Out of the 35 members, the 23 who were purged from the Greek sorority included every woman who was overweight, as well as the only black, Korean and Vietnamese members. Even the chapter's president was forced to leave. The 12 members allowed to stay were those considered conventionally attractive and popular with fraternity men, stirring controversy over Delta Zeta's discrimination on the basis of physical appearance. Six of the 12 took offense and quit.
In November, Delta Zeta's national representatives interviewed the 35 members of its DePauw chapter. "The women were urged to look their best for the interviews," reported The New York Times. "The tone left four women so unsettled that they withdrew from the chapter almost immediately."
Worried that a negative stereotype of the sorority as "socially awkward" was responsible for declining membership on campus, Delta Zeta national representatives staged an open house a few days later. Asking most of the DePauw members to stay out of sight in their rooms, the representatives welcomed first-years by parading slender women, invited from the Indiana University chapter, and the DePauw members ultimately asked to stay.
In form letters delivered on Dec. 2, national officers informed the 23 DePauw members of their decision, "The membership review team has recommended you for alumnae status. Chapter members receiving alumnae status should plan to relocate from the chapter house no later than Jan. 29, 2007."
The letters came a week before final exams began, "creating an unacceptable disruption in the lives of our students," according to DePauw's president, Robert G. Bottoms. In a two-page rebuke addressed to Deborah Raziano, national president of Delta Zeta, Bottoms wrote, "The timing of the membership review created not only dismay for the students who thought they would be continuing as active Delta Zeta members, but also anxiety for them about how and where to find housing for Winter Term and second semester. Many women spoke of their inability to focus on year-end assignments, papers and exams because of their feelings of rejection and worries about where they would be living in the coming months."
Cynthia Winslow Menges, executive director of Delta Zeta, maintains that the women were not evicted, saying that "the isolated incident at DePauw has been mischaracterized." Delta Zeta's public relations representative told The New York Times that the sorority's actions were for the "enrichment of student life at DePauw."
The crisis has prompted DePauw to ensure that similar incidents will be avoided in the future. According to Bottoms, "The University is incorporating into new living standards a clause that will require Greek organizations with chapter houses to house students for the entire academic year unless there are behavior issues."
Former Delta Zeta members have made recent television appearances. On Feb. 27, two members made a live appearance on Good Morning America. Joanna Kieschnick, who was asked to stay, but quit, appeared on CNN. She said that the Delta Zeta national officers, eager to recruit by changing the chapter's image, had told her and her sorority sisters, "You need to be more sexually appealing. You need to make the guys want you."