As female-dominated social spaces and local sororities have become a fixture in the debates about reforming Dartmouth’s social scene, the College’s Panhellenic Council has drafted a document this term outlining the localization process that they have forwarded to sorority leaders to support those organizations considering localization.
The document, “Navigating Sorority Localization at Dartmouth College,” was prepared this term by Panhell’s vice presidents of policy and research, Samantha Cheng ’16 and Carly Schnitzler ’16.
The discussion of the pros and cons of being local versus national dominates conversations in houses more than it has in the past, Cheng said, although she would not discuss the plans or debates within any specific sororities.
“We realized that a lot of the information about this process and reincorporating into the College is really buried and that would be really important information for people to know,” Cheng said.
The issue of sorority localization was a topic of discussion in the recent election for Student Assembly president and vice president. Frank Cunningham ’16 and Julia Dressel ’17, the winning candidates, made sorority localization a key point in their platform.
Dressel, a member of Sigma Delta sorority, which is local, said that local sororities have the ability to offer greater decision-making power to their members, characterizing locals as “a great alternative to the mainstream social environment.”
Dressel also said that the necessity to ask women, not men, for alcohol in local sororities and the female ownership of the space have the potential to revolutionize the campus social scene.
The document was drafted with input from the Greek Letter Organizations and Societies office and the leadership of sororities who previously disaffiliated from their national organizations at Dartmouth. Esoteric College policies that might have been challenging to find for individual sorority leaders were also gathered in one place, Cheng said.
The document outlines the basic benefits of national and local sororities — touching on subjects like alumnae networks, recruitment workshops, large philanthropic networks and scholarships for nationals versus the option of hosting events and having an open basement, local control and more flexibility in dues and philanthropic actions for locals. It then proceeds to sketch out the procedure for disaffiliation.
Before transitioning, a sorority would be expected to alert its national organization to the discussion surrounding disaffiliation then vote to set a threshold for a disaffiliation vote. Sororities could opt to require only a simply majority or could call for a two-thirds majority or unanimity. Thereafter, the sorority could debate upon localization and hold a final vote.
Sororities would then need to negotiate the surrender of traditions, rituals and items associated with the national organization. Between those items and the loss of furniture or other expenses paid for by national, sororities could face total losses of $60,000 to $70,000.
Additionally, the sorority would have to settle any loans for furniture, operating money or other costs with the national organization. These costs could be substantial.
“If the debt is significant enough, a sorority could approach the College for financial support,” Panhell vice president for public relations Allison Chou ’17 said.
Members of the organization would then be faced with two options — they could either remain alumnae of their national organization or opt to surrender personal membership of the national and affiliate with the local organization. The sorority’s house would continue to be held by women who chose to remain affiliated with the national organization, not by members of the new local organization, assuming any women chose to remain with the national.
“It’s not guaranteed that the girls disaffiliating and trying to come back as a local organization will have a new house immediately,” Cheng said.
Following disaffiliation, sororities would have to navigate the reincorporation process. They would need to agree to new bylaws, traditions and organizational rules, re-file for 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation status with the state, acquire new accounts and tax information, buy new insurance through the College or an independent provider and generally prepare for re-recognition.
“I think it is very possible that sororities will strongly consider this process,” Chou said. “It is a long process and it is a costly process, and what Panhell wants to do is just provide as much information and support that we can to any sororities looking to begin this long process.”
Following the sorority’s reincorporation, it would be granted colony status by the College. A colony organization can exist for no more than two years and must, according to the GLOS handbook, demonstrate “that [it has] the potential to persist and contribute positively to the Dartmouth College community.” Colonies lose many privileges associated with full-fledged Greek organizations, including the right to serve or keep alcohol. Following a successful colony period, GLOS would re-recognize the new organization under its new letters or name.
In January, The New York Times published an article, titled “Sorority Anti-Rape Idea: Drinking on Own Turf,” that referenced Sigma Delt in its discussion of the potential for reducing sexual assaults when parties occur in female-dominated spaces.
“I would say that there is a growing awareness of the power that sororities can have on campus,” Cheng said.
The last Dartmouth sorority to localize was Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, which disaffiliated from the national organization Kappa Alpha Theta in May 1992. When interviewed by The Dartmouth last October, Karen Febeo ’93, the president of EKT at the time if the disaffiliation, said that the process presented some challenges but ultimately benefited the organization, which was awarded a house and gained more control over its goals and values.
Another potential change associated with localization is the reform of the women’s rush system.
“The power of local sororities is that they don’t have to follow national rush rules,” Dressel said. “If there were more local sororities on campus, Dartmouth could maybe figure out a system that isn’t as racist and classist or just that doesn’t favor certain individuals more in the process or just a system that works better than what national rush currently is.”
Cheng said that even before the localization document was published this term, some houses requested further information about localizing. Still, Cheng said that she does not expect any house will initiate the disaffiliation process within the next two months.
“Even in the houses where there is a high majority of women considering localization, there is still a back-and-forth,” she said.
Chou said that Panhell is committed to helping and supporting sororities as they consider localization, whatever their choice.
“These processes are long and will take time, but the infrastructure is there to support sororities that would like to go through with this process, absolutely,” she said.
Panhell’s role is primarily an educational one, Chou said.
Schnitzler declined to comment.
