In your Feb. 28 article “Delta Zeta members at IU affected by DePauw situation,” Jennifer Hanley never mentioned that she served as the advisor for Delta Chapter until 2006 and therefore was intimately connected with all of the Delta sisters. I was surprised she felt these women were uncommitted, especially after being one of the opposing voices to the reform of Delta’s recruitment program planned by an active sister in 2005.
Hanley’s statement that she did not “make decisions when it comes to physical attractiveness” also interested me, since I sat with Hanley on the committee that invites freshmen to recruitment parties. Hanley and the Nationals consultant “tagged” freshmen walking in the door based on their appearance and sent committee members to either find “redeeming qualities” or make a cut. While I understand similar actions occur in some greek chapters, I was always proud that Delta ignored these suggestions, taking more than a woman’s appearance into consideration for membership.
Cindy Menges has publicly stated that she “looked these women in the eye” and asked about their commitment. However, some Deltas never even met Menges let alone spoke to her in an interview. Some spoke to only one interviewer for 10 minutes and were asked about their campus activities and DZ’s image, not recruitment. While I know that no women were dismissed because of race, clearly “commitment to recruitment,” as gleaned from these interviews, was not the criterion.
I am sorry Epsilon has been treated poorly based on one Delta’s comment, and that the media have pounced on the issues of race and obesity. DZs are beautiful, talented and strong women, proud of their unique sisterhood. Delta was pressured by Nationals to save their chapter by closing, and given one day to vote, only to discover their chapter was financially viable and no vote was necessary. Now no representative will admit to ordering a vote.
While Nationals denies any injustice, they are unwilling to offer a credible reason for dismissing some women over others. Deltas are only asking Nationals to admit that “commitment” was not the real factor behind the dismissal, and for all DZs to support our search for truth.
Elisabeth Sugrue
Graduate student
DePauw University DZ class of 2005
