Marshall Tri-Sigma Lawsuit

[Greek_or_Geek?]

Originally Posted by DZsis&mom

Lane Change //

Why is it embarrassing for a parent to step in and assist their child in a situation that seemed to be spiraling out of control? From the post it appears everyone believes mom acted as Super Mom & used her super powers to fly to nationals to take control. I want to believe this was a situation that the family had been dealing with for quite a while. I have a hunch at the point that mom went to HQ to discuss the situation, the girls grades may have been being affected, etc.

We as parents send our children off to college & we try to allow them to learn, grow, & mature - but there are plenty of times when they still need guidance, a shoulder to cry on, & someone to step in & help.

Sometimes 18 to 21 year old girls need their mothers more then 14 yr olds do...& until you are mother of one - Please do not be so quick to judge a mother's choice to assist her daughter if she was crying for help. (if the girl accusations are correct or not) (once a mother cat - always a mother cat )

//

Because if my child were being abused in the ways she claims, I would immediately remove her from the harmful situation, not expect a national officer to wave a magic wand and make the situation go away. I'm smart enough to know that my involvement in that way will only make things worse, even if the immediate threat is removed by nationals. It seems to me there's a heck of a lot more that happened here and I doubt anyone will ever know all the details.

My child's well being is much more important than any sorority membership, and it seems to me that the mother or the daughter were willing to continue the claimed abuse simply because she wanted to be a sorority member. I still can't figure out why she wanted to continue to be sisters with girls she found so horrible.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by Greek_or_Geek?

My child's well being is much more important than any sorority membership, and it seems to me that the mother or the daughter were willing to continue the claimed abuse simply because she wanted to be a sorority member. I still can't figure out why she wanted to continue to be sisters with girls she found so horrible.

This has been my thought. If it was so horrible, why stay & continue to pay money to go through that? Assuming all allegations are true, I'm by no means excusing behavior of the sorority members named, but this member also had the choice to leave at any time if she felt her complaints were not properly being handled. Membership in any organization is not worth that crap.

[NutBrnHair]

If I worked at HQ and Mommy showed up to meet with me, first I would only discuss "procedure" i.e., rules/policies, etc. with her. If your daughter is 18 or older, (it doesn't matter if parents are paying dues) I cannot discuss your daughter's situation with you without her written approval. If I have the written approval, then I will tell you everything that I know about your precious child, including things she might not want you to know.

[33girl]

Add to all this the fact that the people working at the national HQ may not be in any way shape or form, the people needed to remedy a particular situation. Our national councillors don't live or work at our HQ, and that's who would have taken care of something like this.

[psusue]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Add to all this the fact that the people working at the national HQ may not be in any way shape or form, the people needed to remedy a particular situation. Our national councillors don't live or work at our HQ, and that's who would have taken care of something like this.

Our director of chapter services would have been the person to go to in this situation. That she had correct. What I do not understand is why she did not go first to her chapter adviser (when she claimed she was not being heard out by the process of Honor Council), then to her regional consultant/regional support team, bypassing that potentially if the allegations were serious to the Assistant Director of Chapter Services and later the Director of Chapter Services (which her MOM did eventually get to, but bypassed many layers of support to do so).

I just don't get it. If the allegations were serious, she should have gone directly to her adviser when they began. I also see no notice of her going to the Greek life staff if she really was being abused/hazed. Finally, why have mommy go to the appropriate person months after the fact? There is something missing here, for sure. From reading it, the allegations she was charged with in Honor Council were all legitimate, although they are broad ranging in nature and I don't know if they were founded. I also know that a woman is always allowed to speak for herself during HC proceedings. If that did not occur than she should have gone to the adviser immediately, IMO. Well actually she should have filed for an appeal, which I'm almost 100% positive the adviser attends. I know they attend for level 3 and 4 meetings as well, for sure.


This whole situation puzzles me. I have no idea of the legal case she has. If she really was harassed I don't understand why she stayed. If she wasn't, it doesn't sound like her case would hold up. I can't tell too much detail from the articles and I don't want to prejudge either this woman or any of the other sisters that are involved, but this is just unfortunate all around. Like others have said, it sounds like a bad fit from the get go and just a lot of unpleasantness ever since. I'll reserve other comments until after the trial, if it gets that far. But again, I really hope this is resolved quickly.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by psusue

What I do not understand is why she did not go first to her chapter adviser (when she claimed she was not being heard out by the process of Honor Council), then to her regional consultant/regional support team, bypassing that potentially if the allegations were serious to the Assistant Director of Chapter Services and later the Director of Chapter Services (which her MOM did eventually get to, but bypassed many layers of support to do so).

Keep in mind that I pledged when it was still called pledging, and we didn't initiate for a whole semester...

One of the articles indicated that she pledged at the end of March and was initiated at the end of April - a month! IMO, one of the biggest repercussions of shortened new member periods is that some info doesn't get the time it deserves. I certainly know nothing about Sigma's new member education, so perhaps my assumption is incorrect, but I wonder if the proper channels of protocol were glossed over. ?? Also, if Marshall students are anything like those I'm around, it often seems like the answer is always to go to the top (President, in academic issues; HQ in Greek affairs) when things aren't going the way students expect. Maybe inadequate info and this mindset are what prompted her to choose the route she did.

[psusue]

Originally Posted by SydneyK

Keep in mind that I pledged when it was still called pledging, and we didn't initiate for a whole semester...

One of the articles indicated that she pledged at the end of March and was initiated at the end of April - a month! IMO, one of the biggest repercussions of shortened new member periods is that some info doesn't get the time it deserves. I certainly know nothing about Sigma's new member education, so perhaps my assumption is incorrect, but I wonder if the proper channels of protocol were glossed over. ?? Also, if Marshall students are anything like those I'm around, it often seems like the answer is always to go to the top (President, in academic issues; HQ in Greek affairs) when things aren't going the way students expect. Maybe inadequate info and this mindset are what prompted her to choose the route she did.

Our NM materials are all online so it's possible that she did not read them as thoroughly as possible, but the information is certainly there.

[NutBrnHair]

Originally Posted by psusue

... I'll reserve other comments until after the trial, if it gets that far. But again, I really hope this is resolved quickly.

I really doubt that there will be a trial. This will be settled out of court.