Zeta Tau Alpha at Tulane

[HonestTheia]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Absolutely. Those 150 women are much better off having this tiny heart break rather than struggling for years and failing to be successful in the end. ZTA knows what it takes to start a successful new chapter. Those 150 women can go through recruitment and join the existing chapters. Starting a colony of this size is a hugely expensive endeavor and the prospect of not having a successful colonization is problematic on many fronts. The heartache for the PNMs is a very small consideration, IMHO. I'm sure ZTA considered them quite a bit in their decision, but in the end, the organization is the risk taker here. I think we are hitting the tipping point of our expansion boom.

Tiny heartbreak? It kinda feels like a giant hole blown into the chest, after Zeta spent 10 days getting hopes and dreams up and telling the girls to identify as Zetas. The girls were encouraged to spend that time growing close and building bonds, which are now tainted with bad memories. The 150 are not better off with nothing when they could have had a cause to fight for. They would rather fight than be abandoned the way that they were.
"Those 150 women can go through recruitment and join the existing chapters"? NO, THEY CAN'T. Many freshmen girls decided not to do formal recruitment so that they could do Zeta, and most of the 150 are sophomores and juniors who cannot rush again. Recruitment isn't an option for most.
"The heartache for the PNMs is a very small consideration." Actually, true. The decision not to colonize was made by a group of women who had never even met the PNMs, who knew nothing of what they were capable of. They never asked the PNMs how they felt about it all; they never asked for an opinion or sought out how strong they were as a group. They never listened to them, and never even gave them a chance.
ZTA wasn't being a risk taker- it was playing it safe as a business that thought that it could come onto Tulane's campus and start out as a top-tier sorority. ZTA's quota of 180 was set to reflect current chapter sizes at Tulane, which have grown by about 50-60 girls in the last two years. If ZTA had come two years ago, they would have had no problem with 150. Ask anyone on campus, and 180 girls was an unrealistic number to expect for any colonizing sorority, especially right after formal recruitment. Tulane is pretty miffed at Zeta for pulling out without observing how strong and dedicated the PNMs that it had gathered were.
ZTA also failed to listen to anything that Tulane told them- ZTA thought that it would receive a reception at Tulane akin to Vanderbilt, not realizing that Tulane and other large southern schools are nothing alike. Tulane TOLD Zeta that 150 was IDEAL from the start, as Tulane is trying to get the existing chapter sizes to come down and predicted 150 to be the number Zeta would get all along. 150 would have been more than enough to start a chapter; ZTA just didn't want to give the chapter time to build up.
Zeta was selective enough (rejecting about 100 girls who rushed) that it wouldn't have started out as another Phi Mu, which had almost half of the number of girls that Zeta did when it colonized three years ago. While it's understandable for Zeta to want to be the best, it was unreasonable and unrealistic for them to expect to start off as the best. Zeta didn't take a risk; it gave up.

[Gusteau]

So are you a woman who was offered a bid and is now dissapoonted, someone who didn't get a bid to start with, or another sorority member trying to cast shade on ZTA?

Either way, you weren't privy to the decision making process and shouldn't pretend to have the insider scoop. ZTA will move on, Tulane will move on, you should too.

Originally Posted by HonestTheia

Tiny heartbreak? It kinda feels like a giant hole blown into the chest, after Zeta spent 10 days getting hopes and dreams up and telling the girls to identify as Zetas. The girls were encouraged to spend that time growing close and building bonds, which are now tainted with bad memories. The 150 are not better off with nothing when they could have had a cause to fight for. They would rather fight than be abandoned the way that they were.
"Those 150 women can go through recruitment and join the existing chapters"? NO, THEY CAN'T. Many freshmen girls decided not to do formal recruitment so that they could do Zeta, and most of the 150 are sophomores and juniors who cannot rush again. Recruitment isn't an option for most.
"The heartache for the PNMs is a very small consideration." Actually, true. The decision not to colonize was made by a group of women who had never even met the PNMs, who knew nothing of what they were capable of. They never asked the PNMs how they felt about it all; they never asked for an opinion or sought out how strong they were as a group. They never listened to them, and never even gave them a chance.
ZTA wasn't being a risk taker- it was playing it safe as a business that thought that it could come onto Tulane's campus and start out as a top-tier sorority. ZTA's quota of 180 was set to reflect current chapter sizes at Tulane, which have grown by about 50-60 girls in the last two years. If ZTA had come two years ago, they would have had no problem with 150. Ask anyone on campus, and 180 girls was an unrealistic number to expect for any colonizing sorority, especially right after formal recruitment. Tulane is pretty miffed at Zeta for pulling out without observing how strong and dedicated the PNMs that it had gathered were.
ZTA also failed to listen to anything that Tulane told them- ZTA thought that it would receive a reception at Tulane akin to Vanderbilt, not realizing that Tulane and other large southern schools are nothing alike. Tulane TOLD Zeta that 150 was IDEAL from the start, as Tulane is trying to get the existing chapter sizes to come down and predicted 150 to be the number Zeta would get all along. 150 would have been more than enough to start a chapter; ZTA just didn't want to give the chapter time to build up.
Zeta was selective enough (rejecting about 100 girls who rushed) that it wouldn't have started out as another Phi Mu, which had almost half of the number of girls that Zeta did when it colonized three years ago. While it's understandable for Zeta to want to be the best, it was unreasonable and unrealistic for them to expect to start off as the best. Zeta didn't take a risk; it gave up.

[HonestTheia]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

So are you a woman who was offered a bid and is now dissapoonted, someone who didn't get a bid to start with, or another sorority member trying to cast shade on ZTA?

Either way, you weren't privy to the decision making process and shouldn't pretend to have the insider scoop. ZTA will move on, Tulane will move on, you should too.

I'm not pretending to know anything- I didn't say anything that Tulane and Zeta didn't tell the students themselves, or that was not conversed in many emails and discussions with both Tulane and ZTA. I was seeking to clarify the misconceptions that are being made here, as well as express my sadness that Zeta chose not to colonize on campus - the majority of those involved in Greek life at Tulane were very excited about Zeta coming, and were willing to do anything in their power to make it successful. I cast no "shade" on Zeta other than point out that their goals were unrealistic for the situation and that it was a very unfair outcome for the girls involved. I did not wish to sit by and read as all those hard-working girls were being called potential failures, when they would have been very likely to have succeeded.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by HonestTheia

I'm not pretending to know anything- I didn't say anything that Tulane and Zeta didn't tell the students themselves, or that was not conversed in many emails and discussions with both Tulane and ZTA. I was seeking to clarify the misconceptions that are being made here, as well as express my sadness that Zeta chose not to colonize on campus - the majority of those involved in Greek life at Tulane were very excited about Zeta coming, and were willing to do anything in their power to make it successful. I cast no "shade" on Zeta other than point out that their goals were unrealistic for the situation and that it was a very unfair outcome for the girls involved. I did not wish to sit by and read as all those hard-working girls were being called potential failures, when they would have been very likely to have succeeded.

As a 100 year old organization, ZTA has earned the right to set their own goals without your help.

[HonestTheia]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

As a 100 year old organization, ZTA has earned the right to set their own goals without your help.

As an almost 200-year-old school, Tulane knows how its own Greek system works and therefore Zeta should have listened and not have been surprised when the turnout was exactly how the school said it would be. Please stop being so condescending toward me.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by HonestTheia

As an almost 200-year-old school, Tulane knows how its own Greek system works and therefore Zeta should have listened and not have been surprised when the turnout was exactly how the school said it would be. Please stop being so condescending toward me.

Look, you are a disappointed PNM. We get it. You need to step away from the computer. You as a student are not privy to the inner workings of a national sorority. There is much more to it than whether or not there were 150 strong women available. You don't know what was budgeted and what was needed from the sorority stand point. Tulane's point of view is only part of the story (how many failed chapters has Tulane had in it's 200 year history?), and obviously not the most important part in the end. Getting on Greek Chat and slamming ZTA for being unrealistic, wanting to be the "best" right out of the gate, etc is not fair and sounds like sour grapes. This is a terrible situation, but you are attributing a lot of your own skewed views onto ZTA when you have no knowledge as to their side of the story. I will stipulate that the women that ZTA chose were outstanding...there just weren't enough in ZTA's view to continue. Now there is no reason for you to stay here and talk about ZTA. No one is calling the PNMs failures. Stop.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by HonestTheia

Tiny heartbreak? It kinda feels like a giant hole blown into the chest, after Zeta spent 10 days getting hopes and dreams up and telling the girls to identify as Zetas. The girls were encouraged to spend that time growing close and building bonds, which are now tainted with bad memories. The 150 are not better off with nothing when they could have had a cause to fight for. They would rather fight than be abandoned the way that they were.
"Those 150 women can go through recruitment and join the existing chapters"? NO, THEY CAN'T. Many freshmen girls decided not to do formal recruitment so that they could do Zeta, and most of the 150 are sophomores and juniors who cannot rush again. Recruitment isn't an option for most.
"The heartache for the PNMs is a very small consideration." Actually, true. The decision not to colonize was made by a group of women who had never even met the PNMs, who knew nothing of what they were capable of. They never asked the PNMs how they felt about it all; they never asked for an opinion or sought out how strong they were as a group. They never listened to them, and never even gave them a chance.
ZTA wasn't being a risk taker- it was playing it safe as a business that thought that it could come onto Tulane's campus and start out as a top-tier sorority. ZTA's quota of 180 was set to reflect current chapter sizes at Tulane, which have grown by about 50-60 girls in the last two years. If ZTA had come two years ago, they would have had no problem with 150. Ask anyone on campus, and 180 girls was an unrealistic number to expect for any colonizing sorority, especially right after formal recruitment. Tulane is pretty miffed at Zeta for pulling out without observing how strong and dedicated the PNMs that it had gathered were.
ZTA also failed to listen to anything that Tulane told them- ZTA thought that it would receive a reception at Tulane akin to Vanderbilt, not realizing that Tulane and other large southern schools are nothing alike. Tulane TOLD Zeta that 150 was IDEAL from the start, as Tulane is trying to get the existing chapter sizes to come down and predicted 150 to be the number Zeta would get all along. 150 would have been more than enough to start a chapter; ZTA just didn't want to give the chapter time to build up.
Zeta was selective enough (rejecting about 100 girls who rushed) that it wouldn't have started out as another Phi Mu, which had almost half of the number of girls that Zeta did when it colonized three years ago. While it's understandable for Zeta to want to be the best, it was unreasonable and unrealistic for them to expect to start off as the best. Zeta didn't take a risk; it gave up.

You are purposely choosing to misread my post. I said tiny heartbreak COMPARED to struggling for years and failing to be successful in the end. I'm not going to get into a fight with you in the ZTA forum. ZTA has said all that needs to be said in this matter. They put a lot of thought into this decision. No group goes into a colonization looking to pull out.

[Old_Row]

I think it's really sad for everyone.

So what happens now? Did other sororities make presentations? Does Tulane offer a spot to one of them instead?

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Old_Row

I think it's really sad for everyone.

So what happens now? Did other sororities make presentations? Does Tulane offer a spot to one of them instead?

ADPi is the next in line for stacked expansion.

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

ADPi is the next in line for stacked expansion.

When is ADPi scheduled? Wonder if this will effect their plans to colonize?

[HonestTheia]

Originally Posted by thetalady

When is ADPi scheduled? Wonder if this will effect their plans to colonize?

The earliest they can come is next spring. Tulane contacted them on Friday, and has not released ADPi's decision on when to colonize, yet.

[HonestTheia]

Originally Posted by Old_Row

I think it's really sad for everyone.

So what happens now? Did other sororities make presentations? Does Tulane offer a spot to one of them instead?

Formal rush was over by the time ZTA started trying to recolonize, so there really aren't any options for any of them at the moment. Several houses offer COB, but I think that the only house with any space available is Theta (and no one really wants to pay ~$1200 in dues for a semester that only has a month and a half left). For freshmen, there is the option of COB-ing in the fall or trying formal rush next spring, but sophomores are much less likely to be given bids than freshmen. Another sorority might try to colonize as early as next spring, but the juniors who rushed ZTA probably wouldn't find as much benefit in being in a chapter for half of a semester at the end of senior year. The current freshmen and sophomores would be able to take advantage of that, though. But, everyone would have to repeat the colonization-rush process, which many of the disenchanted zta-invited girls might be unwilling to do (and even then, there's no guarantee of a bid).
No one wins.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by HonestTheia

"Those 150 women can go through recruitment and join the existing chapters"? NO, THEY CAN'T. Many freshmen girls decided not to do formal recruitment so that they could do Zeta, and most of the 150 are sophomores and juniors who cannot rush again. Recruitment isn't an option for most.

If Tulane's Panhellenic is that upset by the decision, they can hold a special re-rush for those 150 women and declare them "freebies" for chapters that may want to take them.

And sophomores and juniors can rerush, why on earth would you say they cannot? Their pledge to ZTA has been broken by ZTA's decision, if another group wants to offer them a bid today they are eligible.

[nolagreek]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If Tulane's Panhellenic is that upset by the decision, they can hold a special re-rush for those 150 women and declare them "freebies" for chapters that may want to take them.

And sophomores and juniors can rerush, why on earth would you say they cannot? Their pledge to ZTA has been broken by ZTA's decision, if another group wants to offer them a bid today they are eligible.

ZTA waited about a month following formal recruitment to start thier colonization. COBs were done right after recruitment when total was recalculated so there is very little chance of a bid this semester. Anyone committed to Zeta is free to go through recruitment next January. This does not solve the problem of the large sizes of existing chapters which is why extension was recommended in the first place.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by nolagreek

This does not solve the problem of the large sizes of existing chapters which is why extension was recommended in the first place.

How big did the chapters get before Panhel finally gave the greenlight to extension? This is something that doesn't happen overnight and everyone involved should have been aware of that. In other words they didn't go from 100 people last fall to 220 this fall. The only time that happens is when there's a monumental change to the whole institution (i.e. it adds a new school of study or something) or when a similar institution for some reason becomes undesirable to large numbers of new students.