Tayler Duprel
taylerduprel.md@gmail.com
Delta Delta Delta struggled at Cal Poly. It was a chapter that couldn’t pull in numbers to compete with the others — in its final recruitment only 12 to 15 women pledged, as compared to other sororities that averaged 67 new members in Fall 2010.
And to top it off, despite Greek life’s loss of this group more than a year ago, two new sororities have been thrown into the game this year, leaving some questioning how Cal Poly can bring in new sororities, but not support the ones already on campus.
Warnings were given to the women of Tri Delta (as the sorority was commonly known at Cal Poly) following formal recruitment of 2010. With fears of being closed, Tri Delta members created a strategic plan to present to its executive board, the national governing board of all Tri Delta chapters, to demonstrate how the sorority planned to get back on track and increase their numbers.
Despite its attempts to give Tri Delta a voice in greek life, the Delta Delta Delta Executive Board decided to call it quits. Seven years after its founding chapter began in 2004, Tri Delta’s executive board issued a press release stating the Tri Delta Epsilon Epsilon chapter would close as of June 1, 2011.
“Even though we did everything they asked of us, and even having a plan to get back on track, they still closed us the next quarter,” child development junior and Tri Delta alumnus Stacy DeRobertis-Theye said. “I feel like they kind of gave us false hope.”
One single problem couldn’t be defined as to why the group was ultimately unsuccessful, industrial engineering graduate student and former Tri Delta President Angela Muscat said.
One of the main reasons Tri Delta was considered no longer fit to operate at Cal Poly was because it did not meet the member total determined by each campus. Despite receiving help from the Delta Delta Delta Executive Board, Muscat said she felt it didn’t receive any more special attention than other sororities during recruitment, and would have liked more help.
“We always felt that there was something about recruitment that we didn’t understand,” Muscat said. “We would have loved more resources in that aspect.”
Another contributing factor to the sorority’s inability to gain enough new members were the special requirements placed upon the chapter during recruitment, founding member and former Cal Poly chapter president Natasha Schue said. Tri Delta had very strict recruitment rules, and looked for a specific sort of woman, Schue said.
Over time, the stress of trying to meet the special requirements was damaging to the members of Tri Delta, which is why they eventually had to pull the plug on the chapter, director of chapter services for Delta Delta Delta Executive Office Jason Gomez said.
“We became increasingly concerned for the welfare of the chapter members and the demands that were placed on the collegians by the constant need to recruit new members in order to be a successful chapter at Cal Poly,” Gomez said.
Tri Delta also had more Cal Poly-specific problems. Between other sororities with more successful recruitment methods and a location too far away from campus, Tri Delta just had a hard time competing, Schue said.
Chi Omega, which joined Cal Poly’s campus in April 2008, only a few years after Tri Delta, had better results with its recruitment strategy, Shue said. As a result, Chi Omega immediately met the number of members required, and didn’t struggle as much as Tri Delta did.
On top of strict recruitment hampering its prospects, Tri Delta continued to struggle due to the distance of its house from Cal Poly, Schue said.
“I understand from the social sorority aspect why (our location) may not work out,” Schue said. “As an incoming freshman you want to be a part of a big, fun house, and since Tri Delta couldn’t get their numbers up, and having a house farther from campus, I could see why.”
Director of Student Life and Leadership Stephan Lamb said the distance of Tri Delta’s house from campus was most likely a factor in why members failed to raise interest in the sorority. According to Lamb, when Tri Delta came to Cal Poly in 2004, it took over Alpha Omicron Pi’s old house, which had been vacated by the sorority because it was too far away from campus.
The public perception of Tri Delta, which Lamb said “wasn’t necessarily stereotypically greek,” was also a factor in the sorority losing its charter.
“The founding women of Tri Delta didn’t want to be viewed as a typical sorority; they wanted to be different,” Lamb said.
Some members said they believe the lack of a “stereotypical greek” reputation is what ultimately led to the sorority’s recruitment woes.
“We had a rep for being the sorority that didn’t party and didn’t have fun,” business administration senior Alexandra Schafle said. “We also had a rep for being ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’ — they were just the stories that go around during recruitment.”
With an increase in women participating in formal recruitment each year, Schafle said she felt Tri Delta would have been able to reach expected numbers if they could have survived one more year on Cal Poly’s campus.
When Tri Delta’s chapter closed, all the girls who were active received alumni status. Muscat said it allowed for a smoother transition and provided the opportunity to still find ways to be involved in greek life on campus.
“I think we still have found great ways to connect to each other through our alumni status and I’ve seen a lot of our other girls still doing something that allows them to thrive,” Muscat said.