Zeta Tau Alpha at Tulane

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by nolagreek

The problem is that total is recalculated each semester and keeps getting larger. A more likely sceanario is that the university is going to impose a limit on quota or total. The adminstration is alarmed at the size of the groups and that they are all larger than the fire marshall limits for thier houses. Some groups are already using university facilities for their meetings because of this.

Administration can't actually do that. Read you NPC rules.

[irishpipes]

While having approximately 70 fewer members than total may not seem relevant - after all, 150 is a decent-sized chapter - the organization has to consider the practical effects on that campus. Someone mentioned that one group's dues are about $1,200 per semester. Multiply that by 70 members. That is $84,000 (obviously an approximation) that the new colony would NOT have that the existing groups do have. Compounding that issue is that the expenses for a new colony tend to be greater than an existing chapter. The colony has to secure housing, ritual materials, has greater PR and recruitment needs, more training, etc. The list goes on and on.

I know that the intangibles of sorority life are important - the people involved are the very reason for the organization's existence. However, without sound business decisions being made, the intangibles tend to be affected. Fewer members means that fees have to be increased to meet the budget. Higher fees in a fledgling group can make it difficult to recruit. These are all circumstances which the national organization can foresee that a heartbroken PNM may not.

I've been involved with colonies and budgeting, and being under-funded/under-sized can create painful drama.

[nolagreek]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Administration can't actually do that. Read you NPC rules.

I have read them. Tulane requires a minimum university GPA of 2.5 to go through recruitment which is also technically against NPC rules. The minimum was increased from 2.0 a few years ago as an attempt to reign in the growth of sororities on campus. Expansion is better solution than attempting to limit membership. That is why there was so much disappointment over the failure of Zeta to colonize. It impacts the entire Tulane community not just the disappointed PNMs.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by nolagreek

I have read them. Tulane requires a minimum university GPA of 2.5 to go through recruitment which is also technically against NPC rules. The minimum was increased from 2.0 a few years ago as an attempt to reign in the growth of sororities on campus. Expansion is better solution than attempting to limit membership. That is why there was so much disappointment over the failure of Zeta to colonize. It impacts the entire Tulane community not just the disappointed PNMs.

A minimum GPA isn't against NPC rules. I also highly doubt a GPA minimum is related to growth but to improving academics. Please give supporting documentation for these types of claims. Rumors can start easily and need to be substantiated before being passed on GC.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by ADPiEE

I'm not privy to any inside knowledge anywhere but didn't I read on GC about something similar happening in Chicago last fall? And the potential colony went out and found more PNMs and ended up colonizing? Is this a possibility in this situation?

I would think it could serve the 150 ladies well to research how Pi Phi ended up being successful at U of Chicago after all. It might not, but it certainly couldn't hurt. Certainly different campus cultures, but on the surface it appears that the issues (insufficient numbers up front) are similar.

[nolagreek]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

A minimum GPA isn't against NPC rules. I also highly doubt a GPA minimum is related to growth but to improving academics. Please give supporting documentation for these types of claims. Rumors can start easily and need to be substantiated before being passed on GC.

Here is the supporting documentation:

From NPC MOI (2013), Unanimous agreement II, section C, item iiii:

A College Panhellenic Council shall take no action that infringes on the sovereignty, rights or privileges of the individual NPC fraternities. Infringements include the following:
iii. Requiring a scholastic grade point average as a condition for a woman’s participation in the membership recruitment process.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by nolagreek

Here is the supporting documentation:

From NPC MOI (2013), Unanimous agreement II, section C, item iiii:

A College Panhellenic Council shall take no action that infringes on the sovereignty, rights or privileges of the individual NPC fraternities. Infringements include the following:
iii. Requiring a scholastic grade point average as a condition for a woman’s participation in the membership recruitment process.

CPC may not, but a university can require their students to maintain a certain GPA to participate in any activity they deem proper. There are fine lines used by universities to mandate GPA requirements. The NPC does not have the standing to question them. The CPC and the university are two different entities. The CPC is a group of NPC chapters.

[AZTheta]

I'm not passing judgment on my Panhellenic sisters' leadership organizations. They closed for a REASON. It's not our business. PERIOD.

Where's the dead horse gif?

ETA: we don't know what the issues are/were, nor should we. Further, you want to argue about size, fine, let's all talk about Indiana. At Indiana, they actually thought outside the box; two "new" unhoused chapters are doing very well. Meeting in a room on campus is not the end of the world. The size of a facility should have no bearing whatsoever on the size of a given chapter.

...wait for it...

[nolagreek]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

CPC may not, but a university can require their students to maintain a certain GPA to participate in any activity they deem proper. There are fine lines used by universities to mandate GPA requirements. The NPC does not have the standing to question them. The CPC and the university are two different entities. The CPC is a group of NPC chapters.

Exactly my point. The university and CPC are different entities. The university can have requirements that do not follow NPC rules.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by nolagreek

Exactly my point. The university and CPC are different entities. The university can have requirements that do not follow NPC rules.

The university, however, would have no way of limiting chapter numbers. Please give documentation of this. As previously stated, rumors are rampant but rarely useful. All women that go through recruitment are placed. There is no way to limit growth of chapter size, and honestly, I doubt Tulane's administration really gives a flying flip if your chapters have 300 members or not.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by AzTheta

ETA: we don't know what the issues are/were, nor should we. Further, you want to argue about size, fine, let's all talk about Indiana. At Indiana, they actually thought outside the box; two "new" unhoused chapters are doing very well. Meeting in a room on campus is not the end of the world. The size of a facility should have no bearing whatsoever on the size of a given chapter.

...wait for it...

Thank you. Many campuses do not have any sorority housing or meeting facilities (including my alma mater), so they meet in school facilities instead.

Oh, and seven sorority chapters is not considered a small system.

This decision by Zeta, IMO, is likely more a reflection of the Tulane campus and the attitude of women on campus. Not the interested candidates in Zeta, but the other greeks (and would be greeks) in the system. On some campuses, the sororities may say they welcome another sorority, but really they just see that chapter as the new bottom chapter on the totem pole. On some campuses, women think there is a stigma with a new sorority, so they won't even consider it. No sorority wants to be the "bottom" house, and no sorority wants to subject its colony members - who are often outstanding women who could/should be in any chapter - to a trying process on a campus that really isn't going to hold them up and support them.

[Just interested]

Ditto! PeppyGphiB.

[MaggieXi]

If you are in a sorority you understand that membership selection is private and not to be discussed. The decision by Zeta to stop the recolonization is similar. It's their private business - they get to select what campuses have a chapter and they get to select their colony members. If they don't feel its a good fit - for whatever reason - it's their decision.
Speculation about why they decided to stop the colonization process is about as productive as a PNM speculating why they didn't get a bid.

[APhi4Ever]

Originally Posted by MaggieXi

If you are in a sorority you understand that membership selection is private and not to be discussed. The decision by Zeta to stop the recolonization is similar. It's their private business - they get to select what campuses have a chapter and they get to select their colony members. If they don't feel its a good fit - for whatever reason - it's their decision.
Speculation about why they decided to stop the colonization process is about as productive as a PNM speculating why they didn't get a bid.

WORD

[amIblue?]

I don't think its speculation that numbers were not what ZTA anticipated. Their press release indicated as much.