Industry Update Provided by NPC

Several outlets, including the New York Post, Fox News, and The Hill, reported that a member of Kappa Alpha Theta at the University of Kansas was put on probation for sharing a social media post that criticized the Black Lives Matter movement. As a result, the member was sanctioned by her chapter and encouraged to reflect on her post and Kappa Alpha Theta’s values.

A new perspective piece in The Washington Post addressed anti-fraternity/sorority sentiment from fraternal members themselves, tracing the origin of sororities as early spaces of support for women on college campuses to recent efforts to address discrimination sparked by the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements. The author references recent efforts from the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) and the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), including NPC’s recent listening sessions, the work of the Access and Equity Committee, and new resource guides for inclusive recruitment.

A syndicated story from CBS Newspath about the Abolish Greek Life movement—which aired in 32 markets nationwide—included comment from Dani Weatherford, CEO of the National Panhellenic Conference. The piece aired on select CBS affiliates in markets including Kansas City, Toledo, Tulsa, Buffalo, and Knoxville, among others—mostly mid-tier markets.

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Task Forces

Under Theta’s new Plan of Aspirations, we have a goal to “intentionally foster a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the organization.” Our first task is to host an audit of Theta on DEI topics. As a part of an internal audit, we announced several DEI task forces to research several topics. These topics are Theta ritual services and ceremonies, dues assistance for undergraduate members, recruitment and member orientation process, Theta Foundation scholarships & grants for members with underrepresented identities, increasing volunteer diversity, and the inclusion of students outside the gender binary.  

The research phase will be different for each task force based on their topic. In some cases, having focus groups with members may be appropriate and necessary to understand barriers, thoughts, and feelings, about a particular topic. In some cases, the task force members will need to review/learn about laws or policies (e.g., IRS policies for the dues assistance task force) that need to be considered. The groups are expected to seek and review research/feedback/facts, seek member opinions (where appropriate), methodically review the information, and make suggestions that are in the best interest of the entire organization.

If you have ideas or suggestions for a task force, send them to inclusion@kappaalphatheta.org and they will be forwarded to each task force for review and consideration. Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing more about the work of each task force and will continue to invite your feedback.

Recent Theta Blogs

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