Dropping My Sorority
 

Hi y'all, I'm am an active member of my sorority at the moment but managing my finances has become a little more difficult and I have considered dropping. I'm not really seeking financial advice so I just really wanted to know whether or not my sisters would be considered legacies if I were to drop. I have been part of my chapter for two years now (if that makes any difference).

If you resign your membership, your sisters will not be considered legacies. Neither will your daughters in the future, if you have any.

No, it will be as if your sorority membership never existed.

Have you talked with the chapter Financial Adviser about a prom note or other solutions? Are there grants from your national org? Investigate before you resign.

I would definitely give this some thought--perhaps there is a way to take early alumna status? I have friends who dropped and therefore their daughters are not legacies and/or they cannot write recs for future PNMs and it makes them sad. I would definitely see if there is something your Financial Advisor can work out with you---I know there were girls that we helped in various ways when I was a collegiate.

People often use the term "dropping" their sorority, when really what you are doing is resigning their membership. This is a very big step, and as someone else has already mentioned, it will be as though you were never a member of that organization. You will not be able to participate in any way as a collegiate member, nor will you be able to identify yourself with the organization in any way, and you will not be eligible to be active as an alumna. Your sisters and any daughters would not be considered legacies.

Perhaps these implications don't bother you very much, but if you have friendships with your sisters (which I hope you do!) you should carefully consider how your resignation would affect those friendships. When we join a sorority, we make vows that we will be lifelong members, and we pledge our loyalty to the organization and the other members. You will likely lose friends, because many people take these vows very seriously. Also consider the implications on your chapter. Having a member resign their membership can definitely affect the morale of the other members.

I suggest talking to the treasurer and possibly an advisor to see if there are other options available to you.

Echoing what others said, talk to your financial veep and/or advisor. They may be able to put you on a payment plan. I'm sure it's not the first time a sister has had money issues.

Try to find a way to get financial assistance (talk to your sorority’s financial advisor and the school’s financial aid office, look into a promissory note, grant from sorority HQ, work on campus, live in the house vs. a more expensive apartment, etc.). In some sororities, it’s very hard to get early alumnae status (I know it’s difficult in my org). As an Advisor, it’s sad when a member resigns due to finances. Most of the time a member resigns before investigating all of the options and you can’t take back a resignation.

cali2020, there is wonderful, helpful advice here - I really hope you'll take my Panhellenic sisters' input and explore every option with the assistance of an advisor, treasurer, etc.

Sometimes there is a solution that we just don't know about or can't see, but others can. Good luck!

really it's far less than half of the NPC groups as far as I've read and learned....

I don't want to swing too far towards revealing too much online, but I feel like this information should be made more public or at least explained to new members when they join. Otherwise you get women from all different sororities telling each other they can and can't "go early alum" and muddying the waters. ADPi offers alumnae status for women entering their fifth year of school, and chapters can offer a reduced membership commitment for women student teaching, co-oping, or studying abroad, but we don't have a general inactive status women can just dip into when they like.

I may be in tinfoil hat territory, but I’m somewhat inclined to think that it used to be more prevalent and has become less so as it was abused.

IIRC, with Alpha Xi Delta, you can go alum before graduating if you've completed four calendar years of college (sounds like ADPi has the same thing) or you get married.

When I was in school "early alum" was okay as far as HQ was concerned but our chapter bylaws restricted it to only being an option for women who had at least 3 quarters as an active member. So pledge quarter + 3 active quarters, LOA/abroad didn't count towards the three. I recall that one of the Travelling Consultants thought that it was a bad idea to force women chose between dropping entirely or early alum. Now, I think, the official policy at the national level is no early alum at all. It's been a few years since I've read the national bylaws, so my info could be out of date.