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  #16  
Old 08-27-2012, 08:01 PM
renlizabeth
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I will sort out the situation as soon as possible. Thanks for everyone's input.

As mentioned in my last post, I did sign a letter I had to write about my family issues...I never received anything from headquarters though about my termination.
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  #17  
Old 08-27-2012, 08:58 PM
amIblue? amIblue? is offline
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Some orgs have special status for members going through a hardship. This is not the same as terminating.
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  #18  
Old 08-27-2012, 09:39 PM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FSUZeta View Post
This story does not make sense. As others have said, we are not aware of any collegiate president of any NPC sorority that has the power to terminate someone's membership by herself.
I doubt very much this was the case. The chapter president was most likely chosen as the spokesperson after the issue had been discussed and decided on by the whole colony/chapter.

Was the chapter chartered during the time you were a member, or was it still a colony? If it's the latter, the colony advisor (who sounds like she sucks) should have been the one to contact you.

That being said, it sounds like this was a bad fit from the beginning. Colonies are a LOT of work and EVERY SINGLE MEMBER has to be on board 110% and super involved. I'm not sure if you didn't realize before you joined, but if you knew that you had night classes that would have kept you away from a lot of events (official or non) that wasn't going to sit well with a lot of people. Then add asking for more excused absences after that because of your family situation, and you sadly aren't going to get a lot of sympathy.

As far as being a commuter, TriDeltaSallie is right - it takes extra effort ON TOP OF that extra effort it takes to be in a colony. If everyone else on a scale of 1-10 was putting forth 9, you had to put forth 20.

Again, it sounds like you had a crappy colony advisor (they are supposed to be on the lookout for things like preformed cliques, not just sit there) but it is what it is.

Call the national headquarters of the sorority, tell them what you told us, and see if you really and truly are an initiated member.
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  #19  
Old 08-27-2012, 09:50 PM
adpiucf adpiucf is offline
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If they have terminated you and you didn't want that, ask about reinstatement and if there are any reactivation fees, etc.
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  #20  
Old 08-27-2012, 11:17 PM
renlizabeth
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 33girl View Post
I doubt very much this was the case. The chapter president was most likely chosen as the spokesperson after the issue had been discussed and decided on by the whole colony/chapter.

Was the chapter chartered during the time you were a member, or was it still a colony? If it's the latter, the colony advisor (who sounds like she sucks) should have been the one to contact you.

That being said, it sounds like this was a bad fit from the beginning. Colonies are a LOT of work and EVERY SINGLE MEMBER has to be on board 110% and super involved. I'm not sure if you didn't realize before you joined, but if you knew that you had night classes that would have kept you away from a lot of events (official or non) that wasn't going to sit well with a lot of people. Then add asking for more excused absences after that because of your family situation, and you sadly aren't going to get a lot of sympathy.

As far as being a commuter, TriDeltaSallie is right - it takes extra effort ON TOP OF that extra effort it takes to be in a colony. If everyone else on a scale of 1-10 was putting forth 9, you had to put forth 20.

Again, it sounds like you had a crappy colony advisor (they are supposed to be on the lookout for things like preformed cliques, not just sit there) but it is what it is.

Call the national headquarters of the sorority, tell them what you told us, and see if you really and truly are an initiated member.
I put forth A LOT of effort. For every meeting/event that I was not in class I was there 110%. Going into the sorority and colonization process I knew that it would be a lot of work and am familiar with putting in lots of effort. Between taking upper-level courses, working to pay for everything, and dealing with family trouble I did the best that I could under the circumstances.

My family needed me during a really rough time and I wasn't going to tell my grandfather that was hospitalized that he'd have to wait for me to be there for him while I was at a meeting. It's hard enough balancing work/school/sorority things when you have a family trauma when no one else could be there. I only asked for a few events that I could be excused while the situation got better. I'm not looking for any sympathy, just an understanding.

I will be contacting the national headquarters this week to sort it all out.
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  #21  
Old 08-27-2012, 11:31 PM
DubaiSis DubaiSis is offline
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Unfortunately 100% of your available time (there is no such thing as 110% of time) may not have been good enough. Unfortunately, this should have been considered when they offered you a place in the colony. It does take a huge amount of time that you might not have been able to provide, regardless of your desire or effort.

But that still doesn't excuse how you were treated. Your president or even a group of girls may not have liked your lack of available time, but that doesn't mean you can get shuffled outta there without a thorough explanation of what's what. And there are so many holes here that I'm wondering if you were just pledged to the colony and not initiated, if you were given a leave due to family crisis, were ousted against sorority policy, or if you were walked through all of the fine print and you've just blocked it all out. With the amount of stress you were under at the time, I could easily imagine that you've unintentionally changed what really happened. Hopefully a chat with sorority headquarters will at least clear up the question of your status. And maybe there's resolution at the end of that tunnel.
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  #22  
Old 08-28-2012, 10:50 PM
renlizabeth
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I was initiated, I can assure you of that.

I had a family trauma and had to be there for them for a short period of time that would have and did cause me to miss a few mandatory events. When I met with the chapter president, she didn't give me any options besides dropping and that was after a bit of a heated discussion about me not being able to attend because of my family troubles. I was also unable to pay some of the financial obligations for that short period of time because I had to give my earnings to my family.

As I stated, the leadership consultant that was there while we were a colony and after we were all initiated was out of town and didn't respond to my contact after my meeting with the president. So without any other options from the president, she told me to drop my things off the next day and a letter I had to sign. I guess I'm not a member anymore because of that.

I'm not here to make excuses, no one was perfect in this situation. I'm just disappointed at how everything happened. I have nothing bad to say about the organization, I still feel strongly about it...but I suppose that's all there is.

Again, thanks for all of your input.
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  #23  
Old 08-28-2012, 11:06 PM
ASTalumna06 ASTalumna06 is offline
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You've received some good advice - don't feel obligated to continue explaining your situation. What's done is done. And only you know what truly happened and what efforts you actually made. If you want "back in" to your sorority, contact headquarters and see what your status is and what you can do.

Then, if you want, and only if you want, come back here and tell us how everything went.

Good luck!
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  #24  
Old 08-29-2012, 09:26 AM
FSUZeta FSUZeta is offline
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Don't most sororities have due process? Doesn't the "accused" have the right, and the sorority the obligation, to hold a meeting between the accused and the standards board (or whatever that particular sorority calls their judicial board)?

My sorority has definite procedures that must be followed before a member can be expelled. That is why I am saying that the OPs story doesn't make sense. She has not mentioned meeting with anyone other than the president, who told her she was no longer a member. I think that is why several posters have suggested she call her national office.

While I doubt that the OP would still want to be an active part of her sorority, she might be able to have her membership restored to alumna status.
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  #25  
Old 08-29-2012, 10:05 AM
DeltaBetaBaby DeltaBetaBaby is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FSUZeta View Post

While I doubt that the OP would still want to be an active part of her sorority, she might be able to have her membership restored to alumna status.
The most recent post makes me think the OP just wants to complain.
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  #26  
Old 08-29-2012, 09:35 PM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FSUZeta View Post
Don't most sororities have due process? Doesn't the "accused" have the right, and the sorority the obligation, to hold a meeting between the accused and the standards board (or whatever that particular sorority calls their judicial board)?

My sorority has definite procedures that must be followed before a member can be expelled. That is why I am saying that the OPs story doesn't make sense. She has not mentioned meeting with anyone other than the president, who told her she was no longer a member. I think that is why several posters have suggested she call her national office.

While I doubt that the OP would still want to be an active part of her sorority, she might be able to have her membership restored to alumna status.
Judging from the OP's posts, it sounds like this colony was started and run in an extremely loosey-goosey fashion, i.e. what some people would refer to as a "letter dump." Dump the letters on the women, throw some booklets at them, get your fee and whoop dee doo, you have a new chapter on your roll. If that is the case, blaming the chapter president or the collegiate members for not giving her due process is kind of like blaming a 6 year old who gets in a car for not being able to reach the gas pedal and coming to pick you up at the mall.

Now as I said - this is what I glean from the OP's posts. If there are other women who've had bad experiences with the chapter/colony, they need to consult the national headquarters as a group (not to mention the campus Greek life office, who may want to tell this national they need to have a come to Jesus moment if they want to stay a recognized campus organization). If she's the only one and everyone else is happy as clams, I'll go back to what I said before - neither side was "wrong", it just was a bad fit from the beginning.
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  #27  
Old 08-29-2012, 09:57 PM
AOII Angel AOII Angel is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 33girl View Post
Judging from the OP's posts, it sounds like this colony was started and run in an extremely loosey-goosey fashion, i.e. what some people would refer to as a "letter dump." Dump the letters on the women, throw some booklets at them, get your fee and whoop dee doo, you have a new chapter on your roll. If that is the case, blaming the chapter president or the collegiate members for not giving her due process is kind of like blaming a 6 year old who gets in a car for not being able to reach the gas pedal and coming to pick you up at the mall.

Now as I said - this is what I glean from the OP's posts. If there are other women who've had bad experiences with the chapter/colony, they need to consult the national headquarters as a group (not to mention the campus Greek life office, who may want to tell this national they need to have a come to Jesus moment if they want to stay a recognized campus organization). If she's the only one and everyone else is happy as clams, I'll go back to what I said before - neither side was "wrong", it just was a bad fit from the beginning.
I think that is a lot to assume from one girl's experience. Also consider that you are only hearing her side of the story.
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  #28  
Old 08-29-2012, 10:18 PM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Originally Posted by AOII Angel View Post
I think that is a lot to assume from one girl's experience. Also consider that you are only hearing her side of the story.
That's exactly what I said - that this is what I get from her posts. Not that this = what happened. Such a thing CAN happen - whether that was the case here is another story. If she's the lone unhappy camper I'm sure there is a lot that we're not hearing. If she's not, well, it needs to be investigated.

That all being said, it wouldn't be the first time a chapter - any chapter, let alone a brand new one -didn't employ due process in expulsion of a member. Everyone is just acting like this could never ever happen on the same level as the sun could never rise in the west and set in the east.
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  #29  
Old 08-30-2012, 02:18 PM
trisigma212 trisigma212 is offline
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I'm kind of surprised that there wasn't anyone else with the president when she served such a letter. If she refused to sign, it's basically one person's word against another since there'd be no evidence she was "served". This is why whenever there's some sort of judicial process going on there should be more than one-on-one. She could have ended up like that girl wearing her lettered bag all over campus. The president could say "oh I told her she wasn't a member anymore" but if no one else was there to witness it, you can't exactly prove it.

IF this is the way it really went down, then it sounds like the president acted out of emotion. This is a case for headquarters to solve. And be aware of ANYTHING that you sign. You're an adult now. Read!
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