Charlotte Delta Zeta Alumnae Chapter Update
Angela Fox
Charlotte Delta Zeta Alumnae Chapter Update
In this issue:
- How to become an officer in the Charlotte DZ Alumnae Chapter
- How to become an officer in the Charlotte Panhellenic Alumnae Chapter
- Membership directories
- Reminder about our March event
- An update from Nationals on the DePauw chapter
How to become an officer in the Charlotte DZ Alumnae Chapter
If you are looking for a way to get involved in the Charlotte Alumnae Chapter of Delta Zeta I have news for you. We are looking for women to fill the open positions below. We will be taking nominations at our March 24th event. If you are interested or would like to nominate someone but are unable to make it, call me or email me with the position you are interested it.
Charlotte Alumnae Executive Board
President Angie Fox
VP of Membership Open
VP of Communication Open
VP Programs Open
Secretary Open
Treasurer Sabrina Colquitt
Charlotte Alumnae Chairmanships
Philanthropy Open
Scrapbook Open
Panhellenic Open
How to become an officer in the Charlotte Panhellenic Alumnae Chapter
The Charlotte Panhellenic Association is also holding
elections shortly. They will be electing new officers at their April 9th
meeting. All positions are two
years. I am waiting to get a list of
positions which are becoming open and will send it out to those who are
interested. A great way to become involved in this is also by being the DZ
Panhellenic delegate! (see above)
Membership directories
Membership directories are in! They are available to paid members only and will be passed out at our March event. If you aren't there to pick it up it will be mailed out to you shortly after.
Reminder about our March event
I can't wait to see everyone March 24th at Elizabeth Smitley's house for appetizers and wine! Remember guests are welcome. We'll be passing out membership directories and filling our open leadership positions. This sure is an event you won't want to miss.
Saturday, March 24, 7:00pm
Elizabeth Smitley's Home
5924 Rexwood Place, Charlotte, NC
For directions call Elizabeth at (704) 522-2014
An update from Nationals on the DePauw chapter
Last I wanted to share an update from Debbie Raziano our National President.
Dear Delta Zeta Sisters,
I am writing today to share information with you about Delta Zeta's chapter reorganization at DePauw University. It is unfortunate that the misleading media coverage we have received has negatively impacted our collegiate and alumnae members, the student body at the university, and Greek students nationwide.
The situation at DePauw has been the focus of our National Council and at its direction, our National Headquarters staff. We are very sorry that our communications to our collegiate members at DePauw University were misunderstood, and that our members, including our alumnae, were hurt in this process.
We assure you that all Delta Zeta policies and procedures were followed in this situation. We remain committed to supporting the collegiate and alumnae women of our Delta Chapter. A thorough review of our reorganization efforts at DePauw and other chapters will be completed in the months ahead. The review will be conducted by both Delta Zetas and highly regarded non-Delta Zetas. Through this process, all of our internal and external procedures will be examined and recommendations will be implemented immediately.
Because the situation at DePauw has heightened awareness of women's issues, Delta Zeta is committing additional resources to programs already in place that address the challenges that college-age adults face, including self-esteem issues, leadership, and addictive behavior, giving them the tools to realize their potential and live satisfying and contributing lives. We have immediately engaged Delta Zeta's Recruitment and New Member Education Committees to support our collegians in their continuous recruitment efforts and as they prepare for recruitment this fall.
Please know that throughout this process, this situation has convinced us that there is a great need for sororities and fraternities to work together in ensuring that relationships with our host institutions are honored, that how we operate and attempt to live up to the standards and ideals of our rituals in our daily lives is understood, and to emphasize how we make a positive difference in American society at all levels. Thank you to all of you who have written to us. We value all of your comments and suggestions. Please continue to tell us your thoughts as we pull together and focus our energies on moving forward in a positive direction and promoting all that is good about our great national sorority.
On behalf of the National Council,
Deborah Raziano
National President of Delta Zeta Sorority
Background on the Delta Chapter
The Delta Chapter of Delta Zeta at DePauw University is 98 years old and has a distinguished history, including our largest chapter association and alumnae-led local house corporation and advisory board. Even with all of that support, the chapter has not been in ideal operational condition for over 10 years and a number of university, local, regional and national initiatives failed to improve the situation. Our chapter was significantly smaller than its NPC counterparts-our membership was 35 on a campus where total is 95 and average chapter total ranged from 100 to 140 women. Concentrated efforts to improve recruitment results were unsuccessful.
In August 2006, the collegiate members of the chapter voted not to participate in any recruitment activities, with the intention of closing the chapter at the end of the 2006-07 academic year. The chapter and Delta Zeta preferred to close the chapter and return to the campus on the chapter's 100th anniversary.
DePauw's administration declined our request and would not assure us we would ever be able to return to campus if we left during the 2006-07 school year. Instead, DePauw's administration strongly recommended we conduct a membership review and rebuild the chapter around any current collegians who could commit to the hard work required to renew our strong heritage on campus. The university explained to us that membership reviews had recently been done on campus and had been successful.
The Membership Review
With this as our only option, we conducted the interview process in November 2006 and members were retained based solely on their demonstrated ability to provide the effort needed to rebuild the chapter's operations. In compliance with our organization's commitment to a diverse membership and our Constitution, Delta Zeta did not consider the race, creed, national origin, religion, disability or physical attributes of the individual collegians in making any decisions about who would be a part of the rebuilding process. Please know that at no time did any member of our sorority even suggest anything along these lines.
Throughout the reorganization process in the fall of 2006, DePauw officials were well aware of all the details of the membership review process and reorganization plan. They were regularly briefed on its progress, and understood that not all student members would be asked to return as active members to help rebuild the new chapter. In fact, Delta Zeta worked with the university to identify housing for students who would be granted alumnae status before those decisions were announced.
Following the membership review, the women each received letters (which were reviewed and revised by the DePauw Greek Advisor the first week in December) to inform them of their status with the national organization. We made a regrettable error by notifying the women in writing and should have had national and local alumnae present to meet with the chapter members to discuss the transition process and to answer their questions. We deeply regret this misstep.
The media has persisted in perpetuating a number of falsehoods about the events of our chapter reorganization, including the myth that some student members were "kicked out" of Delta Zeta. That is not true. All collegians who were not invited to be part of the new chapter were granted alumnae status with all the rights and privileges of such status. Despite the understandable hurt feelings of the women granted alumnae status, they are our sisters and we remain hopeful in resolving this misunderstanding.
After making the membership decisions in November, it became necessary for us to make adjustments to the chapter's housing situation. In keeping with Delta Zeta policy that restricts chapter housing to active collegiate members and live-in advisors, students granted alumnae status were given until the end of January 2007 to move to university housing. Delta Zeta provided an adjustment payment to impacted students to account for higher living expenses incurred by moving to university housing.
The Breakdown in Communications with DePauw
Delta Zeta places a premium on maintaining strong relationships with our host institutions. Unfortunately, nothing has fanned the flames in this situation more than the breakdown in communications with the faculty and administration at DePauw. After our membership decisions were announced, a number of faculty members strongly protested Delta Zeta's actions. Rather than reaching out to the national organization of Delta Zeta, the school's senior leadership stoked the controversy in a number of ways. Most importantly, it was DePauw's own administration that contacted The New York Times and turned the chapter reorganization into a national story. The university has continued to use its resources to schedule meetings between reporters and students who are now on alumnae status. From our perspective, it has been most distressing to see the way the chapter's members have been portrayed by the media and we are concerned about the ways in which this attention may negatively impact their academic performance and personal growth.
Despite several requests to meet with the university's leadership and seek an acceptable plan for reorganizing the chapter, DePauw University has ignored Delta Zeta's request of February 25 to meet with our national leaders while simultaneously reporting on their website that Delta Zeta is not cooperating in the school's efforts to resolve the situation.