Sorority closes Longwood chapter after hazing, underage drinking allegations
FARMVILLE—A sorority founded more than a century ago at Longwood University is closing its chapter there in the aftermath of allegations of hazing and underage drinking, officials said.
The closing of the Alpha Chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha comes less than a month after it had been reinstated with sanctions for policy violations.
“All of Zeta Tau Alpha is deeply disappointed that the members of Alpha Chapter have shown disregard for the standards of conduct and expectations of behavior that our fraternity values,“ national president Laura Ladewig Mauro said in a statement.
“Closing any chapter is a painful decision; closing your first chapter is difficult beyond words,“ Mauro said. “But all chapters must abide by the ideals and principles of our sisterhood if they wish to remain a part of our organization.“
On May 18-19, representatives from ZTA International will conduct hearings with current chapter members that could result in expulsion from the sorority. At the same time, Longwood will conduct an administrative hearing regarding the chapter.
Longwood said in a statement that it hoped ZTA would be able to return to the campus in the future.
Longwood claims to be the only college in the country where as many as four national sororities were founded. The others are Kappa Delta, Sigma Sigma Sigma and Alpha Sigma Alpha.
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Whoa whoa whoa.. this is getting out hand. querty and phil… i understand that you like to get involved in people’s issues and stir things up a bit, but you are picking things apart and making this quite a big deal for you. hopefully it provided you some sort of entertainment to fill up your week nights and give you something to do before you go to bed. and yes, i am commenting and doing the same thing, but I actually was a zta at longwood making me a part of this situation.
Also, this is a fraternity, not a job, why talk about firing? This is a membership only “club” that requires dues to be a part of it, as well as a pledge process which includes quizzes from IO (international office), a series of ceremonies, and ultimately initiation.
Civil liberties violated: Privacy. Longwood let a 3rd party view our emails without our consent, which does go against the privacy policy at the bottom of the homepage of our emails. Although I am an alumna, my email account with longwood does still exist and use it to keep up with other alum.
kmbowles, I am sorry you are upset. as a dec 2008 grad from lu, i was there for most of this ordeal, and i know how hard it is to see something you love no longer exist for others to enjoy. don’t worry about their comments, but mind yours as well. you’re still a representative of zta and keep that in mind. most don’t understand and view greek life as a negative aspect, buying friends (way to think of a new one phil!), just a means to party, and let them think that. they won’t change, they’ll continue to post comments like they are the know it alls of the situation, but in actuality, they have nothing to do with it. they do not receive the letters nationals send us, they do not know our secrets, and in general they just have no clue what it’s like it all. and thats fine. now that this is starting blow over, nationals is being a little more cooperative, but then again there are 3 law suits filed against them from sisters, what can they do? they can’t cover themselves anymore. the richmond times knows about these lawsuits, but do not want to cover them, they just want the gossip. Yes, we violated the law by underage drinking. Yes, zta says we can’t drink underage. and yes, we had more than 5 sisters at one place at one time. Those are the only laws and rules we violated, guess it’s enough to close a chapter. I feel your pain and i understand kmbowles. let outsiders have their fun andpoke fun at women they do not even know, women who do alot for their community not only as collegiates, but as alumni.
@kmbowles: “I do know the law and certainly understand discrimination when I see it.“
You were the first person to bring up anything about discrimination. So I guess out of a technicality, you didn’t say those girls were discriminated against.
I’m sure it differs by where you work, but the paperwork is not that bad. Those papers I’ve seen are to cover the employers’ butt and are more along the lines of documentation than actual paper work. But then again, I’m sure that varies by work place.
Actually, as I recall, there are other members of this fraternity posting “their side of the story” in these comments. Do those not count? All I see from their testimonies is they were interrogated by a member of the national office without a lawyer or parent present and then pressing the panic buttons with “ZOMG MY CIVIL RIGHTS WERE VIOLATED!!!“ and “ZOMG THIS IS A WITCH HUNT!“
You should learn to read completely and not skip words. Here, I’ll even copy and paste it for you:
“allegations of hazing and and underage drinking”
“wrong or perceived wrong”
I mean, the word “allegations” was even in the title of the article!
But hey! If this really is a civil rights violation, then every one is doing a very good job is hiding any information.
kmbowles,
Still waiting on examples of how civil liberties were violated. You keep saying those commenting are formulating judgment only on what we hear from the newspaper/tv, but you have yet to tell us how we are wrong. You also assume we only know what has been reported by the newspaper. Why can’t kids, I’m sorry, adults just admit when they make a mistake? Please enlighten us.
Actually I am aware of discrimination laws and have also been in on the process to fire someone and trust me while Va. allows for the firing of individuals “at will” the documentation to make sure one doesn’t get sued is unbelievable. I didn’t say the girls were discriminated against I said that the girls civil liberties were violated. The allegations have nothing to do with the civil liberty violations and you know nothing about the situation other than what you read in the paper. As usual someone that reads the paper or listens to the news and believes everything or doesn’t bother trying to find out the other side of the story as there is one. You just want to believe the worst. If these girls had actually hazed as stipulated in the hazing laws in Virginia or been found to be underage drinking then they would have violated the law-didn’t read anything about the girls being charged with a crime.
@kmbowles: Wow. You think knitpicking my wording to describe Virginia somehow makes my response that less valid? Yes, Virginia is a commonwealth, but it is also a state. We are in the United STATES of America, of which Virginia is a part of, not the United States and Commonwealths of America. There is a reason why we say the USA is made of 50 states, not 46 states and 4 commonwealths.
What’s next? Are we going to make Virginia State University change their name to Virginia Commonwealth University? Oh wait…
“I also aware of how no business in their right mind would ever fire someone in VA without very good hard facts.“ Actually, you don’t. Have you ever heard of, “You are no longer an asset to the company”? Bosses can and do fire people all the time due to things like suspicion of theft and disorderly conduct, which, unless you have any kind of recordings, are subjective and hard to prove. Sure, most businesses are more rational than that, but at the beginning of your employment, you probably signed a paper stating something like, “The employer reserves the right to terminate your service at any time without notice.“ If you didn’t, it doesn’t matter; they still have that right.
And do you not understand what unlawful discrimination is? People can and do win lawsuits for UNLAWFUL discrimination, which, pulled straight from the EEOC website, includes: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, pay discrimination between sexes, individuals 40+ years old, and disabilities. Which item in that list covers “allegations of hazing and and underage drinking”? When was the last time someone won a DISCRIMINATION lawsuit for anything other than the above listed?
The moon can and would be considered made of cheese, but does that make it so? Not every wrong or perceived wrong committed against you or your associates is considered a civil rights violation. This fraternity is a private organization operating on private property whose members are legal adults. Just because everyone else did it does not make it right or legal, and just because the university went after this particular organization does not make it a “witch hunt.“ You and they are not being decapitated for being a Catholic, burned for being a witch, or interrogated by Congress for being a Communist.
As I said before, if such an injustice was done, why doesn’t anyone explain their case? Is checking your Longwood email a civil rights violation? Hmmm. My employer can check my email at work whenever they want and it is not a civil rights violation. You joined the sorority and you had full access to all the bylaws. It is the sorority’s fault for not following them. How is it a witch hunt if you broke the rules? You got caught…plain and simple. Just because another chapter hasn’t, doesn’t mean you are being picked on. Their actions really put a black eye on the Greek community at Longwood. When the founding chapter is kicked out, that speaks volumes.
Are the girls afraid to speak up because they don’t want to ruin their chances with their individual membership with nationals next week? If that is the case, why would you want to still be part of something you claim wronged you so badly?
I was a kid once and I was in college once. I understand this “controversy” is the biggest thing in your life at the moment, but take it from me…it’s nothing. Just a passing fancy. Life goes on. You grow up and get into the real world and your little girls club isn’t that important. This isn’t 1965 when you got jobs because of your membership. Now you are simply paying to hang out with people that exclusively fit your profile for “sister”. And kmbowles, by the way, I have never once had a desire to join a fraternity, so I am not sure of what animosity you speak of. My college friends were free of charge.
thanks qwerty for your knowledge of VA. law as I am totally aware of the right to work laws and by the way Va isn’t a state but a Commonwealth. I also aware of how no business in their right mind would ever fire someone in VA without very good hard facts. While you think it is hard to file a lawsuit and win for discrimination-I would suggest you read Va. Court Case information on line. The facts of this particular case which you are certainly aren’t aware of would and can be considered civil rights violations.
@kimbowles: I can tell you know the law very well.
In Virginia, we are a “right to work” state, which means employers can fire at will for whatever reason not protected by law (such as race, gender, disabilities, etc), and even then, there are exceptions. And unless you can provide some very convincing, hard evidence of UNLAWFUL discrimination, then you do not have a case. Employers can discriminate people for intelligence or maturity, and you know what? It’s legal, and you can’t do a thing about it.
You know how you can tell? We’re not hearing all of our friends winning discrimination lawsuits based on he-said, she-said.
And I don’t know whether you are aware of this or not, but this website is a public forum. He is exercising his free speech as allowed by RTD as much as you are exercising yours. You will not always like what you hear. Maybe you should grow up and get over it.
Are you all upset that you will no longer get a free pass to “Girls Gone Wild”.....thats really all Sorority groups hope for….Phil is right, grow up.
Wow phil such animosity-did you not get into a fraternity when you were in college? As a matter of fact since you don’t seem to know much and especially about law-if what happened to these girls in ZTA at Longwood happened in “the real world” as you put it-then trust me people would lose their jobs and law suits would be filed and won. I do know the law and certainly understand discrimination when I see it. So please keep your condescending remarks to yourself as you are about the only one wanting to hear them!
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