ADP cuts national org. ties

Author: Rachel Greenhaus

The social house Alpha Delta Phi (ADP) no longer exists at Middlebury College. "The Delta House," the social organization that has taken its place, includes the same members, the same house and many of the same principles. But there is one major difference: The Delta House, unlike ADP, is not a member of the national Alpha Delta Phi Society any more. As of last spring, the two are completely dissociated organizations, and the Delta House seems to welcome this change. House leadership made the decision so members would no longer have to pay more expensive dues as part of its obligation to supplement the national chapter. Under the new name, all of the Middlebury Delta House dues collected are directly controlled by the organization's officers and members. There is only one catch: the dissociation means that members may no longer use any of the names or trademarks of the national ADP chapter.

The members of last year's Delta House voted for the split after a conflict over insurance money. As House member Alex Stanton '07 explained, "The members of the Middlebury chapter paid dues to the national chapter on a yearly basis. The cost of the insurance policy would have dramatically increased the amount each member was forced to pay. Further, the many areas which the new policy would cover did not apply to the Middlebury chapter."

Stanton noted that unlike fraternities or sororities at other institutions, Middlebury offers a unique coverage for its social houses. "The College owns and maintains the house in which the members live. This is different than most other schools, where students live off campus and own their own houses. Since we are already covered by the College's policy, we felt it to be an unnecessary additional cost to sign onto the proposed policy," he said.

Since Delta House members expressed discontent with this seemingly useless fee, the proposal of a split was introduced and consequently implemented. According to former Delta House president Michael Hannigan '06, "Essentially the choice was economic - it was costing the house more and more money every year and the national chapter was giving us very little, if any, reward for that money. The benefits were clearly not outweighing the monetary costs."

Some effort was made to discuss with the College and the national organization possible alternatives, but Delta House members found these discussions unproductive. While there was some dissention in the house about the split, Hannigan's view of the cost and benefits seems to have become the general consensus, as the house voted in support of the split and offered its withdrawal from the national chapter. The organization found some resistance from the national society because it was previously the largest chapter of Alpha Delta Phi, but the group made the split anyway.

Aside from the renaming, the institutional changes that have resulted for the Delta House are mostly visible only to those directly involved with the organization. Stanton said that the change "has important implications for the new Delta House. The national chapter of Alpha Delta Phi prevents us from using any other trademarks of their organization, including the name 'ADP' or Alpha Delta Phi. As a result, we have had to change our rush and pledge processes and many of the other traditions originating from our national affiliation."

Current President Brendan Parnell '06 says this created a great opportunity for the House to form its own new traditions. The dues for house members have been reduced by nearly 50 percent, and all of that money is controlled by the House itself. According to Parnell, the relationship between The Delta House and the College has remained the same throughout the process, and so has the spirit of the organization: "The vision, morals and direction of the house never wavered, and the most difficult part of the shift was remembering to call it the new name."