Quote:
Originally Posted by jaynu
No haha, it is not my girlfriend.
I was just asking with no one in mind.  I just wanted to know how other organizations and its leaders would deal with such a problem. Is it safe to say that the right decision is a decision made altogether by a whole group (no matter what the penalty is)?
Thanks for everyone's concerns. This didn't necessarily happen in my organization. I just wanted to know what others thought. |
LOL 33girl.
Jaynu, I generally support the other comments posted here- but wanted to address your question about being supportive and trying to change the person who stole the money in the scenario you presented.
The reason rush is so important is that a chapter of a GLO can make a positive impact in a person's life- but that person has to come into the chapter with a certain basic set of acceptable values and maturity to begin with. We don't create good people, we just provide an avenue for them to better themselves.
The same holds true in a corporate setting. A great company can do great things for employees long term- but again, those employees have to bring certain basic values to the table.
This all goes to trust. As Kevin pointed out- you have to let a chapter have a Treasurer who is an active and who runs the money. At Beta, self-governance is one of our key principles. There is no reason for a Beta chapter to exist if it does not provide its active members with an opportunity to lead and take charge of the chapter's management.
To steal money from the chapter violates that basic trust- just as it would in a corporate setting. It destroys the foundation on which the entire organization can function, and an organization cannot function if it is populated with people who cannot be trusted at all to support and care for the very organization that provides so much for them individually.
Consider these two different scenarios,
1. Fraternity member goes out one night, gets drunk with his friends and breaks a picture window at the house of a rival chapter. It will cost $250 to repair the window.
2. Fraternity member steals $250 from his own chapter.
In the eyes of the law, though the specific laws broken vary, this guy is on the hook to someone for $250 for actual damages. Leaving aside everything else- these two scenarios are the same from the very pure moral perspective of "theft".
But if you were that person, which one would you rather do? Which one would you rather be accused of?
Let's say you have $250 and we are in scenario 1 above. You pay the other fraternity to fix the window and life goes on because we all know that kids sometimes get drunk and do foolish things. Some people may be a little more leery of you in future, but for the most part this is forgivable as a youthful indiscretion.
Let's say you have $250 and we are in scenario 2 above. You go to chapter meeting after the theft is discovered, and pay back the money. As in the above outcome, the "victim" has received full restitution- but how would anyone in that chapter ever trust you again?
The difference in the intent and what is suggested about the general moral character of the perpetrator in these two different scenarios is huge even though the actual damages are the same.
That is why the person in your scenario should be thrown out. And in my capacity as a financial advisor to my chapter I would not only see to the member's expulsion, but- provided I got clearance from the chapter's legal advisor- I would notify the University as well that one of its students had stolen from a student organization. There are too many people working their tails off to get into a good college to let a criminal in the making take a precious spot on the student rolls.
As for preventing this, I just do a monthly bank reconciliation. Takes about 30 minutes each month. I make sure all the checks written and cashed were for appropriate purposes, and I also compare the list of dues collected to the deposits in the bank. I would probably miss a $20 indiscretion, but I follow up with guys late on their dues- so I would catch any significant theft pretty fast.
Hybrid Mode
