Duke's chapter of Alpha Delta Pi sorority to close effective immediately

[ASTalumna06]

https://www.dukechronicle.com/articl...closed-abolish

One year after the majority of its members voted to disband, Duke’s Omicron chapter of Alpha Delta Pi sorority is closing.

The ADPi Grand Council, which oversees all chapters, voted to withdraw Duke’s charter “effective immediately,” according to a memo to chapter alumni obtained by The Chronicle. The Grand Council initially denied the chapter’s request to dissolve in September 2020.

“As shared with Omicron alumnae last month, the conditions for rebuilding the chapter at Duke have not been favorable for some time, and the supporting volunteers and staff do not see a path forward that will lead to a meaningful membership experience at this time,” the memo reads.

[33girl]

This is ducking pathetic.

[thetalady]

Sickening to see those young women destroy a chapter that had been in existence for 110 years. Not the last chapter that we will see this happen to.

[PKT4LIFE]

Here is the Spring 2021 Fraternity/Sorority Scorecard. Both ADPi and ZTA had one (1) member. There's a big difference in membership between the organizations in both the NPC and IFC.

https://studentaffairs.duke.edu/ucae...on-recognition

[Cookiez17]

I really hope the HQs provide support to rebuild these chapters so they can remain for years to come.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by PKT4LIFE

Here is the Spring 2021 Fraternity/Sorority Scorecard. Both ADPi and ZTA had one (1) member. There's a big difference in membership between the organizations in both the NPC and IFC.

https://studentaffairs.duke.edu/ucae...on-recognition

They only had one member each because when their chapters tried to vote to close last fall, the national organizations turned them down and decided the charters would remain at Duke. Then most of the members resigned. There's not much that can be done by the national orgs when there are barely any members left.

[33girl]

Considering there are other chapters that have numbers over a hundred, there’s obviously some interest in Greek life still there, so why not recolonize? Is it a situation of not being able to maintain a house?

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Considering there are other chapters that have numbers over a hundred, there’s obviously some interest in Greek life still there, so why not recolonize? Is it a situation of not being able to maintain a house?

I won't pretend to know the ins and outs of recolonizing, but I would imagine that would entail - especially in this situation - closing everything down and restarting years later. The women who resigned are still on campus, and the national org trying to rebuild the chapter now would probably get VERY messy.

[33girl]

But they weren’t expelled. They resigned. They are non-persons as far as membership in ADPi is concerned. They’ve shown by their actions they want nothing to do with the chapter or Greek life in general so why would anyone who does want to be part of it listen to them?

Neither ZTA nor ADPi had unanimous votes to close. For all the yammering this silly movement does about supporting women, it obviously doesn’t include respecting the wishes of women that are different from your own and letting them go on with their day.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by 33girl

But they weren’t expelled. They resigned. They are non-persons as far as membership in ADPi is concerned. They’ve shown by their actions they want nothing to do with the chapter or Greek life in general so why would anyone who does want to be part of it listen to them?

Neither ZTA nor ADPi had unanimous votes to close. For all the yammering this silly movement does about supporting women, it obviously doesn’t include respecting the wishes of women that are different from your own and letting them go on with their day.

True, they resigned. But do you think it would be an easy road to reestablish the chapter immediately? I'd argue it'd be an uphill battle, especially due to the abolish-Greek-life movement currently going at Duke. Waiting for things to die down a bit might be the better option. I actually jumped around the @abolishgreeklifeatABCuniversity pages earlier on Instagram, and many were going strong through the end of 2020 but then fizzled out. Most didn't extend into the 2021-2022 school year and had their last posts in the spring. I don't see this movement extending for years, except at maybe a campus or two.

The votes weren't unanimous, but it appears difficult for national orgs to battle against collegians in this situation. They take a vote, the org forces the chapter to remain, but then most members resign, leaving the org with no choice but to close. I believe the ADPi vote was something like 69-16, so clearly most members wanted to throw in the towel. If 80% of the chapter wants to give up and ultimately resigns, what choice is there?

Trust me, I think it's crazy for these members to throw their hands up and say Greek life is evil and doomed, and they shouldn't have the power to shut down a chapter in the way that they are. But what's stopping them? Unfortunately, they're leaving their orgs between a rock and a hard place (especially if there's a house to fill and no members to fill it).

[Low D Flat]

Filling a house is not an issue at Duke -- the sororities do not have houses.

I don't know whether the numbers are primarily about Covid or the disaffiliate movement or a combination, but I'm surprised to see some of the traditional SRC NPC chapters with total membership in the 50s.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Low D Flat

Filling a house is not an issue at Duke -- the sororities do not have houses.

I don't know whether the numbers are primarily about Covid or the disaffiliate movement or a combination, but I'm surprised to see some of the traditional SRC NPC chapters with total membership in the 50s.

My comment about houses was more in a general sense, but that's a plus for the Duke NPCs with these recent occurrences and complications.

And as a reminder, this also happened, which may be affecting numbers and interest: https://www.campusreform.org/article?id=17137

[navane]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

The votes weren't unanimous, but it appears difficult for national orgs to battle against collegians in this situation. They take a vote, the org forces the chapter to remain, but then most members resign, leaving the org with no choice but to close. I believe the ADPi vote was something like 69-16, so clearly most members wanted to throw in the towel. If 80% of the chapter wants to give up and ultimately resigns, what choice is there?

Trust me, I think it's crazy for these members to throw their hands up and say Greek life is evil and doomed, and they shouldn't have the power to shut down a chapter in the way that they are. But what's stopping them? Unfortunately, they're leaving their orgs between a rock and a hard place (especially if there's a house to fill and no members to fill it).

I understand what you're trying to say here and, you're not wrong; however, I see it differently. There's a difference between an HQ acquiescing to the collegians' demand that the GLO shut down their chapter and an HQ refusing to close the charter out of principle knowing that the chapter will be difficult to keep open regardless. Both will likely result in the lost of the chapter for the GLO, but the latter was done on the GLOs terms and not the collegians. The collegians get indirect credit; but, technically, they didn't get what they asked for to start with.

[honeychile]

I didn't really want to comment on the loss of Omicron chapter.

I will say that, at least for Alpha Delta Pi, recolonization would most likely only happen after 3-4 years pass. It gives those who resigned a chance to leave the campus.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by navane

I understand what you're trying to say here and, you're not wrong; however, I see it differently. There's a difference between an HQ acquiescing to the collegians' demand that the GLO shut down their chapter and an HQ refusing to close the charter out of principle knowing that the chapter will be difficult to keep open regardless. Both will likely result in the lost of the chapter for the GLO, but the latter was done on the GLOs terms and not the collegians. The collegians get indirect credit; but, technically, they didn't get what they asked for to start with.

There's a difference from our perspective - as seasoned members of our orgs - but do you think that's how most people view it, including the young collegians who participated in the vote? I doubt it. And ultimately, what difference does it make if the result is the same?

All it takes is one situation like this for other chapters to catch on, whether they're ADPi chapters or otherwise. Either way, I'm sure we all hope there won't be a trend and that this is a one-off.