Delta Zeta PR nightmare
I am a Delta Zeta and my time as an active member is a big part of what defined my college years. That said, I was never one to quietly sit back and let the sorority machine run its course. In college, I was also a student government and political science geek; that means I studied Robert’s Rules of Order and memorized my sorority’s constitution. I was probably one of the least favorite members in the eyes our adviser. I fought her on the validity of several “rules” and questioned her authority to set such “rules.” I was quite the vigilante.
So, I was not surprised to hear that recently the Delta Zeta national officers have gotten themselves into a nice little PR pickle. The background:
On February 25, 2007, The New York Times printed a story titled, “Evictions at Sorority Raise Issue of Bias.” It opens with…
“When a psychology professor at DePauw University here surveyed students. they described one sorority as a group of “daddy’s little princesses” and another as “offbeat hippies.” The sister of Delta Zeta were seen as “socially awkward. … Delta Zeta’s national officers interviewed 35 DePauw members in November, quizzing them about their dedication to recruitment. They judged 23 of the women insufficiently committed and later told them to vacate the sorority house. The 23 members included every woman who was overweight. They also included the only black, Korean and Vietnamese members. The dozen students allowed to stay were slender and popular with fraternity men — conventionally pretty women the sorority hoped could attract new recruits. Six of the 12 were so infuriated they quit.”
The article continues on quoting infuriated members and using words like disrespect, insensitivity and discrimination. It was followed by a letter to the editor on February 27 by several DePauw students. One of them, Megan Bowker, wrote, “DePauw’s campus had always been ablee to pride itself on having a house where any type of girl could belong. When Delta Zeta’s national officers decided to change the image of the DePauw chapter, they changed our campus dynamic.“
This story, of course, got a lot of attention in college newspapers across the country. Everybody loves a good sorority scandal and, at least at my school, the DZs are not known for their compassion. All the while, most stories claimed that the national president of Delta Zeta or any other national officer declined to comment.
On February 28, 2007, Delta Zeta issued a press release/statement. The headline read, “Statement From the Members of The Delta Zeta Chapter of DePauw University.” My favorite part is the first sentence: “As the active members of Delta Zeta at DePauw University, we feel as though we, the National Organization, and the Delta Zeta chapter at DePauw University have been misrepresented.” I’ll get to my thoughts on this momentarily.
Finally, on March 6, 2007, I received an email from the national office. It reads, in part, “Our members are angry and saddened that our Sorority has been so mischaracterized in the media. As Delta Zetas, we know the true story. You are encouraged to speak out for Delta Zeta on your campus, in your school newspaper, and to the local media.”
Delta Zeta has found itself in crisis management mode and they’ve done very poorly so far. I won’t get into how they got themselves into the mess; what I want to focus on is how they are reacting to the news and managing the media coverage.
- They should have never declined to comment to The New York Times! Are they crazy! Weeks after the article was printed, they are complaining that nobody is listening to their side of the story. But, when somebody was willing to listen they didn’t want to talk.
- Who wrote this statement?!?! First of all, don’t try to deceive your readers. Yes, I understand the difference between the active members of Delta Zeta of Depauw University and those that have been forced into alumni status, but don’t try to make it seem this statement is coming from the remaining 6 members of the Depauw chapter. Did they even get a chance to review this statement or comment? This statement reflects the feelings of the national leadership, it should say that. Second - Nobody cares how you feel! You do not release an official statement about how you feel you are being bullied…. never. Finally, don’t try to push the blame on to the “campus climate of DePauw University.” Keep digging your hole ladies, you’re doing a fine job.
- The email to all members of Delta Zeta doesn’t provide any background; maybe I’m too far out of the loop, but I had to google the story. Furthermore, the message puts far too much faith in Delta Zeta members. “As Delta Zetas, we know the true story.” Umm… not if you won’t tell us! If you’re expecting me to infer your noble intentions based on my own memories as an active sorority member, your wrong. I loved being an active member, but I don’t doubt in the slightest that the national organization is capable of something this appalling.
Finally, I’d like to send some sisterly love to all of the members of the Delta Zeta chapter at Depauw University. I don’t know you; I don’t even know if we would be friends if we had the chance, but I feel for you. Remember, you will always be sisters despite what status the national organization gives you. Cherish that and stick together. As a member of Delta Zeta I am deeply sorry you have to endure the consequences of the poor judgment of our leaders. I think it would do a little good right now for all members of Delta Zeta to reflect on our creed:
To the world,
I promise temperance and insight and courage,
To crusade for justice,
To seek the truth and defend it always:
To those whom my life may touch in slight measure,
May I give graciously of what is mine;
To my friends,
Understanding and appreciation;
To those closer ones,
Love that is ever steadfast;
To my mind,
Growth;
To myself,
Faith
That I may walk truly
In the light of the Flame.
March 7th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
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The didn’t decline comment to the NY Times. The times just chose not to use any of the answers they provided through an email interview.
March 7th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
[Finally, don’t try to push the blame on to the “campus climate of DePauw University.” ]
Do you personally know the campus climate at DePauw? It was other students who nasty attitudes that drove the women to lose their motivation to recruit new members. They were up against a campus that told women, “Pledge anywhere but Delta Zeta.” That had to be discouraging. I’m not suprised they women gave up and voted to close their own chapter. But, if you’re not going to give up and recruit new members, you don’t get to live in the house. Alum status isn’t a snub. You’re a member for life. Members who limit themselves to only a college Greek experience are missing out on a lot of potential.
March 7th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Gabe, thanks for reading and commenting.
No, I do not know the DePauw campus; I have never been. My comment about shifting blame comes from a PR standpoint only. I’m sure the blame cannot be focused on one person or party in this situation. But, it is always weak crisis management to push the blame to someone else, point out that someone else was also at fault or try to create a smoke and mirrors environment for the press.
I was very happy, however, to see the nice note of apology on the home page of the Delta Zeta website today. I’m afraid it came a little too late, though.
March 7th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Gabe the implications of your comment are that if the mix of those wonderfully diverse girls in the DePauw Delta Zeta House are changed then the campus would like the DePauw Delta Zeta House. I doubt this will prove true but for purposes of discussion I assume it is.
Isn’t that exactly what has caused the outrage? The public doesn’t want the diversity of the DePauw Delta Zeta House to be eliminated so it can be “liked” by the campus. It wants the diverse girls (size 12, size 6, black, white, gay, straight, bisexual, short pink hair, cute, ugly, sexy, sexless, theistic, atheistic, long blonde hair, brainy, dull, handicap, athletic, studious, virgins, sluts, math majors, nursing majors etc.) at the DePauw Delta Zeta House to be liked in all their beautiful diversity.
If National Delta Zeta’s business model (or the Greek System) cannot sustain that kind of diversity then that business what good is the business model to society?
Jessi, may know better – but it does not seem that the National Delta Zeta letter deals directly with this outrage and demands for diversity so much as a call to circle the wagons. I do not think this is a successful strategy or one that benefits society or the women of Delta Zeta or National Delta Zeta.
March 9th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Interesting comments-but how come not one single member of DZ has publically called for the outster of the DZ leadership?
March 12th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Yes, the DZ National Pres has attempted to “ride out” the controversy by essentially sticking her fingers in her ears and hoping it would go away. When it didn’t go away, she attempted to enlist generalized “support DZ” sentiment WITHOUT SPEAKING TO THE ASSERTIONS being made by the evicted members, and the 6 who were not evicted, but who quit in support of the evicted members.
The DZ National folks attempted to use an older version of PR spin that wraps a bunch of empty, jargon filled sentences around something that sounds vaguely like an apology, but isn’t one. The PROBLEM with that approach is that it was used, quite publicly, by a lot of previous PR teams at, for example, Enron, WorldComm, Adelphia, etc.
We have come to easily recognize this kind of doublespeak, and to recognize the kind of people who use it.
DZ has not only lost the PR battle, they are working hard to lose the PR war, which, given the nasty point of view they started with (I’ll call it the “Pretty Girls Only” approach), is completely fine with me. They way the DZ folks have handled this, clearly, the pretty girls at DZ national are pretty stupid too.