Problems with my chapter

[honeychile]

One thought: a similar situation happened with my chapter, years ago. The PNM is question was beautiful, talented, came from a prominent family, but had the foulest mouth at the weirdest times. Half of the chapter loved her (there was serious talk about Tourette's), the other half actively hated her.

Somehow, she got a bid. The tiniest misstep this poor girl took was blown completely out of proportion, everyone started to take sides, and it ended up that half of the chapter quit speaking to the other. Our suite was a minefield! Once the chapter was torn apart - several sisters took alumna status by Christmas break - she depledged, taking two other pledges with her. We went from being one of the largest, most respected chapters on campus to half that size and half that reputation with ONE WOMAN. There are sisters from that era who still don't speak to each other.

So, if I could give one piece of advice to any chapter doing membership selection, I would say to consider each PNM as if she is the only new member that they take that semester. I've yet to meet the PNM who is so perfect that she's worth the risk of losing half the chapter.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by honeychile

One thought: a similar situation happened with my chapter, years ago. The PNM is question was beautiful, talented, came from a prominent family, but had the foulest mouth at the weirdest times. Half of the chapter loved her (there was serious talk about Tourette's), the other half actively hated her.

Somehow, she got a bid. The tiniest misstep this poor girl took was blown completely out of proportion, everyone started to take sides, and it ended up that half of the chapter quit speaking to the other. Our suite was a minefield! Once the chapter was torn apart - several sisters took alumna status by Christmas break - she depledged, taking two other pledges with her. We went from being one of the largest, most respected chapters on campus to half that size and half that reputation with ONE WOMAN. There are sisters from that era who still don't speak to each other.

So, if I could give one piece of advice to any chapter doing membership selection, I would say to consider each PNM as if she is the only new member that they take that semester. I've yet to meet the PNM who is so perfect that she's worth the risk of losing half the chapter.

I have a similar story involving not taking a girl who was the sister of an active collegian at the time. It didn't go as far as your chapter, but the entire year was from hell! Half of my class would speak to the other half. To this day, I think that sometimes it's best to just suck it up an put up with someone that isn't perfect to keep the peace! In the end, I think there are a lot of immature people who are ready to make a mountain out of a tiny little mole hill. The only truly horrible outcome to my story is that one of my favorite sisters, who exuded AOII values, quit since her sister was told she just wasn't good enough.