Loving Delta Zeta: Moral and social culture

Third in a four part series on how Delta Zeta members show their love of the Sorority by acting upon the ideals found in our Purpose.

…to promote the moral and social culture of its members…

The third part of Delta Zeta’s Purpose might be the toughest to take action upon for many of our members. We are willing to bet that our members know what it means, but, of the four sections of our purpose, it may be the hardest to act congruently upon each day.

We might want to look a little further in the Constitution. In Article III, Section 3, under Qualifications our Founders defined what they considered moral and social culture which is “… to promote the welfare of the whole by every means consistent with a high sense of honor, to obey its laws, to avoid all conduct which may be criticized among acquaintances or be offensive to her fellow members and to exert herself to promote and maintain harmony and prosperity of the Sorority.” So that means Delta Zeta, as a whole, defines what moral and social culture means for its members.

A culture evolves over time. Decisions made in one instance, which are then carried through to others, build upon each other until the customs we have created become our organizational culture. Did our Founders envision a time where our sisterhood would be played out across social media channels? Of course not. But, they did understand that Delta Zeta would be a national sisterhood, and even positioned themselves to make that possible (read Grace Mason Lundy’s history of the sorority from 1952 if you want more details). Did they think that we’d ever live in a day and age where organizations were required to have risk management policies to ensure the safe actions of their members? Probably not. But, they did leave the possibility open to future members to define what is acceptable for Delta Zeta members when they wrote the Constitution and allowed for the National Convention to make governing decisions for the Sorority.

Does our Purpose hold no relevancy on Twitter then just because Alfa Lloyd didn’t have a social media handle tweeting out Delta Zeta’s message? Again, no. It is up to each member, in her actions on a daily basis, to bring the Purpose to life. If our Founders expected us to avoid conduct which may be criticized, then we need to do that in all parts of our lives, not just when we put on our Badge or Delta Zeta letters. You know what we are talking about here. The #TSM posts, or other actions which do not position Delta Zeta, or yourself, in the best light, have to stop to make sure that you are truly fulfilling the Purpose our Founders had in mind for Delta Zeta.

Think about it. Would we need policies and procedures if each member lived our Purpose every day? What do you think?