of their actions. Something must be done but to put the chapters on social probation for basically the entire year and campus probation until next fall may be a very premature rash decision.

[whittleschmegg]

One more thing, are their any measures being taken towards the advisor who new this was going on and alegedly participating in these drinking activities.

[texas*princess]

[QUOTE=33girl;1536833]Exactly. It's why THEY AND THEY ALONE should get the punishment, not the whole sorority. If my whole sorority got put on probation because of something like this, that girl's life probably wouldn't be very pleasant.[/QUOTE]

I'm thinking maybe the University did that for that very reason.

So for the 6 or 7 people who messed up in those chapters, the entire chapter is having to pay for it. While they were "disaffiliated" with their sorority for that period of recruitment, it doesn't exempt them from following NPC rules or the rules of their GLO. I am not aware of any NPC org that allows their group to have alcoholic beverages at recruitment events.

Whether we like it or not, our members and their actions represent the entire chapter even if they aren't wearing shirts with giant 4-inch double-stitched greek letters across their chests 24/7.

If this had been a hazing incident, the entire chapter would likely get punished even if only a handful of members were the ones taking part in it.

The dingbat Panhellenic advisor is partly at fault because it doesn't sound like he did anything to stop it the last few years, and the University finally caught them, but just because the advisor diidn't straight up stop them does not mean it's OK to drink during Rush Week.

I don't know what the chapters there do as far as informing their members what behavior is acceptable, but in this case it seems like the chapter leadership needs to do more to educate their own members because the Panhellenic advisor isn't doing his job.

[kathykd2005]

Totally off topic, but I REALLY think there needs to be a universal name for Recruitment Counselors. When I went through, they were called Rho Chis, then it changed to Pi Chis, then it changed to Rho Gammas. It should be the same on ALL campuses. *Sorry for the hijack!*

[SWTXBelle]

Slightly ot - I've known several cases where the fact that the Greek advisor was a man and really had no clue about NPC has been a problem. I really wish campuses would have an advisor for fraternities, and one for sororities. Money may be the issue - but I think it might help in many situations.

This is an unfortunate situation, and my only hope is that other campuses with "traditions"that are liability nightmares are paying attention. At least the advisors . . .

[FSUZeta]

i wonder if any chapter advisors are present during these festivities? unless the advisors are alumnae members of the towson chapters, it seems that they should have known that alcohol is a no-no during recruitment and bidday.

[SWTXBelle]

Even if the advisors were alumnae of Towson, you'd hope that their training through HQ would mean they would know that drinking was a DEFINITE "no-no".

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

Second of all, don't they usually put these women up in some kind of housing accomodation during the recruitment process? My school does, and we made it clear there was to be no drinking, boys, etc. at anytime.

There are at least three reasons why this would be silly at Towson:

1. Sororities at Towson do not have chapter houses. It's not like you'd have a Rho Chi living with 80 of her sisters.
2. School is in session during recruitment. These women have other things to do with their lives other than recruitment.
3. Since school is in session, the only place to put the Rho Chis would be a hotel. That cost would probably get passed to the PNMs in the form of a hefty registration fee. A lot of women who join sororities up here are "maybe joiners", and a high fee will drive away a lot of "maybes".

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by AXiDGirl10

I'm sorry, but please speak for your own chapter or whichever chapter you're familiar with at Towson. My chapter (as well as a few others I know of) had a retreat in the spring to discuss recruitment, and we had a 2-day retreat (each day was about 8 hours long) about two weeks before recruitment this fall. We thoroughly planned our themes, decorations, songs, pref ceremony, pref letters, etc. We practiced everything for hours. During recruitment, I got little sleep because we had to go over everything several times. I'm very offended that you call this "little preparation and practice."

Also, everyone's saying how ridiculous it is that 5 chapters got put on probation because of their Rho Chis. Well, sorry to break it to you, but it was not just the Rho Chis that were drinking. That's why no one's upset at their Rho Chis because it was pretty much a chapter-wide thing. There were pictures on Facebook, and it was pretty obvious that many girls were intoxicated. Everyone is just upset at the whole situation. But NO ONE is upset at their Rho Chis.

We've never had a really strong Greek advisor or administration that really enforced the rules or knew how to enforce the rules, I guess. Because for years things like this have been going on without any consequences. I guess it's good that they're trying to change Greek Life at Towson for the better.

I was only speaking for AOII. I think I said that several times. Since I am not an member of your sorority, I wouldn't know what your chapter put in for rush, so don't be offended by my comments. If you went to a southern school, you'd see the difference in recruitment prep that I speak of. Anyway, I am aware that some chapters were guilty of more than having drunk Rho Chis...but, AOII was not one of those chapters. Again, I said I was speaking for my chapter which was supervised by two alumnae who had stressed to the girls that drinking was not allowed. I agree with you that having a greek advisor that would enforce rules would make Greek life at Towson better. There are amazing chapters at this school, but any group will get out of control if not advised well.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

A lot of women who join sororities up here are "maybe joiners", and a high fee will drive away a lot of "maybes".

Did you read I heart Recruitment? It's the only place I've heard the term "maybe joiners" used.

[Just interested]

I am wondering AXiDGirl10, what was the dividing line between probation and sanctioned? Obviously, no one group was totally not involved. I suspect, from what little I know, that National Panhellenic will investigate the situation.

As far as probation or even being sanctioned, that little bit of punishment shouldn't worry these girls as much as when their National organization gets a hold of them. I won't be pretty. There should be no excuses. If this is a school of "maybe joiners"
then maybe they don't need to have National Panhellenic groups on their campus

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by Just interested

If this is a school of "maybe joiners"
then maybe they don't need to have National Panhellenic groups on their campus

Excuse me? Are you implying that NPC groups are only for Southern Belles bred to rush? Just because schools in the North aren't full of women who have been primed for recruitment since conception doesn't mean that NPC groups aren't valuable, needed, and enjoyed up here. I myself was a maybe joiner. Tons of women at my school are maybe joiners, and many of them are won over once they actually go through recruitment. Just because someone is a "maybe joiner" doesn't mean they're going to be less committed. It could just mean that all they know of sororities are stereotypes and need convincing that a sorority is a good investment of time.

AOIIAngel, I didn't read I Heart Recruitment, but maybe it was in a review or summary of it that I read that most schools have 10% "always joiners", 10% "never joiners", and 80% "maybe joiners". The key is winning over the maybe joiners.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

AOIIAngel, I didn't read I Heart Recruitment, but maybe it was in a review or summary of it that I read that most schools have 10% "always joiners", 10% "never joiners", and 80% "maybe joiners". The key is winning over the maybe joiners.

I loved this discussion in the book. Unfortunately, widespread sanctioning of Greeks will only drive away these people who fit into the "maybe joiners" group. I'm hoping Panhel can get together to improve the image of Greeks on campus at Towson. These groups have so much to offer, and Bid Day antics are such a small part of the picture, but it is beginning to overwhelm the positives of Greek life.

A strong panhellenic presence will help all of the chapters on campus. Hopefully, activities will be a little more circumspect, dirty rushing will be eliminated and rules will be enforced consistently. Of course, ignorance is never an acceptable excuse for breaking the rules, but rules being broken in such a widespread manner indicates major problems at a much higher level than the individual chapters. I'm staying positive that this campus will make the necessary changes to improve the status of Greek organizations so that the negative stories aren't the only stories heard by the public.

[fyrnymph]

Quote - I suspect, from what little I know, that National Panhellenic will investigate the situation. Unquote.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe NPC has an investigatory function. The local Panhellenic may, and the university certainly should, conduct an investigation, but to the best of my knowledge the NPC as a body doesn't work like that. The fact that the GLOs are NPC means that the groups have a national headquarters that I am sure is VERY interested in making sure the groups follow the rules from here on out. Were they local groups, that would not be the case.

I hope the groups use this as an opportunity to focus on their sisterhood, and to come back from this unfortunate event stronger and more focused on what is really important.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

There are at least three reasons why this would be silly at Towson:

1. Sororities at Towson do not have chapter houses. It's not like you'd have a Rho Chi living with 80 of her sisters.
2. School is in session during recruitment. These women have other things to do with their lives other than recruitment.
3. Since school is in session, the only place to put the Rho Chis would be a hotel. That cost would probably get passed to the PNMs in the form of a hefty registration fee. A lot of women who join sororities up here are "maybe joiners", and a high fee will drive away a lot of "maybes".

OMG! Everyone keeps PMing me about this so to set the record straight:
1) My campus has NO sorority housing
2) School IS in session during our recruitment (it's hectic but we manage)
3) We DO stay in a hotel, there were 29 (Rho Gammas & Pi Chis) and our fee is only $30 (non-refundable) and we also provide dinners on the nights of recruitment for the Rho Gammas, Pi Chi and the staff that helps us and dinner on pref night for the PNMs as well.

Everyone kept assuming that we had housing for some reason...