#GivingTuesday2020

Theta Foundation’s 8^th Annual Giving Tuesday on Dec. 1 is just a few short weeks away! As you might have seen in an earlier email, this year we are asking for you to sign up to be an ambassador. You will receive updates and a toolkit on how to maximize your social media networks throughout the day. We also have fun incentive items for ambassadors only – be sure to check them out on the ambassador sign-up page! Please ask Foundation Assistant Director of Advancement Kassie…

Industry Update Provided by NPC

Los Angeles Times reported that San Diego County sent cease-and-desist letters to eight student organizations and housing units (six of which are Greek) in advance of Halloween. If any were to violate the county orders each could have faced criminal misdemeanor citations and $1,000 fines for each violation of the California Department of Public Health. In addition, San Diego State University issued a stay-at-home advisory for all students on and off campus in…

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…

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CNN reports the University of Wisconsin-Madison has directed nine of its off-campus sororities and fraternities to quarantine following high COVID-19 positivity rates. “Violating isolation and quarantine orders may result in a court order for involuntary quarantine and/or a fine of up to $10,000,” according to Public Health Madison & Dane County. Failure to comply also will result in university sanctions against students who violate a quarantine directive.…

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The Associated Pressreports that fraternity and sorority members at the University of Rhode Island have been issued a two-week shelter-in-place order. The school said it based its decision on high rates of coronavirus positivity among students in fraternity/sorority housing, with fraternity/sorority members having 11.17% positivity rates compared to those in off-campus housing, 3.83%, and the on-campus population, 0.65%. Chapters with no cases can apply for an…

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In a piece published early last week, Vox.com offered the latest coverage in the evolution of the Abolish Greek Life (AGL) movement, focusing on recent efforts to disband individual chapters, the various financial interests tied to the presence of fraternity/sorority life on a college campus and the impact of COVID-19 on the movement. Reporting reviews the feasibility of abolishing fraternities and sororities amid declarations from activists that Greek life is…

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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…

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Coverage of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in The New York Times referenced her membership in Alpha Epsilon Phi during her time as an undergraduate at Cornell University. The Times coverage includes comment from Bonnie Rubenstein Wunsch, executive director of Alpha Epsilon Phi.

In long-awaited reporting, The Washington Post published a lengthy piece on the Abolish Greek Life movement, including comment from Dani Weatherford, National Panhellenic Conference…

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Indiana University was a major news focus last week after it announced the university is encouraging the nearly 2,600 students living in fraternity/sorority housing to move or re-evaluate living arrangements, pointing to mitigation testing positivity rates in some houses being above 50%. Diverse Issues in Higher Education reports that the positivity rate in fraternity/sorority housing is 8.1%, compared to the residence hall rate of 1.6%. According to Reuters,…