DZ 'marketing effort' is "Ditzy"

The PR fiasco that came of the attempt by Delta Zeta to 'upgrade' their chapter at DePauw has me wondering. Didn't anyone at their headquarters ever takes a basic marketing course?

First problem - :By all accounts, the sorority chapter was a small but diverse group who were noted more for brains and personality than a "Barbie doll" look. The initial attempt to reorganize the chapter got off to a bad start when all but 12 women were asked to leave because of a "lack of commitment." Oddly, all the girls who were "committed to improving the chapter" turned out to be thin and white. All the brown and dumpy ones were "not committed". What would it take to show commitment - lose weight and bleach their skin? Maybe Delta Zeta should recruit Michael Jackson as a makeover consultant.

Second Problem - :After the initial shock wore off some of the newly minted "alumnae" went public with their comments and concerns and the story quickly found legs on the internet and in the mainstream media. DZ HQ responded with a defensive statement that sounded like Alberto Gonzales trying to justify firing the 9 US attorneys. The DZ National President tried to make out like they were the victims in all this mess. Puh-leeze! It sounds sort of like the boy who killed his parents, then pleaded for mercy because he was an orphan.

Third Problem - :Then, After DePauw got fed up and kicked them off campus anyway, DZ has filed a lawsuit! Thereby guaranteeing that there will be updates as the suit progresses for months or years to come. They should have just laid low, accepted the 'injustice' as a price for their incompetence. and gone on about the business of image repair.

Back to marketing. I have just finished taking a graduate level marketing course. Coincidentally, the professor is a graduate of DePauw and his wife is a DZ alumna. Somehow, the class started discussing the situation. (OK - I confess. I started it.) He told us that in his view the national organization has done everything wrong, starting with the reorganization process. He told us his wife is extremely upset and has vowed no more involvement. I believe it. If a similar fiasco had happened with my home Sig Ep chapter I would be similarly upset.

If the DZ leadership has any hope of getting past this they would do well to consider bringing in some professionals at image repair. It would probably start by 'regretfully' accepting the resignations of anyone who had responsibility for those decisions. Next I would think they should bend over backwards to demonstrate how 'diverse' and 'accepting' they can be. They could hire the same ad firm that does the "Campaign for Real Beauty"commercials for Dove.

Delta Zeta Nationals Sues DePauw

Ousted sorority sues DePauw University

Delta Zeta, the sorority that removed all the minorities and fat girls from their chapter at DePauw University only to have DePauw sever ties with them, has filed a lawsuit against the school.

The sororities demands include reinstatement of the chapter at DePauw, and for the college to clear the allegations that the sorority based it decisions upon race or appearance.

The sorority is seeking compensation for damage to its reputation, that may hurt recruitment and attempts to expand nationwide.

Cindy Menges, executive director of the sorority, said "The wrong message is out there about Delta Zeta, I am disappointed that there is not as much interest in the facts as there has been interest in a story that's been created by the public at our expense."

Sorority Challenges from an Alumnae Perspective

Confessions of a Theta
By Angela Rozas

I will not show you the secret handshake.

I never could remember the Greek alphabet, though I still can recite the names of our founders.

I have purged my closet of many T-shirts over the years, but I cannot give away the shirts that carry my Greek letters.

Confession: I was a sorority girl. In fact, I was president of my chapter, Delta Kappa of Kappa Alpha Theta, at Louisiana State University.

I wore Greek shirts to class, painted posters of support for my homecoming court sister to hang on our sorority row house, and yes, partied late into the night with the alcohol we squirreled away in flasks.

Every few years, some new crisis arises to give the nation a chance to lambaste fraternity and sorority life. This time it's the closure of the Delta Zeta chapter on the campus of DePauw University in Indiana.

The university recently evicted the chapter--which had been on campus 98 years -- after members charged that national officers forced 23 women from the local chapter into alumnae status. The women say they were kicked out because they didn't fit the model of a sorority girl: pretty, white and popular. Six more women quit out of solidarity with the members who were forced out.

The sorority's national leaders have denied those charges, saying they told the chapter they would close it if it could not improve recruitment. They insisted that image and race were not involved, though 12 women allowed to remain members were not minorities and were described as conventionally pretty.

From what I've read, it seems as if the Delta Zeta chapter, though small in numbers, was diverse and valued friendship and uniqueness over popularity and dress size.
If the women's charges are true, then the university was right to send a message of condemnation to the national organization. Telling women they need to be sexy and popular to attract the attention of fraternities and new members is archaic.

Instead, the women should have been congratulated for choosing members based on their character and distinctiveness. Perhaps the national officers should have done more to work with their existing members to help them recruit more women like these instead of giving them the boot.

Some might argue that the days of sororities and fraternities should be numbered, that organizations built on exclusivity, whose sole purpose is to "party," have no place in modern college life.

But there's more to sororities than parties.Supportive sisterhoodMy sorority--actually, it's a fraternity for women and never adopted the label sorority, a point of pride to this day--was formed in 1870 at, coincidentally, what is now DePauw University.

Four women who were excluded at their mostly male college formed Theta to support each other in their quest for a college education and university experience.

I was a small-town girl when I moved to Baton Rouge to attend Louisiana State, a campus of roughly 30,000 students. I knew almost no one at the school. Joining my sorority helped me meet ambitious, smart, talented women who wanted the most out of their college experience and gave me years of support. I loved being part of an organization that placed so much value on scholarship (we had a required grade-point average), service and simply being classy ladies. And yes, we had fun too.

Not that sorority life was perfect. The dreaded weeklong process by which members were chosen at LSU, called "rush," often felt just like that--rushed and superficial. With so many women vying for spots, a first impression could make or break you.

Like so many things in life, being pretty can make a difference. But so can being a leader in high school, a talented musician, a budding humanitarian.

Sororities often were labeled--the smart girls, the rich girls, the promiscuous girls. Sometimes a sorority got its label because its name rhymed with an adjective. Phi Mu was Phi Moo. Delta Zeta was Sleazy-DZ. It was stupid, kid stuff.

At DePauw, the Delta Zeta chapter was known as the "dog house," supposedly because the women were not conventionally pretty. But that label was as much a result of students' stereotyping and harsh ideas of beauty as it was a problem with the Greek system itself.

The smart girls--and more
At LSU, we were the smart girls, mostly because we consistently had the highest GPA. That inevitably also meant we were not the prettiest girls or the party girls. But the truth was that we had smart girls and pretty girls, average girls and arty girls. Nearly every chapter will tell you the same.

I regretted then, and now, too, that my chapter did not have any minorities, as was the case with all the sororities on my campus. But that is changing. A few minorities have joined my sorority and others on campus in recent years, and minority sororities have admitted white women. That change happened long ago in other chapters around the country.

That's why the DePauw incident, if true, is so disturbing. The national organization should be ahead of the curve, promoting more progressive ideals of sisterhood. You can be any shape, size and color and still believe in your organization's ideals and purpose.

In Delta Zeta's case, that is "to unite its members in the bonds of sincere and lasting friendship, to stimulate one another in the pursuit of knowledge, to promote the moral and social culture of its members, and to develop plans for guidance and unity in action."To look really hot for guys and new members isn't listed.

I don't regret my years as a Theta. Some people spend their whole life trying to fit in, with a group or ideal. With Theta, I got my chance to do that. But now, after years as part of a group with rules, ideals and traditions, I find that I prefer to be on my own.

I guess being part of the in group gave me the confidence not to want to be in one anymore. It may not have been the lesson my sorority intended, but I thank it for that anyway.

And I still won't show you the secret handshake.

DePauw and DZ Withdraw Recognition

Delta Zeta vs. Depauw Wrap-up of press releases and letters.
(There is quite a bit... Click on "Read More" to see it all.)

DePauw severs ties with troubled Delta Zeta sorority

GREENCASTLE, Ind. -- DePauw University has severed ties with the Delta Zeta sorority, where a mass eviction of members sparked allegations that only attractive, popular students were asked to remain. "We at DePauw believe that the values of our university and those of Delta Zeta sorority are incompatible," school President Robert G. Bottoms wrote in a letter delivered Monday to the sorority's national president, Deborah A. Raziano.

The university in Greencastle, 40 miles west of Indianapolis, planned a 2:30 p.m. EDT news conference to discuss the decision. The sorority's members have long had a reputation as being known more for academics than conventional beauty or partying, and their chapter was widely known among students as the "dog house."

The chapter started the school year with just 35 women in the sorority house, far short of the nearly 100 members at other sororities on a campus where 70 percent of students join the Greek system. Delta Zeta's national leadership conducted a review last fall 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.

A call to the executive director of the national Delta Zeta organization was not immediately returned Monday. Executive Director Cindy Menges has said Delta Zeta based decisions on the women's willingness to recruit new members to revitalize a nearly 100-year-old chapter whose numbers had fallen steadily over 10 years. But those who were asked to leave the sorority charged that they were removed because of their looks and contended they had been active and supportive members of the sorority. DePauw's decision follows a letter of reprimand sent to the national organization Feb. 19. "We at DePauw do not like the way our students were treated," Bottoms said in Monday's letter. Bottoms said the university would not recognize Delta Zeta beginning with this fall's semester.

University Announcement Regarding Delta Zeta - March 12, 2007
Today Dr. Robert Bottoms communicated with Delta Zeta president Deborah Raziano and severed the University’s relationship with the national sorority. His letter to alumni describing the reasons for his action and a copy of the letter to Ms. Raziano follow.

March 12, 2007
Dear Alumni of DePauw:

As most members of the DePauw family know, the New York Times article of February 25 about the Delta Zeta chapter on campus has resulted in significant media attention. Many of you have written or e-mailed me sharing your views, and many of you have taken the time to share your personal experiences with our Greek system. Nearly all of the responses from alumni have been supportive of the University and our early steps to intervene on behalf of our students.

I have spent significant time gathering facts and information over the past two months. As a result, it has become clear that the values of DePauw University and those of the Delta Zeta National Sorority are incompatible. Therefore, effective immediately, I have severed future ties with the Delta Zeta national, and I am including here my letter of notification to them. I wish to emphasize that our problem is with Delta Zeta national, not its local members, who have handled themselves with extraordinary poise and maturity in difficult circumstances, nor our Delta Zeta alumnae, many of whom have expressed dismay about their national’s behavior and support for DePauw. We will continue to work closely with these students and alumnae as we go forward.

We must view the Delta Zeta situation as an opportunity to face some of the problems inherent in DePauw’s Greek system. If our system is to rise above the negative stereotyping so many of you have written about, modern recruitment processes must be developed. Also, to prevent a sorority or fraternity from reorganizing in the middle of the year and displacing student residents, new housing standards must be developed.

As you know the Delta Zeta controversy arrived in the midst of the University’s major effort to improve the Greek System at DePauw. As an outgrowth of the Greek Fact-Finding Commission, trustees, students, house corporation officers, chapter advisers, faculty, alumni, and parents are working together to improve the physical structures and health and safety standards of the Greek houses, to examine new member recruitment and new member education, to refine the judicial system at DePauw, to expand the staff support and other resources for fraternities and sororities, and to curb high-risk drinking. We have been heartened by our progress and the enthusiastic support and cooperation of all our DePauw constituencies.

Our destination for this undertaking should result in a very public position that there is a new Greek tradition evolving at DePauw-one that builds on our system’s strengths within our learning community-and one that might become a national model for other colleges and universities around the country.

I thank you for your loyalty and support of DePauw.

Sincerely,
Robert G. Bottoms
President

March 9, 2007
Ms. Deborah A. Raziano
National President, Delta Zeta Sorority
c/o Alumni Affairs Office
Clarence James, Jr. Alumni House
Nicholls State University
Thibodaux, LA 70310

Dear Ms. Raziano:

Over the past weeks, I have interviewed many DePauw students, including several who were asked to take alumnae status in the sorority. I have also interviewed the women who were chosen to remain active members in your organization. I have talked with faculty, including the faculty Ms. Menges met on campus, and needless to say I have heard from many loyal DePauw Delta Zetas.

What has become increasingly clear from these discussions is that we at DePauw believe that the values of our University and those of the national Delta Zeta Sorority are incompatible.

I remain concerned by the points I raised with you in my February 19 reprimand of the sorority. Now, three weeks after my initial letter to you, my dissatisfaction with your organization continues to grow. I am proud of our DePauw students and the way they reacted to an unwarranted situation. Our students have shown a maturity beyond what one might expect of undergraduates. Yet postings on your Web site attempt to discredit any DePauw student critical of your actions. Your Web site has also been critical of our faculty for their willingness to openly discuss the way the membership review took place within the Delta Zeta chapter.

In summary, we at DePauw do not like the way our students were treated. We also disagree with your portrayal of the University in the media. We are opposed to your media freeze. One of the foundations of a university is free and open communication, which has been a hallmark of how we at DePauw have responded to this situation. We also vehemently contest the assertion on your Web site that “at all points in this process we (Delta Zeta) have worked with the University, sought their advice and acted upon their advice in our reorganization efforts.”

It is my decision to sever ties immediately with your national organization. Beginning in the fall of 2007, Delta Zeta will not be recognized by the University. In the interim, I call upon you to allow Delta Zeta alumnae to support the local chapter for the remainder of the spring semester rather than your national organization.

Sincerely,
Robert G. Bottoms
President
cc: Cynthia Winslow Menges

University Statement on Delta Zeta February 28, 2007

DePauw University is home to the Delta chapter of Delta Zeta but we are not responsible for, nor do we condone, the manner in which the national officers of Delta Zeta carried out their membership review and the subsequent treatment of their members. DePauw University disagrees with Delta Zeta’s actions and their characterization of what has occurred on campus.

It is outside our previous experience that a national organization would take actions that so negatively impact our students. Delta Zeta’s timing of its membership review, its mixed messages to their members, and its unwillingness to address our community’s concerns are markedly different from the standard of behavior that we expect from University partners.

This situation has been very difficult for our community, especially for the students who were asked to take alumna status in Delta Zeta and for the students who continue to be active in the chapter. In early December when the Delta Zeta national office sent letters to our students informing them of their status, University staff immediately responded to support them and to secure their housing for the second semester. At that time we also requested that a national Delta Zeta representative come to campus to address our concerns. Cindy Menges, the Executive Director of Delta Zeta Sorority, declined our invitation to come to campus until February 8.

Some have asked why the University did not immediately revoke Delta Zeta’s charter. Initially we hoped that we could reach an acceptable resolution for our students by communicating on their behalf with Delta Zeta national officers. When that did not occur, a formal letter of reprimand was sent by President Bottoms to the national office outlining our dissatisfaction with Delta Zeta’s treatment of our students. As this issue has continued to unfold, we have tried to be sensitive to the remaining student members of Delta Zeta who continue to live in the chapter house and to the DePauw Delta Zeta alumnae who played no role in their national office’s decisions.

There have been, and will continue to be, campus discussions about stereotyping, image and social status. Delta Zeta national actions contradict the principles of respect for individuals and their differences that we hold dear. DePauw is home to six historically Black Greek-letter organizations, one Latina sorority, 11 NIC fraternities and seven NPC sororities, including the Delta chapter of Delta Zeta sorority. In DePauw’s 150-year partnership with national and international Greek organizations, we have found that fraternities and sororities, like other student organizations, have a positive impact on students’ satisfaction and persistence toward graduation. All recognized student organizations are expected to adhere to University policies and principles and respect individual differences. We continue to seek a resolution for our students that affirms the positive legacy of the Greek system at DePauw but holds Delta Zeta’s national officers accountable for their actions.

February 19, 2007
Letter from President Bottoms to Delta Zeta can be found at
http://www.depauw.edu/student/greek/documents/DeltaZetaletter.pdf

February 19, 2007
Meeting Scheduled between Delta Zeta and DePauw Representatives

February 8, 2007
DePauw University administrators and faculty will talk with a representative from the national Delta Zeta office on Thursday, February 8. Cindy Menges, Executive Director of Delta Zeta Sorority will meet with Bob Hershberger, Associate Professor of Modern Languages; David Gellman, Associate Professor of History; Cindy Babington, Dean of Students; and Betsy Demmings, Executive Assistant to the President. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the University’s concerns regarding Delta Zeta Sorority’s recent actions as part of their chapter reorganization process. National representatives from the Sorority conducted a membership review that resulted in over two thirds of their current membership being placed on alumna status.
Representatives from the University plan to address the following issues at this meeting:

DePauw University administrators have significant concerns about the timing of the membership review and subsequent decision letters. Information received from a DePauw Delta Zeta indicates that the women were told the review team would be in place by October 1. However, the membership reviews did not begin until November. Letters informing the members of their status were received by the women one week prior to final exams.

No representatives from the national Sorority staff or their chapter adviser were present when the women received their letters. Following the membership review, no one from the national Sorority staff has been on campus to provide support and to respond to questions from those students placed on alumna status. Consultants are now on campus working with the remaining Delta Zeta actives.

The news release from Delta Zeta Sorority explaining the situation arrived on campus four days after the news was delivered to the women. Why was the news release delayed?

At issue for many parents is the fact that Delta Zeta agreed to house their daughters for the academic year. Because of this process, members placed on alumna status had to relocate mid-year.

We also have questions on behalf of our students about what will happen if any of the members choose to reject alumna status. Will they be deactivated? And if so, on what grounds?

Community members expressed their concerns in a petition written by Dr. Hershberger and signed by 55 faculty members. The petition, which was delivered to President Bottoms in early January, indicates that the signers regard the conduct of the National Council of Delta Zeta Sorority on DePauw’s campus to be unethical and call upon the University to take action.

Questions or concerns should be directed to Cindy Babington, Dean of Students, at cbabington@depauw.edu or (765) 658-4270.

President Bottoms' letter to the campus community regarding Delta Zeta December 20, 2006

Dear Members of the DePauw Community,

I know that many of you are concerned about the recent actions of Delta Zeta sorority national representatives toward our students in Delta Chapter, a matter that I take very seriously. Over the past several weeks we have worked closely with members of the local Delta Zeta chapter and communicated with the national officers. As we move forward, the staff is examining what happened at Delta Zeta, how the membership review has affected the sorority's members and the campus at large, and advising me about potential responses.

I extend my sincere thanks to the faculty and staff members who reached out to the women of the local Delta Zeta chapter and assisted them with what has been a difficult transition. All of the students who left DZ have secured new housing, thanks to the diligence of the housing staff, and I'm happy to report that we were able to place many of the women together with their sorority friends.

To all, my best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season.

Robert G. Bottoms

---

PR majors take note:
This is becoming a textbook case of how NOT to manage your national publicity.

A Final Word from DZ on DePauw Situation

Statement from National President -
February 26, 2007

I am sure by now that you have read the unfortunate New York Times article which involves our sisters at DePauw University. The article is inaccurate and grossly mischaracterizes the situation.

It is important that all Delta Zeta women understand what has happened and the steps that the National Organization is taking to bring all parties to the table to find resolution and to support these women moving forward.

It is in this vein that I ask you, as a leader, to commit to supporting our DePauw members and Delta Zeta. Your commitment and leadership is an important part of our healing process.

After years of struggling to recruit, Delta Zeta DePauw members voted in August to close the chapter at the end of the 2006-2007 school year. The women's majority vote meant that they could live in the house and be relieved of active membership duties, including the intense work of recruiting on a daily basis. The intent was for Delta Zeta to close and reorganize to return at a later date.

On September 12th the request for reorganization was denied by the University. The University indicated that Delta Zeta, which has been on the DePauw campus for 98 years, would not be guaranteed a return. University officials asked Delta Zeta to undertake a membership review.

Delta Zeta members, who could support the national plan to actively recruit, were asked to remain active. Other members, who no longer wanted to engage in day-to-day recruiting, became alumnae members of the Sorority.

The sole basis of the decision and the membership review was the women's commitment to actively recruit.

It is here in communicating the results that we made a mistake. We misjudged how these communications would be received. Delta Zeta deeply regrets that. On December 2, we informed each woman by mail whether she would be relieved of responsibilities to recruit and become an alumna member or remain on active collegiate status. As you know, active status at a struggling chapter requires daily recruiting. In hindsight, Delta Zeta national leadership should have once again returned to campus and communicated the results in person with each woman.

Finally, we are offended at suggestions that decisions made at DePauw were related in any way to our members' races and nationalities. We are proud of the diversity of our members and alumnae nationwide, which reflect the mandate in our Constitution that members will be selected solely on their merits and without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin or handicap. On each of our campuses, our faces reflect those of the communities of which we are a part, and it is irresponsible to suggest otherwise. Without its diverse population, Delta Zeta could not thrive as it does on college campuses today.

Article III, Section 3 of the Delta Zeta Constitution reads: "All members of Delta Zeta shall be chosen for moral, social and intellectual worth. Membership shall not be denied because of race, color, religion, national origin or handicap."

It is here that I call upon you to commit to supporting these women and Delta Zeta on your campus. Please take steps at your campus and among your personal and online communities to spread the word about Delta Zeta, our good works, and our support for DePauw chapter sisters and our National Organization.

Shortly, I will be contacting many of you to develop specific actions that can be taken. Please do not hesitate to contact me at leadership@dzshq.com with your suggestions, questions and concerns.

In Delta Zeta,
Debbie Raziano
National President

DePauw Fraternity President Reacts to DZ Criticism

Letter to the Editor: Give greeks a chance
As a member and leader of the greek community at DePauw, I was surprised by some of the letters regarding the situation at Delta Zeta sorority. This issue has provoked people from around the country to comment not only on DZ, but on the greek system at DePauw and across the nation as a whole. I was offended when an individual accused the system of being a "throwback to centuries of discrimination and bigotry." The irresponsible and unethical actions of one chapter's national office are not enough to cast judgment on the entire system.

I was also taken aback by the comment that sorority girls "have little to offer." Many greek women on this campus undertake numerous projects with the hope of bettering our campus and our community. Some of the smartest, most down-to-earth girls I know live in sororities.

No one will deny that, in the past, fraternities and sororities discriminated, but it is evident that things are improving. To say that the "sole purpose of the Greek system is to discriminate" is to admit your unfamiliarity with the system. If you were to look at any greek chapter on this campus, you would see many diverse and unique individuals. The men in my house are from all over the country. My weaknesses are supplemented by my brothers' strengths. We are not all the stereotypical frat guys or sorority girls.

Unfortunately, more often than not, any news about greek life is bad news. Somewhere along the way, people forget all of the good things about fraternities and sororities. We forget about the thousands of dollars raised for organizations like the Riley Children's Hospital, American Heart Association, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Huntsman Cancer Institute. The list goes on. People ignore the numerous hours of service to others, and they forget about the lifelong bonds that develop. While I loved "Animal House," maybe it's time for people to drop that image of greek life and give the system another shot. They might be surprised at the outcome.

Brandon Hood, junior
Sigma Chi Fraternity President

Sorority Evictions Raise Issue of Looks and Bias

At DePauw University the Delta Zetas were a diverse group but not very large. After they were 'reviewed' by a delegation from their National Headquarters they ended up much smaller ans lots more homogeneous - all white, all thin, all popular...

When a psychology professor at DePauw University here surveyed students, they described one sorority as a group of “daddy’s little princesses” and another as “offbeat hippies.” The sisters of Delta Zeta were seen as “socially awkward.”

Women at DePauw University in Indiana who were either asked to leave the Delta Zeta house or resigned in protest hold a sorority photo.

Elizabeth Haneline, who was among those evicted, said, “The Greek system hasn’t changed at all, but instead of racism, it’s image now.”

Worried that a negative stereotype of the sorority was contributing to a decline in membership that had left its Greek-columned house here half empty, Delta Zeta’s national officers interviewed 35 DePauw members in November, quizzing them about their dedication to recruitment. They judged 23 of the women insufficiently committed and later told them to vacate the sorority house.

The 23 members included every woman who was overweight. They also included the only black, Korean and Vietnamese members. The dozen students allowed to stay were slender and popular with fraternity men — conventionally pretty women the sorority hoped could attract new recruits.

Half of the "lucky" survivors were so pissed off at the blatant "image bias" that they quit anyway.

“Virtually everyone who didn’t fit a certain sorority member archetype was told to leave,” said Kate Holloway, a senior who withdrew from the chapter during its reorganization.

“I sensed the disrespect with which this was to be carried out and got fed up,” Ms. Holloway added. “I didn’t have room in my life for these women to come in and tell my sisters of three years that they weren’t needed.”
[...]
DePauw’s president, Robert G. Bottoms, issued a two-page letter of reprimand to the sorority. In an interview in his office, Dr. Bottoms said he had been stunned by the sorority’s insensitivity.

“I had no hint they were going to disrupt the chapter with a membership reduction of this proportion in the middle of the year,” he said. “It’s been very upsetting.”

The president of Delta Zeta, which has its headquarters in Oxford, Ohio, and its other national officers declined to be interviewed. Responding by e-mail to questions, Cynthia Winslow Menges, the executive director, said the sorority had not evicted the 23 women, even though the national officers sent those women form letters that said: “The membership review team has recommended you for alumna status. Chapter members receiving alumnae status should plan to relocate from the chapter house no later than Jan. 29, 2007.”

Ms. Menges asserted that the women themselves had, in effect, made their own decisions to leave by demonstrating a lack of commitment to meet recruitment goals. The sorority paid each woman who left $300 to cover the difference between sorority and campus housing.

The sorority “is saddened that the isolated incident at DePauw has been mischaracterized,” Ms. Menges wrote. Asked for clarification, the sorority’s public relations representative e-mailed a statement saying its actions were aimed at the “enrichment of student life at DePauw."

In other words: "We had to destroy the Chapter to save it." Right.

There is more in the complete article. It is too long to reprint here, but it goes on to note the Chapter was known for recruiting the 'smart' women - math and engineering majors, as well as focusing more on the person than the 'image'. Earlier issues with their National Organization are also detailed.

I came away with the impression that it is not always the undergrads hazing pledges covered in catfish bait that give Greek organizations a bad name. The ΔΖ leadership seems to have done a wonderful job of shooting themselves in the foot this time.

Sorority Evictions Raise Issue of Looks and Bias - New York Times