Clemson Theta closing

[thetalady]

I am ashamed at the way these closures have been handled. The situation at Clemson was almost a mirror of Ole Miss. Failure to meet quota by a large amount for years, new chapters colonizing and quickly growing to chapter total, and the chapter significantly smaller than all other houses on campus... these are the benchmarks that Theta is looking at. These closures could be seen coming from a few years away, if things didn't turn around. It baffles me that Theta keeps touting the 17-18 visits by staff, because clearly those visits are not helping. Neither chapter realized what trouble they were in because they were not told and given a chance to rally. That is heartbreaking and so unlike the Theta that I love.

[GreekOne]

Originally Posted by thetalady

That is heartbreaking and so unlike the Theta that I love.

My daughter is a Theta. This is so unlike the Theta that she knows, and I have grown to admire through her affiliation. Has there been a recent change in leadership?

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by GreekOne

My daughter is a Theta. This is so unlike the Theta that she knows, and I have grown to admire through her affiliation. Has there been a recent change in leadership?

Yes, we had a new Grand Council elected in July 2018 for a 2 year term.

[Theta1234]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Thetalady. I, too, am grieving for these girls. Upper leadership within the chapter may have had some ideas, but after talking to some friends with daughters in the chapters, it appears the general membership did not. They were just blind sighted.

One one hand, I understand that if your chapter is struggling on a campus, it can be discouraging for the girls. I am thinking of one chapter on my daughter's campus. During recruitment, several PNMs were downright rude to the ladies of that house. My daughter was so mad at this...and her momma too. Part of me hurts for the girls of these two schools who were subject to some of the ugliness the ladies of this chapter experienced. There is nothing worse than opening your home to guests that spit in your face (figuratively) and then with RFM, you are required to invite some of them back over and over again. This taints the experience for the girls who truly want to be at your parties.

I'm not sure the Clemson or Ole Miss leadership ever got a break as I am sure they were constantly pressured to COB. This is not an experience any girl should encounter and if I were a betting girl, I would guess that this was at the forefront of the Grand Council's mind when they were assessing the situation.

On the other hand, Theta encourages leading women and in some cases have been trailblazers. From what I understand, some of the women in these chapters were not "traditional sorority girls." They were smart women who valued the 4 points of the kite as is evident in the fact that they were top fundraising chapters despite their size relative to other chapters on their campus. They valued sisterhood above social status and may have just been ahead of their time in areas that are slow to change. It's a sad fact that sometimes the best people are often overlooked because they don't march to the beat of everyone else's drum.

I am just so sorry for the way this was handled. I am glad that they are giving the Clemson girls the ability to select their closure date. Part of me wondered if it were possible to allow a chapter to "age out" by simply not participating in recruitment, but then my brain starts spinning with the negatives of that option...

This last weekend, I attended an event at my daughter's chapter. They are very strong and highly respected on their campus and that is what I wish for every chapter. Hopefully some good will come from all of this. I can only assume that Grand Council has a great amount of wisdom and they see things we do not. I hope that this is the last time I will see Theta and closure in the same sentence on Greekchat for some time and that my sisters at Clemson and Ole Miss find new and unique ways to celebrate their sisterhood.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Theta1234

I am just so sorry for the way this was handled. I am glad that they are giving the Clemson girls the ability to select their closure date. Part of me wondered if it were possible to allow a chapter to "age out" by simply not participating in recruitment, but then my brain starts spinning with the negatives of that option...

If you don’t have a house to maintain, or are in dorm wings that can gradually decrease the amount of rooms used, I wouldn’t see why ever not. It would allow the women to spend their chapter’s last days with a focus on fun and sisterhood, instead of being worried and stressed and forced into holding near constant open bid parties. Contrary to what some people believe, there is no minimum amount of time that must lapse before recolonization. And if the women are on campus anyway, what’s the difference? Keeping the chapter open might be a better alternative as the women would still be bound to follow risk management policies. I’m not sure how much “unaffiliated collegians” are subject to those type rules.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If you don’t have a house to maintain, or are in dorm wings that can gradually decrease the amount of rooms used, I wouldn’t see why ever not. It would allow the women to spend their chapter’s last days with a focus on fun and sisterhood, instead of being worried and stressed and forced into holding near constant open bid parties. Contrary to what some people believe, there is no minimum amount of time that must lapse before recolonization. And if the women are on campus anyway, what’s the difference? Keeping the chapter open might be a better alternative as the women would still be bound to follow risk management policies. I’m not sure how much “unaffiliated collegians” are subject to those type rules.

Not sure if you've ever dealt with a recolonization with women from previous classes (who are basically alumnae as collegians) still on campus but it is a nightmare and it never works (hositility, obvious us. v. them, the hurt is still fresh, reputation persists, etc.)

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Not sure if you've ever dealt with a recolonization with women from previous classes (who are basically alumnae as collegians) still on campus but it is a nightmare and it never works (hositility, obvious us. v. them, the hurt is still fresh, reputation persists, etc.)

Between 33girl's post and the one she was commenting on, interpreted it as: Let these women continue operating as a chapter, each class will graduate, no one will be recruited, and eventually the chapter will close on it's own. Then recolonization could occur within a year or two.

But perhaps I'm mistaken.

[33girl]

Ohhhh yeah. I was right in the middle of that shiz and would never ever advise it. I just mean that keeping the chapter open and not participating in rush is no different than closing the chapter and the women still being on campus. The women are still going to be on campus and graduate at the same rate. It’s their presence that creates the tension, not whether the chapter is actually open or closed. Keeping it running for say 2 more years isn’t going to postpone a recolonization. (I.e. there is no written rule that a chapter must be closed for x years.)

[celebcj]

Clemson doesn't have a chapter house, right? So with such a low operating cost, how could the financials have been THAT bad to warrant a full closure? I think there's something more to the story.