Sorority's national office kicks man out of St. Lawrence U chapter
Fabian “Fa” Guzman had his membership revoked by the Chi Omega National Office at the beginning of the month, with no option to appeal the decision, his petition states.
A nonbinary student who was accepted into a sorority chapter at St. Lawrence University was later kicked out by its national headquarters, reportedly over his transgender identity.
The national headquarters of a sorority at St. Lawrence University removed a man admitted into the Canton, New York, chapter.
The student alleges that it was an ‘act of discrimination’ on the part of the Chi Omega headquarters office.
Student Fabian “Fa” Guzman had his membership revoked by the Chi Omega National Office at the beginning of the month, with no option to appeal the decision, his petition states.
The private upstate New York university did not respond to a request for comment.
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This non-binary person was a member of the chapter beforehand, so the reversal came as a shock.
Guzman created a Change.org petition detailing why he should be reinstated into the campus chapter and his position as recruitment chair.
Guzman explained his position in the petition, saying, “the reason I got the approval to rush and eventually join was due to the National organizations (sic) opening the term ‘women’ up to interpretation instead of ‘sex assigned at birth,’ which had traditionally been used.”
He said that the university was writing an article that was going to be published about his accomplishments and his participation in the Chi Omega chapter.
The national chapter threatened to revoke his membership if that article ever went public, he claimed.
He also cited what the Chi Omega Headquarters told him about his membership: “the selection criteria in the policy on membership includes ‘females and individuals identifying as women,’ which, by the chapter’s own understanding and your indication through the process, it is clear you did not meet the criteria at the time of joining,” he quoted.
Guzman also claims that the criteria instated by the national chapter “were not met” due to his identity as a non-binary individual and his sex assigned at birth. “As a non-binary individual, I identify with women and womanhood,” he said.
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Guzman concludes the petition saying, “Even though my identity has been invalidated by this organization that has meant so much to me, and I am extremely hurt, the love I share with my sisters and the support I have been getting from them reminds me what real sisterhood is about.”
He claims that “Chi Omega’s reactionary void of my membership was blatant transphobia and bigotry.”
The petition has reached 642 signatures as part of its 1,000 signatures goal.
Campus Reform reached out to all relevant parties and will update this article immediately.
