Ole Miss Theta Is Closing

[shadokat]

Average chapter size after Fall recruitment at Ole Miss was around 410 - Theta had 273 women. It's a shame that 91 women accepted bids to this chapter this fall, only for this to happen.

[Iota1086]

Originally Posted by shadokat

Average chapter size after Fall recruitment at Ole Miss was around 410 - Theta had 273 women. It's a shame that 91 women accepted bids to this chapter this fall, only for this to happen.

The 91 who accepted bids were allowed to drop without penalty and supposedly receive a refund from Theta National.

FYI most of the large Theta houses in the South are at or also below the local school PNC average.

[33girl]

I am guessing the pledges were not automatically released since the chapter isn’t officially closing until the end of the semester?

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by Iota1086

The 91 who accepted bids were allowed to drop without penalty and supposedly receive a refund from Theta National.

FYI most of the large Theta houses in the South are at or also below the local school PNC average.

Was it really necessary to take that shot at Theta? Theta enjoys a very strong national reputation regardless of what happened at Ole Miss. I don't think it's fair to extrapolate some regional problem based on one closure. Every NPC has weak chapters.

[Iota1086]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

Was it really necessary to take that shot at Theta? Theta enjoys a very strong national reputation regardless of what happened at Ole Miss. I don't think it's fair to extrapolate some regional problem based on one closure. Every NPC has weak chapters.

My point was EZ was not the only chapter “below the Panhellenic total”, the reason Theta National disestablished the chapter. There are some very strong chapters in the south membership wise. But is that how you rate a chapter, by just above or below an average? Or do you also look at campus leadership, philanthropic hours, philanthropy fund raising, and academics?

[celebcj]

I find it interesting the university is saying HQ didn't consult them, and HQ reiterated they did talk with university officials before making this decision...

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by Iota1086

My point was EZ was not the only chapter “below the Panhellenic total”, the reason Theta National disestablished the chapter. There are some very strong chapters in the south membership wise. But is that how you rate a chapter, by just above or below an average? Or do you also look at campus leadership, philanthropic hours, philanthropy fund raising, and academics?

Iota1086, I am trying to restrain myself. We are all grieving the loss of our home. Your comments are uninformed as to the true situation. And you know what? I don't feel like airing all of our dirty laundry publicly just to satisfy you. There are those of us who saw this closure coming several years ago. We know why it happened and were not entirely surprised. We are hurting and angry. We are supporting each other as best we can.

It matters far more what the situation and environment is at Ole Miss than other campuses. The Ole Miss Greek system is toxic, petty and vicious. How the Thetas held their heads up in that place for as long as we did is a testament to their strength of character.

The manner in how the closure was handled was thoughtless and unnecessarily cruel. I have no comment on that.

[MaryPoppins]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

Was it really necessary to take that shot at Theta? Theta enjoys a very strong national reputation regardless of what happened at Ole Miss. I don't think it's fair to extrapolate some regional problem based on one closure. Every NPC has weak chapters.

Thank you, irishpipes, for maintaining your wonderful annual NPC numbers report that cover the NPC world.

[GreekOne]

Originally Posted by shadokat

Average chapter size after Fall recruitment at Ole Miss was around 410 - Theta had 273 women. It's a shame that 91 women accepted bids to this chapter this fall, only for this to happen.

I don't know the campus culture at Ole Miss. My heart breaks for the Thetas that lost their home. But, as a gal who thrived in a chapter on a campus where our total was 65, I am surprised that at chapter with 273 members was not financially viable! Wow! It 's a different world!

[naraht]

Originally Posted by GreekOne

I don't know the campus culture at Ole Miss. My heart breaks for the Thetas that lost their home. But, as a gal who thrived in a chapter on a campus where our total was 65, I am surprised that at chapter with 273 members was not financially viable! Wow! It 's a different world!

I went to Carnegie Mellon, the Panhellenic now has 6 NPC members, with all between 69 and 75 sisters this year. When I was a student in the late 1980s, there were only 5 NPC members each with chapters of about that size.

(As expected the NIC fraternities varies significantly more, currently running from Phi Delta Theta at 95 to Alpha Tau Omega at 26)

[DGTess]

Originally Posted by naraht

I went to Carnegie Mellon, the Panhellenic now has 6 NPC members, with all between 69 and 75 sisters this year. When I was a student in the late 1980s, there were only 5 NPC members each with chapters of about that size.

(As expected the NIC fraternities varies significantly more, currently running from Phi Delta Theta at 95 to Alpha Tau Omega at 26)

Sorry I missed you at CMU, naraht. The year I was president (75-76), the five NPC chapters at CMU had 15-40 members each. I'm always astonished to see pledge classes at these large schools larger than our entire Panhellenic system <grin>.

[naraht]

Originally Posted by DGTess

Sorry I missed you at CMU, naraht. The year I was president (75-76), the five NPC chapters at CMU had 15-40 members each. I'm always astonished to see pledge classes at these large schools larger than our entire Panhellenic system <grin>.

Were the Sororities in the University provided buildings beyond McGill/Boss/Hammerschlag at that time?

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by GreekOne

I don't know the campus culture at Ole Miss.

Let me tell you a little about the campus culture at Ole Miss. A few years ago, NPC had to send in a team to talk to the entire sorority membership.... all chapters. The visit was prompted by the vicious, overly competitive behavior and attitudes of the sororities toward each other and fraternities toward some of the sororities. NPC had to tell them to treat each other nicely, for God's sake! As you can tell, it didn't make much of a difference.

[GreekOne]

Originally Posted by thetalady

Let me tell you a little about the campus culture at Ole Miss. A few years ago, NPC had to send in a team to talk to the entire sorority membership.... all chapters. The visit was prompted by the vicious, overly competitive behavior and attitudes of the sororities toward each other and fraternities toward some of the sororities. NPC had to tell them to treat each other nicely, for God's sake! As you can tell, it didn't make much of a difference.

That is truly unfortunate. I was more referring to the assessment that a chapter with 270+ members was not "successful" enough to survive, in Theta's eyes. I know it is heartbreaking to have any of our chapters be considered the "bottom house". We all have campuses where it is the case and it is certainly not enviable. On a campus where the tent talk is vicious, as you describe, even worse.

However, I know from personal experience that you can have chapters with under 50 members that provide rewarding experiences for those women. I might contend that smaller chapters provide closer relationships and stronger leadership opportunities than these chapters with 400+ members.

I know there is the financial piece and the numbers have to make sense. But, does the house at Ole Miss sleep 300? If not, it would seem to an outsider that a chapter with 90+ new members and almost 300 members in total, could have continued enjoying their sisterhood despite being the butt of fraternity men's jokes.

During my collegiate days, we had chapters on our campus that were closed when they finally reached under 10 members. But, 270+ seems like an awful lot of interested, involved members that lost their home for the wrong reason. Truly heartbreaking.

[navane]

Originally Posted by thetalady

Let me tell you a little about the campus culture at Ole Miss. A few years ago, NPC had to send in a team to talk to the entire sorority membership.... all chapters. The visit was prompted by the vicious, overly competitive behavior and attitudes of the sororities toward each other and fraternities toward some of the sororities. NPC had to tell them to treat each other nicely, for God's sake! As you can tell, it didn't make much of a difference.

Maybe that team should have also made a visit to Cal Berkeley.