help for a local sorority

[mlsundy]

Hey my name is Michelle and I've been a sister in a local sorority at a small all girls college in Pennsylvania. Our sorority name is Tau Phi and I've been a sister for three years now and I'm in my senior year of college, and getting ready to enter my forth year as a sister. We have never really been recognized by the school until last year when we were awarded a couple times for our comunity service projects. There are also two other local sororities on campus and at the end of last year a "Greek Council" was formed to help regulate the sororites on campus. At first the council was helpful and informative, we had an advisor from the student affairs office, but now she is gone and the council has been regulating itself and also now been trying to put new limitations on our rushing, pledging and sisterhood. The president of our college is against the sororities all together and even though we're not supoorted at all by the school, she is giving the greek council guidelines to give to us. This pretty much forbids us to do any of our traditions with pledging in which no drinking or bodily harm was ever done to anyone. I am a pledge master and I have no clue what to do with these guidelines. I am asking for advice from anyone to somehow show documentation which states that we don't have to abide by these rules since we're not supported by the school or something that will help us to figure out how to go by the rules and still make pleding more than signing up and instantly becoming a sister. Please help a local greek out! Thank You

[33girl]

I'm confused as to how much you are recognized by the school - you had an advisor from the school, but they don't support you at all? Generally "recognition" means that the Greek council gets x amount of money from the student government and that you are permitted to use campus facilities. If you cannot do either of these, I don't think the school has a leg to stand on. They can't restrict off-campus activities, any more than they can say whether or not you can join the Jaycees or what political party. It sounds like the president wants to have her cake and eat it too.

[Eirene_DGP]

I can totally understand where you are coming from. We are an Up and coming National organization and this is our first semester on-campus and being recognized by the school. Since you are not "officially" recognized by the school you are free to do whatever you please as long as you follow state law. This is the part I don't understand though. Why would you want to be "recognized" by the school only on paper if they are not supporting you financially? Like 33Girl stated, Usually that means money. If you are not supported financially, you would be better off to be seperate from the school.

[shadokat]

Money is not necessarily needed for recognition. At my school, we got no money from student government because we did not allow everyone to join our group. All sororities and fraternities were that way, due to the way we select our members. BUT, we did have access to campus facilities and such, which made us recognized.

You don't have to accept your campus's recognition...you can disaffiliate with the campus and just be some group, although I don't know what good/bad that would do for you.

[damasa]

yes..I also agree with that...all of the orgs at our school are recognized. We are free to use campus facilites, hold offices in the student union, keep booths, mailboxes and other things like that, but financially, we are pretty much on our own. We have gotten money in the past, but a lot of orgs on campus, not just greek are getting budget cuts due to some stupid ass proposal by our idiotic chancellor who is trying to start this multi-million dollar program between the university and the city...basically, we had tuition raised on us...over 300 bucks from last semester..and I think most of it is going to this plan. I don't like it, I think it's a waste of money and time.

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