any thoughts from former/current sorority members? I wasn't in one, so I am curious. Something sort of similar happened when I was in college to one of our older sororities, and it was a pretty big deal to them.
By KEITH ROBINSON, Associated Press WriterTue Mar 13, 8:16 AM ET
A sorority accused of kicking out nearly two dozen members who weren't pretty or popular enough was evicted from DePauw University, which said the values of Delta Zeta did not fit with the small private college.
The sorority has said the 23 evictions were based on the members' lack of commitment to recruiting new members. But those asked to leave have charged that they were removed because of their appearance, contending they were active and supportive members of their sorority.
University President Robert G. Bottoms said Monday the school was unhappy with Delta Zeta's policies and actions, and with some of the postings on its Web site in response to the controversy that followed the evictions.
"I came to the conclusion that our approaches to these issues are just incompatible," he said in a news conference.
He did not elaborate on the policies with which the school disagreed. The sorority had previously defended its actions on its Web site and criticized DePauw's reaction to the issues. The Web site was not operating Monday.
Messages left Monday for the sorority's national president, Deborah A. Raziano, and the executive director of its national headquarters in Oxford, Ohio, were not returned.
In a statement released by e-mail Monday night, Delta Zeta said it was "disappointed" that DePauw had closed the chapter and said the situation was being "mischaracterized."
Bottoms said in a letter delivered Monday to Raziano that beginning in the fall, the sorority would no longer be recognized as part of the Greek system at the school. He asked the sorority to leave the campus in Greencastle, 40 miles west of Indianapolis, before then.
Bottoms said the only response from the national sorority to his letter had been an e-mail from Delta Zeta's attorney asking for the name of DePauw's attorney.
The sorority's members have long had a reputation as being known more for academics than partying, and their chapter was widely known among students as the "dog house."
The chapter started the school year with just 35 women, two-thirds empty on a campus where 70 percent of students join the Greek system.
Efforts to improve those numbers — and, some contend, the sorority's image — prompted Delta Zeta's national leadership to conduct a review to determine members' commitment to recruiting. As a result, it moved 23 members to alumnae status in December, evicting them from the sorority house. Six others left on their own.
Bottoms said of those six who remain on campus, four are seniors who will graduate this year. He said the university would help the other two women look for housing next fall.
DePauw's decision follows a letter of reprimand sent to the national organization Feb. 19.
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"We live in an age where unnecessary things are our only necessities." --Oscar Wilde
Well I don't think what happened there is anything new in the world of sororities. On my campus there were a few that were really strict about their image and if you were not a certain size or look a certain way (ie hair and make up to the nines) you were not allowed to wear their letters or be seen during rush/recruitment until you either lost the weight or changed your "look".
My sorority had a pretty bad rap on campus when I first joined (I had no earthly idea since I had friends in it). My sorority was the brainy/not as pretty as the others sorority. That said we had nationals come in the next year for rush and let me tell you the ladies that came in weeded people out of our house based on looks pretty fast and some of my not as pretty friends did get placed in the back of the rush line while the prettier ones were in the front since it was most likely that the people in the back wouldn't really rush anyone. It wasn't a pretty rush process especially for my first rush experience from the sorority member perspective but it had to be done to change our image on campus and it worked. The girls we got were not stupid bimbos either. They were just trendier, 3.0ish gpas.
I don't know what happened in the DePauw case. I wasn't there and wasn't a part of that sorority but when you join a sorority you have certain standards and traditions you must uphold and if you don't want to follow the rules then you don't have to stay. No one is making you. I say this only if they really didn't like the whole recruitment thing. If it was based on looks well they could have taken the approach a lot of other sororities do which I mentioned above without kicking anyone out. I think Nationals on their part waited too long to step in if they were finding a dwindling membership at that chapter vs. the other chapters on campus and they freaked.
i wasn't there when it happened, but a similar thing happened to another sorority on my campus. basically, nationals came in several times to try to clean up the house and when it didn't work- they pulled them.
i guess i was lucky b/c i was part of a sorority that everyone liked. and nationals were hardly ever on our case. but TRUST me when i tell you that if you did do something that nationals didn't like and they caught wind of it- there was HELL to pay...