The Kappa Gamma chapter of Delta Tau Delta (DTD) fraternity at Monmouth University has been shut down.
The decision came from the National Headquarters of Delta Tau Delta in mid-August. The reason is attributed to low membership and an administrative deletion. At the end of the spring semester, there were 14 active members. The University cannot continue an organization’s charter once their nationals has closed the chapter.
Mary Anne Nagy, Vice President for Student Life and Leadership Engagement, said, “During the spring semester, there was some action taken by their National Headquarters in Fishers, IN to limit their operations. They’d have a number of concerns; size of organization, operational issues, etc…I think it’s been something that’s been coming for some time.”
Members of DTD have been contacted for comment.
The Kappa Gamma chapter was able to submit an appeal to their Nationals, which they did. The decision came at their annual Arch Summit meeting. Despite the appeal, the chapter was closed.
This might not be the end of DTD, though. Nagy said, “Like most organizations that get closed here, there may be a period of time down the road when the current membership has all graduated and we’re in an expansion position to add more (organizations).” Nagy also said the University would be open to partnering again with an organization previously recognized in the future. However, they would have to have made significant changes and the former members all must have graduated. A typical re-partnering may occur every three to four years.
Tara Fuller, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said “In order to be good partners with fraternities and sororities, we generally support status recommendations made by an organization’s headquarters staff and/or Board of Directors. We do this in the hopes that organizations would reciprocate that partnership if we needed to take action on a chapter’s status.”
Fuller added, “We are disappointed to have closed a chapter at this point in the establishment of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, but we do support the decisions made by our headquarters partners. As an office, we look forward to moving forward in the creation of our office and growth of the community.”
Since Fuller’s appointment in April, the University hired another full-time person to be an Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, named Tyler Droste. Droste has previously worked at Quinnipiac University and Virginia Tech University. There are also two graduate students working under Fuller.
On the new staff managing Greek life, Nagy said, “I think a year ago, we were in a very different place and all the progress we’ve made in a year is exciting stuff. When you think about these varied experiences from different kinds of campuses, you could always learn from other people. Matter of fact, we love to learn what’s working in other places. How could we take what’s working there and maybe adapt it to this campus? Monmouth is a great place, but we don’t have to do it the Monmouth way.”
The Greek Senate is a student-run organization that acts as a governing body among peers, including acting as a judiciary. Members of Greek Senate have been contacted for comment.
The Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) is another student-run governing council that meets weekly to manage fraternity life. Members of IFC have been contacted for comment.
With Delta Tau Delta being shut down, this is the fourth Greek organization to be closed in the past year. Alpha Kappa Psi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Zeta Tau Alpha were also closed by their National Headquarters. There are now 14 fraternities and sororities recognized by the University.
DTD will be added to the University website on a list of organizations no longer associated or recognized by Monmouth. The University advises parents and students to consult this list before recruitment begins.
PHOTO TAKEN by Ray Romanski
