Wake Forest Chi Omegas Relinquish their charter

[sugar and spice]

Coming from a situation where many members of my chapter are currently questioning whether we agree with one of the policies of my organization, I can see where this girl is coming from.

Questioning whether your organization is doing something right (and in the Wake Forest Chi O's case, it sounds like they were definitely doing some things wrong, not that they were the only ones) does not mean that you're not a true XYZ. It means you care enough about the organization that you want to make it better.

In this case I think they just realized that their aims were too different from those of Chi O's to work out, and it was probably for the best that they separate from them.

As much as we'd like to believe it's true, none of our organizations are perfect.

[SoCalGirl]

Originally posted by texas*princess
and especially putting the liability of the entire chapter on the exec board's family. all other probation terms aside, this iteself is A LOT, and a little bit scary.

It's been awhile since I've read our code of conduct but I'm pretty sure that this is always the case. If something happens individual members, especially the President, can be held personally responsible. Since most students are still supported by their parents, the liability exposure would extend to the rest of their family. I actually thought that was one of the more reasonable demands. :shrug:

[pirepresent]

that is so so sad.

i disagree with the people who are saying these girls weren't loyal Chi Omegas... bear in mind, you're reading her journal. while not neccessarily private, i dont know how exactly it came to be posted on here - we don't know if she meant for so many people to be reading her thoughts and feelings on the issue. she struck me as very upset and just trying to work through how she felt about the issue. that's what journals are for, right? working through your feelings.

also, i got the impression that she wrote that entry VERY shortly after all this happened... just because she is upset and feeling betrayed by something that obviously meant a lot to her. give these girls some time to sort out their understandably conflicting feelings about Chi O before you go and say that they aren't loyal to their organization.

when i read what was required of them to keep their charter, it made me so sad. you can't honestly keep a chapter under conditions like that. can you imagine the dilema of telling people that during rush? hey, join our chapter, but we're basically going to HAVE chapter and that's about it. i mean, people want to have sisterhood, but they also want to have social events, and formals, and have the option to skip chapter if they've got work to do. we had a chapter on our campus that was on social probation during one year, and when some of my friends joined the house and found out, they felt like they had been lied to because they didn't tell them during rush. but they stuck it out because it was only one year... but "indefinite"... that's tough. sorority is supposed to be a learning experience, but it's also supposed to be fun.

anyway, i do hope that something good happens for those girls...

[mmcat]

[AchtungBaby80]

I hate to hear of any chapters closing, no matter which organization it is.

Hmmm...you know, my cousin was a member of the Fideles back in the 80s...sorry, that was kind of random.

[AllisonDG]

Originally posted by texas*princess
Someone mentioned earlier that they felt the poster was 'inappropriate' for Chi Omega, but I don't really see how that is. While the poster plainly admitted to breaking some rules on alcohol and what not, I don't see how that is any different than coming on GC and writing in the Chit Chat forum stuff like "OHMYGOSH WE GOT SO DRUNK LAST NIGHT!" or whatever and having your letters in the signature (like many people do). While there probably are chapters out there (whether they are national, local or non-social GLO's) that follow every single rule and guideline to the 'T', realisitically speaking, I can almost promise that there are probably even more chapters out there who don't follow every single rule and guideline to the 'T'. I'm not saying it's OK, but that's something we should all work on. We shouldn't "crucify" this poster because she admitted her chapter did some things that were wrong, because I'm almost certain every chapter has at least one person who doesn't follow every single rule.

I totally agree...please i dont know any chapter that follows all the rules. I bet if nationals did a microscopic investigation, most chapters on my campus could be said to be "hazing" or breaking the rules. It is college...do these people not realize that???
I think that this is so sad and i dont think the girl is out of line at all for POSTING HER FEELINGS!! My heart goes out to the Chi-Os!

[xo_kathy]

So, I don't know how any of my other sisters will feel about me posting, but...

My chapter was on probation the sememster I pledged (there was an alcohol related incident that involved the university). The terms were very close to what the Wake Forest ladies were given. We survived while continuing to be a top chapter on campus, and we are still a top chapter today (some 5+ years later). That's all I really wanted to point out. It can be done.

As for Chi Omega Nationals, I have nothing but respect for them. We haven't gotten to where we are with a bunch of evil, sadistic women at the helm.

As for the Wake Forest girls, I do feel for them in this time. I hope they all come out of this with a majority of wonderful memories and sisters.

I'd also like to thank everyone for being pretty reserved and nice in their posts. But do please remember that no one but the collegians and national reps in that room will ever really know what happened - regardless of what you "hear" or even read.

[Angels&Arrows]

I find her journal entry sad, but cannot help wonder if there is more to the story. Underage drinking happens within the Greek community and outside… It is COLLEGE!!!! If the reasons they were put on probation are accurate, then almost every chapter in the nation would have to be on probation. Why were they singled out? Also, it seems that many groups at Wake Forrest have had allegations raised and been put on probation for violations that vary in degree. Apparently, these societies were PUSHED into affiliating nationally (from what I have heard.) It has not been a smooth transition, even though it has been over a decade (from what I have heard.)

During lunch at the hospital one day, we were discussing Greek Life, a young lady in our MSN program, was rather negative on Greek life... Of course I had to know why and questioned if she even tried sisterhood.... Her answer surprised me... SHE was a PI PHI!!! I invited her to our brunch at the Blues Club the next weekend... my invitation was not warmly received... not because of me, but because she really did not feel the wine and sliver blue. Alicia received her undergrad at Wake Forrest, where after hanging out with a group of ladies her freshman year, she joined their society. The sisterhood of Strings... All societies were later TOLD they were to affiliate with a National organization, at some point during her junior year, Strings became Pi Phi. According to Alicia the transition was not easy and the new structure/rules took some getting use to… She never felt a connection to Pi Phi, though she is a sister. Interestingly, she speaks very fondly of Strings.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by SoCalGirl
It's been awhile since I've read our code of conduct but I'm pretty sure that this is always the case. If something happens individual members, especially the President, can be held personally responsible. Since most students are still supported by their parents, the liability exposure would extend to the rest of their family. I actually thought that was one of the more reasonable demands. :shrug:

I think it's totally unreasonable. It makes us babysitters for our sisters - why should I have to cancel a date with my boyfriend to make sure a girl on social probation doesn't drunk drive in her letters? My parents are not responsible for a girl they have never met who couldn't be controlled by Valium and a straightjacket.

[doubleblue&gold]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
In this case I think they just realized that their aims were too different from those of Chi O's to work out, and it was probably for the best that they separate from them.

EXACTLY my point! They didn't have enough of a connection to Chi Omega to want to do what was needed to retain their presence on campus. While you may think their punishment was harsh, it was possible to do if they really had the love for their organization to do it.

As stated before, we did not receive all sides of the story and I bet there was more to the problem besides underage drinking.

[breathesgelatin]

Just a note for anyone who's not already aware--

If your chapter commits any kind of risk management violation, violates the alcohol policy at the local or national level (allows underage members to drink alcohol, has an open keg, etc--whatever the rule might be) and someone is injured or killed:

1. The nationals of the sorority can be sued
2. The local chapter can be sued
3. Individual members of the chapter, particularly executive board members, can be sued
4. The families of sisters can be sued
5. Chapter advisors can be sued

THIS GOES FOR EVERYONE. If your Panhellenic hasn't done "Something of Value" or a Mock Trial recently, I highly recommend that you do. It is scary to think, but with a few small mistakes you can be ruined. My Panhellenic did a mock trial last year enacting this and it was very upsetting. So, what Chi O nationals wanted this girls to sign was actually pretty standard--it was probably just having them acknowledge something that's already true. Don't believe me, you can do the research. It's totally true.

That said, I don't know much about Chi-O at Wake specifically (I live like 30 minutes away from Wake at home and 4 of my best friends from HS go there), only that they had one of the best reputations on campus--known as being southern, classy, popular, etc. I have also visited the Pi Phi suite there and they seemed totally into Pi Phi, not Strings. So I'm not sure how that plays out for other chapters. I also know KDs on campus (doesn't seem to be an issue for them, either). I know that Wake was expanding with ADPi (Theta left my freshman year after only being on campus a few years--Wake had been involved in sort of a chapter cycling--new colonization followed by small numbers and eventual shutdown) this year or next year, so we'll see what happens. The Pi Phis I spoke to seemed very sarcastic about the chapter cycling, etc. They thought Panhellenic should be a little more cautious in its expansion tactics. All in all, the Wake situation seems very complicated to me.

FYI, Wake has:

Delta Delta Delta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Phi Mu
Pi Beta Phi

[33girl]

All I can say is, if you (national sorority you) are coming into a school where groups are having nationalization forced on them, I will not say don't do it, but don't be surprised at what you get. If you're the girls in that situation, and this is the only way you can preserve your sisterhood, you will do it. Teaching history and passdowns are fine, but it sounds as though the national officers in charge at the time of their Chi O colonization actually gave them too much leeway. Start as you mean to go on.

FWIW, here's a story I found of Dartmouth's Theta chapter that turned into a local...Epsilon Kappa Theta. They had some potentially dicey ritual-type stuff on it, so I edited. The main upshot is that while there were policies they disagreed with, their main reasons for leaving were ideological.

The History of Epsilon Kappa Theta

In the early 1980s, Dartmouth's Sororities were much different than they are now. Only a few female houses existed on campus, and those limited their pledge classes to 25 or 30 women every year. During this time, a number of new sororities were formed by women who were not content with the options open to Dartmouth women. Among them were the predecessors of Sigma Delta, Kappa Delta Epsilon, and Epsilon Kappa Theta.

The 1984s called themselves CONS (Committee to Organize a New Sorority) and established a provisional organization according to Dartmouth's guidelines. At the time, only sororities affiliated with national organizations were formally recognized by the college, and CONS choose to affiliate with Kappa Alpha Theta. KAT is the oldest sorority in America, and Dartmouth's chapter was its highly celebrated 100th colony. We were installed as the Epsilon Kappa Colony of Kappa Alpha Theta in January of 1982. The new sorority was visited by national officers, and by sisters from UVM, who initiated the founding class. Since we had no physical building, KAT met in classrooms, dorm rooms, or whatever random space they could fine, including the basement of the president's house! Ritual items and other common possessions were stored in scattered dorm rooms.

By the Spring of 1984, KAT proudly boasted to their pledges that they would soon have their own house. Due to the large number of forming sororities, and the lack of college property to house them in, the International House (Brewster Hall) was renovated into a kind of "holding tank" for the new sororities, until a permanent location could be found. In the Fall term of 1984, Alpha Chi Omega (now KDE) moved out of the International House, and KAT moved in. The house presented unforseen conflict in the Epsilon Kappa Colony. Our local advisors were dismayed by our eager use of the house for open parties and social gatherings. The national specifically forbade having alcohol in the house, and severely limited male visitation. The limitation on having male visitors in common areas only (to protect the privacy of our sisters) was especially troublesome for the EK Colony, as Brewster Hall boasted 27 singles, but very little common space. By 1985, EK sisters were beginning to weigh the pros and cons of affiliation with KAT, but votes on our bond to the national showed strong loyalty to the black and gold kite.

The creation of minimum standards in 1983 was expected to lead to the derecognition of several fraternities. However, the fraternities managed to pull themselves together, and KAT remained in Brewster Hall until 1986, when the building that is now La Casa opened up. Although KAT was offered first choice of the La Casa building, the lack of a common room and poor location led KAT to reject the small building, and Delta Delta Delta quickly moved in. The decision might have been different if we'd known that it would be 1992 before another house would become available.

In 1992, Epsilon Kappa sisters continued holding discussions about the pros and cons of their affiliation with KAT. Common practice up until 1992 was to hide the alcohol when the advisors visited and hope they didn't show up at night. The combination locks on the doors were changed for advisor or national officer visits (to prevent wayward men from walking through at inopportune times), and any alcohol was neatly stashed away. Unfortunately, in the winter of 1992, things took a turn for the worse.

A "travelling consultant," an ambassador from the KAT Grand Council came to stay at EK Colony for several weeks. Consultants are recently graduated Thetas, sent to a variety of colonies to help communicate novel problem solving approaches and guide new chapters. The sisters of EK Colony had received consultants before, and were usually able to squelch fraternizing and imbibing for long enough to accommodate them. The consultant who arrived in 1992 was dismayed by EK Colony's abandonment of tradition and ritual...She found our sloppiness with rules and rituals disrespectful to the national. After a short time, EK sisters resigned themselves to her criticism, and she in turn reported the colony to the national. On the return of our officers from spring break they received notice that we were on "double secret probation."

Male visitation and alcohol policies were the major components of the initial discontent with KAT, but EK Colony's objections increased considerably with the advice of our last consultant... The consultant and the national were very upset about our editing the initiation ceremony. The EK Colony began to question the returns we were getting when we sent away money to our national, and KAT began to threaten to revoke our charter.

We needed a unanimous vote to become a local sorority. One sister argued that the vote was not really to become a local, but whether or not to become a national, coming into compliance with the rules and expectations of the national we'd ignored for years. After several rounds of voting, and many tears, we decided to dissolve our relationship with KAT. We informed them of our decision, and they in turn revoked our charter. Our bank accounts were frozen, and our travelling consultant quickly packed up everything she could find that said, anywhere, Kappa Alpha Theta.

Anyone who wanted to become a member of the new sorority had to de-pledge KAT. Many seniors had been Thetas for three years. With less than a month left to graduation, they were asked to give up the national network and support of KAT to join an uncertain fledgling house. Brewster hall was divided into KATs and members of the new sorority, Epsilon Kappa Theta.

By the time we moved into 15 Webster Avenue that Fall, the officers of the former Epsilon Kappa Colony had thrown together a new name, new colors, a new pledge, a new everything. Epsilon Kappa was retained from our colony name, and Theta from the national, so we would still be "Thetas."

The colors of EKT are navy and maroon. Navy blue is for constancy, faithfulness, and genuineness. Maroon, a deep red, is for optimism and revolution. These colors are opposite, representing diversity in the house which is brought together through the combination of the two colors.

The shield of EKT is a shield with a moon and shooting star at the top, draped with ivy and waves. The date of our founding is at the bottom of the crest. The moon is a symbol for a female and also stands for brightness. The shooting star stands for aspiration. The ivy represents scholarship, friendship, and fidelity. The waves along the bottom are a symbol of change and represent the continuous evolution of ourselves.

The flower of EKT is the Tiger Lily. This flower was chosen because a lily represents exceptional fairness, and a Tiger is a person of great activity, strength, and courage. Ivy is the symbol of our sisterhood - an ever growing bond linking sisters together where every sister was a new leaf on the ivy.

Every May 4th, the founding of Epsilon Kappa Theta is commemorated. Initially called "Freedom Fest," the celebration was renamed "Theta Fest" in Spring of 1997 to reflect at least one KAT alum's concerns that Freedom Fest made the separation from KAT sound more appealing than it was. 1997 was an appropriate year to make the change; it was the 5th anniversary of EKT's founding, the 15th anniversary of KAT at Dartmouth, and the 25th anniversary of coeducation at Dartmouth.

On May 4th, 2002, EKT hosted a "Twenty Years of Theta at Dartmouth" party, which brought together many alums from both EKT and KAT. Karen Francis, one of the original '84s and now a trustee of Dartmouth College, was an honored guest and presented the 20th annual Karen Francis award, which has been given in her name throughout KAT and EKT's history. The Presence of both KATS and Thetas at the party, with balloons in maroon and blue and gold and black, signified for many of us a happy acceptance of our house's interesting history.

[DeltAlum]

Breathsgelatin is EXACTLY right about the liability issues, and this isn't the first time they've been addressed here.

Remember, this young woman has admitted to breaking the law -- not just the sorority's rules. And, again, she said that she (they) would continue to do it.

If you want to read a really sobering post, check the one in the Risk Management forum where Lloyds of London refused to honor the terms of a fraternity inssurance/liability policy because the group broke the law which left insurance policy void. That left the liability squarely on the fraternity, advisors, officers, etc.

Here's a quote:

"My husband spoke with the insurance company rep at the Executive Board meeting of his own fraternity over the weekend. The insurance company did not pay at all. Since the fraternity served alcohol to an underage person, they were not in compliance with their insurance policy and, therefore, were not covered. The negotiations began at $18,000 and ended with the girl's family being awarded $150,000. This amount was paid by the fraternity and/or the parents of individual brothers who may have been involved in her acquiring the alcohol. What was paid by the fraternity probably came from their deductible fund.

This should emphasize the fact that just because groups have insurance, it doesn't pay if the group is not in compliance."

Here's a Link: http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...n&pagenumber=1

Beyond the seemingly apparant loyalty issues between Chi-O and Fideles, there are some really scary legal issues and dangerout precedents here.

Chi Omega may have been in the position of simply feeling they needed to get out of a very bad situation.

That's why a lot of Greek Letter Organizations are making the very difficult decision to close problematic chapters. It is a much tougher decision than it appears to be from the outside.

I really hate to sound like the hard guy on this, but, frankly I'm not sure Chi-O had much choice since the chapter refused to cooperate.

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

I just read the history from Epsilon Kappa Theta's website....

now THAT is a group of classy ladies. Just look at the way they speak of Theta, their history, their involvement in the past.

[xo_kathy]

I assume you are being sarcastic, HotDamn? I think the post showed disrespect to Theta, its policies, ritual, national officers, and all current sisters who hold true to their bonds of sisterhood!

And let me re-state, the Wake Forest chapter did NOT get it's charter pulled. They relinquished it after deciding they could not adhere to Chi Omega National policy.