AOII chapter president spoke out on internal racial discriminiation, asked to leave

[NinjaPoodle]

AOII’s president spoke out about facing racial discrimination from her sorority. Then, she says, the chapter asked her to leave.

Columbia Spectator
By Isabella Ramirez • April 7, 2022, 11:26 PM

https://www.columbiaspectator.com/ne...-her-to-leave/

The former president of Alpha Omicron Pi’s Alpha Chapter, Samar Iqbal, BC ’23, was asked to disaffiliate from the sorority after experiencing months of racial discrimination from her fellow sisters, Iqbal told Spectator. Iqbal said she was mistreated by the sorority’s founding chapter for being a woman of color in leadership.

The former president said members of the chapter berated her with criticisms and described her as “aggressive,” “psychotic,” and “unwelcoming.”

[Cheerio]

There will always be at least two sides to every story. Since I am not directly privy to what exactly occurred during this situation, it is impossible for me to form a definite opinion on whether the chapter president ought to have been asked to leave.

Going by what this article states, she appears to feel appreciated by some AOTT members and unappreciated by others.

At the very least, AOTT has apparently reacted to the situation according to their latest guidelines and policies.

[FSUZeta]

Can someone point out any racial discrimination listed in this article? After reading the article, it seems to me that this young woman was doing a poor job leading the chapter. It seems that there was a lack of communication from all parties involved, which if resolved, might have helped the situation. I found it significant that Iqbal requested ( demanded?) that the chapter respect her, as it shows her poor people skills. Respect is earned-you can’t demand it or ask for it. The note she wrote to the chapter came across as aggressive. Sororities have terminated memberships for many, many years,
most often for a rules violation. I imagine that asking a fellow officer to violate international policy concerning alcohol is what caused her membership termination, not her race-after all, she was offered a bid and ultimately was elected president. You can be aggressive, psychotic, and a bitch no matter your race, creed, religion, ethnicity, etc. If she couldn’t work with the executive council or the general membership, maybe the problem is her as a person, not her as a person of color.

[carnation]

Concur with FSUZeta. We all know jerks of every color, race, and creed.

[AZTheta]

Just yesterday I was sharing a painful memory with AZ-AlphaXi (regarding an incident in my own chapter my senior year which continues to be painful to this day, and it wasn't about me). I said it to her yesterday; I've said it often before, and I am saying it again: there but for the grace of God...and watch out when you're judging.

We do NOT know the entire situation. Nor IMO should we. This falls under "chapter business" and should remain so. I'm loathe to cast shade on AOII leadership under these circumstances. UGH for the social media and press casting stones. UGH.

[andthen]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

Just yesterday I was sharing a painful memory with AZ-AlphaXi (regarding an incident in my own chapter my senior year which continues to be painful to this day, and it wasn't about me). I said it to her yesterday; I've said it often before, and I am saying it again: there but for the grace of God...and watch out when you're judging.

We do NOT know the entire situation. Nor IMO should we. This falls under "chapter business" and should remain so. I'm loathe to cast shade on AOII leadership under these circumstances. UGH for the social media and press casting stones. UGH.

Well said AZ Theta. There are probably many, internal facets to this that is only known to those chapter members/advisors directly involved. While I do appreciate the publication trying to be as transparent as it could with potential conflicts of interest etc. The story only scratched the surface of the full story and those who are involved but the article left more questions for me as I read it, instead of any clear answers. I certainly hurt for the former chapter president who felt it best for her to start the process of disaffiliating, if that's the choice she felt was best for her, then I respect that.

[33girl]

Maybe an AOII can answer: how long has the DEI chairmanship been around? The article kind of makes it sound like Samal created the chair and went from that to president. That would raise anyone’s eyebrows, quite frankly.

Also this:

When Iqbal began her presidency, Alpha Chapter was undergoing a reorganization of its executive team as part of a new chapter structure adopted by AOII Headquarters across its 135 chapters, according to a spokesperson from AOII HQ. Per instructions from AOII HQ, Alpha Chapter stopped sending the minutes from their executive team meetings to general body members, which Julia said provoked criticism against Iqbal.

ANY president in office when it seems like the policy has changed to less dissemination of information is going to face backlash - even if she was someone beloved by the whole chapter, even if it wasn’t her idea.

[JayhawkAOII]

AOII here- A chapter I advised until 2018 had an established DEI chair. I don't know who the first chapter to have one was, but there were a number of our chapters who had more diverse memberships to begin with that had already incorporated them.