Delta Delta Delta Closes Penn State Chapter (Hazing, Risk Management)

[exlurker]

Tri Delta has withrawn the charter of its chapter at Penn State, citing hazing and risk management violations. The campus paper has indicated it will have another article Monday with more info. In the meantime, see:

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive...disbanded.aspx


See also the anouncement and press release on the Delta Delta Delta HQ site at

http://www.tridelta.org/news/media_s...er_closing.asp


Excerpt from campus paper:

December 4, 2009 3:01 PM
Delta Delta Delta disbanded

By Caitlin Sellers
Collegian Staff Writer
Delta Delta Delta is no longer a sorority at Penn State.

The national Delta Delta Delta sorority withdrew the Penn State chapter's charter today, in response to what the national organization says are hazing and risk management violations.

The chapter has been under investigative probation by the national sorority for these violations since Nov. 5, according to a press release from the national sorority.

"While our board made this decision with a heavy heart, especially given the 62-year history of this chapter on the Penn State campus, we are confident that this is the right course of action to protect the members themselves and the standards of our organization overall,"Jackye Clark, fraternity president of Delta Delta Delta, is quoted as saying in the release.

Individual members involved with the allegations will be sanctioned individually, with the possibility of removal of their memberships, according to the release. Members unassociated with the violations may remain unaffiliated members of Delta Delta Delta.

New members yet to be initiated will be released from their membership and allowed to join another sorority, according to the release.
. . .

[33girl]

Originally Posted by exlurker

Members unassociated with the violations may remain unaffiliated members of Delta Delta Delta.

New members yet to be initiated will be released from their membership and allowed to join another sorority, according to the release.
. . .

Don't they mean alumnae members? I mean, the chapter is closed, but they are still Alpha Phi Chapter DDDs.

And how long is pledging that they wouldn't be initiated by now?

I don't think this writer was quite on the ball.

[ta kala]

From what I know, Penn State's formal rush concludes at the end of October, so it's possible there are still organizations that have not held initiation.

[33girl]

oh, then that makes sense. I thought they were done w/ rush at the end of September.

As an aside, I was looking at some of the other articles in the Collegian re the Greeks. Can someone please explain to me the concept of an "away bar"?

[3d4life]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Don't they mean alumnae members? I mean, the chapter is closed, but they are still Alpha Phi Chapter DDDs.

And how long is pledging that they wouldn't be initiated by now?

I don't think this writer was quite on the ball.

They are members of the Alphi Phi chapter of DDD but according to our Bylaws, they are classified as unaffiliated collegiate members since a chapter no longer exists on the campus where they attend college/university. When they graduate, they will be considered alumnae members of Tri Delta.

Former new members are being treated in accordance with NPC UA's.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by 3d4life

They are members of the Alphi Phi chapter of DDD but according to our Bylaws, they are classified as unaffiliated collegiate members since a chapter no longer exists on the campus where they attend college/university. When they graduate, they will be considered alumnae members of Tri Delta.

Former new members are being treated in accordance with NPC UA's.

Thanks for the clarification. If they transfer somewhere else with a DDD chapter, can they reaffiliate, or is that a case by case basis?

[3d4life]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Thanks for the clarification. If they transfer somewhere else with a DDD chapter, can they reaffiliate, or is that a case by case basis?

If they are in good standing, they can affiliate at any other Tri Delta chapter.

[honeychile]

One of the founders of the PSU chapter (or so she said) lived next door to us when I was growing up. She now lives only about 20 minutes away - I'm sure this is breaking her heart! I can remember her showing me The Trident and pointing out what her chapter was up to.

[als463]

Originally Posted by 33girl

oh, then that makes sense. I thought they were done w/ rush at the end of September.

As an aside, I was looking at some of the other articles in the Collegian re the Greeks. Can someone please explain to me the concept of an "away bar"?

Hmmmmm....I'm not sure what an away bar is, but I am saddened for the women of Tri-Delt. Penn State has a rich Greek history, and even as a member of another sorority from PSU, I think this is a sad day for all of the chapters.

The rules have been changing a lot lately, regarding socials and what not. Maybe that is what the away bar is about. As far as initiation, I know my chapter just initiated the girls not too long ago. Tri-Delt may be a few weeks after my GLO for initiation. This is sad news.

[TriDeltaSallie]

So sad. For the collegians to throw away so much for so little. And not just for themselves but for all of their Penn State alumnae to lose their chapter as well.

At the same time, I'm really thankful to have Tri Delta leaders who won't tolerate such behavior. It is contrary to everything we stand for as Tri Deltas.

Sad, sad, sad...

[33girl]

Originally Posted by TriDeltaSallie

So sad. For the collegians to throw away so much for so little. And not just for themselves but for all of their Penn State alumnae to lose their chapter as well.

Unless you know the ENTIRE story personally, and were there, I would be extremely careful about comments like "throw away so much for so little." To automatically assume the collegians are 110% in the wrong is as disloyal as questioning the decision of your HQ would be.

Also, unless you know alumnae personally, you don't know what their outlook is on this.

I'm sorry but assumptions like this grind my gears. It's a time to support all your sisters, not just the ones in national office.

[TriDeltaSallie]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Unless you know the ENTIRE story personally, and were there, I would be extremely careful about comments like "throw away so much for so little." To automatically assume the collegians are 110% in the wrong is as disloyal as questioning the decision of your HQ would be.

Also, unless you know alumnae personally, you don't know what their outlook is on this.

I'm sorry but assumptions like this grind my gears. It's a time to support all your sisters, not just the ones in national office.

I do support my Tri Delta sisters. I feel badly for the alumnae who have lost their chapter. As a sister from a closed chapter (numbers, not hazing), I know what it is like to not have a chapter home any longer. It is awful. Having been through the experience of seeing my own chapter close, I feel deeply for the women involved.

And as an alumna who understands the value of sorority membership as a life-long opportunity, I DO think it is throwing away a great deal. No, I don't know the whole story. But I do know that if some of those women end up losing their membership over this, they have lost a great deal.

I don't really understand why you were offended by assumptions you thought I was making, but trust me. I'm grieved for everyone involved. I don't need to know the whole story to know it is a very sad situation. Breaking the rules of the university and the sorority shouldn't be tolerated by any organization. And if we don't police ourselves, you can be sure someone from outside of the Greek world will step in and do it for us. So, from that standpoint, I'm thankful that our leadership is apparently trying to protect the organization as a whole by addressing what must have been a bad situation.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by TriDeltaSallie

I don't really understand why you were offended by assumptions you thought I was making, but trust me. I'm grieved for everyone involved. I don't need to know the whole story to know it is a very sad situation.

I don't understand why you wouldn't understand my offense, quite frankly. I have no idea what the violations were or why they came to light, but unless you do, to categorize them as "so little" is just like sticking a knife further in these women's hearts.

This is a chapter that won the "chapter of the year" award at Penn State last spring. A chapter with a heavy hazing culture doesn't get that way in the space of 6 months, and I would think that Penn State isn't stupid enough to give such an award to a sorority with that as its M.O. (They did have 19 other sororities to pick from.) So when hazing and RM are used as reasons, sorry if that makes me do a WTF and question a little bit.

[TriDeltaSallie]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I don't understand why you wouldn't understand my offense, quite frankly. I have no idea what the violations were or why they came to light, but unless you do, to categorize them as "so little" is just like sticking a knife further in these women's hearts.

This is a chapter that won the "chapter of the year" award at Penn State last spring. A chapter with a heavy hazing culture doesn't get that way in the space of 6 months, and I would think that Penn State isn't stupid enough to give such an award to a sorority with that as its M.O. (They did have 19 other sororities to pick from.) So when hazing and RM are used as reasons, sorry if that makes me do a WTF and question a little bit.

I'm not going to speculate about what happened because I don't know. But a chapter doesn't have to have a "heavy hazing culture" to get shut down. One bad incident can be enough. And if DDD was the chapter of the year last year, that makes it even sadder.

Re: my comment about "so little". I have no idea what happened other than what was said in the press release. The chapter violated the codes of the university and sorority. It says the Executive Board acted swiftly to revoke their charter. The fact that there wasn't even a probationary period to rectify the situation tells me a lot personally. Yes, I am giving the benefit of the doubt to the Executive Board. No Executive Board pulls a charter on a strong chapter that quickly without some pretty substantial reasons. It doesn't mean I don't care about the collegians and alumnae at Penn State. It just means that as a Tri Delta who has been around the block a few times as both a collegian and alumna, that I have some idea of what goes on when these kinds of decisions are made.

Whatever the women apparently did, it was "so little" compared to what they have given up. Whatever the hazing and reckless behavior was, they all lost a lot as a result of those choices. Whatever they did - whether it was for a night, a weekend, a week or whatever - for that "fun" they have lost out on months, years and perhaps a lifetime of sorority membership. So for "so little" they have lost much.

I hope that better explains my perspective.

[33girl]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.