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September 29, 2020
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The Update | September 29, 2020
Industry Update Provided by NPC
Several national outlets – The Washington Post, The New York Times, NBC News, and CNN – report that the University of Georgia’s chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha has self-suspended its operations following the publication of a GroupMe chat where members used offensive and racist language to mock a student who had tweeted about the university's response to COVID-19 violations in fraternity/sorority life. In a statement last week from the national chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha, the fraternity apologized and said it condemned the actions of the students in the chapter.
Framed within the greater context of partying’s impact on colleges across the country, The Washington Post examined the backlash faced by members in North Carolina State University’s sororities and fraternities following an increase of COVID-19 cases and a statement from the university’s president that placed the onus on fraternity and sorority life. Some campus members defended fraternity/sorority life; an opinion piece published in Technician, the campus newspaper, called for Greek life to not become a scapegoat for the administration. Sorority members reported being yelled and sworn at because of their membership, and a sorority member reported having coffee thrown at her and shutting down her Twitter account after receiving negative messages.
Abolish Greek Life Movement
Tau/Northwestern and Alpha Epsilon/Brown are holding votes to surrender their charter at their regular (virtual) meetings tonight. Both come as a result of the Abolish Greek Life (AGL) movement. A team of staff and volunteers have worked closely with both chapter’s leaders to offer direct support. We have assured them that we are listening to their concerns and have continually pushed for fruitful discussion and thoughtful decision-making. In addition, all collegians from the two chapters received communication outlining Theta’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts; membership options; and the multiple ways that Kappa Alpha Theta is committed to supporting Tau Chapter and Alpha Epsilon Chapter. Unfortunately, our efforts have not been as successful as we had hoped and both votes are currently scheduled to take place tonight. In order for the charter to be considered by Grand Council, the vote to surrender must be unanimous at the chapter level. We do not anticipate either vote to be unanimous.
A driving force behind the AGL movement is a commitment to fighting racism, discrimination, and inequality, a commitment that Kappa Alpha Theta shares. You can read more about our diversity, equity, and inclusion work, both within our sisterhood and within our world, on our DEI web page.
We will let you know the outcome of the votes and next steps as soon as we have information to share.
The Bulletin
The September issue of The Bulletin has been emailed to all college and alumnae chapter officers and advisors and posted in Theta Portal > chapter portal > HQDocs > The Bulletin. Workforce members always have access to The Bulletin via Igloo > Files > The Bulletin. The Update is Theta’s main communication source for the workforce, and The Bulletin is Theta’s main communication source for college chapter officers and advisors and alumnae chapter officers.
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