Zeta Sigma Chi isn’t as diverse as they think
When I saw the article about Zeta Sigma Chi, I almost fell out of my chair. They are not as accepting of diversity as they say they are. Despite being a “multicultural” sorority, they are more so an African-American sorority.
Having read their mission statement and not knowing that the Towson chapter was focused on ethnicity, I thought they would be a good fit for me. I’m disabled and I figured that their supposed open-mindedness would help me to be accepted. I was wrong!
Every handicap that I disclosed to them was used as a tool against me to “prove that I was worthy of being a Radiant Lady.” Having been told that I had a sensory processing disorder, they made me recite pages of information from memory with a radio blasting in my ear. I told them it was painful, and they said to suck it up.
Having been told I have fine motor difficulties, I was assigned 20 pages of lines, hand written, no exceptions. I was mocked for being disabled and told that I was just making excuses. Zeta Sigma Chi broke me down and made me feel worthless. In the end I had to quit.
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Sounds like hazing to me, why hasnt the administration gotten involved?
The administration might not have known until now. I never really put any stock in Greek Life, but I am certainly looking forward to the influx of comments from sorority sisters claiming innocence.
As a student who was interested in Zeta Sigma Chi and attended intake. I find this to not be true. While I had to quit the intake process for personal time reasons, there was never a reason with the sorority itself as to why I quit. Furthermore, there was an individual with a disability and I felt that they were more than accommodating to her. I felt that they were very welcoming (in regards to ethnicity, sexuality, and disability), as well. Also, as far as diversity, the organization was diverse. Now maybe at a certain point the organization may have more of a particular ethnicity than at other times, but that could be due to members graduating, transferring, etc. As someone that started out with their intake (and hopefully can continue with it in the future), if I had ever encountered an issue I would have gone on the sorority website and reported it. Sending an anonymous comment doesn’t really rectify the situation and since it is an anonymous comment, it really could be coming from anyone. To be honest, it almost sounds like slander. I think the most effective thing to do (and to give yourself more credibility) may be best to tell the head of Greek Life and also contact the sorority leaders on their website.
Ms. Charly is making some valid points. Its not fair to the organization as a whole to isolate one particular chapter. Your experience was very unfortunate but I agree that you should take a higher road by reporting it to the National Board rather than posting it on the Universities news source. I also encourage you to research all aspects of a organizations intake process and be prepared to take a stand in your beliefs in the moment you consider an injustice to be had, rather than letting it continue. I would be interested to know what the National Board’s response is and what has happened more recently to those members who were committing these acts? Its important to acknowledge the response to injustices such as these in order to judge the organization as a whole.
As a member of the organization and a Founder of one of our chapters, I would first like to apologize for your experience. Please let me inform you that what you went through is NOT how the organization runs itself, and the behaviors that were taken towards you are in no way shape or form acceptable to us other sisters. When it comes to your claim that Zeta Sigma Chi is not diverse, let me inform you that in my chapter alone we have four Caucasion females, Two Italians, one Belizean, One Thai, Two Mexican, One Indian, Two Puerto Rican, and five African American women. And that is my chapter alone. Throughout the sorority we have many other ethnicities. So to say that Zeta Sigma Chi is not diverse is an inaccurate statement. As Ms.Charly stated, it may have just been that the members at that chapter at the time were all of African American ethnicity. Now to addres your claim that Zeta Sigma Chi isnt accommodating to those with a disability, let me also inform you that one of my fellow founders on my line was diagnosed with a learning disability as well. She was Dyslexic, would read backwards, and would instantly forget what she read. She was accommodated HEAVILY, and although she struggled, she worked her ass off and in the end, she stood right beside us when we received our letters. So I really think that you should do your research before judging a whole organization. The members who treated you this way should be reprimanded and held accountable for their actions and I am POSITIVE that if you reached out to the National Board they would not hesitate to do so.
Leave your response!
Year In Review 2012-2013
The Towerlight in Print
Categories
Weather
Archive
Resources
First Class Chauffeured Washington DC Limousine Service
Recent Comments
recent articles
Links
Sections