DePauw University severs ties with sorority some suspect of image discrimination

GREENCASTLE, Ind. — DePauw University announced Monday it had severed ties with a sorority whose mass eviction of members sparked allegations that only attractive, popular students were asked to remain.

The Delta Zeta sorority has said the 23 evictions were based on a lack of commitment to recruiting new members. But those asked to leave have charged that they were removed because of their appearance, contending they were active and supportive members of their sorority.

"We at DePauw believe that the values of our university and those of Delta Zeta sorority are incompatible," university President Robert G. Bottoms wrote in a letter delivered Monday to the sorority's national president, Deborah A. Raziano.

A call to the executive director of the national Delta Zeta organization was not returned Monday.

The sorority's members have long had a reputation as being known more for academics than partying, and their chapter was widely known among students as the "dog house."

The chapter started the school year with just 35 women, two-thirds empty on a campus where 70 percent of students join the Greek system.

Efforts to improve those numbers — and, some contend, the sorority's image — prompted Delta Zeta's national leadership to conduct a review to determine members' commitment to recruiting. As a result, it moved 23 members to alumnae status in December, evicting them from the sorority house. Six others left on their own.

Rachel Pappas, a junior who left in protest, said the 23 women were discriminated against. "You wonder what it could be other than the image issue," she said.

DePauw's decision follows a letter of reprimand sent to the national organization Feb. 19.

Bottoms said the university, 40 miles west of Indianapolis, would not recognize Delta Zeta beginning with this fall's semester.