Rho Chi Disaffiliation - How does it work?

[TSteven]

According to most (all?) dictionaries, disaffiliation means to terminate an affiliation. As in *quit*. So does the girl who becomes a Rho Chi technically quit (disaffiliate from) her sorority or is it really more along the lines of an honor system?

I do understand the idea behind disaffiliation. That the sorority member disaffiliates herself from her sorority so that she may become a recruitment counselor (Rho Chi or what ever it might be called) so she can be impartial and help the PNMs during their journey etc. And that once recruitment is over, the PX re-affiliates with her chapter. As such, my general understanding is that each PX is required to sign something with their campus panhellenic stating they understand and accept the Rho Chi duties particular to that campus. And most take some sort of oath or pledge saying the same.

That I understand.

What I am interested in are the mechanics of disaffiliation. How does it technically work on the chapter side? And what - if any - *official* assurances does a former member have that she will be allowed to return to her chapter after her Rho Chi duties are complete?

For example, does the sorority chapter and/or national require the member to sign something? Does it get filed with HQ? Something like "At the completion of my Rho Chi duties on Tuesday, August 12th, I will be re-affiliate with the XY chapter of ABC Sorority in good standing." And not to get into sorority business or ritual, but after recruitment is over, does a chapter have to technically vote to the re-affiliate the former member back in since she - by definition - quit her sorority. And finally, do sororities have some sort of formal ceremony for the re-affiliating former member?

Signed: Curious in California

[AZ-AlphaXi]

The definition of "disaffiliation" in the case of recruitment counselors simply means no-contact with her chapter, no promoting her chapter. The disaffilitation is not literal. In no case that I ever heard of was the member required to actually terminate her membership with the national fraternity. If she did, she'd no longer be eligible to be a recruitment counselor, which requires that you be a member in good standing with your chapter and national fraternity.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by AZ-AlphaXi

The definition of "disaffiliation" in the case of recruitment counselors simply means no-contact with her chapter, no promoting her chapter. The disaffilitation is not literal. In no case that I ever heard of was the member required to actually terminate her membership with the national fraternity. If she did, she'd no longer be eligible to be a recruitment counselor, which requires that you be a member in good standing with your chapter and national fraternity.

Thanks. That is exactly what I was wondering about.

[33girl]

This is why many sororities don't use "disaffiliate" as a synonym for "quitting your sorority and never going back." We always used termination or self-termination (depending on circumstance).

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by 33girl

This is why many sororities don't use "disaffiliate" as a synonym for "quitting your sorority and never going back." We always used termination or self-termination (depending on circumstance).

Ahh. Makes even more sense. So disaffiliate kind of/sort of means "distance oneself" from their chapter. In that the Rho Chi pledges to not promote any one chapter (including their own) over any other chapter. Which is what I meant by "the honor system".

[red10]

is there a reason some campuses have "rho chis" and others have "gamma chis", etc? is there a reason for the name difference since they seem to do the same thing?

[ISUKappa]

Originally Posted by 33girl

This is why many sororities don't use "disaffiliate" as a synonym for "quitting your sorority and never going back." We always used termination or self-termination (depending on circumstance).

Ditto, only our preferred term is resignation of membership.

Originally Posted by red10

is there a reason some campuses have "rho chis" and others have "gamma chis", etc? is there a reason for the name difference since they seem to do the same thing?

IIRC, the professional Pharmaceutical fraternity is Rho Chi (RX) and they brought issue with the use of the term Rho Chi for Recruitment Counselor. As a result, many campuses changed the designation of the Recruitment Counselor to something different: Pi Chi, Rho Gamma, Sigma Rho Chi, etc... The different name just depends on the campus.

[ComradesTrue]

How does it work for campuses with Spring Recruitment? Do the Rho Chis have to disaffiliate for the whole fall semester (bummer) or do the PNMs just know which house the Rho Chis are in as recruitment is going on?

Our campus had recruitment before school started in the fall, so we didn't have this issue. The Rho Chis disaffiliated just for the summer, and of course re-joined their houses on bid day.

[MaggieXi]

Originally Posted by Blondie93

How does it work for campuses with Spring Recruitment? Do the Rho Chis have to disaffiliate for the whole fall semester (bummer) or do the PNMs just know which house the Rho Chis are in as recruitment is going on?

Our campus had recruitment before school started in the fall, so we didn't have this issue. The Rho Chis disaffiliated just for the summer, and of course re-joined their houses on bid day.

We had deffered recrutiment. When I was a Rho Chi (2000) we disaffiliated as of Fall Break (october) until bid day. Some days were harder than others when I saw my sisters out together or doing an event together that I couldn't particiapte with them at, but as Rho Chi's we formed a very strong bond with each other and did things together.

Disafilliation problems begins at different times for different campus's. My question is, with facebook and myspace now out there - isn't it easier to find out what org a Rho Chi (Pi Chi, Gamma Chi) is affiliated with?

[red10]

Originally Posted by MaggieXi

We had deffered recrutiment. When I was a Rho Chi (2000) we disaffiliated as of Fall Break (october) until bid day. Some days were harder than others when I saw my sisters out together or doing an event together that I couldn't particiapte with them at, but as Rho Chi's we formed a very strong bond with each other and did things together.

Disafilliation problems begins at different times for different campus's. My question is, with facebook and myspace now out there - isn't it easier to find out what org a Rho Chi (Pi Chi, Gamma Chi) is affiliated with?

most people at my school have their facebooks set to friends only all the time. If they really don't want people to find them they deactivate their accounts during the silence period.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Blondie93

How does it work for campuses with Spring Recruitment? Do the Rho Chis have to disaffiliate for the whole fall semester (bummer) or do the PNMs just know which house the Rho Chis are in as recruitment is going on?

Our campus had recruitment before school started in the fall, so we didn't have this issue. The Rho Chis disaffiliated just for the summer, and of course re-joined their houses on bid day.

I thought there was something in the newest Green Book saying the PXs weren't supposed to disaffiliate for more than 30 days. (Summer doesn't count of course)

I honestly don't think it matters if the PNMs know what group the PXs belong to, as long as the PXs are doing their job correctly and promoting Greek life as a whole and being impartial.

And like Maggie said, with myspace etc. it's so much easier to figure out - heck - with the internet in general. Maybe your chapter took a girl's pic out and her name off - but a PNM can still search the campus newspaper onlline for that girl's name and maybe find out her affiliation that way.

[violetpretty]

I was a Rho Gamma for Spring 07 formal recruitment. We had to disaffiliate from early October to bid day.

I think our rules are pretty lax compared to other campuses. We were allowed to go to everything internal with the chapter, meaning meeting, sisterhood events, Founders' Day, etc. I think we were also allowed to participate in Greek Homecoming activities (athletics, skits, Ms. Greek, etc.) because Panhellenic determined that it is an event that pretty much only Greeks go to. We are allowed to live in our chapter house, even during recruitment week.

Yes, it is hard to cover your tracks with facebook. Just because your profile is clean/blocked or even your account deactivated, it is hard to police all of your sisters' pictures with you in them. You can de-tag, but if they're still up, they can still be seen, particularly if a PNM is friends with one of your sisters.

Amazingly, none of my PNMs found out my chapter through facebook. A couple of them googled me and found a picture of me in the Sigma Kappa Triangle. Nothing I could do about that. A couple of them saw a picture of me in a scrapbook at SigKap. My face was covered, but I have short hair, and they were like, "You're the only RG with a bob." The only PNM in my group that went SigKap didn't know until revealing though!

I told my PNMs at the beginning that it is to their benefit to not know what chapter I am in, and therefore, to not try to figure it out. I assured them that I would remain unbiased at all costs, and I think they trusted me.

[twinkle555]

Originally Posted by MaggieXi

Disafilliation problems begins at different times for different campus's. My question is, with facebook and myspace now out there - isn't it easier to find out what org a Rho Chi (Pi Chi, Gamma Chi) is affiliated with?

Im a Pi Chi right now and I had to deactivate my Facebook May 1st....i feel as though part of me has died inside lol...come on Bid day!

[KSUViolet06]

Our SRC's were disaffiliated from the week before school started until Bid Day in September.

Recently I think they've changed to so that the SRC's disaffiliate soon after training in May so that freshman PNMs who are on Facebook and such over the summer can't figure out what sorority they're in.