The College Fix

OPINION: Student says the sorority asked her to remove a post quoting Dr. Ben Carson on DEI

Political discrimination is still acceptable on a lot of college campuses, even as many still preach “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” I believe a sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi, used this to its advantage at my school.

I’m a freshman at Shippensburg University, studying political science. I created my school’s Turning Point USA chapter where I currently serve as president. I chose a college with sororities, because I wanted the support and “sisterhood” they offer.

Last month, I went through the unofficial process for membership with the sorority Alpha Omicron Pi at a coffee shop. I assume the leaders liked me because we got along well. The meeting lasted over two hours. They assured me my political views would not interfere with sorority membership, as they are my “sisters” and they are meant to support me whether they agree or not with my views. An hour after this meeting I received a phone call offering me a bid, and I accepted.

A day later, I received a call from a young woman in a sorority leadership role stating some of my social media posts against “diversity, equity and inclusion” were concerning to an Alpha Omicron Pi advisor.

One was a repost of a Turning Point USA post (pictured) featuring a quote by Dr. Ben Carson, a world-renowned neurosurgeon and housing secretary under the first Trump Administration. “Aren’t you glad corporations are seeing that DEI needs to D-I-E?” Carson said at AmericaFest in Arizona. This was an event I attended.

The sorority leaders and I proceeded to have many messages back and forth about their concerns. One of the messages sent to me stated, “In all honesty, this is our way of saying we can’t have these posts up now.” At the time, I was extremely elated that I was invited into a sorority, and, against my better judgment, I agreed to take the post down.

I proceeded to ask if my affiliation with Turning Point USA would be an issue, as I created the chapter at my university and currently serve as its president. I informed them I intend to continue in this position.

I was told this would be another discussion with the advisor. Five hours later, I was informed they were rescinding my bid. I was told my social media posts do not align with Alpha Omicron Pi values, as they take “diversity, equity and inclusion” very seriously. The sorority’s national website includes a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” page.

So why was my bid revoked? I offered to take the social media post down. On the national sorority website, its “Moral and Ethical” behavior policy states, “…Alpha Omicron Pi is under legal duty to protect the goodwill associated with its trademarks and has both the right and legal obligation to ask for removal of objectionable/illegal content from internet sites if the name Alpha Omicron Pi or one of its registered trademarks is used.”

None of my posts included any of the sorority’s trademarks. The same policy also states, “Accordingly, the Alpha Omicron Pi recognizes its responsibility not to unduly restrict individual members.” Was I being restricted? Well, they did ask me to take down social media content. So yes, that would be a restriction.

I wonder, was I restricted due to my political opinions as a whole? Or was it my membership in TPUSA? Or was it because of a repost that I was willing to take down?

Although the sorority claims to take DEI very seriously, it proceeded to pull a promised bid from someone who was diverse. The definition of diversity is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, ”The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.”

I am included in this group, we all are. At the end of the day, I was not included.

Editor’s note: The College Fix emailed the media relations team at the national Alpha Omicron Pi twice within the past two weeks, as well as several of the Shippensburg sorority leaders, asking about the situation and the sorority’s policies about expressing political views. None responded.

Kellyn Weber is a student at Shippensburg University, and the president of the Turning Point USA chapter on campus.

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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Student Kellyn Weber (inset) and the Shippensburg University campus. Kellyn Weber, Shippensburg University

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