Save the Lambdas

Leadership and Acceptance: We will fight for the home we have all loved

 As with everyone else, I was shocked to hear the news of Lambda.  It has been several days, but I am still trying to absorb the shock of it. 

When I went to college, I did plan on joining a sorority.  However, I only figured it would be a great way to make some friends during college.  I had no idea it would change my life and forever shape who I am.  

From the first moment I stepped foot in Lambda, I felt as though I was coming home.  And in some ways, I was - I just didn’t know it yet (I would later live at 705 Walnut for 2.5 years).  The current sisters made us new members feel 100% accepted from the first moment.  I remember seeing my (future) Big Sister’s face so excited for us all to be there.  

 It didn’t matter that I knew only 1 person, I felt as though I had known them all for years.  Even as a new member, I felt completely comfortable coming back to 705 Walnut in between classes and hanging out in the TV room, on the front porch (on the rare occasions it was warm) or in the kitchen with Carol.  I was able to take on many roles during my time at Lamdba: I co-chaired Frisbee Fling my Junior year, raising money for the Vera House, was on the Jr. Exec board in several positions and even within the University not only as a member of Order of Omega (the Honor society for members of the SU Greek community) but as one of it’s selection committee members my senior year.  But nothing changed me more then my time spend as President. 

While a collegiate member of Lambda, I was lucky enough to be voted President by my sisters.  I was honored that my sisters would entrust their chapter to me. During my time as President, I attended a leadership seminar at Headquarters and National Convention - where Lambda was even honored.  During my tenure as President, I learned many skills that I use everyday in my current career: time management, public speaking, organization, delegation and management skills.  These are valuable real-world skills I attribute to my time at Lambda.  

Even upon graduating, my sisters have always been there for me.  They have been there for me through personal problems, boy problems, job problems and general life problems.  Knowing I can call any of them when times are tough has made it much easier to whether those problems.

  In addition, sisterhood does not just include the sisters you knew at Alpha Chi during college.  It’s anyone who has ever been part of 705 Walnut.  In fact, just recently (by a strange twist of fate - and chatty mothers), I met a current Lambda who was from the same town and was also in S.I. Newhouse (my academic home for 4 years at SU).  Most people would say, oh that’s interesting.  But for any Lambda, it’s not just interesting, it’s a chance to meet a sister.  We met for coffee over Christmas and easly spend almost two hours chatting.  We may not be at Syracuse at the same time, but I still felt like I knew any of my pledge class. 

I am not denying that mistakes were made.  People make mistakes.  I feel comfortable saying that the members of the National Council have at some point made mistakes.  No one is perfect.  And I believe that sisters stand by each other, through good times and bad.  It saddens me to see that Nationals has so quickly abandoned a chapter.  I feel abandoned by Nationals, so I can only imagine how the current students feel.  You are teaching these young women that they are not worth fighting for; that when times get tough, it is ok to give up on people.  What you should be teaching them is that sisters stick together and work WITH them to make it better. 

You may have closed our physical chapter house, but you can never close Lambda.  Us members will always be Lambda’s - you can never take away what we had there.  I believe the current outpouring of alumn support shows exactly how much being a member of Lambda has meant to us all.  I am saddened that there was no communication with the alumnae about the potential closing until after the decision was made (and I know you know how to contact me - I get emails and letters all the time asking for donations).  You could have reached out to us. Kept us involved.  Gotten current members in touch with alumns as mentors.  There were a lot of ways we could have been there for our sisters.  Instead, you decided to keep us in the dark.  I don’t know if you thought that by blindsiding us, we would just say “ok” and go on our ways.  But we will not.  We are forever a sisterhood.  I hope that you can see that closing Lambda has not weaken us. 

We will fight for the home we have all loved.  And for the sisters that mean the world to us. It saddens me that I will never be able to take my future husband and children to my home for 2.5 years during college.  To show them my composite pictures.  To show them how wonderful Alpha Chi was to me.  But that will not prevent me from sharing stories of my memories of 705 and my sisters.  Those are something you can never take away from me. Lambda helped make me who I am today and for that I will be forever grateful.   

LITB,
Sarah Podziomek
New Member Class,’02
Lambda President, ‘04

I give Lambda credit

Hello Amy and Allison,

I was initiated into Lambda chapter in 2007 and would like a moment to express my feelings about the tough decisions you have been faced with about continuing to support Lambda chapter.


I just started my first job at Thermo Fisher Scientific and I give Lambda a lot of the credit for where I am now. As a sophomore I was elected VP CRSB and it was really hard. At the time we were transitioning between advisers, and I had just been initiated the semester before. Was excited to get involved immediately and make a positive contribution and impact on the house. I  was only in the position for one semester but learned so many great things.


I was able to relate what I had learned from the position to how  I pictured myself working in a professional environment during an interview for a semester long internship at Johnson and Johnson. I spoke to how CRSB taught me the value of working together as a board. About how it is critical to gather as much information about a situation as possible in order to analysis it and come up with the most appropriate consequence. I now understand that we may have not been forceful enough with the consequences but that is part of the learning, and I think that would have become more clear with an advisor there and some more experience. Because I got that Johnson and Johnson internship I started down a really positive road of internships and a full time position before graduation.


Learning about the delicate balance of giving coworkers/sisters/friends and everyone else the benefit of the doubt, taking mentoring role, leadership role and knowing when to putting your foot down for unacceptable behavior is a HARD lesson to learn. If AXO can help teach this lesson, which I believe it does, it is MAJOR. Its a transition from an irresponsible teenager/college student, to a mature professional. I believe as an AXO I was a step ahead of my co-workers with professional acumen.


I think Lambda needs guidance. A very firm foot down. Some girls may decide it’s not for them, but most will value the lessons learned. AXO needs to help teach the sisterhood a positive Greek experience. If I had not had the leadership opportunities as AXO I would not be where I am today. I am indebted to AXO and the Lambda community. Cyndi Schweigert showed me amazing leadership qualities. Cat Chung showed me how to be caring and welcoming to new people. Julie Semsker is such an amazing positive leader. Katie Sisco has stepped up when the house needed her. There is not a single Lambda that I  have not been able to learn something from.  AXO teaches about community, respecting yourself and others, team work, and sisterhood.


It may seem too late for me to make any impact but I think the combination of all of our letters should show the strong community and sisterhood you can find at Lambda. And if there must be an end, please don’t forget that for the majority of the chapter, the experiences have been so positive and have truly made a difference in our lives. Together I hope our recollections of positive times at Lambda will allow you to reconsider.


Thank you for your time.

Loyaly,

Whitney Hurst 

Despite National’s Failure, Iota Mu Bonds Survived

Dear women of the Lambda chapter,

My name is Chelsea Prough (spring pledge class 2010). I was a member of
University of Richmond’s Iota Mu AXO chapter, and I am now technically an alumnae member. When I heard the recent news about your chapter being closed, I really wanted to write to you all. Nationals came to our campus without warning in November and closed our chapter as well, with “risk management policy violations” as their official justification, though several members from Nationals admitted off the record that our chapter’s status as the smallest sorority on our campus with traditional difficulty recruiting prior to my pledge class was a large factor into their
decision. Hearing this decision from Nationals, women who introduced themselves as our sisters, was extremely devastating for us, as I’m sure this time is extremely devastating for you too. It’s challenging because even though other friends, family members, and school faculty show their support, anyone who has not been through this situation can’t fully understand. Our chapter has been there, and we support you during this difficult time.

Though it may be hard to imagine doing so right now, I was able to grow from the circumstances surrounding my chapter closing. I didn’t believe this when people told me in November, so I completely understand if you don’t either right now, but I promise, this situation WILL get better. It may take a little while, but you will be able to continue on. While I became pretty disillusioned with Nationals and their idea of sorority as a business instead of a sisterhood, my feelings toward Alpha Chi as it related to me daily did not change at all. In fact, through this I grew even stronger to my sisters, and realized that there is not a group of women that I am more proud of. For us to go through this all together as a chapter showed me the true meaning of sisterhood. My sisters who had already graduated were there to talk in the middle of the night. My upperclassmen sisters let me stay in their apartment for as long as I needed because my roommates are in different sororities and the news hadn’t been shared with the rest of our Greek community yet. My big held my hand and made me feel better by just being there for me. My best friends in my pledge class and I cried a lot together, but also laughed a lot together too.

Trust your sisters and support each other.

Stay strong, even when outside forces make it difficult, and you guys will all get through this together. Looking back, it’s hard for me to believe that I was only a part of AXO for 10 months— regardless of the differences in belief with the national organization, I know I have lifelong connections with the sisters of my chapter that made it feel much longer, and nothing can ever change that. Good luck with whatever decision you choose to pursue, and know that the University of Richmond AXOs love and support you!!! :)

LITB always,

Chelsea Prough

AXO: A Very Accurate Perception

My name is Alex Silbergleit and I’m a Syracuse University alumni ‘07. I am also an alumni of the greek system at Syracuse, as I was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity Pi ‘07. I joined Psi U in the spring semester of my freshman year and was instantly introduced to the girls of Alpha Chi Omega.

The guys in Psi U were already very friendly with the AXO sorority, and it was because they were the most normal girls on campus. The most down to earth, so much fun and they were just nice nice nice girls. Psi U and AXO remained very friendly throughout my tenure at Syracuse. Whenever there was a big event like homecoming, mayfest, football or basketball games or even just a springtime barbecue we wanted to celebrate it with AXO. I instantly made friends with many of the girls in AXO from each class and stayed friendly with them throughout college. Even today I remain very close with a bunch of AXO alumni.

Not only did I get to know the AXO girls very well, I got to know the AXO Sorority as a whole. And the perception (a very accurate perception) of AXO the entire time I attend Syracuse University was that AXO was just a great group of girls. There were always stories throughout the greek system about troublemakers or excessive drinkers and people and/or fraternities and sororities getting in trouble, but you never heard anything like that about AXO. And to this day that is how I view the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. So you understand my shock when I was recently told that the the Syracuse Chapter of AXO was losing their charter.

Now I can’t claim to know anything in regards to what has happened in AXO at Syracuse that would force their nationals to revoke their charter. All I can base my opinion on is what I know. I know that there are hundreds of Syracuse Alumni that are proud of their association to AXO to this day. Alumni that matured at Syracuse and in AXO from girls out of high school to very successful and respectable adults. And I know there are a whole lot more of these girls then the type that have gotten AXO into this current situation. The bad members come and go, but its the good members, the members I know from my days at Syracuse, that last a lifetime. And I believe it would be a true disappointment and mistake to punish so many loyal girls for the actions of a select few.

I implore you to reconsider revoking the charter of the Syracuse chapter of AXO and come to a solution that punishes specific individuals rather than punishing the sorority, its members, its alumni and its long history as a whole.

Sincerely,
Alex Silbergleit

A letter to Nationals: Do you really know what it means to be a real. strong. woman?

Dear Alpha Chi Omega Headquarters:

I am writing to you as a Lambda Chapter Alumnus and a sister.  I write to you with one question: Do you really know what it means to be a real.strong.woman?

I am a member of the 2005 Pledge Class, and a 2008 graduate. During my senior year at Syracuse, headquarters rolled out our new “brand.”  It was the logo of Real.Strong.Woman.  While many people can say the words and talk the talk, I do not know a group of more qualified women who prove that they walk the walk than the 106 years of Lambda women. 

When I look at my fellow sisters I see motivated, hard-working, caring, and intelligent individuals.  I see women who make me proud to wear my letters.  And I see women who encourage me to be the best person I can be.  That may sound like a lot of people across the nation, but what is different about the Lambdas I know, is their encouragement doesn’t come from their words, or their praises when I am feeling down, I am encouraged by looking at how these women act when no one is looking, and how they respond when they are faced with adversity.  That is character.  The women of Lambda Chapter do not need your “brand” to be Real.Strong.Women, because they show that they are every single day of their lives.

It is almost my 6 year anniversary of being a Lambda, and my pride and love for my sisters will never waiver.  A real family pulls together when something tragic happens.  That is what you are seeing now; 106 years of Real.Strong.Women standing up for what they believe in. 

I am graduating from law school this May, and as student body president, I have the honor of delivering the commencement address.  Prior to the closing of Lambda Chapter I had every intention of thanking all of the women of Lambda Chapter: the ones before me for providing me the opportunity to be a Lambda, the ones who went through it with me for standing beside me through everything, and the ones after me for continuing the legacy.  I still have every intention of saying thank you, because as I was taught as a new member and as my sisters showed me, sisterhood is for life.  You don’t walk away because things got tough. 

I would never be the woman I am today without my sisters.  And my only hope now is that one day other women will have the opportunity to call themselves Lambdas.  Whether our Chapter is open or not, I know there are 106 years of Real.Strong.Women who walk the walk every day.  That’s more than I can say for the women who talk the talk, and then choose to walk away from sisterhood by shutting down the Lambda Chapter. 

I know what it means to be a Real.Strong.Woman…… Do you?

LITB,

Kelly Obermeier

PC ‘05

My Alpha Chi Sisters Saved Me, But Why Won’t National Save my Sisters?

I never thought I would rush…in fact, I didn’t rush my Freshman year.  I was a recruited rower at Syracuse.  I was up at 5 a.m. every morning and poured every spare moment into the sport.  We traveled almost every weekend in the springs, many in the fall, and during Spring and Winter Breaks, and I couldn’t imagine having any free time for such “nonsense”.  Then a fellow rower and I were talking in early Fall 1995.  She stated she was going to rush that fall, in the hopes of finding balance outside of being a Syracuse athelete.  I joined her not because I actually thought I was going to do it, but more for a the social experience of Rush.  The chances of me as a scholarship athelete being permitted to join a sorority were practically nonexistent.

I was intrigued by AXO. What started as a few-day social experience turned into me going to my coach’s office and requesting an exception to the rules.  Very few Syracuse athletes were sorority and fraternity members, and fewer still who had athletic scholarships to fulfil.  However, the women I met at AXO changed my perspective and made me petition to be permitted to join as an athlete.  AXOs were strong, empowered, beautiful, smart, and warm.  They were not the snobby girls I thought all sorority members were.  They all shared similar characteristics as myself, and were all searching for something special.  After I presented a detailed plan on how I would fulfil my duties as a scholarship athlete, my coach permitted me to put in my bid with the strict understanding that if my performance dropped, I would have to quit.  In fact, my performance climbed that year, and my boat was 4th in the National Championship.  Turns out, balance was to my benefit, which is a life lesson that many people don’t learn until much later than I did at 19 years of age.

Pledging was VERY challenging for me, given the overnight sleepovers and my crazy schedule to get up at 5, but my Sisters encouraged me and kept me going.  The Fall of 1999’s pledge class was small but incredible…and I felt honored to be a part of it.  There were only nine amazing girls:  Steph Espenshade, Michele Fallon, Michelle Schwartz, Kileen Wilshire, Lisa Krzewinski, Tara Cardillo, Vickie Woertz, Rexanne Johannes, and myself, Wendi Verburg.  We were a stubborn pledge class who didn’t like to be told what to do…but we realized that memorizing how to spell each other’s names, lthe history of AXO, and the Greek Alphabet was not “hazing”, but rather, recongnizing and respecting the value of traditions that were almost 100 years old.  My stubborn and tiny pledge class (which was in fact the largest pledge class any Sorority fielded that Fall of 1995) was filled with women who became future officers and had a tremendous impact over the next few years at AXO.

My parents could not support my dues, so I worked part time (in addition to rowing and being in AXO) to pay for them - at the time they were the highest on campus of any sorority.  I ALMOST threw in the towel several times due to fatigue (burning the candle at both ends, as my mother said!), but I was determined.  Recieving my pin was a journey, and one that I was very proud to have traveled.

Because my pledge class was so small, we were extraordinarily close.  At my wedding in 2001, fifteen of the 90 guests were from AXO, many from my pledge class, and included my “Mom” and “Daughter”.  They had all traveled across the U.S. to California to be with me on that day.  It was a wonderful reunion.  In fact, AXO is just simply a part of my daily life; my husband I met through my AXO “Mom”.  AXO led me to meet her, which led me to meet him, which resulted in our marriage and the birth of my two beautiful children.  I was thrilled to hear I was having a girl so that I could some day take her back to 705 Walnut Avenue and show her the beautiful living room and the campus her dad and I fell in love at.  My four year old son requests every night before bed that I sing to him the Greek Alphabet Song.  Every night as I sing this I remember lining the beautiful staircase during Rush, all the Sisters dressed in their best, and singing and clapping the song as we welcomed potential sisters through our doors. 

I can go on and on about all of the philanthropic events I remember participating in, the leadership roles so many of us held, and how AXO consistently had one of the strongest GPAs on campus, but the most personal AXO experience I had occurred during my Junior spring.  During this time, I severely injured myself rowing.  After months of twice-daily intense physical therapy, I made the extraordinarily challenging decision to resign from my team.  These team members that I had traveled with for three years…spent endless hours with and that I THOUGHT I had experienced the bond of a lifetime with…well…I was wrong.  They continued rowing without me, and had no time to continue an external friendship with a non-rower.  Of the 75+ women I rowed with, I have not stayed in touch with one.  I felt deserted and abandoned during the second half of my junior and senior year by my fellow rowers.  It is impossible to explain in words how hard it was to endure both emotionally and physically.  However, my Sisters rallied behind me.  I was embraced by them; they stayed by my side and filled my newfound hours with fun and charity.  If it were not for my Sisters, I would have had a very sad and lonely senior year.  Instead, I found myself supported and loved by Sisters who remain my dear friends to this day. 

Whatever reasons National has for closing AXO Lambda, I respectfully request for them to consider the thousands of women who have supported one another as Lambdas in the last 109 years, and the thousands of women who will now never have the chance.  No organization of this size can possibly have 100% of their members be perfect 100% of the time.  That is part of being human.  Mistakes can be made that are lessons for the future.  But the decision by National strips the opportunity for the future to learn, and I find it an absolute tragedy not only for the 99.9% of dedicated and honorable Alumnae Sisters and the future Sisters, but also the Sisters sitting at 705 Walnut now wondering what to do, just as I was my Junior year.  They are feeling abandoned and lonely, just as I was hurt and injured…but who is there to pick up the pieces for them?  I hope that they will turn to each other and to us alumnae, as I feel that National is behaving in the same way as the women I rowed with who turned their back on me just when I was the most vulnerable and needed them the very most.

What a terrible shame!  Is there nothing that cannot be done to save Lambda?  And why have my emails to National gone unanswered?  Why is this Sisterhood not supported due to the mistakes of a few, whatever they may be?  I thought we had a bond that went deeper than that…I was promised this when I rushed, and I promised it to those girls who came through the doors as we sang “Go Alpha Chi, Go Alpha Chi!”.  The Lambdas I know most certainly have this bond.  Prove to me that National knows what LITB truly means.

 LITB,

Wendi Verburg Baker

Class of 1998 

A current member (someone to be proud of)

Real, Strong, Lambda Women,

My name is Laura Foti. I am a real strong woman and part of the 2010 new member class. I know my achievements and values reflect those of Alpha Chi Omega and not of a “high risk” chapter Nationals have painted Lambda to be.

I feel deeply betrayed by my Nationals “sisters” who defamed my character and hurt my spirit with their actions that do not reflect myself or the majority.

Let me tell you who I am.

First, I am a daughter. My father has been handicapped since he was 12-years-old by juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Watching him struggle and persevere through multiple joint replacement surgeries as a young girl developed my character and made me accepting of others. This year, I was one of 30 students selected nationally to receive the Reach Beyond Arthritis scholarship for writing about the emotional journey children who have disabled parents take.

This is not “high risk” behavior.

I am a public relations student and have a 3.97 GPA. I maintain my grades by devoting significant time to my studies and classes. I attend the prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, one of the best schools in the country.

I was named Newhouse Outstanding Freshman for my academic and extracurricular achievements. When I attended the awards ceremony, there were at least 10 Alpha Chi Omegas receiving awards as well, which reflects the caliber of women we have. I was also named Reporter of the Year for my work with the Spanish broadcast station CitrusTV Noticias. I speak Spanish only because I took a gap year after high school to live in Argentina–by myself. Is this not the mark of a real, strong woman?

The majority of Lambda does not have time for nor participate in the “high risk behavior” we have been labeled with.

Last semester I sustained a serious hand injury from participating in a philanthropy basketball tournament on behalf of Alpha Chi Omega. I had to go through surgery and months of rehabilitation. Last year, I participated in this same basketball tournament after running a 10-mile race and we won. I did it for my sisters and because I have pledged myself to an organization that I believe in. Unfortunately, it does not believe in me.

Have I not given enough to Alpha Chi Omega?

I am respected by my teachers and looked up to by my peers. I teach Zumba fitness at Syracuse University and inspire people to make positive changes in their lives through exercise.

I joined Alpha Chi Omega at Syracuse University because the women are the most successful, the most courageous and the most kind-hearted. When Nationals speaks about our “problems” I honestly know little about them because they reflect a small minority. And yet, when Nationals came last year for our membership review, I was interrogated and made to feel as though I were lying when really I did not know the “problem” being referred to.

Growing up as the daughter of a handicapped father, I know firsthand that life is not fair. Some good people are dealt bad cards. What I cannot accept is that my reputation and the reputations of my sisters have been tarnished. I cannot accept that I will not be able to mentor a young woman as ambitious as myself, that I will not be able to touch a young woman’s life in the way that my sisters have touched mine.

I am offended that people who have never met me have given me the label of “high risk.” I am deeply concerned by the impact the news releases about Alpha Chi Omega Lambda will have on my professional career. Alpha Chi Omega should be something that should helps me network and achieve the heights, not something that can make or break a background check.

Despite all of the emotional trauma we have endured, it is amazing that the majority of us, the same majority that never did anything wrong to begin with, still want to be part of this organization. We feel this way because we know that the six women who revoked our charter do not represent all of Alpha Chi Omega. I believe in my heart that Anna Allen, Olive Burnett, Bertha Deniston, Amy DuBois, Nellie Gamble, Bessie Grooms, and Estelle Leonard would approve of us. I cannot and will not let a few women ruin Alpha Chi Omega for me.

So I’m doing what a real, strong woman does. I’m exploring ways to earn Alpha Chi Omega back at Syracuse University. I will do whatever it takes so that I can continue the legacy of 105 years of women because it is the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, the right thing is not always the easiest.

I will have to apologize and accept reasonability for the actions of others. I am willing to do so. I am willing to work closely with nationals and respect my Nationals sisters despite how much they have hurt me.

Forgiveness is the sign of a real, strong woman.

I forgive Nationals for all of the pain it has caused me, for all of the tears it has made me shed.

My name is Laura Foti and I am a real, strong woman.

In response to AXO National’s generic e-mail

Dear Sisters, 

I appreciate your response but your decision to shut down our chapter has not only acted as a punishment for the behaviors of  girls in the house but as a slap in the face to all of us who have supported (not just financially but UNCONDITIONALLY) and loved Alpha Chi Omega and the bond of sisterhood- past, present and future. Your response to this situation was not characteristic of a group of strong, real women. When things got tough you should have reached out to alumna in the area. I, for one, live in New York City and would have been up to Syracuse University in a heartbeat to mentor the current sisters. I know many other Alpha Chi’s in the area would have done the same. We have all been very emotional over this decision because you took away something so valuable to us, not just our home but our faith in our sisters at National. Which chapter were you in? Did the sisters who voted unanimously ever think to put themselves in the shoes of a Lambda? How would you feel? We are not second-class sisters, we are your equals and as such we should have been contacted the moment you put closing our chapter on the table. I am so disappointed in the lack of due process. This decision was rash and biased at best. Please reconsider this decision, there is still hope that we can turn Lambda around. It definitely would have never come to this if you had just asked for the help of alumna. The Lambda Chapter is a proud and united sisterhood and many of us are close enough to be mentors to the current sisters. Nobody is perfect, if we were we wouldn’t need a sisterhood to rely on for support.

I know you must be rushing to respond to the emails with no time to check spelling but my name is VELENTINA, and I am you sister.

LITB (or is there no loyalty in our bond anymore?),

Velentina (Stathopoulos) Yuen PC Spring 2001

Re-Building is Elementary

Dear Ms. Grady and Alpha Chi Omega National Council:

Blame, guilt, embarrassment, shame:  the emotions felt by my first grade student when she stole the prized chart paper markers from my desk.

Did she know it was wrong? Yes.

Did she realize the consequences of being caught? Maybe, but she did it anyway.

As a public school teacher of impressionable young minds, I had two choices: punish her, stripping her of privileges to make her feel the pain of not living up to given expectations, or take the opportunity to teach her about “doing right” and using communication as a tool. The answer seems so obvious to me, but then again, that’s why I am writing this letter. When children make mistakes, we can’t just enforce stricter punishments or cancel their membership to our classrooms. Instead of focusing on the consequences of my little friend’s mistake, it was more effective to use the incident as a teachable moment. It would have been easier to punish, but instead I asked myself a difficult question: what role did I play in her poor-decision making? Who is really to blame here?  Furthermore, does it even matter who’s to blame once the damage has already been done? Perhaps we should consider all human beings’ mistakes in this light.

Like stealing markers, Lambda has already done the damage. The blame, guilt, embarrassment and shame are being felt by all members, collegiate and alumnae. Yet, as human beings that make mistakes, Lambda is left with a teachable moment, an opportunity to communicate and make things right. Just as I had a choice on how to proceed with my lost student, we have a choice in how to move forward with the Lambda chapter.

The teaching part is messy (literally and figuratively); it’s often very difficult and requires strong perseverance.  According to our National claim that we are “real strong women”, who better than Alpha Chi’s to take on this difficult task of re-building Lambda? Clearly, the women of SU’s chapter of Alpha Chi Omega exemplify “real” and “strong” by continuing to fight for an explanation and the opportunity to let the legacy of Lambda, as we know it, live on. 

The Alpha Chi’s I know are real women who make mistakes and admit when guidance and teaching are necessary , but are strong enough to  persevere and fix them. Will Nationals adhere to the belief that Alpha Chi Omega sisters are both “real” and “strong” by allowing Lambda to use this opportunity for growth and change?

LITB,

Kaitlin Dengos, PC ’06

A Father speaks out

I am writing today on behalf of my daughter, her sisters, and myself.

I am deeply disappointed by the decision to decommission the Lambda Chapter of Alpha Chi Omega.  My daughter joined the Syracuse family 5 years ago.  She came from Little Rock, Arkansas in hopes of beginning adult life, in a place far away from home.  In the Fall of 2007, she rushed and was accepted into the Lambda Chapter of Alpha Chi Omega. 

The members of this group became her family, not only in her life at Syracuse, but her life outside of school.  These members were her friends through thick and thin, and she grew to love the group, the house, and the organization.  I watched my daughter grow into a strong and independent woman despite setbacks, and I thank these girls…her sisters, for helping her to achieve this. 

I know that my daughter’s college experience would have been much poorer were it not for this organization, and it makes me sad to know that future students may not have the chance to experience what my daughter enjoyed.

I of course I cannot know the details of what led to your decision, but I would be very happy if the chapter could be given another chance…especially now that the significance of this event has been driven home.  It does seem very unfair not only to the alum who now have nowhere to bring their families back to, but also to the women who are left “holding the bag”, so to speak, after pledging the chapter in good faith.

Sincerely,

Randal Hundley